Cliff bulking out another hit song during his recent South African Tour.

CLIFF SOUTH AFRICAN     LIFF WRITES ABOUT US And so to South Africa… April 12th, 2007

Gone are the days when we could stay in downtown Johannesburg.   It’s apparently become something of a no-go area and even the airlines now house their personnel in the suburbs.   We stayed in a beautiful area called Westcliff, where we had a bit of free time, so had opportunity to sunbathe and play tennis before starting the shows.

There were two more days off in Cape Town - now that’s what I call considerate planning!   In fact I think one of the reasons my voice survived the tour so well was because we had a number of strategic rest days.   Playing the three shows in the beautiful botanical gardens at Kirstenbosch was a real treat.

South Africa has always been a favourite place to visit and the fans were out in force, as responsive and enthusiastic as ever, even though I’d not played there for twelve years.   I hope it won’t be as long before my next visit!

Coming back to Europe we felt we were on home territory!   Helsinki, Hamar, Aalborg, Copenhagen and Paris were fantastic.   I have to admit that the prolonged applause we received in those cities in particular was wonderful and is probably why the concerts over-ran by 10-15 minutes!     Paris and Brussels seem to be venues the Brits like to visit - I guess it’s just so easy to get there these days.   It’s always nice to have some of the home crowd turn up when we’re abroad - even though I use them as the butt of a joke or two - just to keep in with the locals of course!   As always, the Ahoy in Rotterdam was packed to the rafters and the Dutch remain as unbelievably loyal as ever. 

We had 5,000 people in Hannover - all very enthusiastic - and the Frankfurt crowd was just as responsive, so I can truthfully say that the European sector of the tour finished on a high!   The only sad note for me was saying goodbye to Peter Howarth who had to return to the UK for his role as lead singer for The Hollies, who had their own tour starting.   He’d committed to them before my final show in Iceland was added to the itinerary.   It was also goodbye to the dancers, who had given great entertainment and wonderful memories!

In Iceland I had a day off and did some sightseeing.   The geysers were amazing and it was fascinating to watch these rocky holes in the ground suddenly bubble up and send a huge jet of steam 40 feet into the air.   Many of the Icelanders use these natural thermal springs to heat their homes;  it’s just as well - with the long and very cold winters, the cost of electric heating would be astronomical!

I visited a beautiful waterfall which is part of what they call ‘The Golden Circle’, and also went to the Blue Lagoon - a pool of warm sulphurous water that has healing qualities for the skin - but didn’t actually go in.   That will have to wait until next time!

Iceland helped us end on a real high;  it felt strange not to have the dancers with us but the crowd (a mainly standing audience) were raving from the start and once again it was a terrific show.

I have to say that the fantastic audiences have made this the most enjoyable tour ever;  their response in every auditorium was ecstatic!   I would have loved singing all these songs anyway but only an audience can lift you above the music!   I can never get over the fact that rock ‘n’ roll is received everywhere in the end such with huge enthusiasm.   My thanks to all of you who came along - wherever you are!

I’m going to end this blog with an extract from the Reykjavik City Guide.

“Cliff Richard has been a musical icon for more than four centuries.   When he burst on to the music scene in 1558, his raw teenage energy was a breath of fresh air, establishing him as Europe’s first authentic rock ‘n’ roll star.   400 and some years and a staggering 250 million record sales later, Cliff continues to beep his fans with beep music and beep beep live performances.”

Well, it made me laugh anyway!! 

CLIFF INTERNATIONAL

LIFF ENDS HIS WORLD TOUR

Cliff's world tour is now over but the memories live on in those of us who experienced the magic of THE MUSIC MAN! I think a lot of us is suffering from withdrawel symptoms. Well done Cliff! You did us proud!

ROJECTS BY FANS TO HELP CLIFF

We started a campaign Project Move It to help Cliff reach his dream of breaking into the US market. How can the Americans not like Cliff? They are missing out on a legend and it is up to us the fans to at least trying to get Cliff his big break into the US. There are a lot of things we can do to get Cliff his US break through.   I've set-up an online petiton.  

Oprah are the best in her field and whatever she says or do turn into GOLD! Cliff Richard deserve to be on the Oprah Show therefore we must all sign the online petition. The more signatures the better our chances.http://www.PetitionOnline.com/653022ad/petition.html

The International Cliff Richard forum for fans run by fans will be up and running within the next couple of weeks. We are looking for moderators to help us out on the forum.

Have any news for Cliff SA? email Amanda

This website was updated on 26 May 2007

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