Charles Richards stood up to help his beautiful new bride, Diana Maitland Richards, stand so she could walk down to the stage area of the nightclub in The Riviera Resort in Las Vegas, where they were staying on their honeymoon. Diana had agreed, as a favor to the concierge of the resort hotel, to perform a few songs that evening in return for a free dinner and their hotel suite for the weekend. As the crowd clapped and cheered loudly, Diana made her way onto the stage and over to the microphone and greeted the bandleader, who kissed her hand before he went back to his podium.
When the crowd finally quieted, Diana began her introduction to the first song: "Good evening, and thank you for that enthusiastic welcome! Some of you may notice that the dress I'm wearing looks similar to a fashion worn by the incomparable Miss Marilyn Monroe in the movie "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Well, my first number this evening is a song from that movie, even though this wasn't the dress she wore for that particular scene; however, I am wearing the appropriate accessories! These lovely jewels are Harry Winston originals that the jewelry store in the lobby was kind enough to loan to me for the evening, so they are still available for sale if any of you men out there need a really good way to apologize to your wife!" She paused, grinning, and looked at her friends, Ward Bond and his wife Mary Lou, seated with her husband at their table as the room erupted in laughter.
As it quieted again, she continued; "So, I guess you know the song I'm referring to is 'Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend.' While I would never dare compare myself to the wonderful Miss Monroe, I learned this entire routine at the same time she did as I work for one of the producers of that movie and I spent a lot of time on the set and got to know Miss Monroe quite well. She is a truly lovely person and, I believe, one of the most underrated actresses in Hollywood; so Marilyn, if you hear about me attempting this poor imitation of you, please don't think too unkindly of me! Hit it boys!" she exclaimed as she turned toward the band.
When she started to sing the intro to the song, Charles's eyes widened as he realized she sounded almost just like Marilyn Monroe! As she got into the song and started moving and doing the same gestures as Marilyn had done, Charles started to see just how talented she was and he wondered again what had stopped her from going into show business? The more he watched her, the more astounded he was at just how beautiful and sexy she looked from her facial expressions as she sang, did some simple dance movements, and gestured animatedly with her hands and arms.
When Diana got to the last verse of the song, she was surprised when some of the band members provided a little back-up vocals. When she sang the last lines of the last verse,
"But bent back or bent knees, You stand straight at...Tiffany's!"
the band members provided the, "ooooooo," that came right after that. Diana paused for a second and said, "Thanks, fellas!" then launched into the final lines as the band members provided the rest of the back-up vocals:
Diamonds! (Diamonds!) Diamonds! (Diamonds!) I don't mean rhinestones... But, Diamonds...are a girl's best... Best Friend!
As the final trumpet fanfare played, the room erupted into thunderous applause, cheers and whistles! Charles, Ward and Mary Lou were all on their feet cheering and clapping loudly, and Charles made several loud whistles with his fingers. It took about a minute before the crowd finally started to quiet again as Diana bowed and said, "Thank you," a few times.
When it was quiet again, Diana introduced her next song: "This next tune is a bit more subdued than my opening number. It's a lovely romantic melody with a soft jazz influence, written by Cole Porter originally for a musical play and then later featured in a film in 1934 based on the musical called 'The Gay Divorcee.' It has been recorded by many different artists; most notably by the inimitable Ella Fitzgerald and the ever-popular Mr. Frank Sinatra. It's a song about the kind of love that everyone wants to feel that makes them think about, dream of and long to be near their beloved day and night...'Night and Day!'"
As Diana sang the song, she looked most often toward Charles but also worked the room until she sang the last verse of the song for the second time, which she sang entirely to Charles:
Night and day, under the hide of me There's oh, such a hungry yearning burning inside of me! And this torment won't be through Until you let me spend my life making love to you... Day and night, Night and day!
Charles stared at her through that whole last verse with a look of hungry yearning burning in his eyes, which Diana mirrored in her eyes, and it caused the passion and power in her voice start to rise in intensity. The bandleader directed the band to follow with musical intensity and then he instinctively paused the music when she ended the note after singing the words, "making love to you..." Then the band began again softly as she finished the last lines passionately subdued.
When the room exploded into loud applause and cheers again, Diana bowed a couple times and then turned to direct applause toward the bandleader and the band, as she knew that last musical passage was not normally played that way with that arrangement—the bandleader had followed her and matched the music to her emotions. The bandleader blew her a kiss, as he knew most other singers didn't usually acknowledge the band until the end of their performance, but she knew what had happened and she was immediately expressing her gratitude to them. The bandleader made a mental note to pay attention to her voice and follow whatever she did on her last two songs.
Diana began the intro to her next song as soon as it was quiet again. "This next song is another wonderful love song that has been made popular performed with a sultry jazz inflection by a very talented singer, Miss Etta James. I can certainly identify with this song now, as I know I have finally found my true love...'At Last!'"