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ABOUT THE SHOW
A unique production, performed by Miss Julia Martin, paying tribute to the biggest diva of them all … ‘Dame Shirley Bassey’. This singing legend needs no introduction, her unwavering global appeal spans more than four decades and as many generations. In this show Julia captures the instantly recognisable voice of Dame Shirley Bassey and combines it with a passionate delivery of every lyric. The BBC in a recent interview with Julia cited her has the UK’s No 1 Shirley Bassey tribute.
With more than 20 years in the business and over 3,000 tribute performances to her name, Miss Julia Martin is acknowledged to be one of the most versatile and sought after Shirley Bassey tribute artistes in the world. Her sensational tribute show to DSB has taken Julia around the globe, performing for Heads of State, Celebrities, Blue-Chip Companies, Cruise Companies and Leading Hotels of the World.
Julia’s recent touring schedule includes not just the the length and breadth of the UK, but also visits to Pakistan, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and a host of European Countries.
Julia’s dedication and attention to detail is what makes her shows so special and her amazing ability to mimic both the voice and movements would leave you thinking that you had seen the original artiste. Julia matches Shirley’s magnetism, stage presence and extravagance of gowns every step of the way and she is the only Shirley Bassey tribute artist in the world to own and use within her show original Shirley Bassey gowns. This was brought about by the successful purchase of these incredible and totally authentic show gowns from Christies of London. Each of these unique gowns has its own profiled history and between them they span over 50 years of Shirley’s success.
THE NUMBER OF TRIBUTE SHOWS PERFORMED AROUND THE WORLD BY MISS JULIA MARTIN
CHECK OUT THE VIDEOS
Please choose from the video clips below to watch Miss Julia Martin performing her Dame Shirley Bassey Tribute Show
A MESSAGE FROM DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY …
“Thank you Julia, just the possibility of keeping some of my gowns on show in the UK would be incredible, especially since bids from all around the world were placed. Most of my dresses did not stay in the UK, and many went to buyers in the USA and other countries around the world. I’m delighted that my gowns will be used again, I doubt if I could fit into them anymore. Good luck with your shows.”
Dame Shirley Bassey
A KEY FACTOR TO A GREAT SHOW IS
ENTERTAINING & ENGAGING THE AUDIENCE
Julia’s ability to entertain and involve the audience is one of the key factors that sets this show apart. From the many comments that Julia receives concerning her show, taking the time to engage with the audience, posing for photographs and chatting with guests both during and after the show are always at the top of the list. The picture gallery below highlights some of the fun times that Julia has, mostly with the men and in more cases then not, egged on by the wives and girlfriends.
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THE STORY SO FAR
Diva Double Buys Up Original Bassey Gowns
“One of the highlights of my night apart from the purchase of the dresses and meeting Dame Shirley was when Dame Shirley stood up from the front row, turned round and blew me a kiss on the conclusion of my last successful purchase”
Julia Martin
Miss Julia Martin the UK’s number one tribute artiste to Dame Shirley Bassey is the proud owner of the largest private collection of ORIGINAL DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY SHOW GOWNS in the world and the ONLY Shirley Bassey tribute artiste to use a selection of these original show gowns throughout the show.
Julia’s collection started several years ago with the successful purchase of a number of original gowns from Christie’s in London. Since then Julia has gone on to add more incredible and totally authentic Bassey show gowns to her ever growing collection.
Follow Julia’s journey from the purchase of these gowns to a recent trip to Wattens in Austria where Julia got to film and wear the priceless collection of DSB gowns owned by Swarovski, including the ‘Diamond Dress’ that sold in Christie’s for a staggering £35,000 pounds.
Please click on the + SYMBOLS.
JULIA MEETS DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY
“It was absolutely sensational, the chance of a lifetime, the people and the ambience made it like being at the Oscars. It was just incredible” – Ms Martin described her idol as “wonderful”, adding: “Darling, we drank champagne all night”.
Julia Martin
Miss Julia Martin finally got to meet the Dame herself, when she was invited to a lavish private party thrown by Dame Shirley Bassey to a select audience of just 50 people. Julia spent the evening chatting to Dame Shirley and mixing with guests including broadcaster David Frost, fashion designer Isabelle Kristensen and rock star Bryan Adams. This glittering occasion took place at Christie’s auction house in London where Dame Shirley was auctioning 50 of her most prized stage gowns to celebrate 50 years in show business.
The proceeds went to Dame Shirley’s favourite charities and a whopping £250,000 was raised, with the highest price gown going for a staggering £35,000. Julia helped towards these proceeds by becoming the highest individual purchaser on the night buying some seven stage gowns including the world famous Douglas Darnell creation ‘The Gypsy Gown’ used by Dame Shirley to open many of her shows in the early sixties. These stunning and prized gowns with such a fabulous history are all now being used to great effect in Julia’s tribute show to Dame Shirley Bassey.
The BBC took a keen interest in Julia’s involvement and had a film crew following her for the full day, you can check out the video to the left of this article. The final word however must go to Dame Shirley who took Julia to one side after the auction and commented to the world press that it was a delight that her dresses would continue to be used in a show environment and that she only wished that she could fit back into them.
