You would think with a name like his, there wouldn’t be much that would faze Engelbert Humperdinck.
But he looked a little lost during Carols in The Domain’s full cast finale.
When The Wiggles pushed to the front to perform a kid’s Xmas song, Engelbert (birth name: Arnold George Dorsey) didn’t know what to make of the moment.
And especially when everyone else seemed to know those Wiggly audience participation gestures.
My sister Chris Karpinski just made me aware of this performance and the comments made by many. Engelbert, as always, is a caring, talented and most gracious performer who continues throughout his career to give so much to his audiences and his charities. I agree 100% with my sisters comments. Also, I was taught at a very young age, If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing!
God Bless You Engelbert for Always Giving Your Best! See you in 2010!
Stacey Kassar-We Live To Love-Toms River, NJ
@rod, pretty much agree with you there. Although I’d pretty much say the same every year (including all the times Ray Martin hosted).
Carols by Candlelight which 9 does on Christmas Eve seems such a more classier and professional production when compared to what Channel 7 does with Carols in the Domain. Not sure why it exactly is.. sometimes Carols in the Domain just seems a bit cheap or empty in comparison.
Sorry,
Carols in the Domain got done over big time this year by Carols by Candleight.
Why?
Karl whathisname and Lisa do a better job up front.
Grant Denyer is a crashing bore. Kate Ritchie should have run a mile.
7 should get singers to sing rather than actresses who think they can sing eg Georgie Gardner — getting better after a few years, but sorry, you are not a singer.
Remember Jo Beth Taylor singing a few years back? – like a cat being speyed without drugs.
I do not care about ratings but this year 9s effort won hands down.
What was the Big E on that night?
Engelbert sang and looks amazing…I really think he did a wonderful performance, his voice is superb. I think you should write about how this man is still entertaining people all over the world (you should go to one of his concerts) instead of focusing on the finale of the show. Lourdes
PS…
I guess its all in the headline.
News Flash.
I just spoke with Engelbert personally.
He apologised that he didnt have enough rehearsal time to prepare for his finale with the Wiggles but said that meeting the Wiggles and having their photograph taken with his youngest grand daughter Kiki (3 months old) prior to the the show was one of the highlights to the most memorable Christmases experiences ever.
All of the production staff and guest stars at the concert made Engelbert feel most welcome. The production was “A” class.
Engelbert and Patricia are having one of the best holidays ever.
I thank you Carols In The Domain for inviting them to make this possible.
Engelbert also appreciates all of his fans support and wishes everyone a safe and loving holiday.
Sincerely,
Scott and Family
You are not obviously used to professionals, All that are giving negative comments, shame on you. Engelbert did you a favor, coming from across country, and believe me face it, unless you are 20 or something who knows the wiggles…..give me a break. Engelbert did a fabulous job, and think about the season, and be kind. It is Christmas, be thankful for all you receive. I’m disappointed in those of you that shared negative comments. It’s Christmas, Believe….and Love.
Brenda Pinnell
USA
Shelly: Obviously you have never met Engelbert – if you had, you would not have made the ignorant comment about him being too big a star for rehearsals. To explain further would be a waste of my time. It’s nice that you can remember the same closing number for many years, perhaps you should have donated your time to perform on stage. What have you given of yourself this holiday season? Nothing I’m sure – oh yes, you give criticism. What a lovely gift for Christ’s birthday. Watch the show, say thank you, go home and keep your ignorant comments to yourself. And,
Joey: Frankly,…………Who cares who The Wiggles Are! Oh, and lest we forget Michael:
Michael: “He seems lost from the start, maybe it was past his bedtime”. He was not lost from the start – he sang two beautiful Christmas carols, looked impeccable and as always, gave his all, unsurpassed by anyone! Perhaps it was past your bedtime because your comment was childish. Again, watch the show, say thank, go home and keep your ignorant comments to yourself.
Engelbert is in a class all by himself. He was blessed with a magnificant voice and has shared it with millions of people over the years. He is affiliated with many charities and most graciously gives his time to others. He is certainly one of the greatest entertainers that has ever lived.
I’ts a real shame to read this negative article about Engelbert’s performance last Saturday. Why be always so negative?, specially the media love to be negative about anyone or anything. Don’t understand it especially around Christmas!!!
All I can say is EH did an Amazing job last Saturday, what a Christmas gift he gave us all, us fans, he is a living legend!
He looks and sounds great, for his age wow, just fab!
Hopefully next time I will find a positive review, one that he truly deserves!
Regards,
Michael
Belgium
Engelbert is as always a fantastic performer, who never fails to entertain his audience… the ignorance of some peoples comments is appalling… and not in the true Christmas Spirit….. Three cheers for Engelbert the Ambassador of his country.. who reaches out world wide and is loved greatly…… a man with class, dignity and a wonderful voice !!! Here , here Scott…..
