Legends in Concert - The Palms at Crown - A Great Night

Last night my husband and I were lucky enough to get invited to The Palms at Crown to see Legends In Concert, the longest running live entertainment show Las Vegas history, with 33 years under its belt.

The show was recently voted Best Tribute Show in the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Best of Las Vegas 2015 poll.

We arrived and had a drink at the bar (one bar is cash only), before being seated five rows back from the front of the stage.   Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take any photographs as we were told not to.

The lineup was epic, featuring Prince, Olivia Newton John, David Bowie, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Adele and of course no tribute show would be complete without Elvis. 

Regarded as the best in the world, these performers were all hand picked to ensure Legends in Concert’s return to The Palms at Crown in Melbourne will be an evening you will never forget.

From the second 'Prince' (Frank Moore) came out, we sat there smiling and singing away.  Frank bears a striking resemblance to Prince and OMG can he sing!

He sang all the favourite and his dance moves were spot on.  Purple Rain, one of my all time favourites, made the night for me.

'Olivia Newton-John', the most recent addition to the lineup was fantastic, again bearing a strong resemblance and a voice like an angel.  We got to sing along to one of the songs from Xanadu (not telling which one) and then all the greats from Grease.

Olivia teamed up with one of the brilliant back-up singers, who made a great Danny Zuko, to sing You're The One That I Want.

To celebrate the debut performance by Kelly Smith (Olivia) - hand picked by Olivia Newton-John herself - a portion of the proceeds of each ticket sold to Legends in Concert in Melbourne will be donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness  & Research Centre.

David Bowie, Madonna, Adele and Elvis, who finished the night, were all brilliant.  Not only do they look like the artists, their voices are almost identical, sending goose bumps up my arms all night.

For me though, the outstanding act of the night was Damian Brantley as Michael Jackson.  I literally gasped when he came out, along with the rest of the audience.

It was just like watching the real Michael.  Dance moves and voice were awesome, his costumes were identical and OMG the resemblance is uncanny.  We got to see the famous Moon Walk and Thriller - a favourite of mine growing up.  He certainly didn't disappoint.

Also, a huge shout-out to the band, backup singers and backup dancers.

I believe the dancers are Aussies - with Leo Cornelius and Ollie Reading being huge hits with all the girls and boys around us!  

The beautiful back-up dancers.

Hang around at the end of the evening and you can get photos with the amazing performers.  They are more than happy to pose with you for selfies.

I can say, after some very sad news for my family this week, we weren't sure we were going to be able to make the show.  I am so glad we did.  It put smiles on our faces, made us lose our voices (from singing and cheering) and put us in such a good mood. 

Thanks so very much Legends in Concert.  We had a fabulous night.

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Legends in Concert is back (after 17 years) playing The Palms at Crown until January 29.  Dates and info are below.  For your comfort, I suggest booking one of the booths.  Although you do get a better view from the floor, the seating is much more comfortable slightly further back.

Dates: January 18-29, 2017 

Performances Jan 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 – 8pm 

Jan 20, 27 – 7.30pm 

Sat 21 and Sat 28 - 2pm and 7.30pm 

Sun 22 – 1.30 pm 

Sun 29 – 7pm 

Venue: The Palms at Crown, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank

Tickets: on sale now from Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.com.au or phone 136100 

Price: $79.90, plus booking fee Website: http://www.legendsinconcert.com/

Disclaimer:  the tickets to the show were gifted.  I was not obliged to write a review.
All thoughts on the show are my own opinion.

Circus 1903 - A Night To Remember

Last night my husband and I were lucky enough to attend the opening show of CIRCUS 1903 -The Golden Age of Circus, at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne.

CIRCUS 1903 is a world first event where the puppeteers of the War Horse team up with the producers of the biggest selling magic show in the world, The Illusionist, to take you back to a time when circuses were the biggest shows in town.

From the second the show started it was breathtaking.  You are immediately transported back to the turn of the last century as you watch the workers set up the big top, and the ringmaster, Willy Whipsnade keeps you entertained, explaining the history of the circus.

You will see many traditional acts that you would expect to see from a circus of this era, including The Sensational Sozonov and his amazing balancing act...

the Perilous Perigos, who will keep you on the edge of your seat with his fantastic, and slightly scary, knife throwing skills...

and my personal favourite, The Elastic Dislocationist, with her mind-blowing flexibility.

CIRCUS 1903 brings together performers from around the world, including a juggler from France; acrobatics from the Ukraine and a high wire act from Mexico.

While there are no real animals in the show, you will be blown away by the creation of a life-size mother and baby elephant. The puppeteers and model-makers feature groundbreaking advances in design and expression.  Expect to see Mum and baby featuring throughout the show.  

These elephants were handled so amazingly, you will forget they are puppets.  You see them interact with their handlers, and even make sure the audience gets a good drink of water!

The show is 2 hours long, separated by a 20 minute intermission.  You become so enthralled, it's over before you know it.

