A terrific selection of visual, comedic and vocal artists will take centre stage this evening at the Bermuda Music Festival 2007.

The line up includes comedian Tommy Davidson, who will host the event, and caricaturist Dan Dunn, who will create art to music, while vocalist Chrisette Michele is planning to wow the crowds with a selection from her new album.

Many festival-goers tonight, however, will be most excited to see American great Lionel Richie, who plans to take fans back to the Commodores era and then bring them back to the present with his greatest hits.

The 'Three Times a Lady' singer has sold nearly 100 million albums and has had 22 Top 10 hits. His many awards include five Grammys, an Oscar and a Golden Globe, along with a host of American Music and People's Choice awards.

The artist has spent four decades making music, since he co-founded the Commodores in 1967, at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The group was signed in 1971 to Motown and they became one of America's most popular bands by the mid-1970s. After producing a country singer Kenny Rogers' album 'Share Your Love' in 1981, Mr. Richie began stepping outside the Commodores.

This move spawned hits like 'Lady' and 'Endless Love', the chart-topping duet with Diana Ross.

This success fuelled him towards a solo career, which made him one of the most successful solo artists in the 1980s.

The 1982 eponymous debut, 'Truly', went straight to No. 1 and the subsequent single, 'You Are', raced quickly into the Top 10. His next album, 'Can't Slow Down', soared even higher. Sitting at No. 1 for an astounding two months, the record featured the two gold singles, 'Hello' and 'All Night Long', as well as three other Top 10 cuts.

He performed and co-wrote with Michael Jackson the USA For Africa benefit single 'We Are The World', which went No. 1 in 1985 and raised millions for famine relief.

Among the hits fans might hear tonight is 'Say You, Say Me', the chart-topper which earned Richie his first Academy Award for "Best Original Song" from the film 'White Nights'.

Of his profession, Mr. Richie once said: "So much of my career has been about saying things the way people say them, not using melodies that only I can sing, but those that the people can sing.

"'All Night Long' will always be 'All Night Long.' 'Easy like Sunday morning' will always be 'Easy like Sunday morning.'

"If you look at the titles, they say the entire thought before you even go into the story.

"And that's why the music has stayed around so long."

The local offerings on tonight's main stage will be the Bermuda Mass Choir while performances on the Onion Stage will include the Warner Gombey Troupe, Akona-Ntoaso, Da'core and Jazz Four.

Offering an unusual twist on a music festival will be caricaturist Dan Dunn, not to be confused with the cartoon character.

Mr. Dunn has received top honours for "Most Humorous Cartoons" and a Bronze and Silver "Nosey" award in the National Caricaturist of the Year competition over the course of his career. He has also served as competition chairman, vice president and president of the National Caricaturist Network and is one of the founding members of the organisation.

So... What does a caricaturist do at a music festival?

Well, according to his manager Justin Sudds, he paints to music. "The canvas is on a spinner, so he can turn it as he is painting," explained Mr. Sudds. "He uses his left and right hands, he uses eight brushes and he is throwing paint, but the magic of the act is that you don't know what he is painting until the very end, when he spins the canvas around.

"He'll do a six-by-six canvas and, depending on what painting he is doing, it takes him between two-and-a-half and six minutes."

Adding to the night's entertainment will also be Tommy Davidson and Chrisette Michele, who will sing from her album 'I Am'.

Tickets are still available for tonight's Festival at Sound Stage, in the Washington Mall, Fairmont Hamilton Princess or by visiting www.bermudatourism.com.

After parties are being held at Fairmont Hamilton Princess and Fairmont Southampton until 3 a.m.