The Richness - View topic - NASHVILLE - "The Spin" Review - Anything and everything Chris! - Free Message Board Hosting by FreePowerBoards.com

I REALLY love the last sentence!!!

The Spin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 19, 2007

Idoltastic

Last week on Nashville Cream, we offered up a prize to anyone who could guess the opening number of the Idols Live 2007 Tour. We had some inklings ourselves, but never could have guessed at the wonder, the hilarity, the horror: The Black Eyed Peas’ “Let’s Get It Started”—though, now that we think of it, Haley Scarnato could be characterized as AI’s Fergie. From the get-go, the whole Idols Live spectacle was big and loud and involved plenty of costumes and an exhausting amount of hype-man-style bounding from one side of the stage to the other. The second number was a Motown medley spearheaded by Melinda and Lakisha in vintage Supremes-style duds. Sanjaya joined Melinda for “Proud Mary”—not quite Ike and Tina. Then Chris Richardson, looking scrumptious as ever, came onstage for “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” which the three sung while doing, you guessed it, the grapevine. By then we were really in the swing of things—the tweens and the couples rocking the stonewashed, relaxed-fit jeans were at full froth. Phil Stacey reprised his version of “Blaze of Glory” in—get this—a knee-length black leather duster and black leather pants. That’s what I call badass! Meanwhile, our favorite little piece of pageant Censored

Haley was impressing with a plethora of suggestive ensembles, everything from leather pants to a corset to a fringe skirt. The most thrilling moment of the evening occurred early, though, when the lights dimmed, the crowd held their breath in anticipation, and then, as the opening chords of “Thriller” blasted over the loudspeaker, a lithe, red-skinny-jeans-clad figure rose from the floor. SANJAYA! To our dismay, he tried his hand at Jacko’s “The Way You Make Me Feel” in lieu of “Thriller,” but his hip-shaking, faux sexy moves were creepy enough as is. As he strutted across the stage, a touching montage of his Idol journey played on the massive JumboTron. For the most part, the evening was a series of group numbers, duets and medleys, with the occasional solo.

Grin-worthy (or cringe-worthy, sometimes we couldn’t tell) highlights included “Lady Marmalade,” “Ain’t No Other Man” and a Richardson-Lewis beat-boxing battle. Stranger even than Sanjaya (and the teens who love him), was the 15-minute intermission midway through. This was a concert, not Les Miserables. When the Idols returned from the break, we were treated to the obligatory patriotic number: Phil Stacey in his sailor suit, singing “America the Beautiful.” Later, the male finalists came out as the “band” they had formed. With Stacey on keys, Richardson on drums, Sligh and Lewis on guitar and the Sanjanator on tambourine (he did have a guitar slung over his back, which he never touched—probably to help him feel like part of the team), the boys covered Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and “Hey Jude.” Blake and Jordin played headliners (Blake far outpacing Jordin as a fan favorite) and took the opportunity to show their range: Blake did a whole lot of beat boxing and Jordin tackled an acoustic guitar and the middle-school-alone-in-my-room classic, Jewel’s “You Were Meant for Me.” Overall, we couldn’t have asked for a more entertaining evening—unless, of course, there had been more Chris Richardson.
_________________