This evening was one that will most likely stay in my memory until the day I die. Being in Cannes at all is a privilege and I can’t thank Stella Artois (and Chez Jacques!) enough for sending us over but this evening’s party, to promote Red Granite Picture (who have recently been reported to have attached Leonardo DiCaprio to Wolf) was simply fantastic!
We heard that Kayne West would be performing at the Carlton Hotel performance tent down on the beach but what I didn’t realise was the talent that would turn up to see the gig. As we arrived, we were greeted by multitudes of women lining the red capret making us feel rather intimated! Fans galore were lining the barriers doing their best to get into this event but this was the hottest ticket in town and only 250 people were allowed in.
We were there for around half an hour when the first actress turned up, in the form of Elaine Hendrix. Rumours then circulated the venue that Jamie Foxx would be turning up along with Leonardo DiCaprio. We brushed off the news as rumours until 10 minutes later, both of the Hollywood A-Listers entered the building! Rather amusingly Craig asked the question “Is Jamie Foxx here” literally as Foxx was brushing past his shoulder, to which I replied, “yes, he’s touching you now!”
We were treated to a warm up performance from Pharrell Williams before the man himself, Kanye West took to the stage but not before some security guards were asking us if we’d seen Kanye anywhere?! I guess they found him in the end as it wasn’t too long before the man famous for highly memorable live performances took to the stage.
Watching the gig was amazing in itself. Kanye has some PR issues in his personal life but as a live performer, the guy was incredible. I was hoping that he’d perform my favourite song, Gold Digger and it wasn’t too long before the choooon turned up. What I didn’t expect however was the song to be stopped half way through and for Jamie Foxx to join Kanye for an impromptu duet. I’ve embedded the video of the performance below which might literally blow your mind!!
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqY5KCy2_Ao’]
The night got even more surreal when I saw Leonardo DiCaprio standing on a sofa so that he could get a better vantage point to see Kanye’s performance, and then further still as I noticed Rosario Dawson standing right in front of me having the time of her life at what could be one of the best gigs that we’ll ever go to! On the way out, I managed to get a photo with the talented actress – not too sure her security man was too impressed though!
On the way out, Craig got to meet Fisher Stevens rounding off an absolutely amazing night! We’ve just got home to find out that Eric Schmidt (the former CEO of Google) was also at the gig along with the who’s who at Cannes and it was a privilege for us to be there.
Bring on Cannes 2012. If Kanye is performing again, I want to be there!
Photos courtesy of the literally amazing Craig Skinner!
