George Michael outdoes the divas in Sydney

* By Alyssa Braithwaite and Katherine Field
* From: AAP
* February 26, 2010 9:41PM

FIRST Britney disappointed, then Whitney did.

But George Michael broke the run of bad "comeback tours'', winning over more than 40,000 fans at the Sydney Football Stadium tonight.

When Michael sings I won't let you down' at the start of his hit Freedom, he delivers on his promise.

Taking to the stage 40 minutes late thanks to extreme traffic congestion around the inner-city venue, Michael was given a hero's welcome.

Dressed head to toe in black, the former Wham! singer opened with Fast Love.

"Good evening Sydney, are you ready for a good night?'' he said. "It's been 22 years.''

He then launched into crowd favourite I'm Your Man and Father Figure.

While divas like Britney Spears and Whitney Houston left some fans wanting their money back during their recent performances, Michael sang live, hit all his notes and whipped up a party for faithful followers.

It is Michael's first Australian tour since his Faith tour in 1988.

He opened his 2010 tour in Perth last weekend and will play in Melbourne on March 3.

``You still look so...good, I don't get it - plenty of sunshine and sex I reckon,'' he said.

George Michael has enjoyed one of the most successful and enduring careers in pop music, selling more than a 100 million records globally.

He has notched up six US number one singles, 11 British number one singles, a Grammy award, three American Music Awards, an MTV Video Music award and two Ivor Novello awards for song writing.

He recently was declared the most played British artist on radio over the last 20 years.

gr8!!!!! would have looved 2 go to his march 3 concert

Thanks for posting this. There was/is a rumor that the Australia show will be released on DVD, but I have a feeling it won't. It'd be nice though.

Just a day or two ago, I was finding the Australia shows on YouTube. It seems he's kept the show's set list pretty much the same. There are a couple of song changes, but that could reflect the success (or failure) of a particular song in Australia back when. I still listen to or watch the Live in London DVD a few times a week. I've been searching online to find the missing gaps in my collection of GM songs too. Honestly, I missed "Fantasy" somewhere along the way, so the London DVD introduced me to it.

I love watching that DVD because I keep finding editing moments where you can tell which night it was taped. During "Too Funky" the conga player onstage changes from younger 38 year old (ish) guy with black hair to the older 50-something guy that you see throughout most of the show. GM's place on stage jumps a lot depending on the end, including "Fast Love". I love hiccups like that in something. It's bound to happen, and I'm usually good at picking them out.

Timmy84 said:

always does. best male artist ever!
bring on a new album.... soon!!

i'm glad the Australians finally got a real concert.

CHIC0 said:

I was reading some fan's reviews, and just a small handful said it was a horrible show. He didn't sing "his big hits" (since when was "Careless Whisper" and "Fast Love" NOT a big hit?), they couldn't see the band, and the screens weren't working for most of the show.

I thought to myself, "You're on crack." Even the screen issue aside, did they not see the band during "Faith", or the singers during half the show that they're out from under the scaffolding? Didn't sing his hits? Pffft, bitch, sit down.

ernestsewell said:

Somewhat off the topic of George and on the topic of Australia, I watched a Pet Shop Boys interview on CNN where they talked about the possibility of touring Australia but joked that there were only two fans there and it would be easier to fly them to the UK! Even though it was a short and probably heavily edited interview with lots of fan submissions, one part really stuck out. They talked about how it is not their decision to make and stuff like them coming to Europe is all up to promoters. This actually came up when someone submitted a question about "It Couldn't Happen Here" coming out on DVD (and the person included a lot of pleases...it might have been more of a request). Sorry if this is off topic, but it seems like Australia is a hard nut to crack which is a reason why not everyone runs over there (and the last time Madonna was there was with "The Girlie Show", which ended up on DVD).

Great, I love Georgie!

VinnyM27 said:

Its strange though, the same thing ironically is going on with a-ha they have about 60 dates planned on their final tour and they say they want go everywhere (i mean they are even playing Lithuania!) but Australia is not on the agenda mainly because of costs to get there and get everything there and the gear just to do one show and not know who is gonna show up, i mean so far they have been tested the waters and none of the dates have had trouble with ticket sales, most are gone already, but i think alot of people stay away from going that far.

He's still touring?

I hope he comes back to America for one more leg but I doubt it.

xlr8r said:

He's not coming back to America. The Aussie dates were not even in his original schedule of the LIVE tour, but he decided to do 3 dates in Australia: Perth Sydne in February, and then in Melbourne March 3. That's it. He's doing these one or two off shows after the main tour as "The Finals", meaning the final time in these more out of the way places. He'll never tour again, that's pretty much guaranteed.

The 25Live tour has been finished for over a year now, ending in December 2008. These are dates just for Australia, then it's over.

So, a talented man like George Michael has only ONE grammy, and today´s marginally talented artists get like, what, seven or eight Grammies in one night?

KoolEaze said:

Doesn't make sense, does it?

