Robbie's a overrated ponce. I saw the Leeds concert on TV, and I kid you not, I'm better than him.
I went along to see Robbie at Hampden Park with my eldest daughter, determined to hang onto exactly the same preconception.
I didn't see the Leeds concert, Malc, nor have I seen you perform live in front of 50,000 people, but I'd be willing to wager you're wrong on this one. If not, you seriously need to change career right now!
He's a good singer, not a great one, but his showmanship is second to none. I'm sure he didn't design the whole extravaganza on his own, but he was the linchpin that turned it from a collection of OTT special effects into a show. Yes, it was the greatest exercise in self-glorification I'd ever seen, or will probably ever see, but there was such a tongue-in-cheekiness about the entire thing, you eventually stopped worrying what would become of this man once it was all gone (and yes, despite the ?80m contract he'd just signed, he managed to make me care about that).
I understand exactly what Lil says about his ability to make you feel the performance was done personally for you - and with tens of thousands of pubescent women in the crowd, all desperate for his attention, to perform the whole thing for a man in his early 40s was all the testimony you need to his showmanship.
As for the Queen...the hat was nice.
Mind you, I
loved Norman Wisdom too....