And another review from another mariah fan who attended...........
"OHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYY GODDDDDDDDDD (*said in a Janice [from Friends] tone*)!!!
What an amazing experience! I've been home for 2 hours now, and yet I am still on such a high! I can't explain how happy I am right now.. As I have said on Facebook & Twitter, tonight was truly a DREAM COME TRUE! To love and admire someone from the age of 3, I had so many ideas all my life of what this night would end up being for me - and I have to say, the show fulfilled the expectations and so much more!
There is not much else to add from what Matt has said. He ran through pretty much the entire show with great detail!!
I have to say, fundamentally: BRAVO TO THE SYDNEY AUDIENCE!! I've been to a zillion concerts in my time, and I have NEVER experienced such a lively, loud and interactive audience! They were into it from the get-go! Even Whitney was genuinely surprised by the love in the room (especially after the Brisbane debarkle). Considering the negative media attention, I'm so proud that we all came out in true support for her! Everyone was there in great spirits and were all rooting for her to succeed. It was beautiful!
From the moment Whitney opened the show with "For The Lovers", we all knew we were in for an incredible night! She was fierce! Her stage presence is incredible! Many people say, and it's so true, no female can command a stage like Whitney! Her energy was electric, and the crowd responded accordingly! She continued with "Nothin' But Love" and kept up the momentum! As Matt and I said, the audience were with her 100%! Everyone was up singing and dancing - which is a great sign considering they were both album tracks.
Before she went into "I Look To You", she sang a snippet of "Like I Never Left", which was nice.. Before she went into "I Look To You", she held this incredibly long and clear note! The crowd erupted! She definitely gave the Australian media the finger with that one, hahaha!
Like Matty said, yes, her vocals were thin and weak at times - but when she was good, she was AMAZING! There were so many moments where I sat there and thought "OH MY GOD! THAT'S THE VOICE!"
'My Love Is Your Love', 'It's Not Right But It's Okay" and "If I Told You That" kept the party going. She was adding powerful adlibs and getting the audience involved with additional segments in the music (I loved how she starting singing IITYT instead of INRBIO, then stopped the music and switched it around).
She took a break and left her brother to sing "For The Love Of You" (from her 'Whitney' album), and the backups sang "Queen Of The Night" really well! The video montage with "One Moment In Time" was really nice - as it reminded us of her incredible career and the icon she truly is! The crowd would cheer during momental moments (like when it showed 'The Bodyguard' and the 'I Will Always Love You' video).. A pleasant surprise was where the montage showed a quick 1-2 second clip of her holding Mariah's hand in the WYB video! The crowd starting cheering again, which was really pleasant !
The acoustic medley (with 'Saving All My Love For You', 'Greatest Love Of All' and 'All At Once') was probably where it was most noticeable that her voice has changed. However, the crowd helped her along and sang loudly.
She began rambling a little bit before and after her Gospel segment, but Bobbi-Kristina (her daughter), from right in front of the stage, told her to move along, which quickly brought the show back on track.
She performed her disco classics, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and "How Will I Know" - which had the ENTIRE audience on their feet. As Matt said, she mainly adlibbed during the choruses, but still had amazing energy throughout it.
Then.. THE SHOW STOPPER!! The moment everyone waited for.. "I Will Always Love You".. WHAT AN HONOUR IT WAS TO SEE HER SING THAT LIVE! No YouTube clip or audio clip could truly represent how much of a magical moment that was! She started off normally (with a few talk-singing moments), quite shaky at times.. Then before the big climax of the song - she took a 2 minute break to drink her water and compose herself for the big moment.. The audience were with her the whole time, waiting anxiously and nervously for it to happen (and cheering her on). We all knew that she was struggling throughout the slower songs, so we all wanted her to kill it!... She came back to the microphone, signalled the band, and belted "And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU".. As Matty said, the crowd ERUPTED like I have NEVER seen before.. It was such an incredibly triumphant moment! SHE DID IT!! That was "THE VOICE".. It felt like 1992!! Such an emotional moment! I will never forget the power of that experience.. Being there for that was a true privilege! I honestly can't express how amazing that moment was!! Sorry to blab, but it was just WOW!!!!
The encore was 'Million Dollar Bill' and she sounded great! Her voice now suited her newer songs (obviously)!
Little side notes: As Matty had alluded to, there has been MUCH media over-exaggeration regarding the sweat towel/drink breaks. It wasn't THAT bad. What people couldn't see, which we could, was that she was taking her Asthma puffer and also blowing her nose - so I think she wasn't feeling well (hence the occasional cough). Also, throughout the show, she had also sung snippets of MJ's "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Amazing Grace" and "I'm Every Woman (Outro)". Also, she had cut a few songs from the setlist: 'I Didn't Know My Own Strength', 'Step By Step', 'Exhale (Shoop Shoop)' and 'Missing You (MJ Trubute)'.
OMG so sorry for rambling.. I'm just a little excited! I'll wrape it up.. Overall, AMAZING SHOW! A true icon! Great audience response!
It'll be interesting to see how this is represented in the news tomorrow, but from what Matty and I saw, it was well received. I'm sure there was a minority who hated it, however, overhearing people as we were walking out - there was 'nothin' but love' for her! (obviously she exceeded many people's lower expectations after the Brisbane show, haha)..
Finally.. Just on a MDU level.. I could see Matty for most of the night quite clearly (after I spotted him during Anthony Callea).. He was soooo happy! It was really great to see!! I felt like I was sharing an awesome moment with ya, but yet you didn't know! hahaha! We SMS'd a few times throughout it, however the friggin security guard wouldn't let me pass the gate to say hello! Ahh well, it's just awesome that we both had fun and had GREAT seats
Sorry for the rambling guys!! So much more I wanna say, but I should go to bed.. haha!
P.S. After seeing this show, I am so much more confident that Mariah would SMASH IT on an Australian tour!!"
