For Release on April 11, 2002
MICHELLE KWAN SKATES TO EVA CASSIDY’S “FIELDS OF GOLD” DURING MULTI-CITY CHAMPIONS ON ICE TOUR
Blix Street Records Presents Kwan with Gold Record for Cassidy’s ‘Songbird’ Album
Michelle Kwan, four-time World Ladies Figure Skating Champion and six-time (and current) U.S. Ladies Figure Skating Champion, will be skating her emotional exhibition program set to “Fields of Gold” by the late Eva Cassidy during the current multi-city John Hancock Champions on Ice tour. Kwan, who fell in love with the singer’s version of the song upon hearing it for the first time, has been performing this piece since last summer and will continue to do so during the tour, which will take her all over the country.
Eva Cassidy’s version of “Fields of Gold,” written by Sting, is selected from the Blix Street Records recording SONGBIRD, released in the spring of 1998 following the singer’s death at the age of 33. It originated on her live recording, LIVE AT BLUES ALLEY, which was subsequently released by Blix Street as well. SONGBIRD topped the British charts for two weeks last year and was certified Gold for sales of more than 500,000 units in the U.S. last November on the fifth anniversary of the singer’s death.
Kwan, known for her artistry and grace, has skated to the poignant “Fields of Gold” many times in the past year, but no performance was more memorable than the showcase of champions at the Olympics in Salt Lake City following the figure skating competition. To commemorate Kwan’s contribution to the visibility of the recording, Eva’s parents Barbara and Hugh Cassidy, along with Bill Straw, president of Blix Street Records, presented her with a Gold record backstage at the Baltimore Arena on April 11th during a tour stop.
Eva Cassidy proved to be 2001’s
most intriguing music story, one that has created a media phenomenon on both
sides of the Atlantic and resulted in sales of more than two million copies
worldwide of her four Blix Street recordings-LIVE AT BLUES ALLEY, EVA BY HEART,
TIME AFTER TIME and SONGBIRD. Originally released in 1998, SONGBIRD, the national
debut of the singer who died of melanoma in 1996, last year topped the British
and Irish charts and was Number One on the Billboard Pop Catalog chart for nine
consecutive weeks. The John Hancock Champions on Ice tour features Kwan and
2002 Olympic Skating stars Sarah Hughes, Alexei Yadgudin, Timothy Goebel, Sasha
Cohen, Evgeni Plushenko, Irina Slutskaya, Michael Weiss and Elvis Stojko. Upcoming
dates on the tour include:
April 12-13--MCI Center, Washington, DC; 14--First Union Center, Philadelphia,
PA; 18--Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ; 19--Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence,
RI; 20-Fleetcenter; Boston, MA; 21--Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT; 23--Worcester
Centrum Center, Worcester, MA; 24--Olympic Center , Lake Placid, NY; 25--Pepsi
Arena, Albany, NY; 27--Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI; 28--Breslin Student Events
Center, East Lansing, MI; 29--Assembly Hall, Champaign, IL.
May 1--Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, IL; 2--The Mark of the Quad Cities, Moline,
IL; 4--United Center, Chicago, IL; 5 --Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI; 6--Alliant
Energy Center, Madison, WI; 8--War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, IN; 10--Conseco
Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN; 11--Nutter Center, Dayton, OH;12--Firstar Center,
Cincinnati, OH; 14--Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH; 15--Melton Arena, Pittsburgh,
PA; 17--HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY; 19--Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY; 19--Gund Arena,
Cleveland, OH; 21--Roberts Stadium, Evansville, IN; 22--Freedom Hall Coliseum,
Louisville, KY; 24--Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY; 25--Cricket Arena, Charlotte,
NC; 26--Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC; 28--Entertainment & Sports Arena,
Raleigh, NC; 29--Roanoke Civic Center, Roanoke, VA; 30--Richmond Coliseum, Richmond,
VA.
June 1--Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ; 2--Nassau Coliseum,
Long Island, NY; 11--BJCC Arena, Birmingham, AL; 12--Riverside Centroplex, Baton
Rouge, LA; 14--Compaq Center, Houston, TX; 15--Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TX;
16--Alamo Dome, San Antonio; 18--American Airlines Center, Dallas; 20--Oklahoma
City; 21--Kansas Coliseum, Wichita, KS; 22--Kemper Arena, Kansas City, MO; 23--Savvis
Center, St. Louis; 26--Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, NE; 27--Hilton Coliseum,
Ames, IA; 28--Target Center, Minneapolis; 29--Bismarck Civic Center, Bismarck,
ND; 30--Fargo Dome, Fargo, ND.
July 5--Pepsi Center, Denver, CO; 6--World Arena, Colorado Springs, CO; 7--Tingley
Coliseum, Albuquerque, NM; 9--Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, AZ; 10--America
West Arena, Phoenix; 11--Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA; 13--Arrowhead Pond,
Anaheim, CA; 14--San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA; 16--Centennial Garden,
Bakersfield, CA; 19--ARCO Arena, Sacramento, CA; 20--Compaq Center at San Jose,
San Jose, CA; 21--The Arena in Oakland, Oakland, CA; 23--Selland Arena, Fresno,
CA; 24--Lawlor Events Center, Reno, NV; 26--Rose Garden, Portland, OR; 27--
Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, WA; 28--Key Arena, Seattle; 30--Spokane Arena, Spokane,
WA; 31--Idaho Center, Boise, ID.
August 2--Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT; 3--MGM Grand Garden, Las Vegas;
7--Alltel Arena, Little Rock, AR; 8--Von Braun Civic Center, Huntsville, AL;
9--Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, TN; 10--North Charleston Coliseum,
Charleston, SC; and 11--Bi-Lo Center, Greenville, SC.
* * * * *
For further information regarding
Eva Cassidy and Blix Street Records, contact:
Sharon Weisz or Elizabeth Pendleton, W3 Public Relations
323-852-1043 or email: w3pr@yahoo.com
For further information regarding
Michelle Kwan, contact:
Bridget Klein, Edelman Public Relations
212-704-4453 or email: bridget.klein@edelman.com