Number Ones: Up Close and Personal is the sixth concert tour by American recording artist Janet Jackson. Described as her "largest world tour",[1] the show is in support her second compilation album, Number Ones.
Number Ones: Up Close and Personal
Official poster for the tour Tour by Janet Jackson Associated album Number Ones Start date February 4, 2011 End date August 29, 2011 Legs 4 Shows 5 in Asia
47 in North America
11 in Europe
63 totalJanet Jackson tour chronology Rock Witchu Tour
(2008)Number Ones: Up Close and Personal
(2011)
In 2008, Jackson embarked on her first tour in nearly seven years, Rock Witchu Tour, which faced many adversities, including postponed and canceled dates due to an illness that was later described as severe vertigo.[3][4] Jackson planned to tour Asia during that time, however dates were cancelled due to the 2009 economic crisis.[3] During recent interviews, Jackson states she wanted to promote the album with a tour but numerous circumstances halted the action. She filmed her roles in the films, Why Did I Get Married Too? and For Colored Girls. At the same time, she penned her first book, True You and suffered the death of her brother, Michael Jackson.
“ This tour will be different from the tours I've done in the past. […] In the way that I perform music[ally] will be exclusively from my 35 number one hits [in] 35 cities. These concerts will be different from anything I have ever done,” Jackson said. “I will be as up close and personal as possible. These concerts are not about special effects. This is a love affair between me and those of you who have supported me and my work for all these years. I’ll be singing and dancing from my heart. The music will all be songs that you’ve made number ones for me. Let’s go![2] ”
In 2010, Jackson returned to performing at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jackson's performance was praised by both media and spectators.[5] The performance inspired Jackson to tour. In November, Jackson posted a video on her website announcing details of her upcoming tour. She deemed the show the "largest world tour I've ever done" but will be very intimate show. Unlike her previous trek where Jackson asked her fanbase to choose the songs, she states that she will only perform her "number ones"—from Billboard's Hot 100, Dance Club Songs, R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Adult Contemporary charts, as well as, Oricon and Soundscan's Canadian Singles Chart (as featured on the compilation album).
In the video, Jackson states she will only perform in 35 cities. Fans were to vote on cities via her official website. Additionally, Jackson will give one person from each city an autographed copy of Number Ones along with True You. She also mentioned she will honor 20 people who have done service to their community and will dedicate one of her hits to each of the cities where she performs.[6] In late December, Jackson announced the first date at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island.[7]
On April 11, 2011, it was announced that due to the massive sellouts and success of the current tour, Jackson will extend the United States and European legs of the tour into the fall.[8][9]
North America[show]
- "Call on Me" was performed in St. Louis
- "When We Oooo" was performed at the third Las Vegas show.
Tour dates
Box office score data
Venue City Tickets Sold / Available Gross Revenue Chicago Theatre Chicago 10,403 / 10,403 (100%) $1,350,916[33] Wang Theatre Boston 3,477 / 3,477 (100%) $362,240[34] Radio City Music Hall New York City 17,662 / 17,662 (100%) $1,976,484[35] Fox Theatre Atlanta 4,395 / 4,395 (100%) $489,430[36] Santa Barbara Bowl Santa Barbara 9,158 / 9,352 (98%) $741,144[35] The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Las Vegas 12,361 / 12,361 (100%) $1,589,230[37] TOTAL 57,456 / 57,650 (99%) $6,509,444 Critical reception
The tour has been met with very positive reviews from critics. Opening night at the Philippine International Convention Center on February 4, 2011 had great reviews from local critics.[38][39] The Jakarta Post wrote that for her show at the Jakarta Convention Center, she put together "a well-crafted performance, peppered with cool and familiar choreographies combined with an impressive multimedia backdrop. The 44-year-old Janet, accompanied by 15 dancers, sang and danced almost non-stop for one hour and a half."[40] Serene Goh of The Straits Times wrote: "She was theatrical before Lady Gaga, racy before Rihanna and bootylicious before Beyonce ... Jackson, now 44, brought to the stage a different sensibility, a pared-down set, fewer back-up dancers and less distraction."[41] Amy Verner of The Globe and Mail reported that Jackson "proved that she no longer needs elaborate stage sets or pyrotechnics to captivate her fans. They just want to hear, dance and sing along to Escapade, Miss You Much and All for You."[42] She concludes by stating: "Seeing Jackson in concert is less about her vocal range than her command of countless choreographed moves to catchy songs that you find you know the words to. She's in her element performing live, transitioning smoothly from fierce and aggressive to sweet and giggly. Most of all, she's no substitute for Michael but she's the closest we've got."[42]
