Well this may be old news now as I see several others have already posted, plus the newspaper reviews, etc. But I said I would do it so here goes:
First, I want to say that while some performers were more exciting than others, and while it's true that Bo totally stole the show, everyone, in my opinion, gave a good solid performance. I was surprised really as I went only for Bo and knew I would also enjoy Nadia, but I ended up enjoying the whole thing and also gained a greater appreciation for 2 in particular that I didn't care for during the run on idol. I also want to say that I thought I would remember it all very clearly but I find now that some things I can't quite recall so forgive me if I get them out of order or miss details. Okay, here goes:
Jessica- Gave two solid performances. She has a good, rich, bluesy voice and was very much on key on both Boys are Back and Shop Around. It was a good show opener. Her dancing was very sexy but classy. She moved with confidence and was a little riske'. She had on an outfit on that was a female equivenlent of Bo's FTLOM suit in that it was black and the jacket buttoned in the middle with a single clasp and she wore no shirt underneath. It was a little daring but cute though.
Nikko- Started with Sisco's Incomplete, went to Stevie Wonder's part time lover and closed with Justin Timberlake's like I love You. I am not a huge R&B fan but I enjoyed his whole set, especially JT's LILY. He sounded very like JT on this song going into his upper regsiter a lot(you can tell I watch AI) and did a great job on it! His dancing was also very good. I think he does have the potential to be another Usher or JT.
Constantine- The crowd reaction was the strongest so far of the night. This was the first time a significant portion of the audience got spontaneously to it's feet. First, let me say I was not a fan of Con and did not care for him on AI. I hated his version of HTH on the show and thought he should have went home after that. Well, his live version was great! Totally on key and rocking. I found myself almost reluctantly getting to my feet but before the show was over thought WTH just enjoy and I did! I danced to the whole thing! Next MFV which was very good, not quite as electric as on TV but very good. And then BO Rhap which I have to say was excellent! He did Freddie Mercury proud. Do not misunderstand me, my heart is still Bo's, but I now have a much greater appreciation for Con and his fans should be proud! He did a great job! Tere has been some grumbling from them about his placement but I think you would understand it if you were there. A lot of the performers did slow to barely mid-tempo songs and while they were all very good you need variety to keep an audience engaged so I think it was a complement to Con to place him there!
Next (I think) was Anwar- He was one of my early faves but just seemed to fizzle out once he got to the finals which I think had more to do with song choice than anything else. First, let me say he was as usual beautiful and classic and elegant in his appearance. He did A House is not A Home and did a good job. He has a powerful and beautiful voice that filled the arena and, although I'm no expert, imho he was on key (unlike what some of the music critics said). Next up was WAWW and it was as beautiful live as it was on TV.
Next was Scott- he did a good job on both Against all Odds and She Gone. The duet with Jessica of Total Eclipse was really great. I remember wondering when I read the review of the Sunset cocert in the paper why they were having them do this as a duet when Jessica had done such a great job on it on tv as a solo but Scott really added something even greater to it. I think his voice really excelled on this song, kind of like it was his niche. He truly does have a beautiful voice. And their two voices really complemented each other's.
Next-Nadia who received as strong a response as Con. Can we just say rocker chick with her hot outfit and too cute electric silver guitar. this girl has it going on!!!! Great, great, great, That's the Power. Just as magic or perhaps more so than her tv version. I was diancing and smiling the whole time! Also great rendition of You don't have to say you love me. Okay rendition of Fire by Hendrix. It was a very abbreviated version so that may be why I wasn't bowled over but still good. And finally hot, hot, hot version of Try a Little Tenderness. overall, wonderful! Oh, by the way, she had on this cute rocking denimish dress number which she whipped off at one point to reveal a very cute, silvery, club type dress. She looked great and continues to have great style!!!
Intermission
After Intermission:
Anwar- on keyboard doing an excellent rendition of Stevie Wonder's Superstition! This is another song that had me and a lot of the audience up and dancing the whole time! Thoroughly enjoyable!
Next, Vonzell- accompanied by Anwar on the keyboard. She looked beautiful, classy and elegant in a yellow evening dress. She is like Anwar's female counterpart appearance wise! She did Alicia Keys Karma and did a good job. Then I'm Every Woman. Then another song which I can't remember but her whole set was good. At this point I knew Bo was coming on soon so I think my brain short circuited and I became a little distracted! Forgive me, it's not my fault, Bo just does something to me, so blame it on him!!! If I remember more about Vonzell later I will post. I do remember that I was just 'a little' disappointed that she did not do Chain of Fools which she totally rocked on the show but that's all I can recall now.
Next, Anthony- His set was good, his voice flawless and yes I agree with the newspaper reviews that he hs improved on his dance moves. If anyone wants more info I will be happy to dig into my memory a little deeper. I will just say that he did 3 songs which were all good and that I can see him becoming a classic pop kind of guy with a solid career down the road if he continues with his music. His voice really is beautiful.