I was being very gracious in my first comment, I did not want to go to level that was being displayed.
However, I would love to know the people that made negative comments about Engelbert, if they have ever seen a concert or bought a cd ??
David, we are not in the “silly season” we are celebrating the birth of Christ, nothing silly about it. It is a season of renewing our faith, loving, sharing and being grateful. It appears none of the negative comments know the meaning of grateful. This gentleman took time after touring all year long to entertain and he did just that.
I don’t know anyone that knows who the “wiggles” are unless they have small children or grandchildren in a special age group.
Everyone should be grateful that they had a free opportunity to see such an incredible entertainer.
God Bless Engelbert and his lovely family
Rebecca
Who are you David Knox anyway, let alone the bloody wiggles. Was the sham that was the Hey Hey, It’s Saturday Jackson 5 more professional in your opinion. When you are lucky enough Mr knox to have a legengry act such as E.H. all you can do is knock him. Was it a little mature for you David. Should we have given the H.H. its S. ,E.H.’s slot instead? How about how wonderful the performance was and how the producers cocked up knowing he hadn’t attended rehersals as being the jist of your piece instead of being a knocker(don’t excuse the pun!) of someone who has proven his greatness over a career spanning a quarter of your country’s modern existance…
Shelly Certainly doesn’t know what he/she is talking about. “He’s too big a star for that!”, obviously you have never met the man. If you had, you would be embarrassed to make such a statement! Engelbert’s humility is only exceeded by the beautiful voice that God gave him. What have you given of yourself this holiday season? Nothing, I’m sure, however you are quick to throw stones at others. You should be ashamed of yourself for even critiquing such a wonderful human being. And, for the record……… Who cares who the Wiggle Are!
Engelbert is MR rehersal. Even flying to the otherside of the world during his only break of the year…he was at all rehersals and happy to be there. This was a huge production and the youth orchestra had so much to learn…everyone needed those rehersals.
When E H was raising children and watching tv shows with them…it was The Wombles of Wimbledon. Now that he is surrounded by sweet grandchildren..the newest arrival,Kiki, who lives in Sydney, perhaps he will be introduced to all the antics and dance moves of The Wiggles.
EH and the Wiggles had alot of fun taking pics later…perhaps they will give him some private lessons to impress his grandchildren..and apparently, the critics who stole Christmas!
PS: Engelbert and his family loved being a part of the celebration..what a great way to kick off Christmas. Shame he didn’t get to moonwalk for the crowd…he would have blown them away…
In defense of our favorite male singer of all time, it appears from this clip of the finale that no one gave Engelbert a clue as to the format of this final song. That rests fully on the shoulders of the production staff. I just hope that Engelbert was not terribly stressed over this. I will reiterate that this man is a gentleman and a legend. He has sung from his soul, performed in live concerts and entertained in every type of venue for over 45 years. He has earned every bit of praise you see here in these comments. How many other singers are there today that can sing as magnificently as he sings? Engelbert’s voice has been described as a “velvet canon”, and he proves that his voice and his performance is still pure perfection, every time he steps onto a stage. Anyone who doubts his ability to perform and to adapt to his concert surroundings, should attend one of his live performances.
I do hope that Engelbert and his lovely family enjoy and Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year. We love you Enge, and wish you the Best in 2010!!!
Mr. Knox, I am offering to assist you. Since it is obvious that you did not attend the event that you wrote about, or have any idea as to what might have been going on between The Wiggles and Engelbert, , I am willing to provide you with a photo that might provide you with a clue. I think you will findthe photo enlightning, specially if you consider the fact that you are writting about the world of entertainment of which TV is part of. You have my e mail. Send me yours and I will forward the photo to you, to you so that you may actually have a one from the event for your column. Please remember than pencils have erasors, and that computers delete keys.
Engelbert was teriific!! Come on, the Wiggles????? We have a living legend here that put on a amazing two song xmas set!! The closing number was a kids song that everyone was having fun on. Engelbert continues to amazine and entertain sold out venues around the world. He is the utimate entertainer and did a a surperb job that night on the stage as always.
Yeah not sure Grant Denyer mentioned the “Dr.” part on his intro either. Seems to be an abject lesson in how to ruffle Englebert fans the world over, but that’s ok. I am comfortable it was an apt observation without attacking the man himself. For my money he was actually funnier on Here’s Lucy in the 1970s anyway. There I go again, bringing it back to TV which is the point of the blog to all our international Englebert guests….
