Donny Osmond has some favorite segments during his headlining show on the Las Vegas Strip. There’s the “Donny Rap,” the “Request Segment,” and the climactic part of the performance when inflated, blinking Donny Balls are pitched into the audience for celebratory volleying. The latest addition incorporates artificial intelligence, images of him at age 14 and his grandson to make something magical happen: Osmond duetting with his youthful “Puppy Love”-era self.
“That’s becoming another anchor point to the show,” says Osmond. “People have heard about it. They’ve read about it. They see it on YouTube and in interviews I’ve done. Then when that curtain opens up and you see this three-dimensional character that’s me 53 years ago … I hear the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ coming from the audience.”
Two years in the making, Avatar Donny is a high-tech combination of Osmond’s face as it looked more than a half-century ago and his grandson Daxton, dressed as his grandfather did in the early ’70s when he was frequently featured on covers of teen idol magazines such as Tiger Beat. He’s even wearing a cap that was a trademark back in the day. A fan sent it to him just for the video recording in New York, after which Osmond promptly returned it.
“When I’m looking into the eyes of myself, 53 years ago, can you imagine how strange that is? I’m looking in the mirror 53 years ago,” says Osmond.
So returning fans have something new to witness the next time they buy tickets for Donny. Due to the technology involved, Osmond needs to be on point during the segment with split-second timing. Other parts of the show are much more casual and spontaneous by design.
“That segment in my show that I call ‘The Request Segment,’ it’s 20 minutes of unknown,” says Osmond. “I don’t know where it’s gonna go, and like I’ve said in times past, it’s probably my favorite part of the show because it’s unknown. For some people, that would scare them half to death. That’s why I love those parts of my show, because the audience is entertained in real time, if that makes any sense. We’re making it up as we go, and that’s what’s fun for me and the audience.”
Osmond road tested the segment on tours years ago before his solo residency, which he was not able to do with Avatar Donny. “I first saw it in January, when we were recording in New York in a place called ZeroSpace,” says Osmond. “When I first saw a rough export of my face next to his face, it freaked me out … You can only imagine what that felt like.”
It freaked out fans too, some of whom attended a special Tiger Beat Magazine Preshow VIP Celebration in March, featuring a Q&A with editor Ann Moses. Osmond has come full circle since trying to ditch his old image and can now embrace every era of his career.
He especially appreciates the current phase, in which every performance is now enhanced by groundbreaking use of A.I. “What’s really cool is that I was the first one to do this,” he says.
Harrah’s Las Vegas. caesars.com
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