Tom Jones International

As Tom finishes yet another terrific run at the MGM Grand, a thought occurred to us: Before Rod Stewart in 2002 and Barry Manilow in the last year or so, Tom Jones had a hit with a standard on his Reload CD in 2000.

Because he and Cerys Matthews sound so today on their recording, it’s easy not to realize that that Baby, It’s Cold Outside was honored with the “Best Song” Academy Award in 1949 for composer Frank Loesser. That makes it a standard in our book.

So, once again, Sir Tom Jones has (pardon our pun) set the standard and other performers have followed.

Anyway, as usual Tom’s run was terrific and, we want to note, that on Tuesday night he had a terrific moment with a fan.

While Tom was singing Sexbomb a lady of a certain age walked up as near as she could get to the stage. Standing behind (the famous) table 5, she waved a sequined thong at Tom. He played along, reaching for it repeatedly as she pulled it away.

Finally, she handed it over, he did his “wipe the sweat” thing and handed it back. The lady declined, so Tom took the thong to the stool that holds his water and Vocalzones and set it down.

At the end of the show, he blew a kiss to the lady. She didn’t stop smiling even after she left the theater.

His placing the thong on the stool brings up the other thought or, more correctly, a question: What happens to all those thongs, bras and other assorted garments that get tossed onstage? Are they donated to help the underwear-impaired? Are they sent for recovery to the Home for Missing and Exploited Dainties?

Whatever happens to them, we look forward to the next time Sir Tom visits Vegas and hope that all who see him between now and then have as grand a time as everyone here did.

Ellen & Ursula

The box office at the Atlantic City Hilton today confirmed that Tom’s performances there have been cancelled. We assume money spent for tickets will be refunded.

We apologize for misleading anyone by saying the shows were on in March. Please be assured that we do not post anything unless we have it from at least one excellent source. That was true in the case of the Hilton shows. But, as does occasionally happen, even the best of sources wasn’t fully informed until yesterday and, as you know, tickets were being sold.

We’ll be more vigilant. Promise.

No surprise: the show is still very good, Tom looks and sounds great. The band and singers are in fine form as always. Tony, we’re sorry to report, has to sit on a stool throughout the show as he has an injured leg, but is recovering.

The audience was terrific, full of enthusiasm and loving every moment. Only one cloth for Sir Tom to mop his fevered brow was tossed onstage and nothing else. Maybe now reporters and critics will stop classifying the audience as underwear-tossing ladies of a certain age. Hope so because if this audience is typical (and we think it is) he attracts a mixed crowd of men and women, young and old. Very few performers can attract that breadth of viewer. This is one special man.

One very funny thing:

Three women were at table 5, smack in the center next to the stage. They apparently noticed a bracelet peeking out of Sir Tom’s right shirt cuff. It looked to match the new ring on his left hand and went well with the diamond-encrusted Rolex, also on the left.

So, during a very brief lull, they asked, “Tom, can we see your bracelet?”

When he finally understood what they were asking, he said, “You want to see my bracelet? Is that all you want to see?”

Answered in the affirmative, he laughed, showed them the bracelet and said to the audience, “You know you’re getting old when all they want to see is the jewelry.”

Hmmmm.

Tom’s appearances at the MGM Grand on March 1st and 2nd have been cancelled “for personal reasons.”

Although there’s no official announcement, we’d guess that the cancellation is due to the fact that March 2 is his 50th wedding anniversary

So, mazel tov and good for him!

He will be at the MGM May 3rd through 9th.

Why, why, why? Tom Jones sings out on Burberry closure

Richard Wachman/Sunday January 21, 2007/The Observer

Tom Jones is the latest celebrity to join the campaign against the closure of the Burberry factory in [Treorchy] South Wales and the consequent loss of 300 jobs, writes Richard Wachman

Jones and other stars, including Emma Thompson and Rhys Ifans, are fighting plans by the luxury goods and fashion group to reduce costs by shifting production to China.

Rhondda MP Chris Bryant will join the fray this week when he will speak in a debate in the House of Commons and demand that Burberry be stripped of its Royal Warrants, which allow the company to claim that it sells its products ‘by appointment to Her Majesty’.

Burberry would only say: ‘We are proud of our British heritage and we continue to design and manufacture in the UK.’

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Tom Jones appeals for Burberry factory workers

and this from inthenews/Sunday, 21 Jan 2007 12:24

Singer Sir Tom Jones has appealed for the Burberry factory in his native south Wales to remain open.

The Burberry factory in Treorchy, south Wales, is due to close in March with the loss of 300 jobs. High-fashion giants Burberry claim the site is no longer viable.

Born in nearby Pontypridd, Sir Tom, 66, said he knew “how important this factory has been to the community in the Rhondda” and urged “the Burberry management to withdraw their plans to close their Treorchy factory”.

The It’s Not Unusual star has added to the debate which will be taken to the House of Commons this week. Rhondda MP Chris Bryant is expected to speak in a debate over Burberry’s Royal Warrants.

Writer Irvin Welsh, ex-Stereophonics drummer Stuart Cable and Notting Hill actor Rhys Ifans have all backed the Keep Burberry British campaign.

However, not all celebrities have been as supportive of the workers’ cause. Supermodel Kate Moss has reportedly snubbed requests by the campaign to cease her contract as the face of the company. The Croydon-born superstar did not respond to a petition signed by 200 workers.

