Tag Archives: Marie Osmond

Death of Marie Osmond’s Son Ruled a Suicide

Coroner’s officials say the death of Marie Osmond’s son, 18-year-old Michael Bryan, has been ruled a suicide and that drugs or alcohol didn’t play a role in the teen’s leap from an eight-story balcony in Los Angeles in February. 

Bryan left behind a suicide note, but the coroner’s office wanted toxicology results before ruling on his cause of death.  The findings were released on April 21. 

Bryan was one of five children that Osmond and her ex-husband adopted.  

Osmond and her brother, Donny, took a brief break from their Las Vegas show before returning with a tribute to Bryan in March.

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Donny and Marie Osmond Announce Return to their Las Vegas show

Donny and Marie Osmond are scheduled to return on March 9 to their Las Vegas show following the death of Marie’s 18-year-old son, Michael Blosil. 

The sibling musical duo will return next Tuesday to the Flamingo Hotel & Casino and add five extra show dates for “Donny & Marie” from April 13 through17. 

As previously reported by Las Vegas Backstage Access, Blosil, who had battled depression, committed suicide in Los Angeles last week.

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Osmond’s Las Vegas Show on Hiatus after Suicide of Marie’s Son

The suicide death of Marie Osmond’s teenage son is forcing the singer to put her Las Vegas act with brother Donny on hold for an indefinite time.

The duo’s show at the Flamingo Hotel Showroom was canceled Saturday night and People.com cites a rep who says it’s not yet known how long the hiatus will remain in effect.

Los Angeles police say Marie’s 18-year-old son, Michael Blosil, leapt to his death last Friday night from the downtown apartment building where he lived.

In a statement, Marie Osmond said she and her family were “devastated and in deep shock.”

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Donny Osmond Wins “Dancing With the Stars”

An estimated 19.2 million people watched Donny Osmond last night win “Dancing With The Stars” — the smallest audience for the show’s finale since the first season – and take home the show’s traditional mirrored ball trophy in the season finale of the ABC TV contest reality program. 

Helping push Osmond over the top was the tango he performed Tuesday with his professional dancing partner, Kym Johnson. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba hailed his performance as “artistry in motion.” It earned the top score of the final performances. 

Osmond, the former teen pop star of the iconic singing Osmond family, said the show has been a highlight in a career of ups and downs.  

The 52-year-old showbiz veteran, who headlines at the Flamingo in Las Vegas with his sister, Marie, has been performing almost all of his life, but said that there’s a difference between cutting albums and selling records and dancing competitively. 

Donny Osmond now holds the distinction of being the first Las Vegas headliner to win “Dancing’ while having a show on the Las Vegas Strip. 

He competed during the show’s finale Tuesday against singer Mya and Kelly Osbourne, daughter of rock star Ozzy Osbourne. 

Mistakes on the dance floor during the season weren’t the only missteps of ABC’s live broadcast. At the top of Tuesday’s show, as highlights from Monday’s show ran, the video froze on shot of Miss Piggy, prompting host Tom Bergeron to remind viewers that the broadcast was live and send the show to an early commercial break. 

This was the ninth edition of the contest, one of television’s most popular shows. The Nielsen Co. says ratings have been down all season for the show, an indication that viewers weren’t as attached to the contestants as they had in the past.

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Donny & Marie Osmond Plan First Album Release Together in 29 Years

Donny and Marie Osmond, headliners at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, flew to London yesterday to film a TV special that airs in Europe in November. It’s called “An Audience with Donny and Marie” and will feature their first album release together in 29 years.

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Marie Osmond Tapped “Woman of the Year” in Las Vegas

Flamingo headliner Marie Osmond will reign as “Woman of the Year” at the Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Black and White Ball on January 23 at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. MarieOsmond

Bette Midler received the honor for 2009. 

Marie Osmond debuted professionally at age 3, peforming in her brothers’ act, “The Osmond Brothers.”

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Marie Osmond’s TV Talk Show Goes South

Las Vegas Flamingo headliner Marie Osmond’s television talk show, planned for a September premiere on stations in 80 percent of the U.S., has now been cancelled. marieosmond3

A weak economy was supposedly the culprit. “This project, under proper conditions, still remains a strong passion of mine,” she said in a released statement.

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Death of Las Vegas Entertainer Danny Gans Remains a Mystery

Still no answer is forthcoming on the reasons for the death of Las Vegas iconic entertainer Danny Gans, who died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 52 in his Henderson, Nevada home on May 1. 

Although “all the initial information is in,” says Clark County Cororner Michael Murphy, referring to toxicology reports submitted to medical examiners, “it’s not available for release, and we’re still poring over the information.” He added that they have “gathered what we believe is all the critical information, and we anticipate an answer within the next couple of weeks,” but said it could take longer. 

