Ricky mania

Martin show a razzle-dazzle thriller

CALGARY - Ricky Martin has more than a little Puerto Rico in him.

He also has some Las Vegas.

Some Broadway.

Some Chippendales.

How else can one explain the spectacle that 16,000 people witnessed last night at the sold-out Canadian Airlines Saddledome? It was a pop music extravaganza that went to seemingly impossible lengths to entertain, led by a 28-year-old icon-du-jour for whom the expression "over the top" does not exist.

In his pursuit of global domination -- which started last May with the release of his first English-language album, 12 million units sold and counting -- the Latin heart-throb with the four-way hips stops at nothing to dazzle and delight. He wants you to shake your bon-bon. He also wants your eyes to pop out. And if that requires a little garishness, so be it.

Luckily, his stint in the Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera taught him how to rise above the razzle-dazzle. And he certainly made a grand entrance last night.

The show started with video footage of Ricky waking up in the morning (interestingly, no one was in bed with him), splashing water in his face, jumping into his Ford Mustang convertible and racing through some big-city streets.

Suddenly, a flesh-and-blood Ricky emerged standing on the hood of a Mustang, which rose on a hydraulic lift built into the stage, and launched into his No. 1 hit, Livin' La Vida Loca. The audience's screams were deafening.

Soon, a female dancer crawled out of the trunk -- what was she doing in there? -- and proceeded to shake her bon-bon, as well as her tom-toms, along with eight other dancers.

What an opening!

It was like Shindig on Viagra.

By the second song, Love You For A Day, huge video screens behind the stage tracked Martin's every move, while his band was literally wheeled out on a revolving platform.

When Martin (wearing form-fitting black leather pants and a see-through black top) sang "let me take you home" to those jalapeno-hot Latin rhythms, methinks there would have been a few thousand takers.

"Leave your ego at the door.... No one is going to judge you tonight," Martin said.

After the high-energy entrance, Martin eased up a bit with Bon Bon de Azucar, a brassy mid-tempo number not unlike prime-period Chicago, and his power ballad Vuelve, the title track of his last Spanish-language disc.

Spanish Eyes again upped the tempo and Martin was once again wiggling his lithe figure all around the stage, demonstrating the full extent of his showmanship, sex appeal and charisma.

Say what you will about Martin -- he's a hard-working yet exceedingly watchable performer.

And when his music drew upon the rhythms and arrangements of Latin America, the show bubbled over with a genuine joie de vivre.

Songs such as Marcia Baila, La Bomba and Por Arriba Por Abajo captured his band in fiery form and Martin in his element.

They proved to be the concert's showstoppers.

At the other end of the spectrum, the treacly, middle-of-the-road duet Private Emotion was just too generic to showcase Martin's talent, although the singer -- standing on a ledge high above the stage, only to descend mid-song on a motorized firehall pole -- did his best to sell every cloying sentiment.

Ditto for I Am Made Of You, described by Martin as his offering to the Almighty.

It sounded like a Bon Jovi leftover, probably because it was written by You Give Love a Bad Name tunesmith Desmond Child.

The song ended with a ringing guitar solo as Martin -- standing at centrestage, his arms spread wide, his head pointed to the heavens -- slowly descended into the stage.

After making peace with "his God," Martin re-emerged to implore the crowd to shake their bon-bons.

Plenty of torso closeups were shown on the screen and there was gratuitous gyrating all around.

Good fun, essentially.

And that was almost it, aside from She's All I Ever Had and Cup of Life.

This spectacle should quiet all those people disgruntled about ticket prices that approached triple digits.

Evidently, Martin has invested a good chunk of those ticket dollars right back into his production.

It's money well spent.

That said, Martin has those rare qualities -- talent, charisma, sex appeal -- that no amount of money can buy.