PAUL TAGGART
So the news is out. A couple of old-timers will top the bill at the Mission Concert in February - one of whom many of those who bought tickets in advance will never have heard of.
But it re-kindles the annual debate - is it the music or the atmosphere that attracts 25,000 people to the Napier vineyard? Judging by this year's lineup it is clearly the venue, as Olivia Newton-John and Chris de Burgh would be lucky to fill the Napier Municipal Theatre or the Hawke's Bay Opera House.
With 70 percent of tickets sold prior to the artists being announced, it is blind faith that makes thousands of people part with their hard-earned cash before they know if they'll be listening to Pavarotti or the grand-daughters of the von Trapp singers, still milking their famous name on yet another world tour.
This year's pairing falls somewhere between the two camps - not stars of the new century, but with enough credibility to allow Sport and Entertainment Ltd to get away with it again.
Goodness alone knows what was going on behind the scenes, but the delay to the announcement of who the artists would be suggests there were cancellations of first-choice artists, as has happened before.
But the event is a commercial enterprise and stands or falls on its agents' choices. Can the event continue with washed-up stars from 30 years ago indefinitely, or is it time to rethink the format?
That is The Mission's call. While the demand is there then the ticket prices will remain high and artists of less than stellar luminosity will be trundled onto the stage, promoted with the aid of out-of-date photographs and hyped as being a "sophisticated programme" and "a real class act".
That said, the event is still one of the jewels in the province's tourism calendar, along with the two Art Deco events, Jazz in the Park and the Harvest Hawke's Bay wine weekend.
And the controversial choices add spice to the annual guessing ritual and the event is close to a sell-out, so the Mission and SEL must be doing something right. Long may the concert flourish.
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