Murphy declined to speculate about possible findings.  Gans’ family members have said he was on medication to control high blood pressure, but otherwise had no health issues as far as they knew. 

According to Chip Lightman, Gans’ manager, the night before Gans died, the entertainer slept poorly. 

A memorial service for Gans was held May 21 at the Wynn Encore, where Gans had performed.  Those in attendance included his wife and his three children, Amy, Andrew and Emily, and Donny and Marie Osmond, Steve and Elaine Wynn, Clint Holmes, Rita Rudner, Criss Angel, Carrot Top, George Wallace, and former Nevada Governor Bob Miller.

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Danny Gans Memorial Service Today in Las Vegas

The Danny Gans memorial service will be at 3 p.m. today, May 21, in the 1,600-seat Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas, the former showroom for the celebrity vocal impressionist.

Expected to attend are Steve and Elaine Wynn, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, entertainers Donny and Marie Osmond a throng of other celebrities, friends and guests. Originally announced as an invitation-only wake, the memorial will include some fans, firefighters and police who were offered complimentary tickets this week from showtickets4locals.com

Gans died in his home of unknown causes on May 1. He was 52.  His death is currently being investigated, perhaps for a couple more weeks.

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Marie Osmond ‘Very Supportive’ of Gay Rights

Las Vegas performer Marie Osmond has come out in favor of gay rights. marieosmond2

In an interview with Los Angeles radio station KOST 103.5, the Flamingo headline said it was “not a sensitive issue” for her.

Osmond said she supports gay couples having civil rights. 

“I think it’s important to look that at the commandment love thy neighbor as thyself,” said Osmond, who has eight children.  Her oldest daughter, Jessica, 21, has been in a gay relationship for three years.

Please see prior Feb. 24 and April 20, 2009 Las Vegas Backstage Access articles.

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Marie Osmond Perserves, Stays on Top

Marie Osmond’s life is a blur.  She wouldn’t have it any other way.  And, amid all the hubbub in a topsy turvy and sometimes cruel entertainment industry, she stays on top. marieosmond

Marie, the only Osmond sister, lives in Las Vegas, says she is still a homebody as much as high roller — a mother to eight kids, a woman who struggles with her weight, time management, career choices and choosing a partner. 

“I really don’t think my life is all that interesting,” said Osmond as she boarded a plane to sign her new book, Might as Well Laugh About It Now.  “But I am flattered by the people that have read it and identify with it.”  Her book chronicles various events in her life, from defending her father’s leadership of the family business to extolling her parents’ influence on her value system. 

Recent TV gigs, ranging from her 2007 stint on “Dancing with the Stars” to appearances on “Oprah,” have reintroduced Osmond to a new generation or two who didn’t know her much beyond the squeaky-clean teenager of the 1970s-era “Donny and Marie” variety show. 

Now a doll designer popular on the QVC cable shopping channel, Osmond agrees life in the media fishbowl is a trade-off in privacy, but she uses the attention to benefit others. Osmond and actor John Schneider dreamed up the Children’s Miracle Network in 1983. It’s a charity, Osmond says, that annually helps 17 million children and their families. The charity idea grew out the death of her brother’s infant daughter. 

“We are all in fishbowls,” she said in an interview. “You just have to learn to be OK with yourself.” 

As much as her later career has been separated from her family act, her life is still very much tied to the brothers with whom she traveled the world last year in performances marking the family’s 50 years in show business. 

Her Las Vegas stage show at the Flamingo with brother Donny is on hiatus until April 21, but she has contracted for two more years and a solo syndicated TV talk show is in the works for this fall. 

It’s all just another day for the work in progress Marie Osmond.

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‘Osmondmania’: Las Vegas Blessing or Curse?

Osmondmania.  It’s everywhere- the Las Vegas equivalent to motherhood and apple pie.donnymarie

The seven Osmonds have been performing in front of world-wide audiences for 50 years.  They were virtually born on stage and continue to make it their home, thrilling many millions of people with their unique brand of barbershop, pop, rock, country, and jazz music

With millions of albums and have several gold and platinum records to their credit, the Osmonds have broken records for sell out performances once held by the Beatles and Elvis, and won numerous awards including the People’s Choice Award.

And choking economy or not, Donny and Marie Osmond continue to perform and shine brightly on the Las Vegas Strip.  Taking the helm when past Flamingo headliner Toni Braxton had to end her show last April due to health concerns, their 90-minute greatest-hits multimedia show at the Flamingo Showroom, which opened September 9, 2008, has an extended run through October 2010.

Now it appears the Osmonds will be Las Vegas for an eternity- and then some.  “The Osmond musical name-and teeth- will live for a long time,” jokes Donny, 51. “Marie and I still are working hard in Vegas because, with dozens of grandkids waiting in the wings and needing jobs one day, we may have to take over every hotel on the Strip.” 

Osmondmania appears here to stay in Las Vegas.

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