Tom Jones International

Finally, the promo concert on GMA October 30, 2003 begins with Tom singing It’s Not Unusual.

We love the shots of the audience — especially the little kid — and of the band. (Check out Herman looking as he did when we first met him.) As always, everyone’s having a blast.

Summer in the southern United States is sure to be hotter for a few days judging from the new concert dates have been announced on tomjones.com, (Keep watching, as we hear at least one terrific northeast date may be in the works.) The first date is especially nice as we believe a hurricane caused a cancellation of the last date there.

Here they are, with links to the box offices. As of today, tickets are only on sale at Beau Rivage. Keep checking for the others.

June 26: Beau Rivage in Biloxi, MS • June 27 & 28: L’Auberge Du Lac Casino, Lake Charles, LA • June 30 & July 1: HOB New Orleans • July 3: Nokia Theater Grand Prairie, TX (Note: the Grand Prairie Nokia site is “undergoing maintenance.” This is the site for AEGLive, owner of the venue.)

James Lawton, a columnist in The Independent wrote on April 22 about the fight last weekend. This guy may know his pugilism, but not his Tom Jones or his Tom Jones fans. And his writing is confusing. There’s something wrong with his quote about what Tom said on stage — unless it actually is a quote from more than 10 years ago. We cannot believe Tom would say such a thing to his fans.

But the comparison Tom makes between singers and boxers is interesting (in bold italics below), so we posted it. (And it is nice to see a mention of Budd Schulberg, who wrote some terrific novels and screenplays.)

In discussing Sir Tom’s friendship with fighter Tommy “Hitman” Hearns, Lawton writes:




Sir Tom poses question that all fighters must answer

“Sir Tom Jones’ spell-binding rendition of the Welsh national anthem in the ring before Calzaghe-Hopkins was a reminder of his interest in the sport through a close friendship with Tommy “Hitman” Hearns.

“I suppose fighters and singers have something in common in that that they have to go out to perform under pressure, though in my case I’ve never actually been hit,” he said on a night out here with his friend a few years ago. The ‘Hitman’ was at a point in his career when he was causing much concern by his decision to fight on, one which threatened a split with his long-time mentor Emanuel Steward.

“In his dressing room before his duties at the showroom of the MGM Grand, Sir Tom gently shifted the conversation to the eternal dilemma of when a man should seek new roads in life. This, he suggested, was probably a more pressing issue for a fighter, in that everyone you met professionally was anxious to knock your head off.

“His own challenge in Las Vegas was merely to continue to entertain matronly farmers’ wives from such places as Kansas and Iowa. He put on his face and strode on stage to receive an ecstatic reaction for belting out, What’s New Pussycat? But perhaps his earlier musings still played on his mind. He said from the stage, ‘Ladies, you know we’ve been doing this for 30 years — and on a night like this it doesn’t seem a minute less.’”

Photo above is Tom with Ray J. And, yes, you can still see the anthem video by clicking on the link in the post below.

Please be sure to recheck the bottom of this post, as we are adding comments from — and links to — newspaper articles about the relevant parts of the fight that we believe fans will enjoy. And do check comment #25, in which we find the BBC talking about Tom’s anthem.

The fight, held off the Las Vegas Strip in the Thomas and Mack Center’s new Planet Hollywood Arena at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, may not have been a sellout but the crowd — which included Catherine Zeta-Jones, Whitney Houston, Pete Sampras, Sylvester Stallone and lots of other stars — was enthusiastic and, during Ray J’s somewhat bizarre rendition of Star-Spangled Banner not a “boo” could be heard. Calzaghe entered the ring favored at odds up to 4:1 to win.

To sing “the first of two national anthems,” ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced “a Welshman and a true legend the world over, Sir Tom Jones.” Sporting a daffodil on his lapel over his heart, Tom sang Land of Our Fathers (Hen Wlad fy Nhadau) in Welsh. Click to see Tom singing the Welsh anthem.

This is an update on the first post about the fight. We posted it as part of our mission to bring you the latest news about Sir Tom. We also hope, if you haven’t already, you’ll take some time to read the New York Times review below and tell us what you think of the DVDs. And there are some interesting comments after the DVD review post you may want to check out.