BROWNSVILLE - The Fourth of July concert celebration is still on at the Brownsville Sports Park, despite the celebration's main act bowing out.
Grammy award winning group Boyz II Men will not perform at the celebration, citing "unforeseen circumstances," city officials said.
Instead, the group will be performing at the Fourth of July celebration in Dublin, Ohio, a spokesman for the city of Dublin said.
A contract between the city of Dublin and Boyz II Men's booking agent was signed three months ago, said Sandra Puskarcik, director of community relations for the city of Dublin.
Contract negotiations between the two had been in the works for about a month before an agreement was reached, she said.
Meanwhile, Brownsville City Park's Director Chris Patterson said he is trying to get in contact with the Boyz II Men booking agent, to find out more details on what happened with the agreement with the city of Brownsville.
Patterson added his main concern is to "make sure we have a Fourth of July event" for Brownsville.
City Commissioner Charlie Atkinson said he believes the city may have contracted with a non-legitimate booking agent.
He said he did not hold anyone with the city responsible for the false booking, but rather the booking agent, instead.
"We got duped," Atkinson said." I don't blame anyone. There are a lot of evil" individuals out there.
Atkinson was told the city paid $7,000 to the booking agency. The name of the booking agent was not immediately available.
City Finance Director Pete Gonzalez could not be reached for comment concerning the $7,000 check.
Boyz II Men was to perform at the Brownsville Sports Park off Merryman Road. The concert was to be free to the public. Their hits include "End of the Road," ‘Motown Philly" and "I'll Make Love to You." They also sang a duet with Mariah Carey, titled "One Sweet Day."
Dublin's Puskarcik said a letter of intent with New York City's International Creative Management, the booking agency for Boyz II Men and Dublin ,was sent at the beginning of April and the contract was finalized at the end of April.
Dublin is paying Boyz II Men $35,000 to perform at its Fourth of July celebration, Puskarcik said.
Mitch Blackman, the booking agent for International Creative Management, could not be reached for comment.
Jeff DeWitt, program director for the Rio Grande Valley radio station Hot Kiss 106.3 FM, said he had received a couple of comments on Twitter about the Boyz II Men cancellation, but nothing major.
The radio station is one of the Fourth of July celebration sponsors and DeWitt, also known on the radio as the "Hitman," is going to be the master of ceremonies for the event.
He said Boyz II Men was "one small piece" of the celebration, which will include a fireworks display, food booths and other events. Also scheduled to perform is the 50 piece 36th Infantry Division Army National Guard Concert Band from Camp Mabry in Austin.
Meanwhile, Atkinson said the city is trying to contact other musicians to see if they will be willing to replace Boyz II Men on such short notice. The city is talking with the Kumbia Kings, he said.
"We want to make sure we find a show for the citizens of Brownsville," Atkinson said. "This is something that we need to do and we are not going to let them down."