Bluewater is an out of town shopping centre, located in Greenhithe, Kent, England. Opened on 16 March 1999, it is owned by four major UK institutions, Prudential plc and PRUPIM (35%), Lend Lease Europe Ltd (30%), the Lend Lease Retail Partnership (25%) and Hermes (10%).

Situated on a 240-acre (97 ha) plot in a former chalk quarry, the centre has a sales floor area of 154,000 m² (1,600,000 ft²) over two levels, making it the third largest shopping centre in the UK after the Trafford Centre in Manchester. Elsewhere in Europe only Istanbul's Cevahir Mall and Vienna's (Vösendorf) Shopping City Süd are bigger. The floor plan is a triangular shape with 330 stores, including 3 anchors, 40 cafés and restaurants, and a 13-screen cinema. The centre employs 7,000 and serves over visitors a year. A main rival is the Lakeside Shopping Centre and retail park some nine miles (14 km) away in West Thurrock, Essex.

History

In 1994, quarry operator Blue Circle approached Australian mall developer Lend Lease to form a partnership. Instead, Lend Lease bought the land and the project from Blue Circle, and under the leadership of its CEO Peter Walichnowski gathered a group of major investors, which included: Prudential, Barclays Mercantile, Hermes (acting for Britel), Lloyds Leasing, and Royal Bank Leasing. Lend Lease also formed a pool of minor investors, called the Lend Lease Retail Partnership, with 18 institutions and corporations.

With the Bluewater project finally under way, it was time to sign up the tenants, beginning with the major ones. John Lewis was the first in February 1995, albeit with major concessions, such as the offer of , one-fifth of the entire floor space, on three levels. Still, this gave Bluewater the credibility it needed to sign more names, including the two other anchor stores. House of Fraser was next and in June 1996 Marks & Spencer signed too. By March 1998, 90% of the retail space was committed.

Construction, which was undertaken by Bovis Lend Lease, started on 1 May 1996. At its peak, the construction site employed 2,500 workers simultaneously. In all, 20,000 people worked hours on the construction of Bluewater. At the planned opening date, 16 March 1999, Bluewater was inaugurated with 99% of the shops open for business. The total cost of construction was around GBP £400 million. At the time of its construction, Bluewater was the largest shopping centre in Europe.

In May 2005, Bluewater introduced a code of conduct to ban swearing, clothing that obscures the face (including hoods and baseball caps), and groups of more than five without the intention to shop. This policy has divided opinion, with high-profile figures such as Tony Blair showing his support, but has been criticised in the liberal press and those working with children locally.

In late 2006, Dartford Borough Council granted planning permission for Bluewater to build a two-story events venue of 5200 m², and further extend the south side of the centre. In early 2010, construction began on the venue.

See also

Ebbsfleet International railway station

Greenhithe railway station

London Buses route 96

London Buses route 492

References

External links

Official website

Category:Shopping centres in Kent Category:Visitor attractions in Kent Category:Dartford Category:Buildings and structures in Kent Category:Shopping malls established in 1999 Category:Prudential plc

fr:Bluewater sv:Bluewater

Coordinates	8°3′″N34°54′″N
name	Ferry Corsten
landscape	yes
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	Ferry Corsten
alias	Ferr, System F, Moonman (more)
birth date	December 04, 1973
origin	Rotterdam, Netherlands
genre	Trance
occupation	DJ, Producer, Remixer
years active	1989–present
label	Flashover Recordings
associated acts	Gouryella, Vimana (more)
website	www.ferrycorsten.com
notable instruments	}}

Ferry Corsten, also known under the alias System F, (born 4 December 1973) is a Dutch producer of trance music, in addition to being a DJ and remixer. He also hosts his own weekly radio show, ''Corsten's Countdown''. He routinely plays at events all over the world with crowds in excess of tens of thousands. In 2009 Ferry Corsten ranked #7 on DJ Magazine annual Top 100 DJ Poll. In 2010 he dropped down to #9.

Life and career

Before 1999: Early years

Ferry Corsten was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He has produced and remixed under many aliases since the release of his first record at the age of sixteen, but he officially started to work as a musician when he was 27 years old. As a teenager he would listen to his father's record player and he would save money to buy his first keyboard by washing cars, and selling mixed tapes to kids in his neighbourhood. He later began to perform live performances with a friend and won his first award "De Grote Prijs van Nederland" at Holland in 1989. He eventually released a record with a couple of friends when he was just sixteen years old and later began releasing self-made productions while he grew up in Rotterdam in the 1990s, producing underground hardcore gabber tracks, later expanding into club-house and trance music. His first single to reach a chart position was "Don't Be Afraid" under the alias Moonman, which was only the start for becoming a composer as well. In 1997 Corsten and his partner Robert Smit established a dance label named Tsunami with the Dutch based dance company Purple Eye Entertainment b.v., this junction made the creation of another label possible; Polar State. Ferry Corsten was studying to become an Electrical Engineer, so he went to the Technical Training School and after that Higher Technical Education.