The set and costume design are simply amazing. The attention to detail is second to none.

The costume designer, Angela Aaron, was inspired by authentic photographic collections, studying historical museum pieces and discussing with experts and historians. 

A particularly gorgeous costume is that of Lucky Moon, the spectacular aerialist.  She will have you holding your breath as you watch her gracefully perform her beautiful routine.

A crowd favourite was The Great Gaston, the Juggling Juggernaut, showing brilliant hand-eye co-ordination with his juggling agility, and flawless control as he tossed his props higher and higher into the air.

Another popular act was The Cycling Cyclone who made riding a bike look like a dance.

The music is perfectly matched to the performance throughout the show, changing tempo with each act.  The soundtrack is composed by Evan Jolly, and played by local musicians.

No circus is complete without a trapeze act, and CIRCUS 1903 delivers with the daredevil feats of Los Lopez, bringing the show a spectacular close. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the show and highly recommend it.  We both thought CIRCUS 1903 is the best show we've seen, by far.  LOVED it and I can't rave highly enough about it.  We had big smiles on our faces from beginning to end.

The show's producers, Simon Painter and Tim Lawson, have created Le Grand Cirque, Le Noir, 

Cirque Adrenaline and The Illusionists in over 250 cities from London to Sydney to 

Broadway, as well as presenting A Chorus Line, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Fiddler on the Roof through Australia.

After the world premiere season in Australia CIRCUS 1903 – The Golden Age of Circus transfers directly to Los Angeles and New York. 

The show is family-friendly.  Ringmaster Willy Whipsnade regularly interacts with the audience, particularly the children, causing simone hilarious on-stage antics.

If you have small children with you, you can ask one of the ushers for a booster seat for better viewing.  The seating is very comfortable, with plenty of leg room.

The Melbourne show can be booked here: 

Venue: Regent Theatre, 191 Collins Street, Melbourne 

Dates:

Tuesday 3 January at 7pm 

Wednesday 4 January at 3pm & 7pm 

Thursday January at 3pm & 7pm 

Friday 6 January at 3pm & 7pm 

Saturday 7 January at 3pm & 7pm 

Sunday 8 January at 3pm & 7pm 

Tuesday 10 January at 3pm & 7pm 

Wednesday 11 January at 3pm & 7pm 

Thursday 12 January at 3pm & 7pm 

Prices: Adults from $81.26 

Child from $50.68 

Transaction fee of $8.90 applies per order 

Bookings: 1300 111 011 or www.ticketmaster.com.au

The photographs used in this blog post were taken by Mark Turner.

Mark's links are below:

www.circusphotos.com.au
www.markturnerimages.com

Dixie Plate DP04 Stamping Collab with Sarah R

Hey everyone,

There's a new collaboration video up on my YouTube channel between myself and Sarah Richardson, (Sarah R).

This month we are using my latest stamping plate, DP04, from my Dixie Plates stamping range.  You can purchase them here, should you like what you see.

As usual, we didn't discuss what images we were using, only that it had to be from DP04.

I chose my favourite image, the cherry blossoms and I decided to do a bit of sharpie nail art underneath.

Sarah chose the plaid image, also one of my favourites, double stamped over an ombre gel polish base.

Either design looks like it could be done by a professional nail technician (which we both are), but both designs can easily be done at home.

Our tutorials are easy to follow and any products we used are linked in the description bar below our videos.  We'd also love to see any designs you create using Dixie Plates.  Be sure to use the hashtag #dixieplates so we can see your work.

Enjoy,

Dixie Girlxox

ÜberChic OP Art Magic Stamping Swatches

Hey everyone,

I've got a new stamping plate swatch video up on my YouTube channel.

I'm showing you the OP Art Magic plate from ÜberChic Beauty today.

The ÜberChic plates measure 9.5cm by 14.5cm and typically the images are 1.7cm by 2.1cm, with the occasional larger image, which is great for those of you with longer nails.

This plate is chic-a-block with gorgeous optical illusion images and some cute little phrases down the middle of the plate.

As usual, the images are a good size, well etched and stamp perfectly with any polish and stamper that I've ever used with them.  I have no issues picking up any of the images and they always look great on the nails.

ÜberChic Beauty sell worldwide, or they have distributors in several countries.  You can check out the distributor list at the bottom of the ÜberChic website.

HUGE thumbs up for this plate.  Another great plate from ÜberChic :-)

I've used As Black As Night stamping polish from Hit The Bottle for stamping and I used two stampers.  The first one is called Big Red and it's available from my Dixie Plates store, here.  The second is my Sticky Dixie stamper, also from my Dixie Plates store, available here.  I ended up changing stampers so you could see the images more clearly with a solid coloured background.

All products mentioned are also linked in the description bar below the video.

Enjoy,

Dixie Girlxox

Madam Glam Colour Changing Gel Polish Demo

Morning, afternoon, evening everyone,

I've got a new video up on the YouTube channel featuring four gorgeous colour changing gel polishes from Madam Glam.

