Agassi Guest Slam Dunk
Author: Mike Weatherford
Publication: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Date: October 2, 2005

His benefit concert is 10 years old, but Andre Agassi is still capable of pulling off a big surprise: topping off his biggest talent lineup yet with a surprise finale from Barbra Streisand.

The singer, who does little public performing, was scheduled to close the three-hour-plus fundraiser at the MGM Grand Garden for Agassi's foundation, featuring a generation-spanning talent roster that ranged from the Eagles' Glenn Frey to R&B star Usher.

Before the concert, the homegrown tennis star added another surprise, saying he and manager Perry Rogers would up the tentative total of money raised from $7.5 million to $10 million.

"Me and Perry are going to round it off," Agassi told the crowd.

The Grand Slam for Children benefit combines table and single-ticket sales with unique auction items, such as tennis lessons with Agassi and wife Steffi Graf. Most of the money raised for his foundation goes to fund his charter school, the Andre Agassi Preparatory Academy.

Touring the academy was such "a life-changing experience" for Earth Wind & Fire singer Philip Bailey that he came up with an impromptu auction item: a "personal" concert by the band anywhere in the world. The concert went for $230,000.

Another big prize involves a trip to Paris with a side trip to a Shakespearean festival, escorted by Robin Williams. Two bidders pushed the prize above $200,000 before deciding to share it for $80,000 each.

Before the concert kicked off with Frey's singing "Take It Easy," Agassi told the crowd, "One thing is clear. We're here for each other, and we will not retreat when the times become hard."

Keeping a secret as big as Streisand's appearance required security enforcement from Williams.

The comedian sustained his knack for stealing the show at the afternoon news conference before the black-tie benefit. When producer David Foster was pumped for the identity of the mystery star, Williams sprang to his defense in a tough-guy voice, yelling for the producer not to crack and to "go into witness protection!"

Saturday's benefit had the biggest musical lineup yet, even without the mystery guest. The massive stage was divided in half to allow one act to be set up while another performed.

So crowded was the news conference that the questions didn't even get around to Mary J. Blige, comedian George Lopez and Frey.

Agassi said the U.S. Open was one kind of challenge - the finals (which he lost this year to Roger Federer). Not as good as the semifinals, but said he had a different challenge in storewith the charter school. "We need a high school up and going by August. That's all," he said.

After adding a ninth grade this year, "we promised those ninth-graders who have been with us since fifth grade that we will add a grade every year so they will graduate," Agassi said. "That's on me. August. Wanna help?"

Foster has overseen all nine benefits, which started in 1995 but skipped one year to give the foundation time to catch up on its building projects. The early years were "a little more homegrown," Foster noted, centered around the adult-contemporary artists he worked with at the time. "Now, a lot of these artists I've never met before."

The presence of Usher, who turns 27 this month, may have been the most significant sign that the benefit has become a model for the next wave of entertainers.

"It motivates the kids and it motivates the generation of stars that are up-and-coming," Usher said.

"I told everybody I was not going to sing for the rest of the year," Usher added, but he said he decided to treat the Agassi benefit as a warm-up for his own Project Restart benefit for hurricane victims on Oct. 9 in Atlanta.

"It's great to see that somebody young like Andre can influence somebody younger like Usher," Foster said. "His first event's coming up, and he's thinking, 'In a couple of years I could raise this much money (for his New Look Foundation). I could do it.'"

The benefit also included new guest stars in Duran Duran, Earth Wind & Fire and young singer Alana Grace.

Things have changed for some of his past guest stars, such as Celine Dion, who now is a Las Vegas performer needing the help of a police escort getting from one venue to another.

"Everything you've done before was something, but when you have a child, everything becomes so important. You want to change the world," she said.

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