Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
These days, international pop phenomenon JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE is travelling the world to support last year’s gigantic double album The 20/20 Experience. So, yes we attended last night’s show at Berlin’s o2 World arena to join the prince of pop for his wild ride. What we got were two hours of perfectly timed and choreographed American entertainment. Flawless, megalomaniac and packed with hits. Rock Your Body, Mirrors, My Love, Suit & Tie, Cry Me A River – they were all in there. And in the middle of it one gifted pop entertainer. Perfection is the credo of the evening, coincidence the enemy.
NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION confronted The 20/20 Experience, witnessed the whole thing and left the arena with tons of impressions. But also with a lot of essential conclusions. Here are the twelve important ones in our opinion.
01. There’s no business like show business. And TIMBERLAKE is clearly one of the hardest working men in show business. Every second of his show is perfectly timed, every scene is choreographed. There is no room for coincidence in the microcosm of JT. Besides being a quite crafted musician, singer and dancer he’s also an actor. Don’t forget that. At the end you just have to wonder – how many authentic emotions were actually in here. Well, besides his honest smile and undeniable love for the performance.
02. You might be cool and fancy. But you’re never gonna be as cool and fancy as ‘Having a special VIP Area with a bar inside the arena.’-fancy. Yes, these folks probably paid a bit more to get their chance to shake the hand of Mr. TIMBERLAKE later in the show. As long as there’s a market why not serving it?
03. He secretly wants to be a rapper. Throughout the entire show he isn’t afraid of quoting KANYE WEST, JAY Z and others. He’s probably one of the few white guys who can get away with that. Seriously, you know his History Of Rap videos, don’t you? ‘Hurry up with my damn croissants!’
04. Face it. He’s the official successor of MICHAEL JACKSON. He got the moves and the funk – minus the whole ‘weirdo’ aspect. He went to the school of ‘Jacko’, you can see that in every phase of the show. He learnt from the best – which might explain why the show also consequently featured covers by JACKSON and ELVIS PRESLEY as well.
05. There’s no time for adolescent foolishness. Seriously, why not bringing back some of the ridiculous catchy 90s N SYNC moments? Maybe by even making fun out of it. Come on. We want them back. It’s tearing up our hearts.
06. He is one of pop music’s most one-themed lyricists. Basically every track is about having/attending or dealing with sexual intercourse with a sexy lady. Get on the floor, get the girl and learn a lesson once she fools you. It’s a hard knock life out there being sexy JUSTIN and having all these seductive girls around. How about some slightly diversified lyrical content in the future?
Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
07. Ten years after ‘Nipplegate’ the man isn’t afraid of showing at least slices of boobs on his giant video screen. You can get a glimpse on those nipples during the performance of Tunnel Vision. We can only assume that this marks the European version of that video. Did somebody say ‘Controversy?’ Probably not.
08. He understands show master rule Number One: ‘Constantly make sure everybody everywhere feels comfortable.‘ ‘How you’re doing in the back?’ ‘How you’re doing up there?’ Rhetorical questions to keep thousands of people happy. After all, he’s a professional. We want to believe that he’s enjoying it as well. ‘You’re having a good time?’
09. ‘Poison’ by BELL BIV DEVOE is a wrongly forgotten classic. TIMBERLAKE and his band played the 1990 pop rap hit during the final part of their show and it was pure gold. If you don’t believe us, please watch the following music video and turn up your swagger. Thank you.
10. Despite popular belief – money does sometimes count. Size does matter in the world of JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE. Giant screens, a moving stage and an impressive backing band that can optionally disappear in the floor. And that can also rock the show. Probably each and every one of his band members got more entertainment potential than most of today’s pop stars. Neither cost nor effort has been spared. Both is as fascinating as it is somehow disgusting.
11. There’s no need to bring ‘Sexy Back.’ In the end it was never gone and always attached to this man. Seriously, he’s quite a handsome guy. One that deserves all the hysteric screaming from the audience that consisted of 80 percent of women. But maybe even the 20 male percent were screaming as well. TIMBERLAKE just got that disarming grin. Jessica Biel is an enviable woman.
12. Visiting a JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE show is a bit like watching a Hollywood blockbuster in the style of Transformers. It’s shiny, full of effects, a lot of action and tons of visual highlights. It entertains you in its perfection, distracts you from every day life and lets you live a life larger than your own. But when you think about it just a bit longer it leaves you strangely empty and somehow also helpless. It was great, it was entertaining and it had far too many highlights to mention. But whatever you experience there never made it to you heart and mind. The beauty of distraction. Well, don’t we all love a good show from time to time? Seeing TIMBERLAKE‘s big fat smile on the video screen at the end – well, we can’t help but join him and his Tunnel Vision at least for a little while.
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