The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 01:19 AM PST

Robbie Williams showed fans that he can still entertain in his first full concert in London.

IT CAN be a bit disconcerting reading about Robbie Williams here in Britain and have entertainment journalists and music pundits talk about how much of a national treasure he is.

For many people elsewhere in the world, including Malaysia, he could have disappeared into thin air for all we know.

After all, not a lot of his songs from his last three albums over the past decade were international hits.

Still, the way people talk about Williams in his home country is as though he was never gone from the music scene.

His latest string of concerts held at The O2 arena recently was the pop star's first full show in London in six years, which would explain why so much column inches in the newspapers have been dedicated to him.

Then there is also the fact that barely a few days before the concert kicked off, Williams' former Take That bandmate, former nemesis and current bromance Gary Barlow was just awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II, which has led to discussions on who deserved the recognition more.

On the first day of the concert, Williams was said to even contribute to this debate by saying, "Gary Barlow OBE. Robbie Williams, nothing. Must have been an oversight."

Despite the "oversight", it's not been a bad few months for Williams.

In his personal life, Williams became a father for the first time in September; Professionally, he was selected as the opening act for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration concert and received his first British number one single since Radio in 2004 with Candy, from his latest album Take The Crown.

The release of Candy, however, was not without controversy. In Britain, popular radio station Radio 1 placed a ban on the song, claiming that Williams was no longer relevant to its target audience.

It was no surprise then that Williams took the opportunity – at the night I attended the concert – to rub in the fact that the song still made it to number one despite the ban.

"Is anyone in the mood for a number one hit?" he asked the packed crowd at The O2 on Nov 23 before he launched into the intro for Candy.

Throughout the night, one could sense that the singer was grateful to still be performing to packed crowds after two decades in the music business. If anything, his behaviour was inconsistent with the perceived ego-filled persona that he has carried with him for years.

Not that the ego is totally gone. Strutting through the crowd to get onto the stage and breaking into his trademark song Let Me Entertain You, Williams was every bit a confident pop icon.

Still, it was in the moments when he was singing his more mellow tracks that he really shined.

From Eternity to Mr Bojangles, Williams was truly in his element when he performed his slower tracks.

This comes as no surprise because despite his manic approach as a performer and love of extravagance as an entertainer, it is Williams' ballads that have been most iconic, like Angels and Feel.

There was still a lot of pomp, though, as you would expect from one of Britain's finest entertainers.

For one, several disco balls in the shape of his head appeared when he performed Rock DJ. Then, as he performed his lesser-known songs from Take The Crown, he used the lights and props (as well as his back-up singers and musicians) to keep the crowd entertained.

But he really did save the best for last. Word had already gotten around that Barlow was going to make an appearance.

So, when Williams ran off stage and the house lights came on, nobody was fooled into thinking it was all over.

The average concert-goer knows that most encores these days are planned ahead of time. What was not expected, however, was for Williams to willingly share his stage for the encore – and with Barlow, too.

It was one of the most genuine moments on stage. In fact, it was a nice ending to a rocky start. Earlier in the night, Williams' engagement with the audience seemed almost rehearsed.

At some point, however, he started to connect with the crowd more.

Another genuine moment was when Williams introduced Barlow to sing Eight Words – a Take That track from the album Progress – with him.

"This is the story of Take That," he explained before singing the song which included the words, "We meet on no man's land at last and when I went away, I forgot to say, was all I had to say, eight letters, three words, one meaning."

The duo then performed their latest collaboration, Different, before Williams started singing the one song that everyone was really waiting for – Angels. He seemed pretty emotional as the crowd sang along with him and one could tell that the song was important to the singer (the night before, he dedicated it to his daughter).

After he was done, he walked to the middle of the stage, sat down with one of his backup singers and offered one more song from Take The Crown.

It was a strange song choice for the egoistic Williams; the first line from Loser goes: "There will always be someone better than you." However, it was consistent with his behaviour of being humble and grateful, though.

Sitting there in the middle of the stage, Williams had everyone fixated on him as he entertained them for one last time that night. It was a promise fulfilled because he started off asking the crowd to let him entertain them.

That he did.

Robbie Williams' album Take The Crown is distributed by Universal Music.

Mizz Nina falls victim to smash-and-grab

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 06:31 PM PST

PETALING JAYA: Singer-songwriter Shazrina Azman, popularly known as Mizz Nina, fell victim to a smash-and-grab robbery while she was in her car at a junction in Ampang Jaya.

The 31-year-old artiste posted pictures of her car's smashed passenger window on social media site Instagram after the incident, which occurred at about 1.20pm yesterday.

"Car got smashed n bag taken at traffic light, reminder to all lady drivers, keep your handbags in the boot for safety!!" she wrote.

Later, she tweeted that "it's a lesson learned, some of us ladies sometimes 4get to place our bags in a safe place.. don't do what I did!!"

Mizz Nina, who is also a fashion designer for her own women's fashion label called Mizz Demeanor, could not be reached for comments.

Ampang Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Amiruddin Jamaluddin confirmed that the singer had lodged a police report.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Selasa, 4 Disember 2012

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

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