I arrived home earlier than expected - don't ask - and was fortunate to catch the last couple of numbers from "An Evening With Michael Bublé"*.
How I wish I'd heard the whole show. Okay there's a lot of inane questions from the "Celebrity" audience and occasionally he comes over just a little too schmaltzy in his patter but, strip that all away, and you have a good, young, singer singing good songs and bringing them - apart from tonight - to a youngish audience and in a contemporary manner.
He has a cracking band behind him and in Jumanne Smith a fine trumpet player.
A class act - no wonder he packs out the Arena and elsewhere.
Must checkout the whole show on catch-up TV.
Lance.
*: Georgia on my Mind and How Sweet It Is.
very rare for me to slightly disagree with you Lance but honestly I thought he was really mediocre tonight. He seemed to be playing to the audience over much and some of the numbers were, for me, forgettable. I do agree though a good band. His stagey movements were weird too, all that twisting of legs,what's that all about? For me he is better heard than seen. Also the Mrs Brown number...not tender enough...
ReplyDeleteLiz
Well I did only see ten minutes so maybe I will change my views when I see the whole show but I did try to make it clear that I was judging him away from the non-singing aspect. This is something which spoils all these 'an evening with' shows.
ReplyDeletePlus, if you had came to Michael after what I'd just left, you'd have seen it as a lifeline to sanity after tunnelling out of Bedlam.
I taped it and was really looking forward to watching it as I have a couple of his cd's.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I could only watch the first number as I just cringed with embarrassment. The younger generation have an expression which just summed up his performance for me...Cheesy.
Perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind?...and might try again to watch it?
With sincere apologies to the said gent, as I do like his voice.
I thought the music was pretty good (not amazing like his tours), but the Q&A thing with the audience was *really* over-scripted/rehearsed and was really hard to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteHe does have an incredible voice though!
Yes Hil you have voiced my opinion very well..cheesy..and, like you, I too like his voice. In fact I do have a CD with him singing some nice standards. It was just that he seemed to be out to crowd please and really there was no need to overdo that, his voice stands well alone. Going back to Mrs Jones... I love that number but oh dear when he got the audience to join in and went into a kind of frenzy...too much!
ReplyDeleteLiz
Well I've watched the full 51 minutes and, whilst I agree with the 'cheesy' comments - a word he frequently used himself - I still enjoyed the show. He's a good singer and, as the 'show - bizzy' saccharine from both sides of the footlights comes with the territory in these programs, I let it ride by me - in fact I listened to more than I actually watched.
ReplyDeleteJust wondering whether Buble should have got a mention on here really. Just my opinion, but isn't he really just a pop singer with a little better voice than the average? He appeals to the females apparently (judging by the DVD my wife has got and the disproportionate number of women in the audiences), and has a bit of a gay following too. He certainly is not a jazz vocalist and like most of the over hyped singers seems to be too full of his own importance - reflecting in his over-the-top stage movements. Buble and Jamie Cullum should both be sent to room 101.
ReplyDeleteWell the definition of a jazz singer is always open to contention - as indeed are the boundaries between adjoining genré - and MB does attract interest from the jazz periphery (as well as the ladies and the 'lads').
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