Concert review
Big personality, bigger voice
By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
Published June 14, 2004
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[Times photo: Joseph Garnett Jr.]
More than 5,000 fans cheered on Jessica Simpson at the St. Pete Times Forum on Sunday night.
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TAMPA - Tidbits we've learned about pop culture phenomenon Jessica Simpson in the last two years, courtesy of her MTV reality show:
-- Simpson's unsure if a can of Chicken of the Sea contains tuna or poultry.
-- She questions whether buffalo wings are indeed made from the meat of buffalo.
-- She's enamored of the cleaning utensil the Swiffer.
But, did you know Simpson, 23, packs a strong, powerhouse voice? And that she effortlessly hits notes in a stratosphere other pop tarts don't jet near?
The sultry Simpson brought her "Reality Tour" Sunday to the St. Pete Times Forum, and 5,023 fans cheered as the singer strutted the stage. It was a simple set, a catwalk of stairs behind the band. No flashy props or light shows. No dancers. Just Simpson, her songs and a video screen.
Oh, yeah. A video screen. Which projected outtakes from Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica, the fabulously popular 2-year-old MTV reality program featuring Simpson and hubby Nick Lachey, former 98 Degrees singer. The screen also showed clips from the couples' recent ABC variety show, as well as some of Simpson's recent television commercials.
That's a lot of marketing, but a smart move.
Simpson's handlers know it's not the star's music that fans are eating up, it's her personality, and charisma. Yes, and Simpson's flaxen hair, her freakishly white teeth and, on Sunday, her skintight off-the-shoulder pink dress, out of which poured two more of Simpson's famous attributes. In the pop music realm, Simpson, who got her start as a Christian singer, is a more wholesome Britney Spears, minus the sales. Until recently.
Simpson's label rereleased her lackluster-selling 2003 album, In This Skin. It's now a bestseller since the world became obsessed with Nick & Jessica.
So obsessed that Sunday's concert had Q&A segments with Simpson, who answered fans' questions in her Dallas-bred twang about her goals, her marriage and shopping (Simpson prefers Louis Vuitton and other spots on Rodeo Drive, for those of you considering gift certificates.)
Admirably, Simpson found time to belt out some songs, most notably her rendition of Take My Breath Away, made famous by Berlin in the 1980s. Simpson knocked out the number, adding oomph and passion to lines that always deserved them. Preceding the live performance: video testimony on that big ol' screen of Simpson gushing over her love for Lachey, how she knew she had to record the song for him.
Which demanded questions: What's "reality" these days? What's a live performance? Is that the real Jessica onstage, or onscreen? Where should I look, and who do I pay?
- To contact Gina Vivinetto e-mail gina@sptimes.com
[Last modified June 14, 2004, 01:00:27]
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