I come from a very traditional family.
The day after Christmas, after we’ve spent two days endlessly celebrating and chowing down with bazillions of our family and friends, my family does the righteous thing: We head to Las Vegas for several days of gambling.
While we usually try to catch a show, we’ve never managed to be there when Elton John is appearing at Caesar’s Palace, so it was with great interest that we watched the NBC special that is airing tonight. How I have never used my vast international power to insist that the date of Christmas be changed to coincide with John’s (and my family’s) Vegas appearances is just plain sloppy on my part!
If his truncated NBC special is any indication, “Elton John: The Red Piano” is the best thing to hit Vegas since Siegfried and Roy had to give up the show. Sometimes you forget how very good a performer he is until you see him live – which is why these specials never work well – because you miss the experience of being there.
But this one does deliver – although it runs only an hour, including commercials, so there is only time to show him performing some of his songs. But make no mistake, they are some of his best. (Or are all of his songs some of his best?)
In person, this has to be a spectacle to behold – what with the giant stage (one of the biggest in the world, built for Celine Dion), and the Vegas over-the-top touches like the giant video screen and fantastic props.
And aside from that, it’s Elton in what must be the world’s best rug – being one of the most successful musicians in history can buy a lot of toupees – his red piano and his band. No – there are no backup singers or dance numbers, thank you God.
The background video for the stage show, which plays while John’s on stage, is not just the usual walk down memory lane. This one was made by David LaChapelle (filmmaker of the critically acclaimed “Rize”), and it’s fantastic – especially the footage of 1970s young Elton and entourage.
Except, wait a minute! That’s not young Elton – it’s Justin Timberlake playing Elton. If I hadn’t had the press release in front of me, I would never have known it wasn’t real footage.
Then there’s the pasty-wearing, pole-dancing multi-screen Pamela Anderson video of “The Bitch is Back.” My God – the woman could be making thousands working at Scores instead of millions wasting both of her talents on TV.
Among the songs Elton belts out are “Daniel” (with, thankfully, explanatory video footage of the Viet Nam war), “Pinball Wizard,” “Rocket Man,” “Candle in the Wind” and “Your Song.”
If there’s a criticism about the show, it’s about the TV editing, not Elton’s Vegas show itself.
Maybe because they used 36 high-def cameras to shoot the special and didn’t want to waste a single shot, the editing on some of the numbers is maddening. They don’t allow more than about four seconds per shot, so it jumps from audience members dancing around, to quicky shots of Elton, to, er, flashes of Anderson, to band members, to weeping women – you never get to concentrate on any one thing. I realize they want to capture the frenzy of the experience, but the cuts are so chaotic, it’s like staring into a strobe light.
That does not, however, in any way ruin the experience. Unfortunately, the special is so good, it’s going to force me to drag my poor family back to the city of sin – even when it’s not Christmas.
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“Elton John: The Red Piano”
[*** 1/2] (Three and one-half stars)
Tonight at 8 on NBC/Ch. 4
