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diversions
Ms. Janet gets
nasty
By Christine Shin
On-line Forty-Niner
In a confused city
that both celebrates and protests in the same destructive
ways, the Staples Center last week hosted an event without
the usual flames and fury of Angelinos.
The City of Angels was instead treated to a warm, intimate
moment with a pop culture icon.
Janet Jackson first exploded on the center stage with songs
from her "All for You" album.
Jackson took a break from her newer songs to reminisce with
a medley of tunes from decades past, including ballads "Let's
Wait a While" and "Again."
Jackson walked to the front of the stage to embrace the audience
as they all screamed for her. With tears flowing, she stood
in front of her loving fans and smiled with her hand placed
over her heart. She smiled as if meeting her audience for
the first time, giving each fan an intimate moment with the
humble entertainer.
Throughout the performance, Jackson weaved the old with the
new, allowing for the enjoyment of a fan from any decade.
Blow-up dolls and human ladybugs were probably the most elaboration,
or lack thereof, in set design of the entire night. The circus
set-up and costumes were cute, but definitely catered to her
younger crowd.
Cliché Asian themes with freaky Halloween masks were
oddly melded. Jackson then jumped into provocative gear of
black patent leather. After stating how "lonely"
the stage was getting, she chose an audience member in a Laker
jersey to voluntarily strap himself against a mobile sadomasochistic
contraption.
As Jackson propped herself up in front of him, the seduction
act became a comedy act with the not-so-helpless volunteer's
"tongue actions" and comments like "Daddy loves
you." After some grinding, teasing and countless "Oh
my Gods" from the Laker fan, the "S&M-mobile"
suddenly flipped from vertical to horizontal as it dropped
beneath the floor stage.
Hey, at least it got laughs from the audience.
Choreography in the dance numbers were identical to Jackson's
music videos and tours like "Rhythm Nation," preventing
an original show, which worked for fans who had missed past
tours.
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