American Idol Season 6 Concert Tour 7/28/07

The concert is over and I will be on American Idol withdraw for the next few months but at least the try outs for next season started today in San Diego.

I actually enjoyed the concert outside of a few interesting moments (not all of them involving Sanjaya). It was a very interesting and diverse crowd. This was also the first American Idol concert where there were quite a few empty seats around the Rose Garden.

I actually had a great seat. I was to the right of the main stage but right in front of the section of the stage that comes out as an extension to both right and left towards the audience. I actually got to shake everyone's hand including Sanjaya. My arm though wasn't quite long enough to trip Sanjaya. I also didn't want to get kicked out before I saw all my favorites perform or go to jail but I thought about it through the entire concert.

On with my comments about the show.

The concert started out with the entire group performing "Let's Get It Started", although after a brief appearance in a really tacky outfit Jordin disappeared. Luckily everyone including the back up singers drowned out Sanjaya so you really couldn't hear him.

Next up was Melinda and LaKisha performing "Stop in the Name of Love" and "Baby Love" they looked and sounded great but they are much shorter than I thought, in fact all the contests were. If you take away the high heel shoes they would have been even shorter.

Melinda and LaKisha also performed Heard It Through the Grapevine and Chris Richardson joined in.

Melinda performed Proud Mary but unfortunately Sanjaya had to come out and ruin it. Melinda can adequately channel Tina but Sanjaya could not do Ike. Sanjaya ripped off part of Melinda's dress so it was short and they were doing a bit from Ike and Tina's moves which Sanjaya just could not handle. Once again Melinda and the back up singers were loud enough to drown out Sanjaya.

Phil Stacey was next with "Blaze of Glory". I understand why he performed the number because it was a pretty stellar moment for him during the show although he was kicked out afterwards but live and in person it just did not have the same power. I though his voice broke a few times and the band and back up singers were very much overpowering his vocals.

Chris Sligh and Gina Glocksen was up next with "Thanks for the Memories". Chris actually sounds really good but he has like zero stage presence, my Gina was on her game, sounded good, looked even better.

Haley Scarnato was up with her solo of "When God Fearing Women Get the Blues". I was surprised Haley was not in short shorts, although her top was quite revealing and she had on some killer boots. I will give Haley credit, the woman knows how to work the crowd but her rendition was not the best. She too was often overpowered by the band and the back up female vocalist but the performance was fun.

Now we are up to the moment of Sanjaya's solo and all I can say is I was laughing out loud through most of it. S was in full mode, hair flowing, a white t-shirt and red jeans with some ugly tennis shoes and a very wide belt. Sanjaya went with "The Way you Make me Feel" and of course he thought he could pull off all the crotch grapping and pelvic thrusts used by Michael Jackson in the video for this song. Michael couldn't pull it off and trust me Sanjaya was even worse. His performance was ridiculous and his vocals weren't very good either, luckily the band and the back up singers were drowning him out most of the time. There were some young girls screaming but that was about it. There was a teenager sitting 3 rows in front of me and I saw him at the dinner before who had his hair tied up in the Sanjaya faux mohawk look.

Chris Sligh was up with his solo number "Typical". Once again Chris has a pretty good voice and held his own with the band but zero stage presence.

The lights went dark and then came up center stage and then you heard LaKisha singing the opening lines of "Lady Marmalade" as she was raised up laying back against a white sleeping couch in a very hot red revealing top and after the first chorus she was joined on stage with Haley and Gina. This was a great number and all three women did a great job. I actually got up on my feet with this number. This was definitely a wow moment.

Chris Richardson and Jordin Sparks was next with "What Hurts the Most" and I really liked this number. They can do harmony really well. It should be noted they were both playing musical instruments as well. I was impressed.

Melinda and Jordin then performed "This Will Be - Everlasting Love". This is a song introduced by Natalie Cole which I absolutely adore and have heard her sing live. I didn't think anyone could beat her but I thought Melinda and Jordin came pretty damn close. Melinda and Jordin also sing very well together. It was a hot number as well. They had me on my feet!

Blake Lewis was up with his set just before the intermission. Blake started out with "Time of the Season" and he surprised me he was really good and actually managed to sing above the band and he was in tune. He is a much better singer then people give him credit for.

For his second number he had his equipment with him and he was talking to the audience about being from the Northwest and loving it (nice reaction from the crowd". He told everyone he was going to record his voice live and then use it to sing with. It was fascinating watching him use that equipment and it was a very cool effect along with his absolute stunning beat boxing, the sounds he can make, unbelievable.

Blake ended the first half with "You Give Love a Bad Name" which was even better live and in person then when he performed it on TV, again the beat boxing so worked with the music and lyrics. It was a great way to end the first half.

Intermission full of people watching to say the least.

The second half opened with Phil in his uniform and the ladies in WAC looking uniforms rising up to the stage to the strains of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and then Phil singing America the Beautiful. Given the current state of the world I am not sure it was the best way to open the show but at least vocally they were good and no one forgot the lyrics. It just didn't have the same energy as the opening for the first half let alone the ending.

