Donny Osmond

November 2012

MY brothers bid farewell to touring this year but I don’t see an end in sight. In fact, 2013 is a landmark year for me.

I’ll be releasing my 60th album in my 50th year in showbusiness. And I think it’s the 40th anniversary of Puppy Love.

So I’ll be very careful how I put the album together. I don’t know what it will be yet but it will be one that I want to make.

I won’t be trying to prove anything because I think I’ve done that over the last 50 years. This one will be for me.

And I’ll definitely follow that with a tour in the UK.

Before that I’ve the tour with my sister Marie, which is going to be more than the Vegas show we’ve been doing since 2008.

In Vegas we’re limited to 90 minutes so on this tour we’re going to add a lot more.

The show actually got the award for the Best Show in Vegas for 2012. So we’re bringing the Best Show in Vegas to the UK. Even better than the Best Show in Vegas. How is that for an egotistical statement?

A lot of people wondered when we first started it four years ago whether it would be like the Donny and Marie Variety Show of the Seventies. It’s anything but that.

Obviously you’ve got to do a little nostalgia; you’ve got to do thew old hits. There’s a lot of dancing, costume changes, multi-media... the puppet show is amazing, the juggling fire, the sword swallowing, the elephants dance up a storm... I’m joking.

It’s a variety show with a heart and soul.

A lot of variety shows turn my stomach to be honest because producers will throw a ton of money at it thinking that the more expensive it is, the more entertaining it is. That’s not necessarily the case.

There are times in the show where we shut it down, sit on the stools and sing a song, so it’s not just a big production.

Do I still get fans screaming at shows? It’s different in Vegas but in the UK I think we will get that because they love to do it. It reminiscent of the days of old, particularly when I do Puppy Love. But it’s fun.

The audiences are so diverse now. Primarily it’s the Puppy Lovers, as they call them, but they’re bringing their kids now and their grandkids.

The other night we had four generations at the show and the teenagers liked it the most. Obviously the mom said ‘I grew up with you and she loved Puppy Love’ but the teenager only knew me from Dancing With The Stars.

When I’m at home I live an extremely normal lifestyle because that’s the environment I wanted to raise my kids in. I have four. I have five sons and they range from 14 to 33.

My eldest is going for his business degree, the second one is a doctor of physical therapy, another one is an advertising executive in Boston, my fourth is interested in the music industry but not being a pop artist. He’s DJing and stuff like that.

I’m a Bond fanatic. I’ve got every one of the films but I have yet to see Skyfall. I had planned on seeing it while I’m over here in the UK but the night I thought I was free Gary Barlow wanted me to go to the Music Industry Trusts Awards, where was to be honoured.

So it was either Gary Barlow or Daniel Craig. And Gary won. We’ve worked together before and he produced one of my albums.

The last movie I saw was Hotel Transylvania that my 14-year-old wanted to see it. It’s aimed at teenagers and I didn’t think I’d enjoy it but I did. I thought the writing was so clever. Adam Sandler is amazing.

The book I’m reading now is Quiet by Susan Cain. It’s about how powerful introverts can be and how ineffective extroverts can be. It’s intriguing to me because by nature I am an introvert.

I know, you wouldn’t think so because I’m in showbusiness.

I’d rather read books where I learn something although I really enjoyed Angels and Demons (by Dan Brown) and the first one he did (The Da Vinci Code). So much so that I got the illustrated version.

Muse are probably my favourite band right now. My 22-year-old son turned me on to them. Katy Perry’s new album will be my next purchase because that’s been getting amazing reviews and I want to get the new Maroon 5 album.

I think you have to keep up with what’s going on if you are going to be in the music business. If not then rest on your laurels.

You’ll see that in the show we’re bringing to Nottingham. It’s not just the old stuff.

Donny and Marie Live is at the Capital FM Arena on Sunday, January 27. Tickets are £40 to £70 from the box office, call 0843 373 3000 or go to www.capitalfmarena.com.