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American Morning
Craig David Looks to Take America By Storm
Aired July 31, 2001 - 11:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time to check "Showbiz" news this morning.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, boy, I'll tell you, if it's a big name and people want to see him, they will shell out the money, won't they, Laurin Sydney?
LAURIN SYDNEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not only shell out the money. Tickets for the big Michael Jackson soiree on September 7 and 10 were on sale starting at 10:00 Eastern Time.
Now, how would you both feel about this? You line up the night before thinking that when you get to the ticket box, of course, the tickets are yours. No. They had a surprise lottery and it meant you got a lottery number and if your number was picked you got to get a ticket.
HARRIS: Oh, no.
KELLEY: And they're talking 2,500 bucks for some tickets that people are willing to pay.
HARRIS: Really. And you have to wait out all night to get a number to get into the lottery?
SYDNEY: Well, not everybody, but the really bad part is is they didn't know that.
KELLEY: Oh, dear.
SYDNEY: Have you ever stood on line and waited overnight for anybody?
HARRIS: Overnight?
KELLEY: Not overnight. I've certainly stood on line.
HARRIS: Not on purpose.
SYDNEY: OK, well, you know...
KELLEY: Have you?
SYDNEY: On purpose. KELLEY: For?
HARRIS: For which one?
SYDNEY: For a Broadway show. And I still didn't get the tickets, for "The Producers," and I still haven't gotten them. But that's a whole another story.
HARRIS: You're not alone on that one, too.
KELLEY: Yes, we'd love to see "The Producers."
HARRIS: That's the basic idea.
KELLEY: How long are we going to have to stand in line for that?
HARRIS: Yes.
SYDNEY: But you know what? It doesn't make you feel any better by standing on line and not getting that.
But anyway, back to Michael Jackson. They were lining up both at New York ticket sellers and the Internet to buy tickets to the Michael Jackson 30th anniversary celebration. Now, die hard fans were willing to shell out, as Donna said, anywhere between $4,600 and $2,500 per ticket to see one of the two September concerts at Madison Square Garden.
Helping Jackson celebrate will be Ricky Martin, Destiny's Child, 'N Sync, Liza Minnelli. And there's also supposed to be a reunion of the Jacksons, although it is still unclear whether Germane and brother Randy will participate.
We asked fans waiting in line why they wanted to be one of the first to get tickets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FAN: There's a lot of controversy around the guy. But he's a great performer. He's a great songwriter and the last concert that I went to, which was about 12 years ago or 13 years ago, was unbelievable.
UNIDENTIFIED FAN: I came from France just to get these tickets to see Michael Jackson because it's been a long time that you could see him, since 1977 in France.
UNIDENTIFIED FAN: $500, at least $500. He's worth that much. He's worth more than $500 but I'm willing to pay for her $500.
UNIDENTIFIED FAN: Both nights.
UNIDENTIFIED FAN: I've been growing up listening to Michael Jackson. He's my favorite. I was wishing he was on tour for three years, 10 years now. I'm here to see Michael Jackson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SYDNEY: Ooh, la-la.
Craig David might very well be the next Michael Jackson so get on line now. He is already a major pop start in England and in Europe. His debut album, "Born To Do It," has sold almost five million copies worldwide and now he is ready to take America by storm.
Paul Vercammen talks to the man who started the so-called two step dance craze.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CRAIG DAVID: Can you feel me here with me?
UNIDENTIFIED FAN: We're with the jacket boots brother, too.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Craig David sold out London's legendary Wembley Stadium and sold almost five million copies of his album "Born To Do It" worldwide.
UNIDENTIFIED FAN: Can you tell me yet?
DAVID: This is what we used to say. Check it out.
VERCAMMEN: Now Americans are hearing this English import with a smooth singing style and a choppy accent forged in the tough port city of Southampton.
DAVID: They'd be crime around me. There'd be all different kinds of stuff going on. But music was my focus and I was able to then write lyrically songs that people can relate to on the streets.
VERCAMMEN: David has leapt into U.S. magazines from those projects. The former DJ is credited with helping launch Britain's garage dance music craze.
UNIDENTIFIED FAN: Why were you creeping down the roads last night? I see two shadows moving in your bedroom light.
VERCAMMEN: David boasts a top five single in the U.S., "Fill Me In," about visits to a young girl behind her parents' back.
DAVID: I guess it's one of those scenarios which is kind of dangerous and being on the edge and that's what's so exciting about "Fill Me In" for me, creeping around.
UNIDENTIFIED FAN: We went in, we got down, bow, bow, she's never been so...
VERCAMMEN: David's music influences flow from his father, a carpenter from Grenada, and his mother, who is white.
DAVID: I was listening to my mother's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) So I've got that kind of pop song influence from her. She was into the Osmonds before that, which I kind of missed that phase which I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing. But and then my dad, he is into his reggae and lover's rock. So he had like all that Bob Marley and all that kind of stuff all the way through.
UNIDENTIFIED FAN: Can you feel me...
VERCAMMEN: As David showcases his crossover style in the U.S., something is straining his mind and stomach.
DAVID: The size of the portions of food over here are crazy. I mean the delis like blew me away. I was like how am I supposed to eat any of this?
VERCAMMEN: But so far Americans are showing a taste for Craig David.
UNIDENTIFIED FAN: Now you're dressed in black. When I left you were dressed in white. Can you feel me?
VERCAMMEN: Paul Vercammen, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYDNEY: Craig David is starting to get MTV air play. And when we come back, a look ahead as the music network celebrates its 20th anniversary.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SYDNEY: It is so hard to believe but it has been 20 years since the trend setting MTV went on the air. The music channel celebrates that milestone tomorrow with a big live party right across the street from us here at the Hammerstein Ballroom with lots of big names and musical acts.
And a little later today, we will be joined live by MTV on air personality and actress Carmen Electra. She will tell us how MTV has changed her life and what it meant to her career. That's in our 2:00 p.m. "Showbiz Today Report."
And Leon and Donna, now, do you remember when you were, how old you were when MTV started? Where were you? What were you doing?
KELLEY: A little quick math, yes.
SYDNEY: Yes.
HARRIS: I think I was, I don't know. I was...
SYDNEY: You can lie.
HARRIS: I think I was still breast-feeding when it came on.
KELLEY: Oh, please. But I'll tell you something.
HARRIS: I was very young. I was very young.
SYDNEY: Yes.
KELLEY: Yes, well, me, too. Then if you say you were, I was, too. You know it seems like that 20 years passed so quickly, though.
SYDNEY: Especially when you're breast-feeding.
KELLEY: Especially when you have children who are now 20.
HARRIS: Didn't go so quick for mom, I can tell you that. Anyway, we'll leave that one alone. Thanks, Laurin.
KELLEY: Thank you, Laurin.
SYDNEY: OK. Bye-bye.
HARRIS: See you later.
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