Quote:
Originally posted by Grojlach:
I used the latter motivation in my post as well, I do however think that the decision of the casino to remove Ronstadt from the stage and not invite her back is wholly their decision. Okay, their reasoning and methods stink, and if they just shut up about it and simply made an internal decision about not inviting Ronstadt back, no one would have cried wolf right now - but it's still ultimately their decision whether to book her a second time. I sometimes find myself in the booking business of bands (only voluntarily for smaller festivals, mind you), and often it comes to small details to decide which band will be booked and which one won't (especially if things like the level of exposure, amount of fee, etc are similar), as the pool of artists to select from is practically limitless (even with a very modest budget). And especially after the bad publicity Ronstadt has gotten, it's not difficult to prefer another artist of similar fame over her.
Last year we had quite a few problems on the student-organised (so called) Virus Cultural Festival with the well-known European band Moloko. They had managed to blow up the sound system up to four times (!) during their performance, and eventually had to quit when the sound system couldn't be fixed a fourth time. Mind you, they were our festival headliner; and while it got us a lot of bad publicity (up to a point that the major Dutch booking agency Mojo Concerts silently decided to boycott us for this year's edition), and even though most of the blame was with the band itself (and not with the sound system), there's simply no use making bold claims about never inviting back a certain artist. It doesn't only hurt your credibility and reputation in the music business (q.e.d., see remark about Mojo a few lines back), but also towards the public, who often take the side of the artist regardless of who was really to blame for this fiasco. How difficult it may be, we agreed on not voicing any criticism towards the press because of its unprofessional and damaging character (and simply decided to suck up to Mojo Concerts by giving their representative a VIP-treatment at this year's edition  ). It could take up to ten years to achieve a good reputation, but only one badly orchestrated incident could tear it down in one, single day.
While the casino was in its right about not inviting her back, I don't think the way they've handled the situation was very smart; ultimately doing more damage to themselves with their statements than to Ronstadt in the process. I wouldn't be surprised if there are other artists who will think twice about performing at the Aladdin now, or if there are customers now who will simply decide to visit a different casino instead, because of the political stigma that has inevitably struck the Aladdin now.
That Planet Hollywood International has made clear that they will invite her back once they've taken over the place, is mostly an attempt to salvage some of the damage done by Bill Timmins with his statements - because he definitely hurt his casino's reputation more than he has hurt Ronstadt's, trust me on that.
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I dont disagree that the business has a right to decide whetehr or not to have her back for what ever reason and I agree that the Casino could have handled the situation in a far more professional if not discrete manner.
By stating the reason they wouldn't have her back because of a outspoken political stance (in the form of a song dedication and a film recomendation) they opened themselves to the "un-American" critism. This is why I dont think Moore loses face for making the statement that he did.
For too long the "Right" in America have made it an outspoken mission to define what is and isn't "American". It is about time the "Center" and "Left" spoke out with prominent voices providing alternative perspectives to the issue. I do concede I find it a bit shameful and embarressing it has to come down to this. I would much rather see a common ground reached in an agreeable spirit of what certainly is "American" as defined by the charters of the Nation rather slang "anti-American" accusations back and forth. *sigh*
[ 07-23-2004, 01:48 AM: Message edited by: Chewbacca ]