1999–2004: Rise to fame

In February 1999 Corsten's second solo project, System F, was released on the Tsunami imprint along with the album ''Out of the Blue'', including the same-named melodic tune that became a hit on dance floors all over the world, achieving a top twenty position in the United Kingdom single chart. The follow-up single was "Cry", produced together with Robert Smit which reached the UK Top 20.

His growing popularity in the late 1990s led to cooperation with many famous trance DJs and musicians like DJ Tiësto (Gouryella, Vimana), Vincent de Moor (Veracocha), and Robert Smit (Starparty). The track "Gouryella" by the act Gouryella was released in May, the single entered the UK Singles Top 75 at number fifteen and achieved various hit positions throughout the world. The next single was entitled "Walhalla" which entered the UK single chart at number twenty-seven. In 1999 Ferry was elected as producer of the year at the Ericsson Muzik Award in London. In September 2000 the third Gouryella single entitled "Tenshi" was released. In 2000, Corsten also remixed William Orbit's "Adagio for Strings" as well as "New Year's Day" for U2. His remix of Barber's "Adagio For Strings" was awarded at the Dancestar 2000 awards. The Ministry of Sound dance compilation series entitled ''Trance Nation'' became one of the best selling dance compilations in the UK and was awarded the platinum status. In 2000 in his home country Corsten got awarded the Silver Harp award for his numerous outstanding contributions made to Dutch dance music.

In 2001 Ferry Performed and Produced the Dance Valley Anthem, the largest selling theme of Dance Valley and the largest event of The Netherlands (80.000 visitors)

In 2002 Ferry contributed to remix projects of tracks by Japanese superstar Ayumi Hamasaki. He went on to compose and arrange her heavily trance-based song "Connected," which was released in 2003, along with remixes, as a single in Germany which has sold 4 million copies, making this one of Ferry's most successful songs.

Ferry Corsten is the electronic dance music artist with the highest amount of dance singles in the UK charts. He has 10 gold singles, between those his 1999 remix of "Madagascar", "Out of the Blue" as his alias System F, both "Gouryella" and "Walhalla" in 2000, "Cry" and the "Dance Valley Theme" in 2001 with "Exhale" which is his latest as System F with Armin van Buuren; and his 2003–2004 singles "Punk" and "Rock Your Body Rock".

In 2003 he launched his first album as Ferry Corsten, ''Right of Way'', in Heineken Musical Hall with 4,500 clubbers at his eight-hour set. The music video of the song was nominated in the TMF Dutch MTV Awards in Netherlands. The album spawned three singles, "Punk" (UK #29), "Rock Your Body, Rock" (UK #11), and "It's Time" (UK #51). "Rock your body Rock" was voted biggest hit by BG Magazine in The Netherlands and reaches the top 10 in the UK.

In 2004, he produced and performed the single "Everything Goes" for the TMF Dutch Awards.

2005–2007: L.E.F.

In 2005, Corsten founded his own record label, titled Flashover Recordings and released his 2nd artist album L.E.F., And he released his concept L.E.F. worldwide. In this year he was number 5 in the DJ MAG Top 100.

Special performances in 2005:

L.E.F. Beirut, Lebanon.

L.E.F. residencies in New York LA.

L.E.F. event in Amsterdam.

South American Music Conference 2005.

Passport Complication Release party in Rotterdam at Rotterdam Beach.

His track "Fire" was nominated in the best trance video category for the 2006 Trance Awards.In the DJ MAG Top 100 he was number 6 this year.

In 2006 Ferry Corsten performed at a concert in El Salvador in September and he did his Road to Voodoo Bus Tour: 20 states, 27 cities in 5 weeks.

The single "Junk" with vocals by Guru (Gangstarr) – top 20 charts Holland was released in 2006.

On 4 July 2007, Corsten debuted his new weekly radio show titled "Corsten's Countdown" which counts down a list of the highest voted trance tracks.

In 2007 Ferry released the single "Beautiful" – top 40 charts in Holland, and the single "The Race" (Brain Box) – top 20 charts in Holland. Also a New mix compilation Passport United States of America is released.

In 2007 was the successful 1st edition of Full on Ferry Concert Ahoy' Stadium Rotterdam (cap:12.000) and he produced the 1st official anthem for Bavaria City Racing in 2007 (F1 demonstration in the center of Rotterdam with more than 500.000 spectators. Official opening of the event by Ferry Corsten and the prime minister of The Netherlands, Jan Peter Balkenende).