The men were next with their band, Phil on keyboards, Blake with a guitar and his sound equipment which he works with his feet, Sanjaya with a tambourine and guitar, Chris Richardson on drums and Chris Sligh with a guitar. They performed "Crazy" and "Hey Jude", overall they were good outside of some over the top Sanjaya but he is always drowned out my everyone else. I think "Hey Jude" was the more popular of the numbers, many more people standing up for that one.

Gina was up with her solo number "Who Knew". I love Gina and she is a great performer. I don't think her vocals quite matched the music and the band was drowning her out in spots but her heart and soul was totally into the performance.

We had a brief interlude with Phil, Sanjaya, and Chris Sligh. They came out and talked with the audience and then they briefly butchered "I'll Take It That Away" - boy band joke. They then had some dialogue about the season 7 try outs in San Diego with Saturday being the first day auditioners could start to line up. They gave some tips about what to do when you audition including not doing Whitney Houston and finally Sanjaya indicated that it wasn't always singing and personality which can get you through - Sanjaya and Chris did a thing with their hair with poor Phil going great I can't compete with that. It was funnier in the moment then I am sure it sounds on the written page. I did actually laugh out loud.

Next we had a Blake Lewis and Chris Richardson melody and I have to say these two also perform really well together. They were totally using the stage and also have great harmony. They performed "Ain't No Sunshine", "Virtual Insanity" and "Geek in the Pink" (I love that song!). There was great energy, fun and excellent vocals.

LaKisha was up again with "I Will Always Love You". I have to admit LaKisha was absolutely brilliant. She was totally spot on with the vocals, the arrangement was just right and she was in the moment. The crowd was with her and she owned the stage. It are these performances which remind why LaKisha was in the competition. It was a definite crowd pleaser.

Chris Richardson was up with "This Love". Chris was in his element. He sounds much better in person then he did a lot during the show. He is a great performer.

Next up were Chris Richardson, Haley, and Sanjaya with "Life is a Highway". Unlike the prior review I sent out, Sanjaya remembered the words but his vocals sucked, luckily he was drowned out quite a bit though. I have to say Haley was much better vocally with this number and I will indicate again, she knows how to work it and I don't mean her body although I will get back to that shortly. This number was saved by Chris and Haley otherwise it could have been a disaster, thank you Sanjaya.

Melinda was next with "Natural Woman". Melinda is the ultimate professional, this was a stellar performance, vocally it was perfection.

Next all the ladies san Jordin was up with "Ain't No Other Man" and it was a great number. In follow up to my prior comment about Haley, this was the first number where she was wearing very little, I don't even know if I could actually describe her outfit but let us just say, in this outfit, the woman knew how to show it off, her butt was wiggling like no one's business and it was having the necessary effect on the men in the audience, she was getting quite the screams and holler from the crowd. This was a very effective group number, the women sang great together and everyone was in tune, the number ended with the women center stage as Jordin rose up on a moving platform.

It was time for Jordin's set. Jordin started with my favorite "I Who Have Nothing", I melt with this number, for someone so young, she can sing the heart out of this song and live it is even better then it was on TV.

Jordin moved into "Heartbreaker" where she worked the stage as an excellent rocker.

Jordin then slowed it down a bit when she sat on a stool and brought out a guitar. She indicated she had only been taking lessons and playing for a year and it wasn't until this concert tour that she had played for anyone but her family. Jordin was actually really good and she sang "You Were Meant for Me".

Jordin then performed "Broken Wing" another of her stellar performances and again live it was even better then on TV.

We then ended the show with a number I would not have chosen but the rest of the gang joined her on stage so it was more about the performance. Jordin did not do well on Bon Jovi night, in fact it was probably her worst night and so I was surprised with the chose of "Livin' on a Prayer" as a closing number to the concert. Jordin tried but she was very shrill and I don't think it is a good genre for her but she got the audience on their feet (yes I stood up) and with the rest of the gang got the audience engaged and singing the chorus. I guess it was a fun ending but I thought there could have been many other choices which would have been better.

We had the usual lights out, audience clapping and stamping their feet.

Jordin returned for her "This is My Now" Idol song. There are very few singers who can pull this number off and Jordin is one of them. It is a great song for her. All the rest of the American Idol gang came out and did a bit of each of their solo numbers and they all joined in for an actually surprisingly good group finale of "This is Your Now" and the concert ended.

I have to say all the performers were very sincere (even Sanjaya) when talking with the audience and thanking us for getting them to this point.

My favorites of the evening were Melinda, LaKisha, Chris Richardson, Blake and Jordin. Sanjaya was the absolute worst but I am probably biased about that one.

I had a great evening and It was worth every penny I paid for that VIP package.

They made a bundle off me between the cost of the ticket and all the merchandise I purchased, the program alone was $20.00. I won't say how many items I bought because it would be embarrassing.

I left the Rose Quarter exhilarated by the show but with an empty wallet.

Well Season 6 is now history and we have only 170 days to wait until the premiere of Season 7.
Until then…..