Crooner Enrique offers too much show and tell

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

He squeezed a backup singer's butt and writhed on the stage with her, told about the size of his penis and also when he was circumcised.

Oh yeah, senorita, 27-year-old pop singer Enrique Iglesias wants you to know what all the fuss is about for the legendary Latino lover.

First, he did it by sending main squeeze Anna Kournikova inside the concert venue last Sunday, having her stand near the sound system area behind the audience.

The tennis bombshell was there for a moment while the lights were still on, attracting photographers to take her picture.

With the lights out, Iglesias himself popped up on stage, kicking off the concert with The Way You Touch Me.

Other songs included One Night Stand, Could I Have This Kiss Forever, I'm Your Man, Be With You and Just Can't Get Enough.

It was in the sixth song, that eternal kiss one, when Iglesias held that sexy backup singer tight, squeezing her butt before putting his hand down the back of her jeans and cavorting on the floor with her.

Where was Habib Rizieq of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) when we needed them.

"The next song is a song I wrote when I was 17, right after I got circumcised," he said.

Mucho gracias for the substantial information, Enrique.

Women in the audience, of course, went gaga over him, running around like crazy trying to snap him with their camera phones, although all the 3,000 audience was supposed to be seated.

They were even more hysterical when Iglesias told them about his second girlfriend, an Indonesian girl with whom he lost his virginity.

"But she left me, she said my penis is too small. Well, it's not small, I'm telling you, it's medium (insert scream here). Hey, am I talking too much? Am I insulting anyone?"

For God's sake, Habib, make yourself useful, will ya'?

If Iglesias often sounded like the Bee Gees gone bad with that grating high pitched sound, nobody seemed to care.

The failed falsetto and other sorry improvisations were actually quite hilarious, until Iglesias totally ruined Bob Dylan's Knocking On Heaven's Door.

It was a reminder of that hard-to-shake lipsync accusation by shock jock radio personality Howard Stern a few years back, when Stern played an audio tape allegedly proving that Enrique cannot carry a tune.

Iglesias also allegedly lip-synched in a concert in Poland, but he has denied both accusations.

The concert at Jakarta Convention Center the other night showed that Iglesias' voice is not his strongest point, and no rival to dad, the veteran Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias.

The good thing about Enrique, however, is that he dressed down on stage, not trying to be the macho Latino stereotype in tight pants and a satin shirt open to the waist.

He sported straight brown leather pants, a white T-shirt and knitted ski cap.

Another good thing is that he does not attempt the seductive dance moves of other Latin stars, although from what he did show, it is possible that Iglesias has two left feet.

Still, it's all thanks to him, and Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin, that Latin crossover music has done just that.

Whether it actually represents the real rich Latin sound is another issue; like it or not, the songs are catchy.

With over five albums which have sold millions of copies, Iglesias is definitely no longer in the shadow of his father, unlike when he first went into show business.

Several major labels rejected him at the beginning of his career, but Iglesias became a chart-topper in 1995 with his self- titled debut album. It sold over one million copies in Latin America and produced five hit singles.

Huge commercial success followed with his second effort Vivir in 1997. But the single that made him a household name was the Spanglish hit Bailamos, which was featured in the 1999 Will Smith film Wild Wild West.

Although Bailamos was hugely successful, Enrique is reluctant to record entirely in English, saying, "I gotta remember something, what got me here was Spanish."

A few hits followed, such as Hero, Rhythm Divine and Escape with sultry videos starring the likes of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Kournikova.

The recent concert here was part of his Asian tour to promote his latest album 7.

Despite a sold-out concert here and high-priced tickets (Rp 350,000, Rp 750,000 and Rp 1.25 million), Iglesias was forced to cancel shows in Hong Kong and in the Philippines, reportedly for logistical reasons.

His performance in Malaysia, two days after the concert here, was also scrapped as the relatively high 2,000 ticket sales were still way below expectations.

Perhaps the Malaysians had second thoughts after hearing about the circumcision and penis stories.

I-BOX:

Gates concert canceled

British heartthrob Gareth Gates has canceled his concert here due to a "technical matter".

In a press release on Wednesday, promoter Java Musikindo announced the concert would be postponed until further notice.

Gates, 20, was scheduled to perform here on April 6 at the Tennis Indoor Stadium at Senayan Sports Complex, Central Jakarta.

Aimed at promoting his latest album Go Your Own Way, the concert would have been opened by Indonesian singer Marcell.

Tickets are available at the ticket box from where they were obtained, call Java Musikindo at 021-57988623-25 for information, or click www.javamusikindo.com. -- JP