George Michael is Such a Father Figure

After seeing [ his mannered performance of "Praying For Time" on American Idol this spring ], my expectations were low for[ George Michael's](http://www.georgemichael.com/) current tour; a feeling that was possibly shared by a few, as it was hardly a capacity crowd for the second of a two-night stand at MSG. Then the lights dimmed, and the audience made some serious noise, an impressive decibel level they kept up for nearly three hours. The infectious energy from the singing and screaming fans, many experiencing release after waiting 17 years since his last U.S. tour, was electric enough to cause the hairs on my arm stand at attention again and again. The singer himself felt it, commenting that compared to the Monday night audience "someone has turned the power on".

While his performance never sparked comparable chills, George Michael '08 proved to still be a commanding performer. His midsection may be a bit thicker, but the hips still swiveled with the same swagger. His face is fuller, yet his 45-year old voice has barely thinned: the fudged high notes were few and far between, even on soaring ballads like "A Different Corner".

Having received little U.S. airplay since taking on his former record label in the early 90s for, among other things, improperly promoting his second solo album, the setlist was an orgy of pop classics, some which I wasn't even aware I knew: ranging from Wham! chart-toppers like "Everything She Wants", to ballads like "Father Figure" to recent club hits "Amazing" and "Flawless" . During the show-closing and roof-raising performance of "Freedom '90", it's hard not to think that Mr. Michael may have had a point about shoddy marketing: how is it possible that such a universally recognized song, [one with an iconic video to boot], only reached #8 on the Billboard charts?