No Mariah Carey for amfAR in Cannes
Mariah Carey will not be performing at the annual amfAR Cannes benefit at the end of this month. The group wanted her, but Carey is finishing up her new record, taking care of twins, and helping husband Nick Cannon recuperate from his unexpected illness this winter. Plus, she and Nick and the kids were just in France celebrating their anniversary and the babies' birthdays, so she's not going back. No word yet on who amfAR will round up for the event. The entertainment end of things has been getting thinner and thinner, as acts need a lot of prep time, and it costs a fortune to import whole bands and computer systems to reproduce an act's sound. Many of the kinds of stars the amfAR audience likes don't actually perform live anyway. The amfAR tent is a lot smaller than an arena, and lipsynching would be noticeable.
Meantime, the amfAR ticket buyers - the price gets higher every year - will watch and wait to see if Sharon Stone is back. The hard working Stone hosted the amfAR Cannes auction for years. But two years ago the group dumped her. Last month, Stone did go down to Brazil to host an amfAR dinner. But a reappearance at the Cannes event is not likely. For one thing, the auction - which seems to go on and on before, during, and after dinner - is now conducted by Jamie Niven of Sotheby's. And he's made it clear that he doesn't want Stone involved in that end of things. But that was her forte. She raised millions by cajoling, cooing, being outrageous.
In 2010, the event had gross receipts of just over $6 million, less $2.26 in charitable contributions, with gross income of $3.7 million. More to come on how amfAR spends its money... (Forbes)
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