SHE’S a stunning brunette – sexy, young and one of the most talented singers to come down the pike since Norah Jones swept up at the Grammys. So why is it that, in America, Katie Melua, the U.K.’s most popular female recording artist for the past three years, is Katie Who?
Here’s why: At B.B. King’s joint on 42nd Street, Melua looked and sounded great – but was a total snooze as a performer.
Her ballad-heavy, middle-range set never challenged her singing abilities and there was little emotion behind the notes. When she finally got her teeth into a song like the jazzy blues of “My Aphrodisiac Is You,” one couldn’t help but think she was covering the same ground that Maria Muldaur did more than 25 years ago.
That said, it should be noted in the U.K., as well as the rest of Europe, Melula is huge, and the 1,500 or so at B.B. King’s were as devoted as the Eurofans. But what works over there doesn’t always translate – just ask Brit megastar Robbie Williams, better known here as Robbie Who?
The stage show at King’s was simple and similar to the performance Melua gave at Joe’s Pub a couple of years ago. She stands center stage strumming an acoustic guitar surrounded by four able and avuncular jazz geezers – who cripple any youth appeal the 22-year-old projects.
If Melua wants real international stardom, she has to conquer America, and to do that she should get in touch with her youth before she gets too old to remember how.