American Idol pops in at Centrum
For the pop purist, the Worcester Centrum Centre last night was
transformed into one of the concentric rings of hell, all thanks to ''The Top
Ten American Idols Live!''
For the 14,000 fans of the popular schlocky FOX series, it was heaven on earth.
The tour, aptly sponsored by Pop-Tarts (but which could have easily been
endorsed by Cheese Whiz), relies mostly on solo performances of classic covers
and medleys identical to those performed during the televised competition.
Making its only New England appearance, American Idol -- which gets one
nostalgic for the days of Ed McMahon's ''Star Search,'' ''The Gong Show'' and
Russian roulette -- features a squeaky clean, very good-looking clan of pop
wannabees with stars in their eyes, songs in their hearts and their hands on the
15-minutes-of-fame clock ticker.
If enthusiasm and beaming smile were enough to sell a song, then all these
so-called American Idols would be bona fide superstars already. Unfortunately,
for some of them, it's not. Ranging in age from 19 to 24, the American Idols are
a combination of ''The Kids from Fame'' meet the Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse.
It was the four finalists -- winner Kelly Clarkson, runner-up Justin Guarini,
Nikki McKibbin and Tamyra Gray -- that were the true stars of the evening.
Christina Christian (sixth) and Ryan Starr (seventh) also had stellar moments.
At times, this raw talent showcase/endurance test could use the bile-spewing
tongue of panel judge Simon ''Mr. Nasty'' Cowell, or at least the ghost of Chuck
Barris to shake things up.
Still, from the piercing screams of preteens, teenyboppers and older women who
should know better that, in turn, drown out most of the vocals, it was quite
evident that the audience loves their American Idols.
The evening started with the dregs of the American Idol barrel. Copping a pseudo
bad-boy attitude, Ejay Day got the crowd on its feet with Janet Jackson's
''Black Cat.'' A reclining Jim Verraros proved to be out of his league doing a
high school variety show-worthy version of The Commodores' ''Easy.'' A.J. Gil --
who appropriately got more cheers for swiveling his hips than from his singing
voice -- also proved to have bitten off more than he could chew with Stevie
Wonder's ''My Cherie Amour.''
Starr, who sang ''If You Really Love Me,'' was the first female performer of the
evening and the first performer to ooze both sex appeal and star power. The
equally sexy Christian proved to have the most rhythm and seemed to be the most
comfortable performing onstage. Christian's performance of ''Ain't No Sunshine''
was the evening's first standout.
For some reason, so-so vocalist R.J. Helton had the crowd eating out of the palm
of his hand with his rendition of ''Lately,'' while Tamyra Gray had them
deservedly spellbound with the female empowerment anthem ''I'm Every Woman.''
McKibbin represented the rock 'n' roll portion of the show with a better than
average cover of the Janis Joplin staple ''Piece of My Heart.'' Guarini made
the young women swoon with his heart-wrenching cover of ''Get Here,'' while
American Idol champion Clarkson belted out the Aretha Franklin's signature
''Respect.''
While the first half of the show had its moments, the second half was much more
fun. First, the five American Idol guys did an inspired, crowd-pleasing salute
(and unintentionally hilarious send-up) to the boy band phenomenon with a
rousing cover of 'N Sync's ''Pop.'' Not to be outdone, the five American Idol
ladies vamped it up with a steamy version of En Vogue's ''Free Your Mind.''
Guarini -- the 24-year-old crooner from outside Philadelphia whose hairstyle
seems inspired by The Simpson's Sideshow Bob character -- turned ''For Once In
My Life'' into an all-out aerobic workout.
For 20-year-old Clarkson -- a cocktail waitress from Burleson, Texas, turned
American sweetheart -- she proved that with the right handlers, good material
and massive amount of marketing, she could, in fact, become the next Mariah
Carey rather than merely a 'VH1: Where Are They Now.'