Reba & Kelly Concert at Tulsa
The Reba & Kelly concert on Friday was awesome. Melissa Peterman, the actress that played Barbra Jean on “Reba”, opened the show with a stand-up comedy routine. She was hilarious. Every time I have seen her on T.V., she has the same amount of energy she had on the stage, and it makes me wonder if she’s that way all of the time.
There was a short break after her routine. The show started with the curtain down and you hear the beginning of Patsy Cline’s “Sweet Dreams”. This was the song that Reba would sing a cappella in previous shows….but it ended up nothing like Patsy’s version. The curtain rises and she and Kelly break into Eurythmics’s version.
Both artists were on the stage for the whole show. Songs from both artists were sung, with each occasionally taking a roll as a backup singer.
When it came time for the duo to sing “I’m a Survivor”, the theme song for “Reba”, Melissa made another stage appearance. I knew some of what was coming from seeing part of previous concerts on Youtube, but she still had me falling out of my seat.
I knew that Reba wouldn’t be able to make it through the show without at least one wardrobe change, and she didn’t disappoint. I haven’t been to many concerts, so I don’t know if this is common, but as well as I can remember, Reba has always had a sort of pause close to the end of the concert, and then she would come back out for a few songs, encore-like. The same thing happened with this show, with she and Kelly coming out from below the stage, in different shirts. I laughed out loud and told Jerry that I knew she couldn’t make it without changing. She used to change many times when she had the big, elaborate concerts. They closed the show with “Fancy”, a personal favorite of Reba’s.
The show was a wonderful blend of country and pop. Jerry was amazed by Kelly’s voice, even though some of her songs weren’t up his alley. The sound of the two voices together was lovely and I wished they would go on all night. I told Jerry that we could still get tickets to the concert at Kansas City, MO on my birthday, but he didn’t pick up the hint.
I guess Reba will always be that one celebrity I wish I could meet. I started adding it up and realized that I have been a fan for over 20 years. My fan-dom has ebbed and flowed during those years, but one thing is certain; there will always be a Reba song close at hand.
Christmas Songs
Well, it’s after Thanksgiving, which means Christmas songs everywhere. I usually try to avoid them as long as I can before Christmas so that I don’t get burned out. My favorite is “Silent Night, Holy Night”. The best version I have heard (and it may be because I’m partial) is by Reba on her Merry Christmas to You album. Other favorites are “O Holy Night”, “White Christmas” (especially sung by Bing Crosby), and what Christmas would be complete without Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas” from Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. “This is My Prayer for You” and “The Secret of Giving” are a couple of songs from Reba’s album Secret of Giving that don’t mention Christmas, but are good songs to listen to during the season.
What are some of your favorite Christmas tunes?
Reba & Kelly On Tour
Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson are going on tour together. They are going to be at Tulsa, OK at the Mabee Center on February 1, 2008. Tickets go on sale December 8. There’s a widget to the right that shows all of their tour dates.
Oklahoma Centennial Spectacular
Oklahoma turned 100 Friday and to celebrate the occasion, a spectacular was thrown at the Ford Center in OKC. It was filled with many great performances and appearances by famous Oklahomans. It started out with an “Oklahoma Swing” sung by Vince and Reba and accompanied by square dancers. In what is perhaps my most favorite thing in the world to see, they had a Bald Eagle fly from the crowd to the stage. Every time I see that it makes tears well up. I can’t really explain why, it just always moves me. There were Native American dancers and an incredible acrobat that performed on two cloth strips hung from the ceiling. Willard Scott was present to announce 25 centenarians and one man who was 106 sang what was the Oklahoma state song before “Oklahoma”. It was a very moving performance. For all of those who bought tickets hoping to see Garth perform were disappointed. He presented the tribute to the Alfred P. Murrah building bombing victims and introduced Reba singing “If I Had Only Known”. Toby Keith sang “American Soldier” as men and women from the National Guard at Ft. Sill lined the stairway. Five of the six Miss Americas from Oklahoma shared the stage. Oklahoma has the most of any state. Shirley Jones was on hand to sing a couple of songs from the movie Oklahoma, in which she played Laurey Williams. The woman can sure still sing it. There was a tribute to maybe the most famous of our state, Will Rogers. It seemed like he was always chewing gum. Makes me feel a sort of kinship. The show ended with Vince singing “Oklahoma Rising”, the song that he and Jimmy Webb co-wrote for the centennial, while a giant Oklahoma state flag was raised above the stage. It was then followed by “Oklahoma”. The ending was quite exciting with fireworks and confetti filling the air.
