International Pop Star Misses the Golden Stag Festival in Romania

The organizers of the Golden Stag music festival in Brasov city finally made public what everybody else already new: Ronan Keating will not come to sing here. Irina Radu, [head of the organizing team], stated in a press-conference yesterday that Keating was not well. His diagnose was toxic infection caused by wrongly administered antibiotics.

As is the case with all international stars, Keating’s pay was already sent into a bank account that he could cash on only after performing on stage. This means a good amount of money is now held in a bank account and the festival organizers [the Romanian Public Television] cannot use it.
What rests for them to do next? To come up with a replacement that would cost twice as much as Keating.
"We are talking to Mel C, formerly with the Spice Girls, with Michael Bolton and with Status Quo. They are cunning and take full advantage of the situation we found ourselves in, with only a few days to go to the final show," said Radu, head of the Department for Special Events in the Romanian Public Television.

The organizers try their best, given the circumstances. Customarily it was for Keating to return the money now in his account, so that the Public Television would be able to invite another star to sing in his place. But Keating said that he still wants to come to Brasov.

"The public’s reaction will tell us if we would reschedule his concert for the fall," said Radu.
If the three stars will not lower their claims for pay, "we will give up on them," said the Public Television President. Still, the three "replacements" for Keating are better known than he is, so it is possible that a local band will pop-up on the list of "reserves."
As "the show must go on," Nino D’Angelo will have his album released today at the St. O. Iosif bookstore, in Brasov, at 15:30.

Before she arrived to Romania, the American singer Pink asked the organizers to find her a club with a well-versed DJ where she could dance. Though she was very tired when she arrived, Pink accepted to join a party that took place in the most fashionable club in Brasov city, the … Fashion Club.
She took a nap at the Piatra Mare hotel in the near-by Poina Brasov resort, before arriving in the Fashion Club at around 1:00 a.m.
Pink danced for two hours, to show the club owner he did not keep open the place in vain. Other local personalities joined in: Irinel Columbeanu, Dan Bittman, Irina Radu, Adrian Enache and Iuliana Marciuc.
Pink recharged her "batteries" with drinking gallons of forest fruits natural juice and powder-protein made of milk. Maybe the live plants she asked for her stage cabin also helped …

Angelica Ganea, the former wife of Doru Octavian Dumitru, said that she would have liked to represent Romania in the singing contest. "I tried to represent Romania, but when I was told that this was not possible I accepted to sing for Canada [where she now lives]. Still, I do not feel I truly represent Canada, not even 1%," she said.
"I could never sing before in the Golden Stag competition, because two stars in a family would have been too much. Had I been today still married to Doru I could not have participated in the contest," Ganea said.
She has the support of her current husband, who is also her manager. Ganea arrived in Brasov accompanied by both him and their daughter, aged 15 months, who tested her vocal cords all the way to Brasov, proving singing runs in the family.

Iuliana Marciuc [Public Television anchor] was the star of the party that took place Wednesday at Cetate. She kept her eyes on [singer] Adrian Enache, until it was obvious for all those present the reason for her up-beat mood. When she left the party she tripped and almost would have fallen on the floor were it not for the white knight Enache to rescue her.
The two went away in his Opel car and headed to Poiana Mare hotel. When getting out of the car, Enache took his chance and tenderly caressed Marciuc, his hand slipping under her skirt. Oops!