By: Jacob Elyachar
Several of the strongest vocalists on the planet gathered at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to pay tribute to some of the legendary Divas of our time.
After a quick pre-recorded message from Demi Lovato honoring the fallen victims of Newton, Connecticut massacre, viewers saw an incredible performance from show host Adam Lambert with cameos from Nene Leaks and former Idol and X Factor judge and VH1 Divas 2009 host Paula Abdul, a newly engaged Kelly Clarkson performed an impressive “Catch My Breath” that featured strong vocals from the Grammy winner.
The second diva that took the stage was Ciara, who paid tribute to the King of Pop. Up first, the “One, Two Step” singer showed off her interpretations of Michael’s signature moves from “Dangerous” and “Smooth Criminal” while performing to “Billie Jean.” After paying her respects to the King, Ciara performed a crowd-pleasing “Got Me Good.”
Adam Lambert and Kelly Rowland showed off their incredible vocals during their tribute to Donna Summer. (Photo property of VH1)
Legendary percussionist Sheila E delivered an intriguing introduction to the Donna Summer segment that featured clips of the Queen of Disco and a super medley of six of Donna’s hits. While Adam delivered a strong performance of “Hot Stuff” and Kelly Rowland brought the heat with a “I Feel Love”/”Bad Girls” medley, I thought that the VH1 producers should have given Keri Hilson more time with “She Works Hard for the Money” because it felt rushed in spots.
While it was a pleasant surprise to see Kelly Osbourne pay tribute to the one and only Debbie Harry, Metric, the band who paid tribute to Blondie with their signature song: “Heart of Glass” butchered the punk rock anthem. It was cringeworthy and the producers should have asked Katy Perry or P!nk to perform the song because they would have made it their own and could have reached Debbie’s high notes.
X Factor judge Demi Lovato made her first VH1 Divas appearance and performed her huge hit: “Give Your Heart a Break.” While she engaged the audience as they sang along with her, it seemed like Demi was struggling to reach some of the notes of her single. After Demi exited the stage, her fellow X Factor judge L.A. Reid introduced British superstar Paloma Faith, who debuted her hit single “Picking Up the Pieces” on the show.
One of the biggest surprises of the night belonged to Miley Cyrus as the former Disney star stole the show with her cover of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell.” (Photo property of VH1)
Miley Cyrus returned to the VH1 Divas Live stage to perform an outstanding cover of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell.” If Ms. Cyrus records this song for her new album, I would personally buy it. While I expected Natasha Bedingfield, Bootsy Collins and Iggy Azalea to bring the house down, it seemed that the “Pocketful of Sunshine” vocalist felt very out-of-place while both Iggy and Bootsy felt at home when they performed “Groove Is in the Heart.”
As the special headed to its climax, Glee’s Amber Riley re-introduced Adam Lambert, who performed an intriguing cover of Madonna’s “Ray of Light” while Brandy helped Ledesi, Melanie Fiona and Jordin Sparks pay tribute to her godmother: the dynamic Whitney Houston as they performed a medley of her biggest hits including: “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and “How Will I Know You.” Meanwhile, Pitbull closed the show with his massive hits: “Don’t Stop the Party” and “Feel This Moment.”
Final thoughts and Grade: While there were several outstanding performances from Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert, Miley Cyrus and the tributes, it seemed like the show dragged at times and encountered technical problems along the way that threw it off its groove. Otherwise, it was a great night for music. B
this show was the worst divas show i ever seen if this is how its going to be they need to stop it what a joke
Adam Lambert butchered the first minute or so of Ray of Light. He obviously couldn’t find his key. The choreography was awful. I mean REALLY awful. If you’re going to do a tribute to Madonna and have the amazing Adam Lambert, pick a better song. He could have nailed “Like A Prayer” or “Express Yourself.” Among countless others like “Holiday,” “Music,” etc. By the time he found his key, he was fine, but the song didn’t suit him and the choreography didn’t suit anybody.
It was obvious that Lambert had sound issues and couldn’t hear himself during the few minutes that you’re saying he “butchered” ROL. He acknowledged that he finally got sound when he said “There it is”. You can hear it pretty clearly, and after the sound issue, he sounded fantastic. I liked his performance.. choreo and all.. had a great energetic vibe. He did a really great job hosting and has comedic chops.
Lambert clearly couldn’t hear himself. Watch it again. He touches his ear piece, he glances towards the musical director looking pretty uncomfortable. Then he switches to a very professional “the show must go on” attitude and starts moving. And in the second line of the chorus he finally gets sound and screams: “There it is!!! Wooohooo!!!” The people who were at the theater said the sound of his mic didn’t even get to the audience, so it was clearly a sound issue. Maybe YOU should try to sing without hearing yourself. Let’s see if you can do better than he did.
After the great vocals he had been showing all night, it’s a shame that this sound issue had to happen to him when he was honoring one of his favourite artists.
