On Tuesday the 11th of December, Jennifer Lopez put on one of the most elaborate, not to mention sparkly shows that Rod Laver Arena has seen in a while.
Jennifer Lopez: Photo By Mary Boukouvalas
Supported by Kate Alexa, JLo’s live performance only further demonstrated why the woman is such a megastar.
Kate Alexa, known mainly for her single ‘Always There’ being featured on Home and Away in 2004 took the Rod Laver stage sporting a floral dress and what looked like cat ears covered in flowers or something. Alexa has been writing music since she was thirteen years old and in mid 2004 she signed a record deal with her father’s company, Liberation Music.
This Melbourne girl has a very impressive range which she made evident from the minute she stepped out on stage, however another thing made evident was that live performance is certainly not her strength. Her communication with the audience was awkward and often a little annoying, she came across as kind of ditzy, along with the fact that she was pitchy in places and her dancing was a bit uncomfortable in the way that she at times looked a bit like a 40 year old doing karaoke. When she performed her single ‘I Deny’ she seemed to be walking around aimlessly on the stage at the end of which, the crowd applauded politely as she ended her set.
Finally, JLo made such a tension-built entrance complete with male dancers in tux’s with top hats carrying her in wearing a sparkly body suit. It was actually quite cute and only a little bit tacky. From that point things got very heated as this yummy mummy got right into her opening song “Get Right” which put the crowd in a frenzy. The reason JLo is where she is today became apparent very quickly through her strong voice and fierce dancing. She kept pulling of the hits after that when the crowd lost it for “Love Don’t Cost A Thing’.
She had so much energy and seemed to find it so easy to convey that to the audience because they were just as excited as she was. I still refuse to believe that this woman’s age is in fact 43, not only does she have a beautiful body but her fitness levels are bionic.
Something that was certainly consistent though out the show, other than the mass amounts of glitter was the applause coming from the audience. Their adoration was unmatchable and she reciprocated equally. She then took a moment to talk to her adoring fans and as a person, Lopez was so lovable and charming and beautifully communicated her appreciation to her fans.
More amazing spectacles were yet to be discovered including a scene in a boxing ring which was set up during a costume change and of course more of her hits including the absolute smash single, “Waiting For Tonight.” She then continued on to a segment apparently designed to take the audience back to The Bronx with JLo and the crowd were losing it both due to her impressive break dancing skills and the fact that she played her trademark “Jenny From The Block.”
After this segment of the show, Lopez headed backstage for yet another costume change while her band began to play some softer latin music at which point her guitarist played a beautiful solo. What is it about a man who can play spanish guitar? JLo then returned to the stage in a beautiful gown and joined the guitarist on a stool at the front of the stage and began to sing when she saw a fan that she decided to pull up on stage. What seemed like a nice idea at first quickly turned into a hilarious skit when the lucky girl began to get a little too comfortable on stage clutching Lopez for dear life and acting as if she’d had one too many drinks. JLo still handled the situation comically and gracefully.
Anther costume change passed and she returned for a much more ethnic portion of the evening, where her and her dancers were in full salsa costume as the crowd went crazy for “Lets Get Loud” and yes, there was still a lot of sparkle.
Before her encore, there was a sequence of images with script on the screen one of them reading, “I Still Believe In Love”, which the crowd adored, by this point in time everyone in the audience were at their corniest. She performed “On The Floor” with her dancers, which was another high-energy crowd pleaser, before finishing with “Dance Again” most of which she danced alone. Lopez has an incredible talent for connecting with an audience. She put on an elaborate show filled with energy and emotion and her crowd left elated.
Remaining JLo Australian dates are:
December 14 and 15, Sydney, Allphones Arena
December 18, Brisbane, Entertainment Centre
