Montecore, a 600-pound white bengal tiger, and Las Vegas showmen Siegfried, left, and Roy Horn, right, pose after their „Siegfried and Roy“ show in this March 10, 2002 handout photo at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Horn was attacked by Montecore on Friday night, Oct. 3, 2003 during a sold-out performance. PHOTO – TASR/AP
WASHINGTON – Las Vegas performer Siegfried Fischbacher of the „Siegfried & Roy“ duo said on Wednesday the mauling of his partner Roy Horn by a tiger during a performance was an accident. Horn remained in critical but stable condition at University Medical Center in Las Vegas after a 273 kg white tiger seized him by the neck in the middle of a performance on Friday, October 3, 2003, on the magician‘s 59th birthday.
The tiger was trying to help Roy after the magician took a fall, Fischbacher said in an interview on CNN‘s „Larry King Live“ program. „I just saw that the tiger grabbed him on the sleeve … and Roy said, ‘Let go,‘ and the tiger let go and Roy bent back and he slipped,“ Fischbacher said. He said he realized there could be trouble as the tiger moved toward Horn. „The tiger (grabbed) Roy in the neck and he pulled him back on stage,“ Fischbacher said.
He said that the animal sensed heightened danger when he and an animal trainer ran to Horn‘s aid. „So he took Roy and put him backstage behind the curtain… to protect him and then he let Roy go,“ Fischbacher said. „I say it was an accident,“ he said, adding that if the tiger wanted to kill Horn it would have done so very quickly. Fischbacher and the duo‘s longtime manager Bernie Yuman were optimistic about Horn‘s recovery. Fischbacher said that he and Horn were communicating through hand signals and eye contact. „He understood exactly what I was saying. I could see it in his face. His color is back. And so we take it just by hour and hour,“ Fischbacher after visiting Horn in the hospital earlier in the evening. „His condition is he‘s stable. He‘s critical, and I don‘t think there‘s any way that you can really give a long-term prognosis,“ Yuma said on CNN. „We‘re about to embark on the sixth day, tonight, and we really believe that we‘re about to turn the corner.“
Horn‘s injury was the first sustained by the partners in nearly 5,700 shows at the Mirage resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The two performers met and joined forces in 1959, when Horn smuggled a cheetah on board a cruise ship where Fischbacher was performing magic. They headed to Las Vegas and became top performers in the desert city and gambling oasis.
Reuters
Performer: The Rasmus
Song: „In The Shadows“
Lyrics:
No sleep until I‘m done with finding the answer
Won‘t stop, Won‘t stop before I find the cure for this cancer
Sometimes I feel like going down, I‘m so disconnected
Somehow I know that I am haunted to be wanted
Refrain:
I‘ve been watching, I‘ve been waiting
In the shadows for my time
I‘ve been searching, I‘ve been living
For tomorrows all my life
They say that I must learn to kill before I can feel safe
But I, I‘d rather kill myself than turn into their slave
Sometimes I feel that I should go and play with the thunder
Somehow I just don‘t wanna stay and wait for a wonder
Refrain:
I‘ve been watching, I‘ve been waiting
In the shadows for my time
I‘ve been searching, I‘ve been living
For tomorrows all my life
Lately, I‘ve been walking, walking in circles
Watching, waiting for something
Feel me, touch me, heal me
Come take me higher
Refrain:
I‘ve been watching, I‘ve been waiting
In the shadows for my time
I‘ve been searching, I‘ve been living
For tomorrows all my life
Interpret: The Rasmus
Skladba: „V tieni“
Text:
Nazaspím, kým deifnitívne nenájdem odpoveď
Neprestanem, neprestanem, kým nenájdem liek na túto rakovinu
Niekedy mám pocit, že klesám ku dnu, že som rozpoltený
Akosi viem, že ma prenasledujú, že som hľadaný
Refrén:
Sledoval som, čakal som
v tieni, kým príde môj čas
hľadal som, žil som
celý život pre zajtrajšok
Vraj sa musím naučiť zabíjať, kým pocítim bezpečie,
ale radšej sa zabijem, než sa stať ich otrokom
Niekedy mám pocit, že treba ísť a hrať sa s búrkou
Akosi nemám chuť ostať a čakať na zázrak
Refrén:
Sledoval som, čakal som
v tieni, kým príde môj čas
hľadal som, žil som
celý život pre zajtrajšok
Nedávno som kráčal, chodil v kruhoch
sledoval som, čakal na niečo
pocíť ma, chyť ma, lieč ma
No tak, povznes ma
Refrén:
Sledoval som, čakal som
v tieni, kým príde môj čas
hľadal som, žil som
celý život pre zajtrajšok