He was dubbed the King of Crossover in an August 2007 interview on UK clubbing website HarderFaster.net, reflecting his recent L.E.F. (Loud Electronic Ferocious) style, which some hail as a new direction in dance music. Corsten describes it as "everything from electro house, trance and techno".

2008–2009: Twice In A Blue Moon

Ferry Corsten's third album, ''Twice In A Blue Moon'', which made its debut at the 2nd edition of the Full On Ferry event at Ahoy in Rotterdam, was released on 1 November 2008. The first single from the album, ''Radio Crash'', has been played by Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Above & Beyond and many other DJ's globally. The track has been a huge hit in clubs across the world and gave Ferry a good start in promoting his new album.And he released the single "Into The Dark" ft. Howard Jones (March 2008).

In 2008 Ferry Corsten is the first DJ ever to be named Ambassador of Freedom by Dutch Liberation Day Comity.

2009–present: Twice In A Blue Moon (Remix Edition) and Once Upon A Night Vol. 1 & 2

Ferry's album, Twice In A Blue Moon, consists of remixes of the previous album (Twice In A Blue Moon). It includes remixes by Rafael Frost, Lange, Ummet Ozcan, Markus Schulz and many more. The countries he visited during ''Twice In A Blue Moon: The Experience'' have included; Australia, the United States, Romania, Brazil, and Lebanon with debut show on May 29 in Mallaca, Malaysia.

This year also was the third edition Full on Ferry – The Masquerade in association with UDC on October 17, 2009, at Ahoy' Rotterdam.

In 2009 Ferry Corsten released two singles: "We Belong" from the album Twice in A Blue Moon (Date of release: May 25, 2009) and "Made of Love" from the album Twice In A Blue Moon – top 40 Ducht charts / Radio 538 Dance Smash / No.2 in UK Club Charts (Date of release: Valentine's Day 2009). And he released his DVD; Ferry Corsten – Backstage Corsten reveals his concept Once Upon a Night, a mix compilation that immediately hit number 1 on iTunes in the US right after its release, and the supporting world tour.

Ferry's interactive radioshow Corsten's Countdown is available in more than 30 countries.

The DJ application Cue Play DJ set up a promotional partnership around Corsten's countdown 150st edition. Cue Play DJ is a mobile digital DJ application for the iPhone, with tracks from the Flashover label.

In 2010 Ferry Corsten has mixed the BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix and the album FC System F – Champions came out in February.

Ferry released Once Upon A Night in 2010. The album came out on March 30 and he started his tour: Once Upon A Night: The Experience.

After the release of Vol.1 Ferry released Once Upon A Night Vol.2 on October 1 and his world tour started on September 17. He's the best DJ in the world.

Pseudonyms

Aliases

''A Jolly Good Fellow, Albion, Bypass, Cyber F, Eon, Exiter, Ferr, Firmly Underground, Free Inside, Kinky Toys, Lunalife, Moonman, Pulp Victim, Pulse, Raya Shaku, Riptide, Sidewalk, Sidewinder, Skywalker, System F, Tellurians, The Nutter''.

Collaborations

''Discodroids (with Peter Nijborn) Gouryella (with Tiësto), Veracocha (with Vincent de Moor), Vimana (with Tiësto), FB (with Benny Benassi) System F 2010 w/ Tiesto

Discography

Studio albums

;As Ferr

1996: ''Looking Forward''

;As System F

2001: ''Out of the Blue

2003: ''Together''

;As Ferry Corsten

2003: ''Right of Way''

2006: ''L.E.F.''

2008: ''Twice in a Blue Moon''

Tours

Play Station Tour (2003)

Right of Way World Album tour (2004)

Heineken Tour (2004)

Passport Compilation World Tour (2005)

LEF World Album Tour (2006)

Tour (2007)

Tour (2008)

Twice In A Blue Moon World Tour (2009)

Once Upon A Night World Tour (2010)