I’m always proud to say I’m from Oklahoma. I really wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Where else on Earth can you get such a wide range of climates in such a small area? How many other places can go from 80 degrees to below freezing in one day (sometimes in a matter of hours)? Sure we have our problems, but as a whole it would be tough to find better people anywhere in the world. I encourage our generation, and younger generations, to look into the past and take up the values that have made this state so wonderful.
Here’s my list of “You know you’re in (from) Oklahoma when”:
You say you’re going to “the City” and everyone knows which city you are talking about.
You measure distance in time instead of miles.
The trees all lean towards the north.
You understand the real meaning of “bedlam” and are most likely crimson or orange (Go Pokes).
41st Annual CMA Awards
The 41st Annual CMA Awards are Wednesday, November 7th on ABC. Reba and Kelly are nominated for Musical Event of the Year for “Because of You”. Reba is also up for Female Vocalist of the Year. She won that award four straight years from 1984 to 1987. I had stopped watching music award shows, but I do believe I’ll be tuning in for this one.
The Only Promise that Remains
A couple of days back I posted about the song “The Only Promise That Remains” written by Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris) being another great song from Reba’s Duets CD. After listening to it over and over (and over and over and…), I’ve come to some decisions on what makes it so good. What attracts me to a song is the music, the lyrics, or both. This is one of the occasions where both are excellent. I would have the song on my mp3 player even if it didn’t have words. It is a mix of old and new country and a little soft rock. The lyrics are such that what isn’t said makes the song much better. It keeps it from being a corny Country & Western song. The harmony of the singers’ voices is also very nice. It’s also a lower pitched song. I prefer those types of songs to the ones up in the rafters. Granted, some artists do those songs very well (Julie Andrews in her heyday, Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, to name a few). Even Reba has had some good songs that were high pitched, but in recent years, I like her songs that are down lower.
Some other songs that are growing on me are “Everyday People” with Carole King, that tells stories about ordinary people doing great things for their fellow man, “Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma” with Ronnie Dunn, and “Break Each Other’s Hearts Again” with Don Henley. The song with Ronnie Dunn is one they co-wrote together. It reminds me of Country songs from the 1980s. It kinda has a George Strait beat to it. There are a lot of each of the artist in the song, and it makes it special.
All in all, a very good CD. Definitely worth adding to the collection.
Reba Duets Released Today
I purchased the new Reba Duets album from iTunes today (they have the digital booklet that comes with the album. Very cool.). So far my favorite song, after “Because of You” with Kelly Clarkson, is “The Only Promise That Remains” with Justin Timberlake.
The video for “Because of You” is currently at #1 on GAC Top 20 Country Countdown and CMT Top Twenty Countdown.
Reba is also going to be at the Oklahoma Centennial Spectacular at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on November 16 of this year. She’ll be joined by Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, Toby Keith, Carrie Underwood, and more. Tickets seem to be sold out already (there are some on Ebay), but it says it will be shown on OETA as well. I would love to see her in concert again. It’s been about 15 years since I last went to one of hers.
Because of You
Here’s Reba’s latest video with Kelly Clarkson from Reba’s Reba: Duets album that’s scheduled for release on September 18.
Edited 7-3-07: This single is available on iTunes. I haven’t looked at any other online music stores.
Charlotte’s Web
If you haven’t seen Charlotte’s Web yet, I highly recommend it. I feel it stays true to the spirit of the book. Both made me cry (I know, I’m such a sap). I thought it was an odd and wonderful choice of Robert Redford for the voice of an arachnophobic horse named Ike.
A bit of movie trivia for you: Kathy Bates took over the roll of the unsinkable Molly Brown in the movie Titanic for Reba McEntire after Reba was unable to do the film because of scheduling conflicts. In Charlotte’s Web they play the cows, Bitsy and Betsy.
Ashy in Action
Well, here she is. She’s still the only lamb and she’s getting a little lonely. Actually her mom is getting lonely. There’s another
picture of her in my public gallery on Picasa.
I was going to post that Sunday, February 18th would be the series finale for “Reba”, but when I went to find the link for it (and then decided I wouldn’t give The CW the benefit of a link), they’ve changed “Series Finale” to “Season Finale”. I can only hope that this means another station has picked it up. Tune in for updates…
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