Rick Michel's Blog

The vocals of Katharine McPhee were the first to blow me away. Her ability to make a song her own, delivered in a unique style so seemingly effortlessly makes you take notice.

To close the show, The Big Apple’s own Lady Gaga sang “Theme from New York, New York,” complete with a somewhat subdued, but still Gaga-esque production with stairs and an outfit that highlighted her grace, but allowed us to focus on her voice.

The big surprise of the night for me was Seth MacFarland and the emotion he put into the songs. I felt he was worth the price of admission alone, but that may be the funny man in me siding with his comedic genius.

Of course, Tony Bennett’s moment in the spotlight was perfect. The crowd loved him and the personal introduction from his idol was a nice touch. His performance of “I’ve Got the World on a String” truly put us all on his string.

In truth, everyone was spectacular. The experience and pure talent of a Celine Dion or Alicia Keys may make one’s vocal ability apparent, but standing on stage with only your voice and an orchestra really bares yourself to the world, so it was admirable for all the stars to deliver such raw renditions of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ hits.

I’ll be doing my best to celebrate The Voice’s birthday December 11^th in Hanover, PA at the Eichelberger PAC and on his true centenary December 12^th in Reading, PA at the Santander PAC. What a couple of nights this will be!