Ricky Martin Loves His Bon Bon

I was on my way back home from evening service at church, when I got a call from Maya. She had an extra ticket to the Ricky Martin concert in Madison Square Gardens and wanted to know if I was interested. When would I need to leave? In 5 minutes? Absolutely! Count me in.

We got to the concert about 1hr and 15 mins. late. We had seats in the Club Suite (thanks to our company) and missed about 10 mins. of Ricky's performance. There was no opening act and so for the first hour of the concert, the audience just waited patiently for Ricky to show up.

Overall, I give the show a grade of C-, sharply dropping from my original A/A- during the last 10-15 mins. of the performance.

Ricky started out very strong. He built us up with hits like Livin La Vida Loca, and She's All I Ever Had, combined with well choreographed dance moves and slick visual effects. At times the backing band overpowered Ricky, and you could hardly hear him singing. In addition, he performed a lot of remixes, where his actual singing time was less than in the original versions. However, Ricky's charisma carried the day and the audience lapped it up.

Something stood out for me as I watched Ricky tonight. This man clearly loves his Bon Bon. Aside from strutting his stuff in tight pants and extra tight little shirts - only Rick can rock the '80s look in 2007 - there was a segment of the program where we got to view, in detail, Ricky's anatomy. A cage-like structure descended onto the stage and the audience was shown video clips of Ricky naked (no full frontal - phew!), with close ups of his tattoos and select body parts. I did not get the significance of this interlude - it seemed to be simply a way for Ricky to pay homage to Ricky.

As the performance continued, the screams grew louder, and people were swaying to the beat and shaking their own bon-bons. Then, Ricky said goodbye. We, the obedient audience, of course play our role - we scream, we clap...Ricky re-emerges for the encore. He sings one or two more songs and says goodbye again. He still hasn't sung Shake Your Bon-Bon, so I am guessing he wants another encore.

As Ricky is lowered into the stage, I realize that the show is actually finished. This is absolutely ridiculous. Are we expected to come to a Ricky Martin concert and not hear him perform Shake Your Bon-Bon? No matter how much Ricky shimmied, no matter how much he strutted, no matter how many super-tight tanks he wore, that does not make up for leaving us without performing Bon-Bon. I want my money back, Ricky (technically, my company's money). How disappointing! I still cannot believe you left us that way.

I will still give you a C- , but I am being generous.