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Stones offered $A7.83m for HK festival
AFP - Rock legends The Rolling Stones are being offered $US5 million ($A7.83 million) to spearhead a four-week government-sponsored music and sport extravaganza in Hong Kong, a report said.
Other top acts who have been offered up to $US1 million ($A1.6 million) each to feature in the festival being organised by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), include Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, Carlos Santana and Irish boy band Westlife, the Sunday Morning Post reported.
However, the large sums have irked local promoters and lawmakers who have raised concerns about the use of public money from the $US120 million ($A187.9 million) public fund earmarked to revitalise the city following the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) earlier this year.
AmCham hopes to sell up to 200,000 tickets for the concerts to be held over four weekends from October 17 to November 9 on the Tamar site in the business district of Central.
So far, the only big-name stars to have signed up are Cher, singer Craig David and a host of retired National Basketball Association (NBA) stars who will play an exhibition game.
The Rolling Stones were thought to have been close to inking a deal with another organiser, worth some $US2 million ($A3.13 million), to play before 35,000 people at the Hong Kong stadium on November 8 before receiving the improved AmCham offer to play two nights at the Tamar site on November 8 and 9.
The band had been scheduled for two concerts on March 28 and 29 this year but cancelled because of SARS.
It is believed the government's investment promotion body, InvestHK, has given between 100-150 million Hong Kong dollars ($A20 million - $A30.2 million) to AmCham to fund the event.
However, legislator Choy So-yuk criticised the government's decision to back just one event as ridiculous and believed it should support "200-300 events" offering a wider variety.
from : http://news.ninemsn.com.au/Entertainment/story_51392.asp
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