Recognitions

Awards

1989 De Grote Prijs van Nederland

1999 Producer of the Year (Ericsson Muzik Awards) London

1999 Trance Nation 1 – Platinum Sales Award

1999 Trance Nation 2 – Gold Sales Award

1999 Gold Sales Award (Art of Trance – Madagascar (Ferry Corsten Remix))

1999 Trance Nation 3 – Gold Sales Award

1999 Gold Sales Award (System F – Out the of Blue)

1999 Trance Nation 4 – Gold Sales Award

1999 Gold Sales Award (Gouryella – Gouryella)

2000 Dance Star UK Best Remix (William Orbit – Barber's Adagio for Strings)

2000 Gold Sales Award (Gouryella – Walhalla)

2000 Gold Sales Award (Ferry Corsten – Cry)

2000 Gold Sales Award (Veracocha – Carte Blanche)

2000 Dancestar Award: Best Producer of the Year

2000 Silver Harp Award for Outstanding Contributions To Dutch Music

2001 Gold Sales Award (System F – Dance Valley Theme)

2001 Trance Nation 2001 – Silver Sales Award

2001 Gold Sales Award (System F Feat. Armin van Buuren – Exhale)

2002 Gold Sales Award (Ferry Corsten – Punk)

2003 BG Magazine Dance Awards: Award Biggest Hit (Rock Your Body Rock)

2005 Best Trance DJ Ibiza

2006 L.E.F. Best selling dance album on I Tunes (U.S. within 2 weeks after its release)

2007 Best Trance DJ Ibiza

2007 SLAM!FM DJ of the Year

Nominations

2004 IDMA Best International DJ

2004 IDMA Best Compilation (Ferry Corsten: Mixed Live)

2004 IDMA Best Producer

2004 TMF Dutch Awards Best National DJ

2004 TMF Dutch Awards Best Video (Rock Your Body Rock)

2005 IDMA 20TH Annual International Dance Music Awards

2005 IDMA Best Dance Video (Punk)

2005 IDMA Best Producer

2005 IDMA Best Remixer

2006 IDMA Best Ortofon European DJ

2007 IDMA Best Ortofon European DJ

2008 Ibiza DJ Awards Best Trance Awards

2008 IDMA Best Ortofon European DJ

2008 IDMA Best Ortofon Global DJ

2009 IDMA Best European DJ 2009 IDMA Best Global DJ 2009 IDMA Best Producer

2010 IDMA Best European DJ

2010 IDMA Best Radio Show with Corsten's Countdown

2010 Ibiza DJ Awards Best DJ Trance

Selected Remixes

Apoptygma Berzerk – Kathy's Song

Armand Van Helden – Witch Doktor (Free Inside Remix)

Art of Trance – Madagascar

Ayumi Hamasaki – A Song for XX

Ayumi Hamasaki – Kanariya

Ayumi Hamasaki – WHATEVER

Bobina – Invisible Touch (Ferry Corsten's Touch)

BT - Force Of Gravity (Ferry Corsten Remix)

BT – Suddenly (Ferry Corsten's Fix)

Corderoy – Sweetest Dreams (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Cosmic Gate – The Truth (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Duran Duran – Reach Up For The Sunrise (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Elles de Graaf – Show You My World

Embrace – Embrace

Every Little Thing – For The Moment

Faithless feat. Boy George – Why Go (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Faithless feat. Dido – Feelin Good (Ferry Corsten Fix)

Gatecrasher Sheffield – mix compilation (Mixed by Ferry Corsten)

Girl Next Door – Jōnetsu no Daishō

Kai Tracid – Conscious (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Kamaya Painters – Endless Wave (Albion Remix)

The Killers – Human

Klubbheads – Klubbhopping (A Jolly Good)

Laidback Luke feat. Johanthan Mendelson – Till Tonight (Ferry Corsten)

Marco Borsato – De Bestemming (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Markus Schulz – Do You Dream (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Matt Darey presents Mash Up – Liberation (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Mind One – Hurt Of Intention (Ferry Corsten Fix)

Moby – In My Heart

Moby – Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad

Nelly Furtado – Do It (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Novastar – Because The Remix

Oceanlab – Clear Blue Water

Public Enemy – Bring the Noise

Rafaël Frost – Red

Ramin Djawadi – Prison Break Theme (Ferry Corsten Breakout Remix)

Rank 1 – Awakening (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Shiny Toy Guns – Le Disko (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Solarstone-Late Summer Fields(Ferry Corsten Remix)

Tiësto – Kaleidoscope (Ferry Corsten Remix)

Tony Walker – Field of Joy

U2 – New Year's Day

William Orbit – Barber's Adagio for Strings

William Orbit – Ravel's Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte (Ferry Corsten Remix)

William Orbit feat. Ferry Corsten – Clavier (Ferry Fix)

Yoji Biomehanika – Theme From Bangin' Globe (System F Remix)

See also

Flashover Recordings

Gouryella

Veracocha

References

External links

Official Site

Artist Site at Ultra Records

Clubplanet Interviews Ferry Corsten

Interview by Laptoprockers

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:Club DJs Category:Dutch dance musicians Category:Dutch DJs Category:Dutch electronic musicians Category:Dutch record producers Category:Dutch trance musicians Category:Electronic music radio shows Category:Eurodance musicians Category:People from Rotterdam Category:Remixers Category:Ultra Records artists

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