Stars score at festival (shame about the football)

NICOLE Scherzinger wowed the crowd on the opening night of the Henley Festival.

Dressed in a glistering baby pink dress and fur shawl, the former Pussycat Doll triumphed at her only UK appearance outside of her West End theatre shows.

The award-winning American singer brought the crowd in front of the “floating” stage alive as she performed classics like Jai Ho! and Prince’s Purple Rain.

The 45-year-old was one of five headline acts at this year’s festival, which ended on Sunday night.

The 42nd event featured a plethora of music, comedy, art and, somewhat controversially, football.

The weather remained mostly dry and mild the entire time.

Thousands of people attended the black-tie event with some of the perfomances having sold out.

Despite arriving nearly half an hour late, Scherzinger quickly brought the crowd alive with instantly recognisable classics and dance numbers.

She opened with the James Bond theme Diamonds Are Forever before singing Nina Simone’s I Put a Spell on You, Sway With Me by Bill Haley & His Comets and You Make Me Feel Love by Adele.

Following a quick costume change, she reappeared in a military-style co-ord and launched into a medley of some of her best-known songs from her Pussycat Dolls era.

The audience screamed loudly upon hearing the opening chords to Jai Ho! and danced all the way through hits including Buttons and Don’t Cha as well as Scherzinger’s 2011 single Right There.

Not wanting to snub England’s Euros semi-final victory that was reported mid-way through her set, Scherzinger reappeared after a third and final costume change and dedicated her covers of ABBA’s The Winner Takes It All and Queen’s We Are the Champions to the Three Lions.

Following two covers of Kings of Leon anthems Sex on Fire and Use Somebody, she performed Purple Rain and left without an encore.

During her performance on Wednesday last week, the festival screened the England versus Netherlands semi-final match on a screen in its Pure Heaven tent. Crowds gathered to watch the first half of the game before heading to see Scherzinger’s set, which began minutes into the second half.

Only a handful of die-hard fans chose to stay watching the game.

They included Joe, 18, and Miya Cooper, 21, from Binfield Health.

Joe said: “We just love football, it’s a big family thing and it’s better than Nicole Scherzinger by far.”

Miya said: “Football is always the top for our family. My dad and my sister have gone to get drinks and they said, ‘Hold the fort’.

“I love the set-up. We came here a few years ago during the World Cup when Rita Ora played and they had a big marquee and lots of little screens but this is definitely better.”

She said she was not worried about missing out on the concert, adding: “As long as I see Buttons and Don’t Cha I’ll be happy.”

After watching the festival’s riverside fireworks display, revellers flocked to Pure Heaven for late-night entertainment, from the Bootleg Beatles.

The tribute act played the Fab Four’s hits from their early years to their final album, Abbey Road.

With their penultimate song, the band paid their own tribute to England’s win, dedicating Hey Jude to star midfielder Jude Bellingham.

British musician and producer Dave Stewart charmed the crowd on the second night of the festival, performing Eurythmics’ hits from the Eighties.

People were still filing in as he took to the stage about 20 minutes later than anticipated.

The heavens opened before Stewart’s grand entrance at 8.57pm. Umbrellas popped up and chivalrous husbands lent their dinner jackets to protect their wives’ hair.

Dressed in a reflective suit with a matching hat, the 71-year-old opened with Missionary Man, a song he first performed with Annie Lennox in 1986.

He then continued with more Eurythmics hits, including I Love You Like a Ball and Chain, Thorn in My Side and Who’s That Girl, while the crowd enjoyed glasses of champagne and Pimm’s.

The audience sang along enthusiastically to the “whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa” chorus in Thorn in My Side with Australian singer Vanessa Amorosi taking Lennox’s role.

Stewart switched between electric and classical guitar throughout the set. There was a brief issue with the PA system during Talk to Me but it didn’t dampen the crowd’s spirits.

He also performed There Must Be an Angel, Here Comes the Rain Again, Would I Lie to You? and Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves.

The encore featured Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), prompting the crowd to stamp to the beat so the grandstand shook. The audience sang the chorus unaccompanied with even more fervour.

After the traditional fireworks display, Trevor Nelson entertained with music and chat at Pure Heaven.

On Friday night, multi-Grammy-Award winner Gladys Knight captivated the audience as they stood, danced and applauded throughout.

Knight, known as the Empress of Soul, entered the stage with a full band of guitarists, bassists, a drummer and two backing singers to accompany her.

She was dressed in a fitted black suit which was decorated with a silver glitter chest collar and cuffs.

The 80-year-old entertained the crowd with her greatest hits including Baby, Don’t Change Your Mind, Come Back And Finish What You Started and I’ve Got To Use My Imagination.

She serenaded the jubilant crowd with soulful rhythm and blues songs, including Luther Vandross’s Never Too Much and Marvin Gaye’s I Heard It Through The Grapevine.

The audience were dancing as the sun set behind the stage.

After the fireworks, radio host Ross Richard, better known as Rylan Clark, made his festival debut as a DJ at Pure Heaven, playing an upbeat mix of classic house hits. He said: “It’s my first time at Henley, so it’s actually quite exciting. It’s a tough act to follow Gladys Knight but I’ll try my best.

