(Amway Center, Orlando FL) Singing heartthrobs Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias performed at Orlando's Amway Center 10/30/21, a rescheduled concert date almost 1 year after the original October 2020 date which sat in the peak of the very uncertain pandemic times.
I was pretty excited to be able to attend this one: Ricky Martin was arguably one of the most popular faces in pop-culture at one point, and Enrique Iglesias being an equally appealing draw.
For me, I was just a bit let down that the 2 singers never shared the stage together at the same time. I think this was a huge opportunity miss. Both stars easily drew the adoration of pretty much every one in attendance, but I'm confused as to why the didn't sing 1 song together? Even if it wasn't one of their solo hits, why didn't the 2 do some type of cover together? A dance tune, or maybe even a ballad... something? I think Amway would have literally exploded with excitement. But it never happened.
With this, Ricky Martin was the first to take the stage. He opened strong vocally and had an explosive energy about him by taking the stage with 'Livin' la Vida Loca'. His next 4 songs were in Spanish: one of his older dance hits 'La Bomba' followed by 'Que Rico Fuera', before going into his seductive yet saddened 'Vuelve', with the final of the 4 being another dance beat in 'Lola, Lola.' Martin then went into 3 of his widely popular US hits: 'She Bangs', 'Shake Your Bon-Bon', and 'Nobody Wants to Be Lonely.' A few songs later he would encore with 'The Cup of Life'. His voice sounded extremely good: there was a mature and experienced tonality in his voice. His voice was controlled and his dynamics were intentional and deliberate. He was fun to watch and listen to. At this point, my expectations were high: he sang and performed very well... who would want to perform on the stage after this?
I was pretty excited to be able to attend this one: Ricky Martin was arguably one of the most popular faces in pop-culture at one point, and Enrique Iglesias being an equally appealing draw.
For me, I was just a bit let down that the 2 singers never shared the stage together at the same time. I think this was a huge opportunity miss. Both stars easily drew the adoration of pretty much every one in attendance, but I'm confused as to why the didn't sing 1 song together? Even if it wasn't one of their solo hits, why didn't the 2 do some type of cover together? A dance tune, or maybe even a ballad... something? I think Amway would have literally exploded with excitement. But it never happened.
With this, Ricky Martin was the first to take the stage. He opened strong vocally and had an explosive energy about him by taking the stage with 'Livin' la Vida Loca'. His next 4 songs were in Spanish: one of his older dance hits 'La Bomba' followed by 'Que Rico Fuera', before going into his seductive yet saddened 'Vuelve', with the final of the 4 being another dance beat in 'Lola, Lola.' Martin then went into 3 of his widely popular US hits: 'She Bangs', 'Shake Your Bon-Bon', and 'Nobody Wants to Be Lonely.' A few songs later he would encore with 'The Cup of Life'. His voice sounded extremely good: there was a mature and experienced tonality in his voice. His voice was controlled and his dynamics were intentional and deliberate. He was fun to watch and listen to. At this point, my expectations were high: he sang and performed very well... who would want to perform on the stage after this?
Enrique seemingly excited the younger audience from the crowd. He dressed younger, and maybe even his hat helped him to seem younger and more current. But the age gap between him and Ricky Martin is only 3 years.
So regarding Enrique Iglesias' performance: I didn't like it. Actually, I found myself cringing throughout most of his performance. Vocally, he was off. He wasn't finding the notes, and seemed to lack the range to find any of the upper registers of the songs he recorded. There were several times he had tried to get the audience to participate and 'sing along with him', but there's a point at which you're trying to draw in some crowd participation, and there's that point at which you just cannot sing. I felt he was relied way too much on his sex appeal to get through the concert: trying to throw that 'smolder' look into the audience, hoping to drive them crazy (admittedly, the fans did seem to get lost in his good looks, so maybe it was just me who could not overlook the lack of talent on display this evening. But even for a good-looking guy, there's a point where it's just too much: you can't keep throwing down all of these 'sexy' poses on stage and expect that to cover up the fact that you just weren't singing. He bravely attempted to cover his very tender 'Be With You'; however, there were many opportunities in the song where he had an opportunity to be on pitch, but he lacked the vocal endurance to stay on the notes. His dancing got to the point of being annoying: in one sequence, he basically began to dry hump the stage. It was repulsive. But for fans who were still trying to maintain interest in remaining affixed to this performance, I believe he lost much of the crowd's affection when he tried to keep up with one of his singing duet partners and ended up pathetically incorporating an open-mouthed kiss on stage with that singer.... isn't this guy still married to Anna Kournikova? You know, that hot tennis player with whom they share 3 kids together? I just couldn't find myself enjoying any portion of Enrique's train wreck this evening.
If you watch this concert: get there early for Ricky Martin. Sing along, dance, enjoy. His set is definitely worth the cost of admission. But do yourself a favor and leave at intermission. Enrique was only there to be looked at, and that can only last for so long.
So regarding Enrique Iglesias' performance: I didn't like it. Actually, I found myself cringing throughout most of his performance. Vocally, he was off. He wasn't finding the notes, and seemed to lack the range to find any of the upper registers of the songs he recorded. There were several times he had tried to get the audience to participate and 'sing along with him', but there's a point at which you're trying to draw in some crowd participation, and there's that point at which you just cannot sing. I felt he was relied way too much on his sex appeal to get through the concert: trying to throw that 'smolder' look into the audience, hoping to drive them crazy (admittedly, the fans did seem to get lost in his good looks, so maybe it was just me who could not overlook the lack of talent on display this evening. But even for a good-looking guy, there's a point where it's just too much: you can't keep throwing down all of these 'sexy' poses on stage and expect that to cover up the fact that you just weren't singing. He bravely attempted to cover his very tender 'Be With You'; however, there were many opportunities in the song where he had an opportunity to be on pitch, but he lacked the vocal endurance to stay on the notes. His dancing got to the point of being annoying: in one sequence, he basically began to dry hump the stage. It was repulsive. But for fans who were still trying to maintain interest in remaining affixed to this performance, I believe he lost much of the crowd's affection when he tried to keep up with one of his singing duet partners and ended up pathetically incorporating an open-mouthed kiss on stage with that singer.... isn't this guy still married to Anna Kournikova? You know, that hot tennis player with whom they share 3 kids together? I just couldn't find myself enjoying any portion of Enrique's train wreck this evening.
If you watch this concert: get there early for Ricky Martin. Sing along, dance, enjoy. His set is definitely worth the cost of admission. But do yourself a favor and leave at intermission. Enrique was only there to be looked at, and that can only last for so long.
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