Michael Buble

Blueblay....Bubbly....Booblay....no matter how you pronounce it, the bottom line is: the guy can sing.

Once again, my hubby and I were the beneficiaries of our friends' generosity and were invited to see him perform last evening here in STL. Each of us was disappointed at his risque sense of humor and bawdy jokes, gestures, etc., not only because it was coarse and largely inappropriate, but because it borrowed time from his vocal performance, which - go figure - is why we were there in the first place.

I suspect that as he ages and matures - he's 31 now, but looks about 18! - maybe some of these elements will disappear from the show, because, as my friend pointed out, his talent and stage-presence render it entirely unnecessary. Following is a brief excerpt from his web-page BIO:

Foster first discovered Bublé seven years ago when he caught the aspiring star performing at the wedding of former Canadian Prime Minster’s daughter. The son of a British Columbia-based salmon and herring fisherman, Bublé spent the months his parents were away with his music-loving Italian grandfather, who introduced him to the singers who would become Bublé’s idols: Bobby Darin, Dean Martin, Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Elvis Presley. “These guys were triple threats,” he says. “They could sing, they could dance, they could act. They were entertainers, and I believe that’s a lost art now.

Bublé honed his skills as a showman through years of performing in hotel lounges and smoky bars — gigs his grandfather, a plumber, helped the underage singer secure by trading his plumbing services. By the time Foster met him 2000, Bublé already knew exactly what he brought to the table — a warm, engaging voice and unassailable taste in music. His debut album was an international smash, going Top Ten in the U.K. and Canada, and earning him his first Juno award for Best New Talent in 2004. The follow-up, It’s Time, sold more than 5.5 million copies, and has remained on the Billboard Traditional Jazz charts for a staggering two years, and in the Number 1 slot for more than 80 weeks, an all-time record."

His song-selection last night was quite varied - he even threw in some James Taylor - but I was a little disappointed not to hear more from the American Songbook. It was still a fun and memorable evening...if nothing else, I'll remember "chiefin' a cig" off a poor college kid...how tacky is THAT?