Who knew young girls could shriek quite so loudly? The sound of over-excited tweens and teens filled, and at times overwhelmed, the Honda Center in Anaheim Saturday night, where KIIS FM radio held its annual Jingle Ball concert.
Crowd surfing, giant bananas, pretend-lesbianism and children dancing on stage showed the varying tones of the evening. Featuring a well-rounded sampler of what’s hot in popular music today, the concert hosted powerhouse pop acts such as Chris Brown, the Pussycat Dolls, Rihanna, Akon, Jesse McCartney, Katy Perry, Estelle, David Banner, Tokio Hotel, and the new Menudo.
The musical event was well-organized, considering the number of acts (nine, including last-minute add Akon), celebrity drop-ins (several) and surprise artists (Colby O’Donis and Kardinal Offishall, who joined Akon). Most of the acts had short sets to accommodate the number of performers, but the show still lasted well over four hours. It’s a testament to KISS FM’s well-produced between-act entertainment that the long evening was as good as it was.
KIIS FM personalities JoJo on the Radio, Boy Toy Jesse, and Sisanie provided fun, pre-recorded “web cam” skits on the big screens during act changes, while Chloe Kardashian (of reality TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashians) hosted a stream of favorite celebrities to the primarily tween and teen girl crowd (including Kellan Lutz from the hit movie Twilight, Miranda Cosgrove from iCarly, and Cody Linley from Dancing with the Stars and the Hannah Montana series). Radio stars Ryan Seacrest and Ellen K. of the KIIS FM morning show also appeared on stage to introduce the larger acts.
The show opened with the new and revamped Menudo, who warmed up the crowd before the German group Tokio Hotel inspired excited noises from the audience. Despite the fact that some feel Tokio Hotel look and sound somewhat like chicks, the popular European boy band demonstrated their musical range. British songstress Estelle (“American Boy”, a duet made famous with Kanye West) followed, appearing to be the strongest live female performer voice-wise during the show. Rapper David Banner made security nervous when he ran through the audience, meeting fans up close and pulling others on stage to join him.
Katy Perry (Hot and Cold and I Kissed a Girl) rolled in while seated inside a giant banana, wearing a glittering red short one-piece santa outfit complete with white fluff. She was cute, funny and relaxed, and made us women in the audience wonder if we, in fact, should kiss that girl. Her voice was a little lacking live, but Perry’s quirky yet powerful on-stage presence made the audience quickly forgive and forget.
Akon was a last-minute add and wowed the audience by diving into them during his song Right Now. He pumped up the volume and the energy, brought on guest performers, and set the bar high for Jesse McCartney (Leavin’ and Beautiful Soul) who followed. McCartney’s songs were fairly uninspired, and he seemed to focus more on visual style and choreography than imparting energy.
Visual style plus energy, however, is what brought the house back to their feet when the Pussycat Dolls arrived on-stage. Full of power, passion and showmanship, they lit up the house, though their first song was weak in vocal performance. Once they got going the PCDs demonstrated their ability to totally command the stage and the audience.
Chris Brown wrapped up the evening by entering the stage from above, suspended by wires from the rafters. He sang and primarily danced his way through the show’s final numbers, with help from high-wattage dancing kids. Brown’s energy and dance moves kept the audience happy and young girls screaming. Rihanna (Disturbia) was the evening’s “special guest” and joined Brown on-stage for a brief moment with her rendition of the song Umbrella.
Jingle Ball was many concerts rolled in one, and a good indicator of popular music. It was a fun, boisterous, and entertaining evening. But here’s a piece of advice if you go next year. You’ll have a good time, but bring ear plugs – those young ‘uns are loud.
What: KIIS FM Jingle Ball 2008
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim
When: Dec. 6, 2008
Information: View more coverage of Jingle Ball 2008 at www.kiisfm.com
