Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler will perform her hit song on a cruise ship during the actual eclipse. Photo / AP
Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler will perform her hit song on a cruise ship during the actual eclipse. Photo / AP
Turn around, bright eyes.
Pop legend Bonnie Tyler has assured the world of her bona fide star status by performing her hit song on board a cruise ship during the actual eclipse.
The Total Eclipse singer, 47, will belt out her 1983 classic on board ship Oasis of the Seas during a Total Eclipse Cruise that sails from Orlando, past Florida to the Caribbean.
The Welsh star said it was "so exciting" to be performing backed by DNCE - famed for Cake by the Ocean - on the seven day cruise that also features eclipse-themed science lectures, Planetary Punch and Moon Pie.
"The eclipse of the sun lasts 2 minutes and 40 seconds, I'm told," Tyler told Time about the song she said she "never thought would be played on the radio".
The 80s anthem that nearly didn't get made went on to sell six million copies and be pipped at the post by Flashdance - What a feeling for a Grammy.
Total Eclipse of the Heart is currently the number 1 on iTunes in the United States.
More than 30 years on, it remains a karaoke favourite that continues to crop up on reality shows and in spoof YouTube videos.
"God knows why, because it's not an easy song to sing. But it's a beautiful song," Tyler said.
"It's a massive song, an evergreen song that you hear on the radio all the time, whether it's an eclipse or not. And you know, you can bet your life on all these talent shows - X Factor, Britain's Got Talent - [it] pops up so often with the contestants."
Royal Caribbean International chief executive and president Michael Bayley said the experience has been a "century in the making" and Bonnie Tyler was a "natural choice".
"A total solar eclipse hasn't crossed the entire US since 1918, and with many of our ships sailing to the Caribbean along the projected path, the stars aligned. Oasis of the Seas will have the vantage point of the century and an unforgettable celebration out at sea that adventurers won't want to miss."
On Monday Americans flocked to towns and parks across the country in a narrow strip that would see the most dramatic effect.
A full solar eclipse is considered the most dramatic of cosmic spectacles by astronomers. This is also the first to pass through heavily populated areas during the social media age.
