American Idols Concert News and Tickets

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Stars of this season’s American Idol Top 10 made it to the BankAtlantic Center stage in Sunrise on Saturday for the most popular American Idols Live Tour yet.

Barring some flaws, this tour was a good one. No, not good in the same way as a U2 concert, where you feel you’ve been saved by the power of rock ‘n’ roll. But quite good as pure entertainment.

Credit some fine voices, especially during the first half of the two-hour concert. Mandisa opened, claiming Chaka Khan’s I’m Every Woman as her own. Though erratic during the televised competition, Mandisa proved the most natural on stage and the most conversant. Amusingly, she claimed to be ”lovesick,” dedicating a passionate If I Was Your Woman to her ”crush,” second-season winner Ruben Studdard. With her rich voice and plus-sized figure, Mandisa could become a major dance music diva if she tones down the public religious sermonizing and focuses instead on her prodigious pipes and image.

Some performers surprised with true skill on a musical instrument, something we never see on the strictly formatted vocals-only TV series. Poised Lisa Tucker played electric piano on a stirring rendition of Elton John’s Someone Saved My Life Tonight.

Some busted serious dance moves — Paris Bennett, another stage natural, giving Beyoncé competition on Crazy in Love, one of the few non-’70s tunes of the night.

True, there’s too much crushed testicle in falsetto Ace Young’s lightweight vocals, but he’s clearly having so much fun just being up there it hardly matters. But Ace, get some new moves, dude. The open palm on the heart thing when mewling ballads is getting to be schtick.

Idol producers still don’t seem to spend much on staging but this time the personable cast is the draw. Four of this season’s idols — Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, Chris Daughtry and Kellie Pickler — have already scored major recording contracts from BMG, that’s more than for any of the previous four seasons. Year Five was Idol’s highest rated, too, snagging 30 million viewers weekly. The tour’s a hit.

Who couldn’t love a nice Jewish boy like Elliott Yamin who has been bringing his mother along on tour and who offered the night’s most memorable political statement by wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the Star of David and the word ”Israel.” He sang Trouble pretty well, too, and lent nice harmonies to a surprisingly sweet cover of Guns N’ Roses’ Patience along with Bucky Covington, Chris and Ace.

The tour has been plagued by problems, though. Katharine missed a number of dates, claiming laryngitis. Then, last Tuesday, she fractured her left foot tripping backstage. The elegant young Californian hobbled a bit Saturday and noted she was ‘’still on doctor’s orders” to save her voice so she limited her time to two songs — the rapidly grating Black Horse and the Cherry Tree but a sublime Over the Rainbow. Unfortunately Kellie, the season’s country charmer, had to temporarily drop out of the tour this week, also due to vocal problems. She did pop on stage to silently wave to her fans.

The demands of a major arena tour are taking a toll on some of these amateurs, none worse than winner Taylor, but Chris and Paris were not at the top of their game vocally, either, and Bucky, who never could sing well, was flat-out awful. Only his aw-shucks demeanor narrowly saved him.

The night’s biggest disappointment: Taylor, the night’s biggest disappointment. His shelf-life should expire before his major-label debut CD arrives this fall.

Perhaps Taylor triumphed over the others on TV because his spastic dancing, his prematurely gray hair and his not-so-good looks appealed to the average schlub among us who fantasizes about becoming famous.

However, on tour, Taylor is abysmal. Charmless, soulless, he gruffly shouts his rote covers of Doobie Brothers, Bob Seger and Stevie Wonder songs with a broken, hoarse voice that is more Michael Bolton-styled bluster than Ray Charles soul. While the others prove to be team players on the group numbers, Taylor appears aloof. Thankfully, the headliner’s time on stage was minimal and didn’t completely erase the goodwill many of his tour mates offered beforehand.

American Idols Live Tour Dates

American Idols Live Tickets 9/1 – Portland OR – Rose Garden Arena
American Idols Live Tickets 9/2 – Tacoma WA – Tacoma Dome
American Idols Live Tickets 9/5 – Denver CO – Pepsi Center
American Idols Live Tickets 9/7 – Grand Prairie TX – Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie
American Idols Live Tickets 9/8 – Grand Prairie TX – Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie
American Idols Live Tickets 9/9 – Houston TX – Reliant Arena
American Idols Live Tickets 9/10 – Austin TX – Frank Erwin Center
American Idols Live Tickets 9/12 – Duluth GA – The Arena at Gwinnett Center
American Idols Live Tickets 9/14 – Huntington WV – Big Sandy Superstore Arena
American Idols Live Tickets 9/15 – Norfolk VA – Constant Convocation Center
American Idols Live Tickets 9/16 – Reading PA – Sovereign Center
American Idols Live Tickets 9/17 – Syracuse NY – War Memorial at OnCenter
American Idols Live Tickets 9/19 – Hershey PA – GIANT Center
American Idols Live Tickets 9/21 – Portland ME – Cumberland County Civic
American Idols Live Tickets 9/22 – Providence RI – Dunkin Donuts Center
American Idols Live Tickets 9/23 – Bridgeport CT – Arena at Harbor Yard
American Idols Live Tickets 9/24 – Wilkes-Barre PA – Wachovia Center

Howard Cohen/Miami Herald

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