prevented him from bringing in a host of international singing stars this summer.

"I lost all my big acts this year because the stadium wasn't ready,'' Mr.

Aming said yesterday.

He was referring to the re-laying of the athletic track at the National Stadium which was only recently completed.

Mr. Aming renewed his call for an indoor concert hall with a capacity for 5,000 people, which he and a group of businessmen are proposing for the US Naval Annex when it is eventually vacated.

At the moment, the stadium was the only appropriate venue for the big name acts he wanted to bring to Bermuda, he said.

You couldn't put stars like Patty LaBelle, Regina Belle and En Vogue "in any field'', he complained. Other stars local music lovers missed out on, he claimed, included BoyzIIMen and Freddie Jackson.

Venues such as the Southampton Princess Empire Room and his own Clayhouse Inn were too small and would have forced him to charge as much as $100 a head to break even.

The only major star he brought to Bermuda this summer was reggae rapper Snow.

Mr. Aming said he and a group of businessmen were still planning to bid for a piece of land on the US Naval Annex when it closes down.

A covered concert hall with a capacity for 5,000 was needed on the Island, he said.

Mr. Aming noted: "All the big concerts (Shabba Ranks, Soca in Dockyard and St. George's, and Reggae Sunsplash in St. David's) were rained out this year.

It affects ticket sales because a lot of people decide at the last minute whether to go to a concert. When they see rain it puts them off.'' With the National Stadium track now repaired, the Youth and Sports Ministry has given Mr. Aming the go-ahead to stage next Saturday's Maxi Priest concert at the stadium. He hopes to attract a crowd of more than 3,000.

The concert was originally planned for May, but had to be postponed because of the lack of a venue.

Maxi has just completed a sell-out tour of Brazil where he played to 200,000 people in four nights. He also toured Japan and Hawaii this summer and made his acting debut in a movie, due for release this winter, called Scam, starring Christopher Walken and Lorraine Bracco.

It will be Maxi Priest's fourth visit to Bermuda.

He will be performing such number one hits as Housecall and Close to You as well as songs from his latest album Fe Real, said to reflect all the different cultural flavours of his music, r&b, reggae, ragamuffin and pop.

Tickets for the Maxi Priest concert are $45 with group prices of $35 a head available.

Showtime is 8.30 p.m. with local reggae band Conscious opening, plus a "surprise'' American entertainer.