We saw part of the Concert for Diana yesterday, and it looked like it went pretty well, given the difficult nature of huge live events. I had a few thoughts run though my head while watching, though, and figured I’d share them with an interested audience:
- Realizing they weren’t promising music Princess Di liked, I still found it interesting that several of the acts weren’t known ten years ago. The list might have reflected the princes’ musical tastes as well, but I kept thinking it partially looked like the artist list you would get automatically from the BBC and VH1 for any concert.
- Speaking of which: Fergie? Really? And she didn’t do London Bridge? When is a better time?
- I didn’t catch this part, but why would English audiences care if Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson were there with Simon Cowell?
- Josh Groban did a remarkable job fighting off Sarah Brightman during their duet.
- Oh, Rod Stewart. That’s why they didn’t fill the entire concert with acts Diana liked.
- In case you were wondering about Donny Osmond and dozens of kids wearing Chickenshed shirts, here you go.
- Drop It Like It’s Hot. Pharrel Williams, everyone! A big round of applause! He’s really captured the spirit of the event!
- Oh, good, Kanye West is here. He’ll straighten it all out. “Now I ain’t saying she a Gold Digger, but she ain’t messing with no broke…” Oh, that’s not good.
- For the first time in my life, I felt sorry for Ricky Gervais.
- And Elton John was finally able to take the stage to finish off the concert – he opened as well. This time he’ll do Candle in the Wind for the first time since Diana’s funeral, right? Nope. Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting.
- Wait, when did Diana die? Oh yeah, Saturday night.
Anyway, I’m kind of picking on it, but like I said, it worked well. Much more smoothly than Live 8. I just wonder if everyone was told what the concert was for?