It's just a quickie today, showing application and then the colour change between hot and cold temperatures.  I'll have a nail art video up soon using one of the colours as I have an idea for a cool video.

The colour changing polishes in general are something I tend to steer clear of because I usually find one or the other of the colours you get (from hot to cold) are not colours I like, but with these four I love all the colours.

Application is a dream.  Madam Glam do suggest doing three coats to get good opacity but I found you could easily get away with two coats so do experiment if you have any of these.

Super cute colours at a very reasonable price.  Madam Glam is not a professional only brand BUT in saying that, the quality is as good, if not better than quite a few professional only brands I use.  I also know of several nail technicians that have introduced Madam Glam into their salons and the clients LOVE IT!

I highly recommend the gel polishes.  I've been using them for a good year now and I've loved everything I've tried.

If you are wanting to purchase, I have a 30% discount code.  It's not an affiliate code and I do not benefit in any way if you use it!

Simply enter kate30 at checkout to receive your 30% discount.  Also do sign up for Madam Glam emails.  They regularly have sales and special offers so you can grab yourselves some awesome deals.

Enjoy,

Dixie Girlxox

*** NEW *** Dixie Plate DP04 Swatches

WOOHOOOO!   Dixie Plates DP04 has launched and you can find it in my Dixie Plates store.

This plate is the fourth one and there are three more to come out before Christmas so stay tuned for them.

The plate is the same size (9.5cm wide by 14.5cm high) as the last three plates but this plate has 20 individual images measuring 2.1cm by 2.5cm, the biggest individual images that I've seen on any plates so far.  Great if you've got longer nails.

For DP04, I've got a range of beautiful flower images, some gorgeous shapes, lace and even some fabric-type images.  So again, a great range of images to choose from.

The one thing I would keep in mind with these larger images is that you obviously need to use slightly more polish to cover the image.  Something I am still getting used to!

The plates are available worldwide and can be purchased HERE worldwide, or HERE if you are in the UK or EU.  If you have any questions regarding the plates or shipping, feel free to email us at info@dixiegirlxox.com

When ordering, please bear in mind that prices are in AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS.  You can do a quick conversation to your currency by using an exchange rate calculator that you can find on Google, or here.

I've also introduced a new stamper, Big Red, which is a clear head measuring 3.5cm in diameter, set in a red metal holder with a clear bottom.  So great for precision placement of your images and fantastic for longer nails.

The stamper is NOT sticky at all and is a medium firmness but still squishy enough to stamp with ease.  You literally barely need to touch the stamper to the plate to pick up the image.  I tested it out for a good long time before I chose this and I've tested it on at least 20 brands of plates from super cheap to the highest quality.  I've also used at least 10 different brands of stamping polish and I can report back with confidence that every plate and every type of polish picked up beautifully every single time.

You do not need to prime this stamper at all.  I do run a lint remover over the head of the stamper to remove any debris that might be on it, but other than that NO PRIMING necessary.

I've linked all the products I used in the description bar below the video.

Thank you to everyone who has already ordered.  I was literally swamped with orders and I am very very grateful for your continued support.

Enjoy,

Dixie Girlxox

Born Pretty Holographic Powder | Live Application

OH MY GOODNESS I'm in love.

Born Pretty Store very kindly sent me out their brand new Holographic Laser Powder for trial and review  on my YouTube channel.

Now there are a few of these products about. Some are great and most I've tried, honestly, are rubbish.  So I was over the moon excited when I tried this one.  It's ultra fine and applies beautifully to the nail, leaving each nail with a beautiful holographic rainbow.

I tried two methods of application; the first being the handy little makeup applicator which comes with the product.  This works a dream so stick to it.  I also tried a silicone tool which was a complete and utter fail!  It works brilliantly with some chrome pigments I've used but with this, it was just useless.

The best way to apply the powder (if you are using it over gel polish) is:

1. Apply your chosen colours and cure.

2. Apply a no-wipe top coat and cure.  If you do not have a no-wipe top coat, remove the inhibition layer of your top coat with a lint free cloth or kitchen roll.

3. Apply the holographic powder to each nail and remove any excess with a soft brush.  There should not be any significant excess.  You barely need any product to cover each nail.

4. When you are happy with your coverage, top coat (twice for good measure) remembering to seal the free edge to prolong the life of your manicure.

REMEMBER: This product goes a LONG WAY.  You barely need anything to cover a nail.  Add a tiny bit and if you need more, add some, rather than going in too heavy handed.

I can't recommend this highly enough.  It's just beautiful.  If you apply it correctly over a gel polish of your choice, you should see exactly what you see in my photo and video, the colour of the gel polish underneath with the beautiful holographic effect on top.  Too much powder will just cancel out the colour of polish underneath.

I've listed all the products I used in the description bar below the video.

Enjoy,

Dixie Girlxox