... there's a new kid in town!
Don Blanquito emailed me awhile back, hoping I'd post about him, no doubt. He claims to be the first American in Brazil's Portuguese funk scene. Here is his myspace page, and a link to his latest video. What do you think - does he give MC Gringo a run for his money?
One of my girlfriends & I had been talking about going to Elton John but hadn't quite gotten our act together in terms of getting tickets. Yesterday we decided we still wanted to go and would head down and see what the scalpers could offer us. This was a great way to see the show - we ended up with tix that were worth R$550 for R$250. We were on the floor and had an awesome view of both Elton and James Blunt, who opened for him.
On the way in several people warned us about getting robbed so I was a bit nervous....getting scalped tix was a bit sketchy as this cop came up to us as we were walking with one scalper and asked us if we had tickets and if we were buying them from the guy, I said we didn't have tickets but that the guy hadn't offered us tickets (which he had but I didn't want to make any trouble... not sure what the laws are on reselling tix here...) we ended up buying them from someone else. Oh and the washrooms in the Sambódromo are nothing short of terrifying... but other than that it was a great venue.
I enjoyed James Blunt a LOT, much more than I expected to. I will have to buy some of the songs I heard last night from iTunes later.
Elton was fantastic as always, funniest thing was I think he was wearing the same outfit he wore when I saw him in Calgary last year and may have even done the same set. My viewpoint was much better from where we were here, and it's always magical to watch a concert from under the stars. It even rained very briefly (which was a bit of a relief from the heat!) I just felt really lucky to be there.
Elton John played for over two hours. He is such an amazing entertainer and I really enjoy the members of his band as well, especially the drummer who is an original member of the band and the blond guitar player who is probably pushing 70 but is still just too cool for words and even almost hot.
Here is the list of what Elton sang last night:
"Funeral for a friend / Love lies
bleeding"
"The bitch is back"
"Madman across the water"
"Tiny
dancer"
"Levon"
"Believe"
"Take me to the
pilot"
"Goodbye yellow brick road"
"Daniel"
"Rocket
man"
"Honky cat"
"Sacrifice"
"Dont let the sun go
down on me"
"I guess that’s why they
call it the blues"
"Sorry seems to be
the hardest word"
"Candle in the
wind"
"Bennie and the jets"
"Sad songs (say so much)"
"Philadelphia freedom"
"I’m still
standing"
"Crocodile rock"
"Saturday night is alright for fighting"
After the curtain call:
"Skyline pigeon"
"Your song"
I hadn't heard "Skyline pigeon" before but the Brazilians sure had.
Yay!
After the concert my night took a bit of a turn for the worse but I'll put that in a separate post...
Am I the only one whose favorite Christmas music consists of whatever my parents played most as a kid? Which consisted of whatever tapes Auntie Janet copied for mom and dad, and whatever records we had?
Last night, I realized that it is Christmas in one week. Seriously, I've been oblivious. I was at the mall last weekend and was like, wow, the mall is sure busy, I wonder why...? Hello! You'd think the English Christmas Music they play in the malls constantly, and over the top decorations would remind me but apparently not... still doesn't feel like Christmas!
Being that we did minimal Christmas shopping this year (my husband and I are not exchanging gifts, my immediate family is not exchanging gifts as we are going away together for Christmas, plus we cut back significantly with my husband's family as well, and most of their shopping consisted of "Oh I'll buy that from your baby wish list!" My sister handled our buying for my dad & stepmom, yeah I've hardly shopped at all!), and we are in a tropical climate while back home they are getting beaten with snow (anyone hear that it is snowing in California and in VEGAS? Unreal. Wonder how many de-icers they have in the Las Vegas airport. According to my husband who was stuck in Houston in a snowstorm last week, Houston has ONE, and is a major hub. So I doubt it looks good for Vegas... They are also calling for a white Christmas all across Canada, and despite the fact that a lot of people think that we live in igloos and it's nothing but snow year-round up there, I assure you that a Canada-wide white Christmas has not happened in a long long time. Calgary generally doesn't even get a white Christmas, and neither does Vancouver...), wow anyway the traditional Christmas stuff is pretty anti-climactic around here this year. And that might just be the longest sentence ever.
So last night I did Christmas cards, and then realized most people will probably receive theirs around Easter...
Whatev.
I also realized that we did not have any Christmas tunes here in Brazil, so I quickly went on iTunes and was delighted and a little SHOCKED to learn that ALL of my favorite Christmas albums growing up were available for immediate purchase and download. Want to hear my hitlist? It is a weird mix... This is so embarassing that it totally justifies me keeping my blog anonymous...