Dr Engelbert Humperdinck ( yes ,Mr Knox, you forgot the DR) transcends everything with his majestic elegance and superb talent! It is a thrill to see him perform anywhere ! What an amazing voice! He is and always will be the epitome of the most enigmatic, hypnotic, gorgeous entertainer! Merry Christmas!
I thought Engelbert was fantistic his voice sounded wonderful as he sang two of my favorites. He looks so handsome in his tux a real English gentelman. His voice just gets better all the time. We are blessed to have had this man to entertain us all these years and he does it with such ease.
LaVonne
I thought it was funny
Its the directors fault, He would have seen that EH was having some trouble, so why did they keep on focusing on him, there were 100′s of performers on stage.
matt
This dignified and legendary entertainer flew from London to perform for charity in your country and all you can say about him is that he looked a little lost with the wiggles. Oh My, you should take in one of his dynamic concerts. At 73 he could outdance The Wiggles, No offense to the wiggles of course. He was just giving them the stage. A true gentlemen that is still going strong after 40 years. What an entertainer. So lets give him a break here . Ok? Say something positive about him. He deserves at least that much. He will always be totally amazing in my eyes.
I feel quite embarrassed to be an Australian..these people that we invite to perform on our shows travel long distances , they have time changes along with everything else…why cant you just enjoy what was put on for you completely free without making negative comments…I have been hoping for years that this great man would come to our shores and perform….I really enjoyed the whole show and was very excited…now I feel we have let ourselves down yet once again with our bad manners…..Its Christmas enjoy yourself , let your hair down a little Byeee
Beyond handsome, classy, extrordinaire…and then the voice and the performance!! Engelbert was as he always is a “cut above the rest”
His performance was wonderful!! I loved hearing him sing “I’ll Have a Blue Christmas” every time he sings that or anything, it is better than the last time you heard it. And the other traditional carol sung only as Engelbert can sing it. There isn’t anything this man cannot do and whatever he does, he does it better than the rest. Add to that he is a consumate professional, a kind hearted, caring human being. If you were to ask him to comment on another persons performance he would find the good in the performance and talk about that part.
My belief is that if you spoke to members of the audience you’d hear wonderful comments as is being made by those of us who saw him but were not there in person.
Thank you, Engelbert for another moment in time, another terrific performance, and for all the work you did to give us this wonderful glimpse of you singing in Australia. We were “In the Wings” as always. Bobbie
Mr. Knox,
Certainly you could have been a bit more gracious. I thought he did great improvising as the Wiggles did their number. It was all in good fun and I
believe he did a fantastic job just by flying down to Australia for this charity.
Merry Christmas to all
You’re absolutely correct when say that “there wouldn’t be much that would faze Engelbert Humperdinck”. Especially not being familiar with “those Wiggly audience participation gestures”. This trivial observation of yours, apparently seems to faze you. You state that he was a “little lost”. You obviously found him —- didn’t you? Because he is A true icon. Had you been standing there, who would have found you? And, Yes! He can certainly Wiggle — can you? A word of advice —– Don’t mess with perfection!!!
Julie
It’s amazing to read such a shocking and surprising article !
Sidney/Australia is lucky to welcome The living Legend Egelbert Humperinck, this very precious and rare entertainer, this wonderful man loved and admired by so many many wo(men) all over the world and what David Knox only had to write is that Engelbert looked “a little lost” !! Let me laugh !
Mr Knox you wrote that your “observation” was not for EH but for his producers, but your article doesn’t mention them but only Engelbert. We can’t stand your article because you don’t say a single nice word about him, it is unfair.
You should have more respect and consideration for this Totally amazing man. Remember he is aged 73 but let me tell you that nevertheless I (and I sure aren’t the only one) would take him, and only him just because he is the most charming, sexy, classy, talented man on stage.
Observe the humbleness and discretion of this man who though has had an amazing eventful life and everything a man would dream to have in his life and many of you will never have. We love Engelbert to pieces.
So please Mr Knox, open your eyes, open your heart. Happy holidays.
Paula
Enge looked wonderful , sounded great and took time from his family to participate in this lovely production. Thank you for sharing this video! In his concerts he does a tremendous job of holding the audience in the palm of his hand with his entertaining skills. I choose to ignore the unnecessary negative comment.
I also agree with what Vidal said about Engelberts performance. This man travels around the world filling theatres with his beautiful music. Music that is hard to find these days. Some say he looked a little lost, well if you were him would\n’t you of.? Everyone but him had microphones. A piece of equipment that has been a part of him for over 40 years.Why didn’t one of the other entertainers at least offer to share theirs? This man is more than a singer he is an entertainer and there is quite a difference. Maybe those of you that criticized him should attend one of his shows next year when he’ll be appearing there, then say the negative things that you have said.