“It’s a scary crowd but I’m not frightened, I’ve done worse — I did
X Factor. This is a walk in the park, or should I say by the river.

“I’ve not prepared — I always play live, so I’m just going to see what the crowd want and give them exactly what they’re after.”

On Saturday night Ministry of Sound and Ellie Sax performed a selection of Ibiza classics to a crowd of dancing fans, who were poised for a night of raving and partying.

To the crowd’s delight, Sax performed I Could Be The One by Avicii who she said co-created the sound of Ibiza and asked fans to sing along in tribute following his death in 2018.

She was dressed in her statement Ministry of Sound sequin cap and a silver
co-ord of diamanté shorts and top to match, which resembled disco ball tiles.

Opening his act in the comedy tent, Irish comedian Dara O Briain, joked with the audience about a plethora of topics, including the NHS.

He made light of the “poshness” of Henley and its affluent visitors, joking that he was having his leg examined in private for the first time and that the individuals in the crowd didn’t seem like they would use the NHS.

He made a joke about himself by selecting people from the crowd whose occupations were relevant.

He added that doctors would move heaven and earth to tell you that “You’re a really solid man” rather than calling you fat.

Towards the end of the gig, there was a medical emergency involving an audience member.

After a few minutes, the incident was resolved and O Briain thanked doctors in the crowd and the security team for their help as everyone applauded.

On Sunday night, the world’s best-selling classical violinist, Nigel Kennedy, performed to a barely filled grandstand and lawn before the screening of England versus Spain in the final of the Euros.

In a reminder of the festival’s initial classical music concept, the attentive and subdued crowd sat and listened to the virtuoso in awe as the sun glistened off the river in the background.

Kennedy was accompanied by violinists and cellists as they played a combination of his own works and well-known pieces by Bach and Vivaldi.

Before England’s agonising defeat, the Aston Villa fan cheered for the team as he left the stage and the crowds flocked to the biggest screen showing the game in Henley.

The grandstand and lawn quickly filled up with people before football fans rose to sing the National Anthem.

Supporters booed after Spain’s first goal but cheered when England equalised. They jumped about, rocking the grandstand.

After England’s defeat, vocalist and guitarist Sam Ryder performed an electric set to a low-spirited crowd, which he quickly turned around.

People waved laser rods from their LED-lit flower boats as the singer shredded his guitar and danced.

Wearing a red shirt with black and white Sonic the Hedgehog trousers, the singer performed his popular songs Living Without You, Mountain and Somebody.

The audience waved their arms and sang to their loved ones as he performed The Source’s You’ve Got the Love before closing with his 2022 Eurovision song Space Man.

Former Henley Mayor Sarah Miller attended the festival on Saturday night with town centre manager Paul Carey and his wife Julia.

She wore a long-sleeve blazer embellished with silver sequins over a sleek black dress.

She said: “This is what the festival’s all about. Just dressing up and having a fabulous time. I put glitter on my face and my hair because I thought, ‘Why not?’

“It seems like tonight is the night that everyone wants to come to. It’s really busy and I’ve bumped into so many people.

“I love the fact that it’s in Henley and that there’s a huge variety of music acts, people walking around, comedians. There’s really so much to offer. It’s just a wonderful event.”

Friends Clare and Paul Donovan and Julie and John Wheals, from Wargrave, enjoyed Ministry of Sound on Saturday.

Ms Donovan said: “It’s the most amazing event on the river. Nowhere else in the UK do you get a combination of the river and the music and the people like you do here.

“There are some amazing outfits like all-in-one glitter jumpsuits. We went to see Sara Pascoe, who seemed a bit bemused by the fact we were all in evening dress.”

Connie Butt, 81 of River Terrance, Henley, who wore a satin patterned suit to the third night of the festival.

She said: “We love the festival. It’s a chance to get dressed up, to go over the top and enjoy the music and all that’s around, including the art and sculptures.”

John Greig, 68, from Shiplake, has attended the festival around 20 times and this year went on the Thursday and Friday.

He said Dave Stewart was “absolutely superb” and hoped Gladys Knight would exceed his expectations.

He added: “We’re looking forward to having a good party, which is always the case at Henley Festival.”

Louise Jackson, 53, from Checkendon, said: “We always come on Sunday night because it’s really nice.

“We came to see Nigel Kennedy but we also watched the football. Sam Ryder was brilliant — a hard thing to follow after us losing but I think he did really well. Every act here is always brilliant and the atmosphere was fantastic.” Stuart Reid, 47, of Queen Street, Henley, enjoyed three nights of the festival.

He said: “I’m a big fan of Sam Ryder. I followed him on YouTube before he was a big star and then obviously, he was on Eurovision, so I was very excited to see him.

“I thought it was great that he came out [after the football] and just did the performance because the crowd was a bit low and he lifted the mood.”

Festival chief executive Jo Bausor said: “The audience feedback has been incredible — everyone had a great time.

“Obviously we had a bit of a curve ball with the football but we made it work. What we tried to do was schedule it so we could keep everybody happy, making sure there was lot of entertainment on at the same time.

“People were just really happy and everybody enjoyed the shows.

“It has been a really tough year for festivals with more than 50 events closing so I think we did an amazing job.

That’s due to the support of the Henley public so I just want to say thank you to everyone for continuing to turn up in black tie.”