By Kevin L. Carter
For The Inquirer
Associated Press, File
Diana Ross . Visual highs and some musical onesat the sold-out Borgata.
For a self-described "aging diva," Diana Ross certainly looked beautiful Saturday night at the Borgata. As she always does when performing, she made a series of wardrobe changes during the show, each more spectacular than the next.
For The Inquirer
Associated Press, File
Diana Ross . Visual highs and some musical onesat the sold-out Borgata.
For a self-described "aging diva," Diana Ross certainly looked beautiful Saturday night at the Borgata. As she always does when performing, she made a series of wardrobe changes during the show, each more spectacular than the next.
Shame that her music wasn't always as beautiful as she was.
The majority of Ross' hits, especially during her Supremes and post-Supremes period, were characterized by sophisticated, multilayered orchestral backdrops that surrounded her soft but dramatic - even melodramatic - singing style.
The majority of Ross' hits, especially during her Supremes and post-Supremes period, were characterized by sophisticated, multilayered orchestral backdrops that surrounded her soft but dramatic - even melodramatic - singing style.
But at the Borgata, Ross, 63, performing with a stripped-down seven-piece band, only sometimes achieved the intended effects of her three-decade array of hits.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is, arguably, one of the greatest pop songs ever written and recorded. The lyrics (by Ashford and Simpson), the meticulous, clockwork-precise instrumental and vocal charts, and Ross' partly spoken, partly sung lead on the recording were all spectacular then and remain so today. But live, the song came out as little more than a weak, ghostly projection of the original. A quarter-century after the fact, you would have a right to expect a bit of a dropoff, but this was just too disappointing.
Nevertheless, Ross did provide the sold-out crowd with some nice moments in the quick-moving 90-minute show, even a few that were gorgeous. She was sassy on the assertive "My House" and "The Boss," shaking and shimmying her shoulders sexily.
"Love Child" began earnestly but lost focus and passion, which she and her band regained by adding an exuberant Latin coda.
Later, an instant of pure beauty: playing an intimate version of "Don't Explain," Ross commanded full attention with her exacting, jazzily enunciated wordplay. While she never had a jazz diva's voice, she always had the attitude and certainty. It came out to great effect when Ross was at her most quiet and vulnerable.