Finally, the pivotal moment of the whole concert (for me anyway) Bo Bice was announced! The crowd went insane. Everyone on their feet before he even hit the stage. The cheering did not stop throughout his whole song I Don't Wanna Be. I remember thinking in some small corner of my brain (the 1/10,000th part that was not completely exalted to another plane from Bo's arrival/presence) "so that's what the USA today Reporter meant by her phrase the loudest cheer of the night came, and never really stopped, when Bo came on stage...." Can we say electric, can we say OMG this is better than the best experience yo could ever imagine. He was all over the stage, just this magnetic, charismatic, commanding force. His voice was flawless and, just let me say, for any Bo fans that thought he was exciting on TV, just wait, you ain't seen nothing yet. It exceeeded even my veeeeeeeery high expectations! Next, he did Vehicle, again, totally rocked, the entire arena were on their feet. I don't think anyone sat down during his whole set! Again, great voice. Bo sounds even better live than he did on TV!!!! And then......... he strapped on his electric guitar and did Jimi Hendrix VooDoo Child! This is the best Bo performance I have ever seen or heard on AI or since!!!!!! He worked that guitar like you would not believe and he looked so in his element. Again, his voice was flawless! Deep, rich, rocking and absolutely perfect for this song!!!!! IMO it left his Bonnaroo's WLL performance, as good as it was, in the dust! Finally, SHA which was totally rocking! Again audience response throughout his whoel set was huge, positive and insane!!!!!!! People were loving them some Bo Bice!!!! Words can not describe how great his set was! This is no dis to the other performers. It is just that Bo is just so incredibly, out of this world awesome that another performer can fall well short of him and still be excellent!!!!Bo talked thoughout his set (between songs of course) and was very comfortable and just down home. He totally had the crowd eating out of his hand with his natrual charm and charisma! For all Bo fans who have the opportunity to go to the concert please do, his four songs alone are totally worth the entire price of the ticket and then some! Okay, forcing myself to move on now......
Next up Carrie, who received the second loudest audience response of the night. This is the second performer (along with Con) that I did not care too much for during the show but gained a greater appreciation for during the concert. She was very good. Some of the reviewers said she oversang in the Sunset concert but, at least to my untrained ear, this was not apparent during the Tampa show. Forgive me if I get her songs out of order (again, you can blame it on Bo as I was still reeling from his performance) She did Independence Day and Alone first I think. Alone was just as good as it was on TV. Great job! Independence Day and Sin Wagon were I thought much better than on TV. I enjoyed them both and her voice souded great. After she did two songs, she brought Bo out for the duet of Bless the Broken road. Again, crowd went crazy. I was very curious about this as I would not necessarily have thought of it as a duet for them. My goodness, it was beatiful! Their voices complemented one another's perfectly! I absolutely loved the duet Up Where We Belong from the show but this far exceeded that imho! Bo sang in what I call his buttered honey voice (as in the two opening lines of DLTSGDOM and his TV version of IYH) rather than his deep baritone. They sounded like angels. And from their banter and verbal exchanges and body language you can just tell they are good friends and really care about and support one another! Truly beautiful! They were both great on acoustic guitars as well! Then she followed with two more songs, the last of which was IYH. I still prefer Bo's version but she did a very good job. At the very end the other idols joined her. Oh, and Carrie wore the little plaid blazer she wore on the finale with a burgandy colered shirt and jeans. She looked very pretty. Make up and hair very nice, not overdoen, etc... When Bo joined her for the duet he wore his cream colered jacket that he wore during the finales and jeans and looked great!
It looked like the show was over at that point but fortunately I knew from the usa today review of sunset that they had two more songs so told a few people who were leaving already to wait. Lean on Me was very good. The idol finalists came out one or two at a time as they did their solo lines. Bo came on about sixish and had on a grey T-shirt with writing on it (something about integrity maybe???) and his hair in a pony tail and continued to look hot! it was a great group number. Then they did ROCK in the USA with Bo leading and doing a fantastic job and this was also very good. After it was over they came back out and bowed and ran around and hugged each other and grabbed hands etc... They are either all very good actors or have a sincere affection for one another and appear to have loads of fun together, a lot of comfort in each other's presence was, I thought, evident. At one point as they were all running around the stage Bo and Con ran to each other and hugged and Bo and Carie ran to each other and grabbed hands. This part sounds corny but it all appeared natural and was a lot of fun to see. I remembered thinking wow, what energy, it's like they are all having a blast together!!!
And that's it. Sorry if I left anything out. Overall it was a great concert and nothing to be ashamed of from any finalist! They were all very good! I would have liked to see an additional hour of group numbers but not if it would mean taking anything away from the solo numbers which were all very nice!
from the official boards
Arghhh..I want to hear Alone and the duet sooo badly...
Keeper of Carrie's Courage, Sorority, Radio Interviews, Kit Kat Shirt & Opry Outfit
MizzCarrie is offline
Join Date: Mar 2005
I Loved Sin Wagon! He Pushed Me 'Round Now I'm Drawing The Line, He Lived His Life, Now I'm Gonna Go Live Mine, I'm Sick Of Wasting My Time! Well Now, I've Been Good For Way To Long!
Keeper of Carrie's hug with Constantine,'just like that' quote, and apple in front of Carrie
carrie's #1 pak fan! is offline
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lahore, Pakistan
that was another great review to read...thanks for posting! i was feeling just a teeny bit miffed when bo's praises were going on for so, so long but i kept telling myself that this person is obviously a huge bo fan and loves him the most so it's just natural...but reading the honest opinion abt carrie and seeing the sincere praise...it was all real good!
Keeper of Carrie's Small town girl to big country superstar story & "My mom raised me right." quote
*S.C.O.* is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Texas ♥
That was an awesome review! Each great review I read, I just want 2 go 2 the concert even more!
__________________
"Carrie Underwood is Simply Unstoppable"
♥:Icon-Me:♥
:Live In The Moment & Make It Work:.
:If You Wait Too Long for the Perfect Moment, the Perfect Moment Will Pass You By:
:I've Got the Same Old Heart, With a Brand New Beat:
:Throw caution to the wind and just do it- Carrie Underwood:
He Pushed Me 'Round Now I'm Drawing The Line, He Lived His Life, Now I'm Gonna Go Live Mine, I'm Sick Of Wasting My Time! Well Now, I've Been Good For Way To Long! 
Mona's Graphic Request 
Linear Mode
