Clash of the Divas

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So you have probably heard by now how Christina Aguilera brilliantly goofed up America's national anthem before a massive crowd at the Super Bowl last February 6. Too bad she fucked it up on my birthday. Having watched the video, I must therefore come clean that it was not a joy at all straining my ears to an over-sung national anthem. Still haven't got a picture? Then imagine Dayang Nurfaizah singing Negaraku with her trademark over-the-top trail after each line, and forgetting the line "Rahmat Bahagia, Tuhan Kurniakan" along the way. That's how horridly horrendous it was.

But make no mistake, folks. Christina proves why she deserves every bit of "the voice of her generation" accolade bestowed upon her in her ferociously breathtaking feature film debut, Burlesque.

Having grown completely weary of her dismal, stagnant life as a bartender at a small town in Iowa, Alice Rose, abbreviated  as Ali (Christina Aguilera) packs her bag and heads on to the glamorous city of Los Angeles, hoping against hope that she could shine as a singer. The desire leads her to Burlesque, a small club "having no windows but the best view on the Sunset Strip", which she stumbles upon by sheer coincidence after a long, unfruitful day. She immediately falls in love with the whole concept of Burlesque and implores Tess (Cher), a lady who runs the club, to give her a chance to prove herself. Tess dismissively laughs the request off, until Ali gets on the stage uninvited during an audition held to discover new dancers for Burlesque, and Tess realizes - although still unconvinced - that a star, destined for greatness, has just been born and could be the answer to the problems the club is facing.

When Burlesque started with Christina Aguilera singing whatever song that was, I  knew immediately that it was going to be a long, long, long night in a cabaret and that I was in for something spectacular for the next two hours. I believe she silences all the critics saying that there's nothing left in her apart from her vocal prowess. Her acting might not as close as raking up an Academy accolade, but for someone whose breakthrough originated  from a recording studio, Burlesque is more than a good acting debut. And needless to say, her singing performances in it were simply terrific and utterly jaw-dropping. The numbers like 'Express', 'But I am a Good Girl' and 'Show Me How You Burlesque' were just unbelievable and stunningly entertaining, but I am particularly fond of the number that earned her a Golden Globe nomination, the power ballad 'Bound to You'. Good God, it was beyond amazing. In fact, I have been listening to it (and singing along just to annoy my housemates) all day long now. 

And as if having Christina in it is not adequately engrossing, Burlesque presents us a living legend and timeless diva, Cher. Well, talking about 'Clash of the Divas'. 

Oh, God. Cher. Do we even require an introduction to this lady? And do we even need prove why she is as big a person as she has always been? Evidently Burlesque is a platform for Cher not only for her comeback, but to remind all the upcoming actors and actresses out there that this is how you pull off your character in a big screen, not just undressing yourselves and getting undressed. She was egoistic, she was strong-willed, she was intimidatingly overbearing, self-righteous and underestimating and best of all, she was a full-fledged diva - all the characteristics befittingly associated with Tess. And that's not all, folks. Her power ballad performance "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" is set to send shivers down your spine - as it did to me. It was emotional and provocatively inspiring all the same. And true enough, the number earned her a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, the same category "Bound to You" was nominated in.

And look, the review is getting longer and longer so I must stop here. But I feel obliged to urge you to grab your car key and drive away to the nearest cinema for this unbelievably entertaining movie. Or take a cab or a bus or a train or whatever that can get you there. And be wrong not, Burlesque is not all about dancing and singing. The storyline is well-crafted, the script is flat-out hilarious and worth quoting and all the characters are adorable. If boys have their share in the film (you've got to watch the movie to know what I mean), then ladies, be delighted for you have the gorgeous Eric Dane and Cam Gigandet that will most definitely get your heart racing. So it's a win-win situation. 

As for me, Burlesque is definitely one of the most entertaining movies I have ever seen to date and have the greatest pleasure reviewing. And when a film makes it on my blog, it is a giveaway just how much I love it that I am in no power to restrain myself from sharing and writing about it, hoping that my readers out there (if any! hehehe) will feel the same amount of excitement that I do. I remember that half way through the movie, I turned to my friend who was sitting next to me and said:

"I am so going to watch this for the second time". And you'd better bet I will :)

On the scale: 4.9/5


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1 comment:

Zu Lisa said...

ko tau ziz, last saturday aq date dgn c jia..then pg top 10 p tgk cd pirate. c jia suggest aq tgk Burlesque ni...g said " ko x bc blog c aziz..bgitu gigih bdk 2 tulis story psal crita ni" at last kami beli dua cd yg sama..cd crt ni. tp cd pirate la...hahah