The caption on the uncredited photo says, “Sir Tom was born in South Wales.” We wonder if there’s a Brit anyhere who doesn’t know that already.

Lookin’ good. Soundin’ great. Or, lookin’ great. Soundin’ good. Or, more accurately, both great.

Tom is back and in great form. He just has so much fun on the stage, as do the band and back-up singers. They bring the audience along so that the entire concert is a joyous event.

Sir Tom is really good at what he does. Which is a good thing, seeing as how he (and we) love it so much. But the thing is, of course it’s true that there could be a set (like Manilow), a surprise element or two (like wondering what time Prince will actually start his show). Perhaps there could be dancers (but that’s so Canadian TV series). The point is, there could be a lot more stuff, but that would only serve to detract from The Voice (although a set wouldn’t be a terrible thing).

When you see a show more than once, you notice the smaller things. His band is, we say again, so talented. And it’s funny to see people in the audience really enjoying the horn section’s choreography. The singers are all given a chance to shine throughout the show, but especially during the amazing intro to Grandma’s Hands. The sound and lighting at the MGM are terrific as they enhance the event.

OK, Tom Jones is amazing. And, sometimes, his audience is surprising.

Tonight there were the usual flying underthings. And, as usual, people held up signs. But one sign — about one-third of the way back in the theater — was terrific:

It said:

It was great to see that sign because, while fans devour every word of every book about Tom, most of them — all of them — are terrible. But, in the general thirst for information, fans read them and, unfortunately, too many take them as gospel. They paint, at best, an incomplete picture of a man’s life and, at worst, just scurrilous gossip, not any kind of gospel. (Gotta admit, though, the pictures are usually good.)

And, it must be said that it is only an extraordinary performer who has fans discriminating enough to think about and comment via sign on books.

So if the person (or people) with the sign reads this — you are so right!

Meanwhile, let us know what you think of this set of shows at the MGM.

Tom opened at the MGM last night, his first date of 2007. Let us know what think of the show when you see it.

Meanwhile, we finally posted some photos sent to us by Nancy Roasa, a longtime fan from Maryland. They are early photos of musicians who were with Tom in the 1970s. They’re posted on our Back In the Day page.

The additions include John Rostill, Keith Jourdan, Alan Jones, Joe Parnello, opener Freddie Roman and one 1983 shot of Tom landing in Ponty with his staff.

We need, as we indicated at the bottom of the page, more information about a few of these guys — specifically, when they were with Tom. If you can help, please let us know.

On Fly Sarah Brightman’s 1995 album, Tom did a duet on a track called Something In the Air.

It was used on the soundtrack of of the TV show 24 and the scene is now posted on YouTube.

What do you think? Good pairing or not?

And, if you know, please tell us exactly what is “in the air.”

Tom is coming to the Grand Theater at the Atlantic City Hilton on March 23 (9 p.m.), 24 (8 p.m.) and 25 (7 p.m.).

NOTE:We heard today — January 19 — that the dates are confirmed. We’re reallly happy for the people we know who have bought tickets.

Tickets are $100 and go on sale via Ticketmaster starting this Wednesday, January 17, 10 a.m. EST.

As at Resorts, it is maitre d’ seating.

Thanks to the East coast fans who alerted us to these dates. Enjoy the shows!

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Speaking of Resorts, from February 5 through March 15, our friend Steve McCoy (left) will be doing his Tom Jones in Legends In Concert.

Tickets are $25, available from Ticketmaster. Again, there is maitre d’ seating.

AND from March 19-22, Steve and Legends will be at the AC Hilton. So, maybe you want to go one day early and see that show, too. Again tickets are $25 and are available from Ticketmaster. There is maitre d’ seating.

So, if you need an extra TJ fix, check Steve out. The show is fun and, as Sir Tom has said, “Steve McCoy does me better than I do.”

We kept forgetting to post this one, but we had dinner at the Stage Deli in the Forum Shops at Caesars the other night and were reminded:

New York City’s famed Stage Deli — one of the few places in the desert where you can quench your thirst with an authentic egg cream or some Dr. Brown’s soda — has a couple of outposts here in Las Vegas (there’s another at the MGM Grand). Their menu, famous for great corned beef and pastrami and the best pickles, also features a bunch of triple-decker sandwiches named after stars.

Among these are the Wayne Newton (turkey, salami, Swiss, cole slaw and Russian dressing), the Jay Leno (turkey, roast beef, Swiss, cole slaw and Russian) and the George Forman (salami, roast beef, turkey, bologna Swiss, lettuce, tomato and Russian — and this in honor of a guy who promotes healthy eating through grilling).

Anyway, there is a Tom Jones triple-decker. It’s chicken salad, bacon, lettuce and tomato. ($10. 95)

Please note: There is no ham on any of these sandwiches. It’s doubtful they’d want to insult any performer by putting ham in his or her sandwich.

We cannot help thinking that, although a BLT with chicken salad is really very good, it probably is not what we’d put in a Tom Jones sandwich.We’d make it with something more — for lack of a better word — macho. Maybe steak and we’d remove the bacon, as it is a form of ham, now that we think about it. Again, it’s a good sandwich as is, but could be better suited to its namesake.

Although no comment is necessary, if you do choose to comment, please keep it clean. Let’s just assume that many female fans would just put Tom and themselves in the sandwich. OK?

Meanwhile, we hope you’ll continue the duet discussion below.