AN EVENING WITH PETULA CLARK (AND LIAM HEMSWORTH)

WE HAD AN ABSOLUTE BALL. IT HAD BEEN AGES SINCE WE'D SEEN ONE ANOTHER, AND THE YEARS JUST MELTED AWAY OVER DRINKS AT WP24 AT THE RITZ CARLTON.

Petula was in town to do an Evening with Petula at the Grammy Museum. The Grammy Museum is an extraordinary place that has already archived 350 hit singers. They invite them to be interviewed and then do a few songs and a q and a. The whole event is recorded and put in their library where anyone can see. I so respect how the Grammy Museum is honoring and saving our great artists.

In the sold-out audience were Steve Binder, the director of Petula's controversial NBC special with Harry Belafonte, the Elvis '68 special, the Diana Ross in Central Park Special and all the "Hullabaloo" shows--just to name a few of this man's amazing credits; Diane Baker, who directed Petula in a movie; Rod McCuen; and Richard Carpenter of the Carpenters, who is rarely seen anywhere. What a night it was.

Steve Binder

Rod McCuen

Richard Carpenter greeting Petula after the show

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Diane Baker

Here are Petula's thoughts on things:

JOHN LENNON--I was in Montreal doing a concert that was half-French and half-English. I thought people were bilingual there, but each side hated when I switched to the other language.. It was a war in the middle of concert. I was very sad, and I heard John Lennon was in town. I knew where he was staying, so I just went to the hotel and asked to see him. There was no security at all.

He and Yoko were doing another 'bed-in.' Their room door was open and there they were in bed. John said, 'Hi, Petula,' as if he were expecting me. I told him what was going on and he was so lovely and kind. The advice he gave me was 'F--K 'em.' That raised my spirits! I then went into the living room and Tommy Smothers was sitting there with some other people, and they were all singing 'Give Peace a Chance.' I started singing with them and had no idea they were recording. Our voices are on the background of that record.

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD--She was the best of all of us. She was my favorite.

PARIS--I moved to Paris 'cause I followed a bloke. That was my husband, Claude. Paris smelled like garlic and Gauloises and it smelled bad. We live in Geneva now.

CHILDHOOD--I started singing when I was five or six. By eight or nine I was on the BBC and was a child star. I was an actress under contract to Rank Studios. I never stopped working. When my songs hit in America I was already very experienced, but I had to learn a lot about American Music.

FINIAN'S RAINBOW--I loved working with Fred Astaire and Francis Ford Coppola. The film may not have been as good as we hoped, but I wouldn't trade anything for the great times I spent with them.

HOME AND SINGING--When I'm at home I read a lot.. I like to go for walks in nature. I don't listen to music very much. I never did. I don't want to be influenced by people. I want to interpret songs my way. I also don't think I'm a great singer. I do what I can do, but seriously, I don't know what I do. Today's singers all sound alike and are surrounded by dancers.

By the way, Petula has a new CD out called "Lost in You" that she recorded in London in a little studio in the producer's garden. She called it a Wendy House. She sang a couple of songs from it and they are wonderful. One of them was a Bach melody to which she put her own words. Beautiful.

Us with CBS' Dan Glosser



HOW COULD I FORGET THAT LIAM HEMSWORTH AND HIS BUDS FROM HUNGER GAMES CATCHING FIRE WERE IN THE NEXT BOOTH CELEBRATING THEIR PREMIERE! NO, JENNIFER LAWRENCE WAS NOT THERE. HE LOOKED GORGEOUS IN HIS TUX.