HOLA CHICOS !!

QUERÍA COMPARTIR CON UDS. ESTAS NOTICIAS DE PHIL Y SUS COMENTARIOS
SOBRE LA REUNION DE GENESIS !!

ABRAZO A TODOS,
ADRIAN

Source: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Oct-06-Fri-
2006/weekly/9964265.html

Phil Collins' schedule finally matched up with Andre Agassi's big
night

The folks at Andre Agassi's foundation finally caught Phil Collins
at a good time to perform at the annual Grand Slam for Children.

"I'm just for the first time in a long time ... kind of thinking
about what I want to do," says the singer who is slated for
Saturday's benefit, one of the year's biggest charity
gatherings. "I'm not in any desperate rush to do anything. I've had
a life-changing year and I'm just trying to get used to being on my
own now."

A year of highs and lows saw Collins open "Tarzan" to strong box
office on Broadway in May, expanding the music and lyrics from his
earlier contribution to Disney's animated film. But in March, the
singer announced he was getting divorced from his third wife, with
whom he has two small children.

And so, Collins says, it seems a fine time to meet up with his three
older children for a weekend in Las Vegas. He is returning to the
same MGM Grand Garden where he said his official farewell to
conventional touring in 2004, citing painful hearing problems in his
left ear.

Collins is not the only star giving a fresh feel to Agassi's 11th
benefit for his charter school and local children's charities.
Crooner Michael Bublé was announced earlier this week as the latest
for the lineup that includes first-time appearances by Ellen
DeGeneres, Counting Crows and Tears For Fears, along with returning
guests Sarah McLachlan (from 2003) and John Mayer (from 2004).

Record producer David Foster again conducts the house orchestra for
the event that raised $10 million last year. As in past years, the
concert is a two-in-one affair divided between high-society tables
on the floor and upstairs arena seating for the general public:
Individual tickets are $58.50, $79.50 and $100.50 for the 9 p.m.
show.

Collins has been invited in past years, but has either been on tour
or home in Switzerland with his two sons, now 5 and almost 2 years
old. But after years of contributing to one another's charities,
Collins finally met Agassi after an early match of his final U.S.
Open last month in New York.

"I went back to see him and he was so nice. He dropped his racket
and gave me a hug. He's got a big heart." Though he didn't plan it
this way, Collins adds that it's "even sweeter in some respects" to
be part of Agassi's first public homecoming after his retirement.

Having seen John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors on the seniors circuit,
Collins notes how "they're still playing blindingly great tennis. I
guess it's just frightening to think that age just puts you a half
second slower and that just makes the difference. It's weird."

Musicians from the classic rock era are allowed more latitude to age
gracefully. But Collins fans shouldn't consider this special-
occasion performance as a renege on his retirement. "I'm pretty
emphatic that I won't become one of those people (who say) 'I know
you think I went, but I was just kidding.' "

The loss of hearing is "still the same," he says. "You can fool
yourself into thinking its getting better because your body adjusts,
your brain adjusts to it." Still, "If I get in a crowded room with a
lot of people talking, it's a nightmare for me. But the actual being
onstage and playing, that's not a problem. Or has not yet been a
problem anyway."

Because of that, he's open to a reunion of Genesis, the progressive
rock band he joined as a drummer and later led to pop success as
lead singer. "I put my hand on my heart here: I don't know what
we're doing," he says of the group he left in 1996. "I know we're
going to get together to do some playing around, just to see how it
feels. I know if we do anything with that, we won't be doing it
until next year.

"I think we're going to make it very special and it won't be a tour.
It will be selective shows in selective cities," he adds. "I don't
want to get stuck back on the road with a band I already left 10
years ago. I love the guys and we all get on great, but I think it
should be kept to something special."

Collins became the Genesis frontman in 1976 after Peter Gabriel left
the band. But his own stardom didn't take off until his solo
album "Face Value" in 1981. The irony of the album that includes his
signature song, "In the Air Tonight," is that the commercial
breakthrough is filled with dark songwriting inspired by his first
divorce.

"There's probably a lot of that left in me," he says of personal
tragedy stirring a creative muse. "It is kind of thought-provoking
and stimulating in some respects, but at my age (55) I have more
than a tinge of sadness. Sometimes you jump and sometimes you're
pushed, and I did not jump in this case."

He is happier about "Tarzan," which opened to strong pre-sales but
mixed reviews. Collins always had a musical-theater streak that has
surfaced in his songwriting and showmanship. He performed in the
London production of "Oliver" when he was 14, and says that when he
was coming of age listening to the Beatles, Yardbirds and John
Coltrane, he also had the soundtracks to "West Side Story" and "My
Fair Lady."

No surprise, then, that he set up quarters in New York and hunkered
in as a day-to-day collaborator on "Tarzan." "It was one of those
things where you never thought you'd get asked," he says. "These
things are very expensive and they take a long time to get right."

Though he has "feelers" out for a new theater project, he figures he
will get back to his own songwriting first. "The thing is not to sit
down and wait for (a musical) to happen because it may take four or
five years."