It is ironic that these are my favorite Christmas albums as I don't listen to any of these artists' non-Christmas music... kind of strange when you think about it! This is very different from my regular taste in music, the one exception is that I love everything by the Carpenters...
1) Celine Dion - These Are the Special Times - ok, not an oldie but I really like it and reminds me of snowy recent Christmases at my mom's, my favorite track is the "Another Year has gone by" song.
2) John Denver & The Muppets - A Christmas Together. This is where the SHOCKED it was on iTunes part comes in... It reminds me of when I was a kid, okay? We Wish You a Merry Christmas is a highlight with Miss Piggy singing about the figgy pudding.
3) The Carpenters - Christmas Collection. I hear this being played in Brazil a lot. I think Karen Carpenter has the best voice of any singer I've ever heard, it is very warm, smooth and comforting.
4) Anne Murray - Anne Murray's Christmas Album. Anne's "Silver Bells" is the best.
5) The Oak Ridge Boys - Christmas with the Oak Ridge Boys. Thank God for Kids is my fave.
6) Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers - Once Upon A Christmas - this might actually be my favorite overall Christmas album. The title track is good and I also love "With Bells On"
SIngles to complete the playlist:
The Beach Boys: The Little St. Nick
Mariah Carey: All I want for Christmas is You
ABBA: Happy New Year
Alvin & The Chipmunks: Please Christmas Don't Be Late (My husband HATES it when I put this on!!! haha... which amuses me...)
Now that I have thoroughly humiliated myself, I will proceed with the Christmas sighting of the day.
It's even a musical one (I assume...) Here in Rio if you are behind on your Christmas shopping there is really no excuse for you, as vendors are even set up at intersections selling Santas to motorists, it appears that they are Santas which do a variety of impressive things! Although none as impressive as my soccer, James Brown singing Santa I'm sure... (see video a week or so back).
They say to thank god for unanswered prayers... I get it as I sure was happy we did not get tickets for Madonna's first show - Sunday night - as it poured rain that night and she even slipped and fell at one point, yikes!
Monday night's show was fantastic - cool weather for Brazil, which was welcome, in that crowd! We had floor "seats" so we were especially thankful for the lack of rain. As we walked down the platform and I saw the huge glittering "M"s I admit I got a little choked up. I was so excited!!!!! I figured I would cry when I first saw her (this was pre-pregnancy me thinking this... so I figured I was really in trouble now!) but I held it back until she sang "You Must Love Me" from Evita... loved that.
She opened (an hour and 37 minutes late - this is according to our friend who "wasn't watching his watch") with Candy Shop from her new album, and had a good mix of old & new, she played for over 2 hours. Highlights for me were Borderline (she did sort of a rocker-style version, loved it), Devil Wouldn't Recognize You & Heartbeat from the new album, La Isla Bonita (which she really seemed to Brazilian-ize - went over really well!), especially with one of our friends, that was his one song he wanted to hear! The Brazilian crowd seemed to love it most when she sang Human Nature, 4 minutes, Vogue, Ray of Light and Music.
I was shocked at how calm the crowd was, reportedly there were 70,000 people there and we were a bit timid to find a place to stand closer to the front as we didn't want to get squished (me especially!) but it all stayed quite civilized, which almost made me sad we hadn't gone up further. Better safe than sorry, especially in my condition!
She closed the show by waving a Brazilian flag.
I can't even describe in words how much energy Madonna has. To be honest it's frightening in a way. I don't understand how she literally whips herself from one end of the stage for hours on end, day after day - it has got to be the most exhausting show ever to perform, and she does it for days on end at 50 years old. No wonder the woman is so ripped (and oh, is she ripped...) She seemed much more "Edgy" and maybe even hard is the right word, in person in concert rather than when I have seen her on television, had to comment on that as well (for example she called us motherf*...ers more than once... and yelled for people to "show the queen you love her" and staked a claim she will never leave). She sure has been through a lot and it does show!
I was so grateful for the opportunity to see Madonna live, especially at Maracana, it was an experience I'll never forget. It was overcast that night but every so often I'd lift my head to look up and remember we were outside and the odd star would reveal itself from behind the clouds. What a venue! Great night.
Here is a photo of some of the madness outside the Copacabana Palace, where she is staying.
For updates on all things Madonna-in-Rio, the Made in Brazil blog has got it under control! Check it out there is even a video of her before-show prayer!
We didn't take many photos - mostly video (and if you've seen the soccer santa post, you'll forgive me as you'll know how terrible I am still at posting video...)
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