Sounds like the EH fan club is out in force. Lighten up guys, it was an observation not a criticism. I’m sure there was ample reason why he looked a little lost, so the note is directed to producers not Engelbert. He was a good sport, but it doesn’t change what went down.
And no it’s not a big deal. TV needs to have a little fun from time to time. Last I checked we were in the silly season. Let’s have him back next year joining in all those Wiggly moves!
Mr Knox – If you bothered to question, like reporters used to do, you would have found that Engelbert did not arrive on time for rehearsals of the Finale, and one of the comments by Shelly that said perhaps Engelbert wasn’t given a tape of the Finale ( or the songs that are sung year after year ) was probably correct. The songs that were familiar, he sang, the rest of it, who knew, except the people who go year after year.
Still, the gentleman that he is, Engelbert watched and took in all the moves and antics by some of the entertainers, and will surely have a routine down pat in no time, he is quite a mimic you know. It just seems to me that the comments ( and the article ) are opinions from men……let me hear from all the women who love and have loved this Man and his Music for over 40 years, or those who just saw him for the first time. . One more thing, if Enge had decided to do so, he could have out wiggled anyone on that stage, you should see him sing My Wife The Dancer. But then this was a Christmas Show, for all members of the family, and being the elegant Englishman that he is, he sang two beautiful songs, looked like a million dollars, and did not find fault with anyone. ( I also believe he met the Wiggles backstage.) Personally, I enjoyed every moment from Intro to Finale.
Dorothy Whalen in New York, USA
Did it ever occur to you that Engelbert may not have rehearsed the closing number due to prior commitments? For someone so eager to be critical and in search of perfection, may be you should have used a photo from the actual performance.
Engelbert was great ! and obviously you did not have a budged for a photo and had to use a file one, proving that you are not as perfect and or professional on your field.
Christmas is a time of loving and sharing. That is why an artist of the caliber of Engelbert travel ro the other side of the world……to share and to love. .
That traveling took time, and maybe he spent more time traveling to be there that any of the other performers. May be we should appreciate his effort more than be critical. His performance was unique, specially when he never performs in late December.
I enjoyed his performance, as well as the performance of all the the performers.
As to the closing number…..Who cares? Maybe someone is is looking for something to write about?
I think that Enge was enjoying the moment and he is gracious and big enough to know when to stand aside for other performers, especially ones in their own country. You should remember that Enge isnt in Australia every Christmas for the Carols of the Domain. If there was a problem it would be with the people in charge for not being sure that he knew how the finale works. I was a stage manager for 4 years and know that you have to arrange for guests to be informed and walk through what they are supposed be doing. He was asked to participate as a guest and should be treated as such. His performance was superb as it always is. Remember what Thumper the rabbit learned in the movie Bambi “If you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all.”
He’s not alone i have no idea who the wiggles are, they are not the b all and end all of a carol service. It was nice to view Engelbert in Australia, thank you and Merry Christmas to him and his family.
Engelbert looked fabulous, and sang beautifully……
What a special evening!
Merry Christmas to all
Amazing how someone like Amy Winehouse can get away with performing either stoned, high or drunk and you people “rave” about it…..
Think she will have a successful 43 year career and still be performing at 73? I think not…..
If you have never seen Engelbert Humperdinck in concert, and by the way, he still performs worldwide , then reserve your comments until you do. The man is a true icon and has an awesome voice. He is not just a singer, he is an entertainer…..a rare commodity these days in the music industry….
@Doug – I don’t know about VIPs but last year I paid for premium seating (actual chairs, up close to the stage) and the entertainment package that goes along with it (canapes, beverages, the opportunity to meet the stars before the performance, etc). I certainly didn’t feel that I ranked higher than anyone else – just that I was fortunate enough to be able to pay for an actual seat. If you have children and can afford it then it is definitely worthwhile.
Engelbert arrived from London he day before.
He flew in to Sydney to perform for this charity.
He had no rehearsal time.
I would say that he is a pretty good sport.
This is a trivial observation .The main issue with this show on TV is the ads , ads & more ads with incessant plugs for MLC etc .Along with Motor Mouth hosts..The ads took up 45 minutes. of my time .If you go to the Domain see how many VIPs rank higher than you in getting premium seating & refreshments.
From the clip he seems lost from the start, maybe it was past his bedtime!
Does anyone know what happened to Anthony, the blue Wiggle? Captain Feathersword seems to be in his place…
This tells me two things – that he didn’t attend any rehearsals in the three days leading up to Saturday night where they repeatedly block and run the show (clearly he’s too big a start for that!) and that no one had given him a tape of the show to view, because they have been doing the same closing number for more years than I care to remember!
I thought that too! He looked like he had no clue who the Wiggles were. LOL