Beyonce’s the queen of glittery glam at BankAtlantic Center
Leslie Gray Streeter | Palm Beach Post
SUNRISE – The big productions of the past that Beyoncé’s Monday night event paid homage to were clearly in evidence — Tina Turner/Ann-Margret-style shorter-than-short shiny leotards and hordes of backup dancers, the Cher-esque costume changes and Barbra Streisand-like devotion to the singular diva.
Beyoncé knows well that while the hey-day of those divas might be fading from memory, our public desire for sparkle and shine, shirtless dancers and mind-blowing spectacle is not. And, based on her BankAtlantic Center show, it’s hard to imagine Beyoncé ever fading. In fact, she’s getting better. Shockingly better.
By the time huge curtains parted to reveal B. taking possession of the stage to the jazzy strains of Deja Vu, which morphed into Crazy In Love, the crowd was fairly freaked out. The hits came fast and furious, many cut into seamless montages (shades of Vegas!). Naughty Girl, Freakum Dress, Get Me Bodied and more were melded with the darndest things, including Sarah McLachlan’s Angel and Alanis Morissette’s thumpingly bitter You Oughta Know.
She also honored Michael Jackson with a snippet of Beat It, and recalled her BET Awards performance of Ave Maria, set to a backdrop of rolling waves and the ever-present wind machine that blew Beyoncé’s hair and wedding dress costume.
In between, the gracious hostess wasn’t too lofty to debate a marriage proposal and chat with a giddy fan named Antoine, who I suspect may have been a plant. Who cares? He channeled what everyone else was thinking.
The biggest numbers were the ones you’d expect — a surprisingly effective sing-along of Irreplaceable and the inevitable Single Ladies section, preceded by a YouTube buffet of amateur and professional interpretations of the dance that launched a million black leotards.
The effect was to acknowledge Beyoncé’s sense of humor — “Look at all these people imitating me! Funny!” — and her knowledge of her singular fabulousness — “Look at all these people who wanna be me and can’t!”
Her dancing? Flawless. Her voice? Flawless. Her stage presence? No words for it. It doesn’t matter that Beyoncé’s shtick isn’t original. She’s an observant student of the glittery teachers that have come before, and she’s been able to seamlessly weave them into her own brand of rock/r&b/Vegas-palooza. Makes you giddy wondering what’s next to come.