In my opinion, he outsang everyone on that stage. What a voice he has! Flawless technique, out-of-this-world range, great stage presence, outstanding artistry. And he was a very natural host, very professional. The costume changes were hilarious and kept the attention of the audience. The skit at the beginning was pretty funny, and the bloopers are even better.
As for the other performers, I was very surprised by Miley Cyrus. She was my second favourite, after Adam Lambert. Great performance! Kelly Clarkson did great too. Demi Lovato struggled a little, but she did better than I was expecting. Metric was horrible. I didn’t like Paloma Faith either. The tributes to Donna Summer (that high note from Adam! Whoa!) and Whitney Houston were great too.
It was a very entertaining show, and I had a blast watching it.
THE WORST DIVAS EVER!! It was over produced, too much stage production and really no talent (excluding Kelly Clarkson and Kelly Rowland). It’s sad to see what this show has become over the years. It really says something about the music today!
You forgot about Adam Lambert. This show would really suck without him this year.
Loved the show!!! Adam Lambert was a stand out! What a talented man he is – not only with those phenomenal vocals but his hosting was great and who knew he was so good at comedy!!? It was a shame there were problems with the sound (faulty ear piece apparently) at the beginning of Ray Of Light but he handled it like a pro and pulled it together as soon as he could. I loved his zany upbeat version of the song! Best of the night was the opening number in my humble opinion, followed by Miley and the Donna Summer tribute. SOrry I love Kelly Clarkson but she was kinda boring.
I found this year’s Diva Show to be a delight! The music was so good! I loved the comedy and vocal talent Adam Lambert infused throughout the evening! The entire show was fun, unlike past Diva shows have been! (Divas just wailing)This was a huge dance party! Standouts for me were Adam Lambert (both vocally and as the host), Kelly Rowland, Metric and Miley Cyrus! The entertainment value of the show was A++++. Only problem I found was with the technical sound issues! They need to step up to do the artist justice!
I agree that the show was overproduced and also that Miley was a surprise – I’ve never been a fan of hers but felt she stole the show with “Rebel Yell.” Agree that the producers should’ve picked another Madonna song for Adam to sing, but once the sound issue cleared up & he found the key, he was fine with a fun performace of ROL. I actually enjoyed him more in his non-singing bits, such as his opening sketch. He needs to do something like SNL or maybe host a variety special or something like that.
At the start of ROL Adam’s ear monitors weren’t working, and in person even the band had sound issues. That’s too bad because up to that point, Adam had a flawless evening. But that’s live TV for you. What an amazing host, and an equally amazing comedic actor. After watching all the preview clips, I figured as much. Too bad Adam doesn’t have a current hit single. He would so nail Saturday Night Live.
Madonna personally chose “Ray of Light” for Adam Lambert to sing. And apparently Adam indeed had trouble hearing the music at first. I was there in the audience and it did appear there were sound issues off and on during the show. I personally loved his interpretation of the song.. I also agree with your assessment in general of the show. I really enjoyed the majority of the performances, with the exception of just a couple. I thought Adam Lambert did a great job of hosting, and performing. He’s a natural at both. And his voice is one of the best in music today. Miley Cyrus was a very pleasant surprise for me. I disagree with two comments above that The Divas show this year was talentless. But to each his own.
I was in the audience, in the middle balcony. The sound issues were horrendous – most of the time we DID not hear the sound at all upstairs – just the bass line and some roaring. For 75% of the time it sounded like a really bad night at the Viper Room. Even during the spoken moments, you could hardly hear anything. Adam saved the show from going down the tube. All had sound issues and during the commercial breaks they kept testing the sound. I think the worse problem happened when they switched the music feed from Ricky Minor’s orchestra to the instruments for Metric (which, by the way, was atrocious sounding. I still don’t know what Metric sounds like live) and then switched back to the orchestra for ROL and totally screwed Adam. Luckily for us he’s a pro at that and just rolled with the punches. Haven’t heard if they found the body of the sound tech yet, perhaps he hid it well in the basement of the Shrine 🙂 Oh, and I still don’t get L.A.Reid and that Paloma Faith person. No one had the slightest idea who she is and what was she doing there. And Pitbull clearly was at the wrong show. They should have just let Adam sing all the songs. He was awesome as a host and as a performer. On a final note: the Shrine needs 100% refurbishment and acoustic adjustments made inside in order to survive as a show venue. Otherwise they should just keep it as the USC’s defacto student theater.
If you wanted entertainment you certainly got it with VH1 Divas 2012! And having a male host turned out to be a real coup. Adam Lambert was brilliant. Loved his repartee in between other great artists performing. Kudos to Miley and Kelly R. Pity Adam had to contend with sound issues with start of ROL but he handled it like the pro he is. Please more AL hosting roles.
🙂 – I searched and found it. Thanks for the post. Kate Legan