<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Concert pullout: Organiser loses appeal, has to repay STB
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He worked behind STB's back to hold event in New York, says judge </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Selina Lum
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A BRITISH concert organiser who failed to deliver a mega-event here in 2005 was yesterday ordered to repay the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), which pumped $6 million into the now-infamous Listen Live show.
The decision by the country's highest court capped a long-running legal battle between the STB and Mr Tony Hollingsworth (above), the man behind the concert.
Listen Live had originally been billed as Singapore's biggest-ever entertainment event. It was to be beamed to about 500 million people worldwide and raise $150 million for disadvantaged children.
But the concert never got off the ground, and yesterday, the Court of Appeal laid the blame on Mr Hollingsworth, saying he had concocted an elaborate charade to dupe the STB into believing he could deliver the show.
Justice V.K. Rajah said the evidence showed that he made no reasonable efforts to get financing for Listen Live, and instead worked behind STB's back to stage the event in New York.
The judge said the 'patent lack of effort' by Mr Hollingsworth to secure artists and broadcasters was an example of the 'carefully orchestrated pretence'.
Mr Hollingsworth courted the Singapore Government in 2003, pitching a charity campaign that would culminate in a concert staged here.
Listen Live was touted to draw 20,000 tourists and bring in $30 million.
Celebrity names like Hollywood star Jamie Lee Curtis and Asian stars Wang Lee Hom, David Tao and Kit Chan were named as possible participants.
But in January 2006, five months after the STB signed a third and final agreement, Mr Hollingsworth dropped a bombshell. The event was being canned as there was not enough core financing.
By then, the STB had paid $6 million to Children's Media, a vehicle set up by Mr Hollingsworth to organise the event.
The STB sued Mr Hollingsworth, Children's Media and another of his companies, Tribute Third Millennium, to get back the money.
The defendants argued that the STB should not get back its money as the third agreement, which superseded the earlier ones, did not provide for a refund.
In May, a High Court judge ruled in favour of the STB, saying that Mr Hollingsworth, by 2005, had 'never intended to hold the event'. He found that before the third agreement was signed, Mr Hollingsworth had lied to the STB when he claimed core financing had been secured.
The defendants took the case to the Court of Appeal, where their arguments were rejected yesterday. The court also held Mr Hollingsworth personally liable for the refund, saying the companies were no more than 'corporate puppets' dancing to his tune. The amount he will be required to repay is expected to be determined at a future hearing. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He worked behind STB's back to hold event in New York, says judge </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Selina Lum
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A BRITISH concert organiser who failed to deliver a mega-event here in 2005 was yesterday ordered to repay the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), which pumped $6 million into the now-infamous Listen Live show.
The decision by the country's highest court capped a long-running legal battle between the STB and Mr Tony Hollingsworth (above), the man behind the concert.
Listen Live had originally been billed as Singapore's biggest-ever entertainment event. It was to be beamed to about 500 million people worldwide and raise $150 million for disadvantaged children.
But the concert never got off the ground, and yesterday, the Court of Appeal laid the blame on Mr Hollingsworth, saying he had concocted an elaborate charade to dupe the STB into believing he could deliver the show.
Justice V.K. Rajah said the evidence showed that he made no reasonable efforts to get financing for Listen Live, and instead worked behind STB's back to stage the event in New York.
The judge said the 'patent lack of effort' by Mr Hollingsworth to secure artists and broadcasters was an example of the 'carefully orchestrated pretence'.
Mr Hollingsworth courted the Singapore Government in 2003, pitching a charity campaign that would culminate in a concert staged here.
Listen Live was touted to draw 20,000 tourists and bring in $30 million.
Celebrity names like Hollywood star Jamie Lee Curtis and Asian stars Wang Lee Hom, David Tao and Kit Chan were named as possible participants.
But in January 2006, five months after the STB signed a third and final agreement, Mr Hollingsworth dropped a bombshell. The event was being canned as there was not enough core financing.
By then, the STB had paid $6 million to Children's Media, a vehicle set up by Mr Hollingsworth to organise the event.
The STB sued Mr Hollingsworth, Children's Media and another of his companies, Tribute Third Millennium, to get back the money.
The defendants argued that the STB should not get back its money as the third agreement, which superseded the earlier ones, did not provide for a refund.
In May, a High Court judge ruled in favour of the STB, saying that Mr Hollingsworth, by 2005, had 'never intended to hold the event'. He found that before the third agreement was signed, Mr Hollingsworth had lied to the STB when he claimed core financing had been secured.
The defendants took the case to the Court of Appeal, where their arguments were rejected yesterday. The court also held Mr Hollingsworth personally liable for the refund, saying the companies were no more than 'corporate puppets' dancing to his tune. The amount he will be required to repay is expected to be determined at a future hearing. [email protected]
