Las Vegas, Boulogne-Billancourt, same fight. In residence for two years in Nevada, Usher returns to Europe for eight dates at the Seine Musicale. A daring bet for the R’n’B star of the 2000s, as the release of his ninth album and his selection for the Super Bowl show in February have just been announced. Is this the big comeback?
Monday, on the footbridge that leads to the musical Seine, the groups of girls, nostalgic for their high school years, took out evening dresses, stiletto heels and necklines for the occasion. Few speak French. The audience – 3,800 people on Monday evening -, made up mainly of women, came from all over Europe (London, Munich, Madrid, etc.) and met in the Parisian suburbs to celebrate their idol. A substantial budget when we know that places are sold between 100 and 500 euros. “Between the train, accommodation and tickets, attending the Usher concert this evening costs us more than 1,000 euros,” explain Anissa and John, 35, who come from Amsterdam. But these are his only concerts in Europe. We couldn’t miss it, it’s historic!”
Historical? For the French public, this qualification seems surprising to say the least. An energetic presence, a seductive side and hits like Yeah!, U Remind Me, You Make Me Wanna, OMG built the Usher legend in the 1990s and 2000s. But in the last fifteen years, there hasn’t been too much news. Eight times awarded the Grammy Awards, the 44-year-old American is a pure product of the South of the United States. Usher sings and dances wonderfully. Both at the same time, most of the time. He gracefully performs a moonwalk on roller skates, accompanied by around fifteen dancers. He runs out of breath, sweats a lot and changes four times, alternating between crocodile and sequin costumes. The experience is like diving into Vegas, the place of all possibilities, with a riot of means: the imposing sets and the choreographies follow one another.
In the middle of these gigantic paintings, the seducer cultivates proximity with his audience. While evoking his love for Paris, he does not fail to recall that he will orchestrate the half-time show of the Super Bowl in February in Las Vegas, a great mass of American television which has conquered beyond the borders these recent decades. Usher pays tribute to Pharrell Williams, “his brother, friend, producer”, and braves the crowd to join him in the first rows, visibly embarrassed on the giant screens. On the celebrity side, Chris Marques, Christian Louboutin, producer L.A. Reid and rapper Tyga are also in the room.
The show, carefully crafted in the American style, is not free from errors of taste. While dancers in very skimpy outfits twist on pole dance poles, Usher slips wads of 500 franc notes bearing his image into their thongs. He never fails to pat their butts. Before grabbing his microphone stand during U Got It Bad and simulating a sexual act. The singer ends up shirtless, with his hand in his underwear, dripping with sweat. The two-hour show oozes all this impropriety. A flawed, outdated America. The show is a duplicate of the initial version that Usher performed for more than a year in the city of vice, where he is in residence at the Park MGM, a luxurious casino hotel. We should have remembered the old saying: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”
Usher until October 5 at the Seine Musicale in Boulogne-Billancour t (92). There are still places available, from 222 euros.
