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| 5/3/04 |
NSYNCers hanging out in Miami A girl's gotta eat. So Cameron Diaz, one of the stars of In Her Shoes filming in and around Delray Beach, visited 32 East on Atlantic Avenue Tuesday night. She had such a good time that she came back Friday... with boyfriend Justin Timberlake and costar Toni Colette. They came and left through a back door, enjoying special lamb and scallop dishes from chef Nick Morfogen and washing it down with three bottles of wine. Observers reported that the group was "down to earth" and that Cameron and Justin seemed very much in love. Two of Justin's 'N Sync buddies, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, were backstage Friday night for Michelle Branch's show. All the Sync-ers will be back in South Florida for the group's annual charity basketball weekend on July 24 on South Beach and the next day at Office Depot Center.
In the Mix 'Plug It In' review ...‘Plug It In’ opens with the Jaxx’s familiar electronic bleeps and percussive Latin-tinged house beats before former N*Sync member JC Chasez’s guest lead vocals drop in, singing in a street-soul style that’s one part Michael Jackson - one part Prince, and for that reason alone perhaps, likely to invite comparisons to some of N*Sync’s more commercially successful alumni. According to the sleevenotes, Big Dada MC Ty is also present on ‘backing vocals’, but after several listens through, I’ll be danged if I could spot him As the verse glides along in this funky soul-house style, the chorus crashes in with an almost rave-inspired guitar sample, trademark Jaxx background yelling and multilayered female vocals imploring JC to "Plug It In / Plug It In, Baby." There’s also a really nice soul falsetto vocal from JC during the swirling breakdown in the middle, as well as some vocoded lyrics alluding to the seedier aspects of fame ("Ever tried to live without the makeup?"), but it’s the slamming chorus which is most likely to make this track huge both on radio and dancefloors...
JC's show 'strictly for the kids' Schizophrenic is not only the title of his debut album, but appeared to work double-duty as the premise of JC Chasez’s Hollywood show this past weekend. While he usually comes across as the introverted member of ’NSync, Mr. Chasez seemed completely confident without the backup of his longtime groupmates. But despite his ability to take charge of the stage, his intentions were confusing early on. Is he a pop puppet? An R&B singer? A rock star from the ’80s? Under the trance of his scantily-clad backup dancers and multiple costume changes, one would simply think it was an ’NSync show with completely brand-new material. However, he performed only a snippet of the group’s old songs, focused on not reliving the music from his pop-star past. But perhaps the most confusing element of the show was the sexual theme running rampant. With preteens escorted by their parents making up the bulk of the audience, it’s baffling that Chasez had no qualms about performing such ditties as “All Day Long I Dream About Sex,” fueled by masturbatory gestures and simulated sexual acts with dancers. Was this his way of demonstrating that he’s no longer kid-friendly and demands to be taken seriously? Maybe. Did it go off without a hitch? Not quite. Props for the Prince cover of “Let’s Go Crazy”—which showcased Chasez’s underrated vocal talent—and an amped-up version of radio hit “Blowin’ Me Up (With Her Love),” conceivably his most popular song to date. A couple of ballads were thrown in for good measure, but from the cheers during the encore, what the audience really craved was current single, “Some Girls (Dance With Women).” Over the past year, Chasez has quietly struggled to shed his boy-band image, step out of Timberlake’s shadow and prove his own star power. But in spite of the excessive references to fornication, this show was strictly for the kids.
Purple Reign ...Other acts from the Neptunes to 'N Sync's JC Chasez have expanded or imitated Prince's blend of rock and R&B. ''Prince always comes out with something new all the time and that's kind of what we wanted to do,'' says Alex Greggs, who produced and collaborated on seven songs of Chasez's solo debut, ''Schizophrenic.'' ''It wasn't that we were modeling each song on him, but it was more about how he is just very musical. Nobody else sounds like Prince but Prince.'' One song always comes to mind when Greggs thinks of Prince: ''Raspberry Beret.'' ''You can drop that in a club today and people just go bananas. I'm in L.A., me and JC, and we were in a club when it dropped. We just looked at each other, and it was done for...'' |
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