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Wembley Arena is a world famous live entertainment venue, located in
Wembley, London. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium. It was built for
the1934 Empire Games
and originally housed a swimming pool, as reflected
by
its
former name, the Empire
Pool. The pool itself was last used for the
1948 Summer Olympics.
The arena is London's busiest music venue and the
second busiest in the
UK
(the MEN Arena in Manchester is busier) in terms of
ticket
sales.
The arena seats
a maximum of 12,300 for concerts and although
not the
biggest
of London's arenas
(see for example Earls Court), it is regarded
as having
the best
sound quality and the
best backstage amenities for touring
music acts.
Square of Fame
With the reopening of Wembley Arena in 2006, a "Square of Fame" area has been
created in front of the arena. Similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it is for notable
Wembley Arena performers to have bronze plaques with their names and handprints.
The first star to have a plaque was Madonna on August 1st 2006.[1] On November
9th
2006 Sir Cliff Richard added his handprints to the Square. Rick Parfitt and Francis
Rossi of Status Quo unveiled a plaque with one of each of their handprints on 16th December 2006. On January 10th 2007 Kylie Minogue included her handprints on
the
last day of the London leg of her Showgirl Homecoming.
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