New York is abuzz regarding the announcement that Liza Minelli will be performing a one-time show on April 7th at Roy Thomson Hall. Twenty-six years ago the performing legend did a four-night run at the Hall during it’s opening season.

The daughter of actress-singer Judy Garland and director Vincent Minnelli, Liza’s first professional gig was at the age of three. she appeared in the musical “In the Good Old Summertime” in which her mother starred and her father directed. Her premiere television appearance was at the age of ten when 45 million tuned in to see her host the premiere broadcast of “The Wizard of Oz.”

At the age of 19, Liza was already starring on Broadway. Her performance in “Flora, the Red Menance” earned her a Tony for Best Actress in a musical. Various movie and Broadway roles followed. In 1972 the role of Sally Bowles in the film version of “Cabaret” earned her an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA (British Academy Award).

Liza’s illustrious career has included two additional Tonys, another Golden Globe, a Grammay Legend Award and an Emmy. She is one of the few artists in history to win the Grand Slam of Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy.

As a singer, Liza has sold millions of records across the globe and has earned three Gold albums and one Gold video. Her show “Liza with a Z” was the first concert to be filmed live for television and earned her the above-mentioned Emmy.

Having starred in several movies that prominently featured New York City, including the 1977 “New York, New York,” it’s no wonder the actress-singer has become inseparable from the Big Apple. Fans hoping to attend the concert will find a number of five star hotels in New York City to choose from.

In 2000, Liza was stricken with encephalitis. Despite a negative prognosis, she worked her way back and launched a major comeback in 2002. Her newest CD, “Liza’s At The Palace” debuted last month on Hybrid Recordings.

Lately, hardly a day goes by at Marketing Daily without a press release on some celebrity-designed product crossing our desks. Not just a celebrity endorsement, mind you–that good old-fashioned “We paid this movie star big bucks so we could slap her picture on the box and have her shoot three commercials”–these deals imply creative collaboration and actual celebrity input.

Lots of them make sense to us, and always have, pairing a celebrity’s area of expertise with a related product–Rachael Ray’s cookware, for example, or Tony Hawk’s skateboards.

But many just evoke a disconnect, and seem destined for the “70% off!” rack. Like pop star Avril Lavigne, who just signed up with Kohl’s for a new line of juniors clothing, and who told Newsweek: “I actually am the designer. I try everything on and approve it all.” (That’s funny–we thought designers did something with sketches, scissors and swatches and so forth.)   Read more