| Dishing
With Donny
After nearly 45 years of being on the entertainment scene,
Donny Osmond has come full circle, professing “Puppy
Love” again and stepping back into the world of TV,
If to some, these unique manipulations indicate that he is
moving very differently these days, Osmond has good reason
for it.
It could be said that the almost-50 entertainer has simply
re-located his “hip.”
Undoubtedly, that factor continues to give Osmond traction,
furthering his foothold on the adoration of the public. He
has not one TV show, but two, on the near horizon as well
as a new CD coming out. Plus, he just got done nearly four
months of starring in “Beauty and the Beast” on
Broadway and will be back at the Orleans with his live stage
show Nov 15 - 18. While, for a time, he tried hard to cut
away from his “white bread” image, success in
a variety of areas has only served to sew up his relationship
with his past.
”I’m a little more comfortable with the history
of where I’ve been,” Osmond admits. “I’ve
had that history since the age of five. I’m actually
more comfortable since ‘The Donny and Marie Show’
DVD was released last year. I wouldn’t have released
it years ago because that was the exact thing I was trying
to get away from. It’s kind of all-encompassing now
– now I enjoy every aspect of my career. I enjoy singing
‘Puppy Love’ today as much as I enjoy singing
the songs on my current album.”
The new CD he is referring to called “Love Songs of
the 70’s,” a collection of Osmond’s own
favorites, which will be released in the U.S. in April. As
for the television shows, Osmond is the host of a reality
show on ABC called “The Great American Dream Vote,”
which began airing in March.. He is also reprising his role
as host of the “Pyramid” game show – which
he did for two years in this country – on TV in England,
which also started in March. Ironically, in the midst of all
this, Osmond has discovered just how hip it can be to be square.
“What was a total surprise to me was that I recently
did a video with Weird Al Yankovich,” he relates, laughing.
“He was doing a parody on the song ‘Riding Dirty’
called ‘White and Nerdy’ and he called me and
said, ‘You’re the first one I thought of.’
I couldn’t turn it down. I did these weird nerdy dances
behind Weird Al. The video’s been out for five or six
months now and it’s the Number One downloaded video.
Plus, I recreated it on the Video Awards last December. Something
like that made me hip again in a lot of kids’ eyes.”
Initially Osmond asked himself why he would consider doing
the video when he had worked so hard over the years to change
his image. Like everything else he does in his life and career,
once Osmond made a commitment to doing it – possessing
the ability to laugh at himself and realizing that the concept
was so un-hip that it was hip -- he gave it 110 percent. In
terms of his career, Osmond believes in 1 percent luck and
99 percent hard work, feeling that one creates his own destiny.
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“I think an element of good luck is inevitable,”
he acknowledges. “Things fall into your lap sometimes,
particularly in show business. But I’m of the opinion
that once you make up your mind to do something, then go for
it, and stick with it, doors will open. The thing that blindsided
me was how fast you can lose a career. -- after ‘The
Donny and Marie Show,’ it all faded very quickly. Having
analyzed it over the years, I realized that things change
very quickly from little teenager to young adult because it’s
all about the cool factor. I was victimized by that.”
. Osmond claims that his cool factor has surfaced through
his.proving himself time and time again over the years. Today
he has achieved long sought-after respect beginning with his
six-year-run in “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat”
on Broadway and continuing up to and beyond last year’s
critically acclaimed Billboard Smooth Jazz-charting album
“What I Meant To Say” that he wrote and produced.
He says that he is still ambitious, the roots of his drive
still being in the work ethic he got from his parents years
ago.
The difference is, he feels that he doesn’t need as
much external validation as he used to. For that reason, he
will push the envelope and give his audiences a little of
the unexpected when he does his own show on stage.
“You always worry when you’re outside the box
if people are going to accept it,” Osmond explains.
“Change is always met with resistance, But it’s
always good to give people a surprise and have them leave
feeling that they got more from the show than they paid for.”
Stay tuned.
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