‘Candle In The Wind’ Video First TV Memorial To Diana Singer Says He’ll Never Repeat Live Performance Of Tribute
The images from the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, watched by an enormous worldwide television audience, will be memorialized in a series of television projects to be released over the next several weeks. Coverage will include instant videos based on the news coverage of the funeral procession and service.
But so far no network has agreed to produce a television movie based on either Diana’s life or the circumstances surrounding her death, though some independent producers have suggested ideas for such movies, network executives said Monday.
The most immediate television follow-up to the enormous coverage of the funeral will be a music-video version of Elton John’s personal tribute to the princess, the revised version of his and Bernie Taupin’s “Candle in the Wind,” which he performed live in Westminster Abbey on Saturday morning.
John, who announced he will release the song as a single, has told friends he will never perform the song again. All proceeds from the single will go to the Princess of Wales Fund, established to benefit the charities to which Diana was devoted,
It is common for a song to be released in conjunction with a video, and videos occasionally have been adapted from performances at live concerts or sports events. But several executives associated with the music-video industry said Monday that they knew of no other time when a video had been based entirely on the coverage of a live news event.
The video will not present any added production; it will be the official pool-camera feed of John’s performance, as presented live on Saturday morning in Britain by cameras from two news organizations, the BBC and Sky News.
The video began playing on the two cable music channels owned by MTV Networks on Monday night. MTV broadcast the video once during its new, live daily show. VH-1 began broadcasting the video in its regular rotation of videos Monday night. The song will now appear about four or five times a day on VH-1, said Carol Robinson, the corporate spokeswoman for MTV Networks.
At least two news organizations, ABC and the BBC, are rushing videos of the funeral coverage to stores. ABC’s coverage will be available in a video called “The Final Farewell,” produced by MPI Home Video.