Though reviews in the United States have been predominantly positive, with some critics observing that the tour could revive Jackson's chart success, some have been mixed on the scaled-down pacing of song arrangements and staging during the show. James Reed of The Boston Globe commented that "[a]t 44, Jackson looks terrific ... She stayed in step with her dancers, and she was in strong voice and as seductive as ever. ' However, he called the show a "strange animal," criticizing the fact that many of Jackson's hit songs have been "shoehorned into brisk medleys" and "two-minute trifles that never caught fire." [43] The Round Table Online said "in just over two hours, Ms. Jackson cemented her iconic status in the pop music world and put to rest any rumors that her career was over."[44] Entertainment Weekly said "the show was superb" and that Jackson "should not be forgotten."[45] Vaughn Schoonmaker of MTV reported: "Often imitated, never duplicated, Janet Jackson's outbursts of meticulous choreography, sassy exclamations and smoldering gazes into the audience kept them on their feet for the entire two-hour set of her greatest hits at Radio City Music Hall ... we can expect to see this singing and dancing pop legend shine far into the future."[46] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune wrote: "In past tours, Jackson's thin voice was often swallowed up by the sheer size of her production ... Monday was a different story. In the more scaled-down setting, Jackson brought a warmth and a passion that wasn't always evident in stadiums ... the best Janet Jackson performance I've covered in 20-plus years."[47] Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle wrote: "The old Miss Jackson If You're Nasty—she of industrial-strength pop anthems and breakneck choreography—was in full effect. Her last appearance in the venue [Reliant Stadium], during Super Bowl XXXVIII, resulted in a now-historic 'wardrobe malfunction' and FCC fines. No such slips this time."[47] Critic Clay Cane from BET wrote: "Focused less on massive productions and more on intimacy with her fans, the six-time Grammy winner brought the pop and soul to a diverse New York crowd and cemented why she is a legend. She flowed with confidence and commanded the stage with not a step out of place."[48]
Ben Ratliff of The New York Times felt the show's best moments were by far during its third phase, with Jackson "relaxed and athletic, in black street clothes," and "not so much ecstatic as tension free, and less tied to her brother Michael’s vocal mannerisms." Ratliff also pointed out that "[s]he worked hard and appeared not to be lip-syncing."[49] Chris Richards of The Washington Post criticized the quality of Jackson's backup dancers, saying that "[they] were few and not the best," while stating that "if you paid to hear Jackson sing, you certainly got that. Not a single word appeared to be lip-synced. And even at its breathiest, that delicate voice hasn’t lost the laserlike precision that seems to be a part of the Jackson family DNA."[50] He complemented her physically strenuous performance, stating "[g]o on, Janet. Let ’em see you sweat. Because in a 21st-century popscape where concerts are driven by spectacle, we need to know that beneath all of the sci-fi costumes, strobe lights and Auto-Tune, we’re still witnessing a performance by the living, breathing, profusely sweating human being whose name is stamped on the tickets we just emptied our wallets for."[50] Ben Wener of The Orange County Register noted there was more to appreciate about her tour than there was to criticize.[51] He wrote: "Sometimes simpler is better—and it’s especially preferable from Jackson, now 44, whose previous tours grew so grandiose that they tended to dwarf an already diminutive and slight-voiced icon."[51] Despite complaints that "the show is too compact" he also states that "I greatly enjoyed and would highly recommend Jackson’s latest package for what it is: fleetly paced, scaled-back, relatively intimate entertainment with the zesty fun of a Vegas showroom revue."[51] He also commented her voice, saying "[a]t no point did she lip-sync in Santa Barbara. Anyone doubting that—those without ears enough to hear the newly rounded tone she brought to her old melodies—should have at least noticed how her handclaps could be picked up via her headset microphone."[51]
Gerrick D. Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times complemented her show stating: "While today’s pop landscape of over-the-top divas like Beyonce, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Britney Spears have become known for glitzy productions ... She placed the focus of her set squarely on showcasing her voice—it should be noted that she sang live for the nearly two-hour show, a rarity in today’s pop music—and the legendary complex footwork that marked her and brother Michael as pop royalty."[52] Aidin Vaziri of the San Francisco Chronicle stated that "Jackson threw her body full force into the songs, unleashing a flurry of those famous family moves as the band barreled seamlessly through a quick succession of choruses from her multimillion-selling golden years ... The concert, packing in some 30 hits, worked at affirming her legacy as pop royalty."[53]
Personnel
- Show Director: Janet Jackson & Gil Duldulao
- Creative Director and Choreographer: Gil Duldulao
- Band: David Barry & Rex Salas (Musical Director/Guitars)
- Lighting/Video Designer: Vincent Foster
- Sound Engineer: Klye Hamilton
- Personal Trainer: Anthony Martinez
- Costume Designer: Robert Henri Behar
- Dancers
- Gil Duldulao, Jr.
- Jillian Meyers
- Laurel Thompson
- Whyley Yoshimura
- James Collins
- Ramone Baynes
- John "JP" San Pedro
via en.wikipedia.org
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