THALIA
MEXICO’S beautiful pop superstar Thalia – a national treasure who hopes to make her crossover dreams a reality – played a concert at the Beacon Theater Tuesday that was a total nightmare.
At the opening show of her world tour (presented by a candy company), she was an hour late taking the stage, making the house wait while she did a meet-and-greet with her corporate sponsor.
Once she finally started, she rested on her reputation as a high-voltage act instead of turning on the juice.
Her demeanor was distant, her middle range swallowed up by her band – and her voice was a shadow of what you hear on any of her celebrated CDs.
In a jewel box of a theater like the Beacon, you’d expect her to rip the roof off. Yet she couldn’t rock the fans past the first few rows.
Those unlucky enough to land in the Beacon’s upper decks watched as if they were frozen in place – arms folded, hips stiff. Except for a peppering of her devoted fans, for whom she could sing no wrong, there was no connection between Thalia and her audience.
Never mind that her set was performed almost completely in Spanish – that hardly would have alienated this hip and obviously bilingual New York audience.
The problem is, she doesn’t speak the language of an entertainer. Whether she’s doing a slow-groove ballad or a party tune, she projects zero star quality.
That was apparent in the night’s best song, “Me Pones Sexy (I Want You),” when she invited hometown hip-hop playa Fat Joe onstage. His ability to work the crowd into a lather stood in sharp contrast to her remote approach.
Thalia needs to focus her attention to the fans in the worst seats in the house: If she makes them feel her heat, the front rows will sizzle. And if she can’t hit the back wall of the theater, she should break down that invisible wall and sing a couple of tunes in the aisles.