Timmy84 said:

Well had George had "faith" now (though in these times you could never have a mega album like that) i think he might be getting more awards but i also feel in this media of today that wasnt the same in the 80's he would have alot more issues to deal with.

He has a concert on DVD right ? I need to see some of his shows

babybugz said:

Where you been? LOL There's been tons of threads on the DVD. It's Live In London and just came out about a month or so ago. It was taped over the two shows in London at Earl's Court. It's on regular DVD and in 1080 glory on BluRay. It's the only concert in its entirety that he will ever release. BUY IT. It's SO worth it.

There were rumors that the Australia shows would be on one DVD, but that might just be a rumor. It'd be nice though.

KoolEaze said:

And since when did the Shammys have any credibility?

sleepyq said:

They don't, considering GM has two Grammys (not one). I remember him having an MTV Video Vanguard Award, presented to him by Madonna. That was 1989, while Faith was still putting out videos, but it highlighted those videos.

There's no real award show that truly has any amount of credibility. Even in the business, they know it's a pseudo-status award. It's bragging rights to a dumb audience and public that believe it holds merit in some way. People used to think Billboard was some sort of true reflection of the fans, but Billboard, Soundscan, etc are all rigged in some way, and it's a favoritism game.

That being said, the very idea that his peers have never recognized his utter fucking genius in songwriting and production is a war crime; the war being ON good artists and real songwriters and musicians.

Here's a list of his awards:
1988 "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance - Duo or Group Won
1989 "Father Figure" Pop Male Vocalist Nominated
1989 Faith Album of the Year Won
1992 "Freedom! '90" Pop Male Vocalist Nominated
1993 "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" Best Pop Vocal Group Nominated
2000 Songs from the Last Century Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Nominated
2005 "Amazing" Best Remixed Recording (Non classical) Nominated
"Flawless (Go to the City)" Best Short Form Music Video Nominated

Here is a list of all of his nominations and awards. Only 8 Grammy Nominations. That's tragic when wannabes like Britney, Rihanna, and poser Beyonce are snapping them up.

ernestsewell said:

Of course he won't. You see how long it took for him to release a concert home video after 27 years

KoolEaze said:

He has TWO Grammys

CHIC0 said:

I want

The Big Tour
The Whamerica Tour
The Final '86
The Faith Tour
and The Cover To Cover Tour

ALL ON DVD

bboy87 said:

I think he was just waiting for the right one. Perhaps somewhere in the back of his mind, he had considered releasing one, but once 25Live started to come up on him, he knew what he should do. I sort of like the idea that he released only this one, although I would have loved to seen the others. There is a Rock In Rio (I think?) concert of his out there. Andrew Ridgley showed up on stage for a song or two near the end.

There's audio from some Faith shows out there, but I've not found much of the Cover to Cover tour (I never even knew about that tour until recent months). Although I bought his music, I always felt he wasn't ever going to come to the US, for whatever reason. Years later on the Unplugged show pre-interview he made the valid point that, at the time, Unplugged was really the way to solidify yourself in the US as a British artist. It's THE thing to go to and do. He was right. Unplugged was the thing to appear on. It almost made or broke you. It just angers me a bit that the US never fully embraced him later on (post-Faith) like they should have. The 90's were full of shit hop and he delved into a lot of melodic and artful music, full of soul and heart, and people just stepped on it. It's why songs like "Older" are ignored, but sexy shit like "Fast Love" was all over the place. I hate that he feels the way he does about his popularity in America, because he's just as loved here as anywhere. The problem with American fans is that they can't let go of the controversy stuff. The bathroom, the pot, whatever. Yet Britney gets out of a car w/ her hatchet wound showing and in six months we've all forgotten it, and it's written off to whatever. George gets setup in a bathroom, and he's a pervert, and of course all homosexuals must cruise bathrooms. It's the same stupid fucking mentality thinking that all pedophiles are homosexual, or vice versa.

ernestsewell said:

It's about 9 or more audio recordings of the Cover To Cover Tour circulating

Rock City World Stage (January 25 and 27)
Wembley Arena (March 3)
Oakland Arena (October 1)
Madison Square Garden (October 26)
Worcester Centrum (October 28)
The Spectrum (October 29)


Rock City World Stage
-----
Killer / Papa was A Rollin' Stone
Father Figure
Fame
Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now
Calling You
Back II Life
Tonight
Everything She Wants
Baby Don't Change Your Mind
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Ain't Nobody
I Knew You Were Waiting [For Me]
Careless Whisper
I'm Your Man
Freedom '90



Oakland Arena
----
Killer -> Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
Victims
Father Figure
Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now
Calling You
Hard Day
Back II Life
Sign Your Name
I'm Your Man
Tonight
Baby Don't Change Your Mind
Everything She Wants
Ain't Nobody
Freedom ['84 Version]
Faith
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
I Knew You Were Waiting [For Me]
Careless Whisper

bboy87 said:

He should've won more. I'm not happy with two.

bboy87 said:

MUST. FIND.

My Georgie showed them how a REAL artist performs!

ernestsewell said:

They're pretty easy to find, well....some of them were for me