David Foster

No Groban this time. No Bocelli or Buble either.

David Foster is the first to recognize last year's "David Foster & Friends" will be hard to top. That was a one-of-a-kind event, with nearly a dozen guest singers filmed for a DVD ("Hit Man") and PBS pledge drives.

It's impossible to have those big names "go with me every time I want to do this," the hit-making record producer points out. However, Saturday's encore at Mandalay Bay finds him trying to build his own name into a brand, one "people would want to come and see no matter who my friends are."

"In a perfect world, as the record business shrinks and I don't want to retire, I think this might be a good Round Three for me to perform," Foster says. "I'm just hoping my music will be the glue, along with my personality and my way of presenting it."

It's more than wishful thinking if you saw last year's concert. And not just because this time, the TV cameras will be gone, and with them the irritating down time and do-overs that stretched the event beyond the three-hour mark.

Of all the star power last year, the big surprise of the night was an unknown 16-year-old Filipina named Charice, belting out "I Will Always Love You."

On Saturday, Charice returns as a billed performer poised for stardom. Last week, she and Foster visited "The Oprah Winfrey Show" for the anointment of her debut single, "Note to God." (The show airs May 18, the day the single will be released to digital outlets.)

Foster hopes this year's audience will take the leap of faith with him and come along for the next new singer he introduces along with the billed stars: Earth, Wind & Fire singer Philip Bailey, Brian McKnight, Peter Cincotti and Heather Headley.

"I do have a little surprise that's not announced," he also teases.

Las Vegas audiences have a head start on the trust factor if they attended any installment of the Andre Agassi "Grand Slam for Children" that Foster spearheaded for years. Patrons of those benefits got early looks at Josh Groban, Michael Buble and Charlotte Church, performing alongside the likes of Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Celine Dion.

"I sort of discovered late in my life that I do have a talent for finding talent," Foster says, before amending that to say, "They usually find me."

He also has learned, "You can win a crowd over more with an unknown, if it's presented right and if they kill."

Agassi supporters also watched Foster issue random challenges to audience members to come up and sing, a stunt he plans to repeat on Saturday.

"There's always somebody who wants to be a star. That person usually wins bigger than any A-list celebrity you have," he says. "If they have the balls to get up there, chances are they're either really good or really bad. And both work."

Foster's star began to emerge when he co-wrote and produced the 1982 Chicago hit "Hard To Say I'm Sorry." For two decades, he dominated the pop charts with hits such as Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart" and Celine Dion's "To Love You More."

Now the Top 40 is dominated by hip-hop, which Foster respects, but knows is not his game. "I just clearly don't know how to make that kind of music," he says. "By some stretch, I should just be out to pasture."

But he also notes, "Pop stands for popular, and I still make popular music. ... Everybody's trying to be hip, and yet you've got this show 'American Idol,' and what do they do all year to get 37 million people to watch? They do Barry Manilow songs. They do Burt Bacharach. They do David Foster songs.

"People don't leave the music business. The music business leaves them. And I don't want to be one of those guys," he says. "I'm happy for everyone that's doing it. I just want my little slice to stay where it is, and I'm happy."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288

announced," he also teases.

Las Vegas audiences have a head start on the trust factor if they attended any installment of the Andre Agassi "Grand Slam for Children" that Foster spearheaded for years. Patrons of those benefits got early looks at Josh Groban, Michael Buble and Charlotte Church, performing alongside the likes of Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Celine Dion.

"I sort of discovered late in my life that I do have a talent for finding talent," Foster says, before amending that to say, "They usually find me."

He also has learned, "You can win a crowd over more with an unknown, if it's presented right and if they kill."

Agassi supporters also watched Foster issue random challenges to audience members to come up and sing, a stunt he plans to repeat on Saturday.

"There's always somebody who wants to be a star. That person usually wins bigger than any A-list celebrity you have," he says. "If they have the balls to get up there, chances are they're either really good or really bad. And both work."

Foster's star began to emerge when he co-wrote and produced the 1982 Chicago hit "Hard To Say I'm Sorry." For two decades, he dominated the pop charts with hits such as Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart" and Celine Dion's "To Love You More."

Now the Top 40 is dominated by hip-hop, which Foster respects, but knows is not his game. "I just clearly don't know how to make that kind of music," he says. "By some stretch, I should just be out to pasture."

But he also notes, "Pop stands for popular, and I still make popular music. ... Everybody's trying to be hip, and yet you've got this show 'American Idol,' and what do they do all year to get 37 million people to watch? They do Barry Manilow songs. They do Burt Bacharach. They do David Foster songs.

"People don't leave the music business. The music business leaves them. And I don't want to be one of those guys," he says. "I'm happy for everyone that's doing it. I just want my little slice to stay where it is, and I'm happy."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.