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Review:
VH1's Diva's Live '99
Written
By Rick Ellis,
April 14th, 1999
Anytime a
bunch of singers of singers are battling to be called the biggest
diva, you know that you're seeing a bunch of folks who haven't
looked the word up in the dictionary. If you're being called a
diva in real life, it's not because you're kind to animals. It
has something to do with being a royal pain in the butt.
The truth
is that following the success of last year's Diva's concert (and
the accompaning CD), most female singers looked at this show as
a good chance to boost their flagging careers or expand their
audience. And it turned out to be a moderate success for only
a few of tonight's performers.
The show kicked
off with Tina Turner, who bounded out of a limo and strutted to
the stage, just in time to sing "Simply The Best." While
it made logistical sense to open with the tune, it isn't her best
work, and her ragged vocals didn't help the performance. But by
the time she settled into her cover of Al Green's "Let's
Stay Together," she was demonstrating her still powerful
singing abilities. In fact, her opening segment provided several
of the program's few highlights. Her semi-duet with Cher on "Proud
Mary" may not have been a vocal highlight, but it was fun
to watch. And her duet with Elton John on "The Bitch Is Back"
was a blast--particularly since they apparently argued just before
the show. And that may explain the level of feeling they put into
every utterance of the word "bitch."
Elton John's
solo segment wasn't terrible, but he wasn't exactly a showstopper.
He sang a duet with LeeAnn Rimes (from his new musical "Aida"),
before stepping aside to let her sing "How Do I Live."
When he returned, he did a frantic version of "I'm Still
Standing" (slyly dedicated to Turner), before pounding out
an anemic uptempo number from "Aida." While I can't
quibble with his desire to flog his latest tunes, this isn't a
normal situation. And it would have been nice for him to simply
dig into his massive catalog and pull out a lesser-known gem.
I vote for "Love Lies Bleeding."
Sadly, however,
there weren't a lot of highlights after that. Cher did a nice
job on "If I Could Turn Back Time," although it's obvious
that she's straining to hit the high notes. And while I had no
problem with her lipsyncing portions of her current hit "Believe",
it would have been nice if the soundperson had raised the level
of the background track so the entire process wasn't so obvious.
Brandy was
up next, and her performance was definately a good news/bad news
experience. She sang her current hit with a subtle, sultry performance
that had to have left Whitney Houston jealous and challenged.
She then segued into an inexplicable duet of "Everything
I Do (I Do It For You) with Faith Hill. Neither singer managed
to find the range, and it was a huge letdown. I would have loved
to hear the two of them sing a duet--but it's hard to see what
compelled this choice of tunes.
I love Faith
Hill's music, and "This Kiss" is a tune that would have
been a hit anytime in the thirty years. But after having seen
her sing the tune a number of times live, I'm convinced that she's
the Paula Abdul of country music. A likeable, sexy singer without
much range in a live performance. And speaking of country music,
she certainly didn't help the cause much by showing up at a benefit
wearing sparkly jeans and a tanktop. Thanks for breaking the country-hick
stereotype, Faith.
Whitney Houston
began wrapping the evening up by bringing on Mary J. Blige for
a powerful duet of an Aretha Franklin tune. I love Blige's throaty
voice, and would have enjoyed hearing more from her.
Houston then
blasted through a couple of newer numbers, and that worked primarily
because she was the only singer to bother with choreographed production
numbers. She then ended with yet another version of "I Will
Always Love You." Yawn. If they wanted to make the moment
special, they could have brought on Dolly Parton (the song's writer)
to sing a duet. One one final note to Whitney: was it REALLY necessary
to have your daughter sitting on stage with a live mike. Geez,
even Judy Garland didn't do that with her daughter Liza.
The two-and-a-half
hour concert then wrapped with a group rendition of "I'm
Every Woman." It was ragged (as finales tend to be), but
most noticable was the absence of Turner, Cher and Elton John.
It was almost as if you had been watching two completely separate
shows.
While I'm
sure the expected soundtrack will raise money for a good cause
(encouraging music programs in schools), I'm not sure that this
compares to last year's event. And even bringing in the SNL women
for a lame sketch or two only reminds the viewer what they're
missing.
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