A JOURNEY TO SWAROVSKI IN AUSTRIA
1,200 miles driving, 1 ferry crossing, 4 Countries and just 24 hours to get there!
A PERSONAL REFLECTION BY JULIA MARTIN:
It all sounded really exciting and somewhat cavalier when my manager suggested that I should drive with a film crew through the night to the small village of Wattens in Austria to film a documentary. Now after the event, that original idea was not quite so grand; I thought it would be a great opportunity to explore hundreds of miles of beautiful scenery, through 4 different Countries. How wrong I was, very little countryside, but lots and lots of motorways and driving through the night. Why did I not insist that I fly? We left the UK at 3pm in the afternoon; a two-man film crew accompanied me, a ferry crossing at 9pm to sail from Dover to Calais. Then through, France, Belgium, Germany and Austria en-route to Wattens, some 1,200 miles I was reliably informed, and that was just one-way.
Swarovski Crystal Worlds was my final destination, home of the largest collection of original Dame Shirley Bassey show gowns. A priceless collection, bought at auction some 9 years ago, the only time that Dame Shirley ever sold her fabulous gowns. Some 50 gowns were auctioned on the night at a star-studded event at Christie’s in London. Swarovski had an open cheque book and bought some 18 gowns, paying the highest price of the night of £36,000 for Dame Shirley’s most famous gown ‘The Diamond Dress’ a unique Douglas Darnell creation with some 156,000 hand-stitched Swarovski Crystals, weighing in at a staggering 7 kg.
I had the pleasure of being one of only a selected handful of people to be given complete access to the vault where these wonderful dresses were stored. I was allowed to examine and photograph the dresses in minute detail, and was blown away by the incredible work and thousands of man-hours that went into the construction of these masterpieces. What’s more I was filmed trying all the dresses on, the filming was for a Television Documentary I had been invited to work on, tracking down where all the 50 gowns that were sold at auction went too. This filming not only included my trip to Austria but it will also take me around the world to visit and interview other purchasers of the unique collection of gowns that went under the hammer.
The people at Swarovski were wonderful and over 4 days I had total control over this unique collection. My visit accumulated in performing ‘Diamonds are Forever’ wearing the Diamond Dress complete with Cape in the Crystal Dome. What a privilege to wear the most famous dress in the ‘Bassey’ collection and how often can you slip into something that is totally one-off and worth more than £36,000.
This trip was worth every single mile and I came back to the UK with not only some incredible memories, but also pictures and film footage that will last me a lifetime. What’s more I got to wear every single gown, gowns that had never been worn by anyone other than Dame Shirley Bassey and I performed in the Crystal Dome wearing the Diamond Dress, the Holy Grail of the Bassey collection.
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CREATE A WOW FACTOR WITH A FUN CASINO NIGHT
If you want to make your event really memorable and a great success then why not combine Julia Martin’s DSB Tribute with Casino Tables, Bond, Jaws and Odd-Job Look-a-Likes, Bond Girls and create a 007 Themed Casino Evening?
DON’T BE SHY
Thank you for taking the time to visit my DSB Tribute page, I hope you found it interesting. Please keep checking back from time to time and visit the ‘Latest News’ link to be kept up-to-date on all my travels and adventures. I can accommodate all types of bookings, be it small or large events. I have performed to just 12 members of an overseas Royal Family in a private suite in the Dorchester Hotel, London, right up to an outdoor stadium of 20,000 people.
I welcome all enquires both home and overseas, and when travelling abroad, be it anywhere in the world, I travel on my own to keep the clients costs down. Dame Shirley may be a FABULOUS DIVA, but I am very grounded in offering my clients exceptional value for money and I would not burden them with additional travel costs for extra people.
I hope to hear back from you, and if you have seen me before and wish to leave a comment, send one back via the contact form below, or go to my GUEST BOOK page, featured in the main menu bar at the top of the page.
Love Julia x
PLEASE GET IN TOUCH
DSB QUICK LINKS ABOUT VIDEO COMMENTS GALLERY ORIGINAL GOWNS CASINO NIGHTS CONTACT
WHAT SETS THIS SHOW APART
A number of unique trademark features within this show are what elevates this show to a ‘World-Class Production’, placing it firmly above any other DSB tribute show on the market today. Julia’s voice, movements and mannerisms are just ‘Pure Bassey’ and when you add, original Dame Shirley Bassey gowns, lighting fast costume changes and Julia’s unique ability to communicate, interact and entertain her audience, you can understand why clients all over the world want to book Julia to perform. But please don’t just take our word for it, read what our clients and guests have to say.
“Amazing, Never seen anything like it. Julia was so like Shirley it is unreal. She has a really powerful voice and looked, sang and spoke like Shirley. Would watch her again and again. Such a lovely energetic person and puts everything in to performing. Thank you for such a great evening”. Peter, James, Eileen & Sophie. Hayling Island Hampshire.
OUR CLIENTS & GUESTS SAY THE NICEST THINGS ....