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Poptopia 2019 was another star-studded affair, drawing a capacity crowd on Thursday, Dec. 5, to the SAP Center in San Jose to witness a variety of talented artists during the annual holiday show from Bay Area radio station 99.7 Now.
Yet, there was one star who shone brighter than any other on the night:
Lizzo.
Having just wowed local fans during two sold-out nights at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco in late October, the sensational R&B/pop/hip-hop vocalist was back in the Bay Area and intent on showing another crowd why 2019 has been the Year of Lizzo.
Her performance was bold, confident and full of personality, charisma and memorable songs. Her vocals soared throughout the building, lifting our spirits and capturing our hearts and minds like only the truly great ones can do.
She lives up to the hype machine — which has been on overdrive now for months — every time she takes the stage.
And don’t expect things to slow down for her in the new year, especially since Lizzo seems so well positioned to have a huge night at the Grammy Awards on Jan. 26. She leads all contenders with eight nominations.
Besides crooning through triumphant versions of such hits as “Truth Hurts” and “Juice,” the star also took the time to deliver positive messages to the fans.
“If you can accept me for who I am, the world will love you for who you are,” she said.
Halsey also delivered a winning set, albeit one that didn’t come anywhere near the same stratospheric heights reached by Lizzo. But she still sounded quite strong, despite having been away for the stage for quite some time.
“It’s been a really long time since I played a show,” she remarked. “Can you tell? Am I rusty?”
To the contrary, Halsey — looking quite stylish in a cool Pink Floyd T-shirt — seemed mostly on top of her game as she ran through “Bad at Love,” “Eastside” and other selections from her multi-platinum-selling catalog
With Halsey and Lizzo onboard, 99.7 Now had two of the biggest pop acts on the planet, each of whom could likely sell out SAP Center on her own merit.
Yet, neither one of these acts was the one who ended up closing the big show.
Instead that honor was reserved for NCT 127.
That probably came as a surprise to a lot of people, especially those in attendance who had never heard of the band. And even the organizers might not have known what they were getting when they originally made the booking.
But NCT 127 is one of the hottest K-pop acts in the business, with a fan base that seems to double every five minutes or so.
Even Lizzo is a fan.
“I met (NCT 127) backstage,” she told the crowd, prior to the band taking the stage. “They were so cute.”
NCT 127 was actually originally scheduled for the opening slot of the show, but was bumped up to closer status at the 11th hour.
Don’t take that to mean that NCT 127 was the most popular act on the bill. Lizzo owned that distinction. But there were certainly a sizable contingent of fans who were in the house primarily to see the Seoul sensation.
It had to be a major concern that the more dedicated of these fans might even leave after the K-pop act performed. And nobody wanted Lizzo to play in front of a bunch of empty seats. Putting the band on last eliminated those types of concerns.
As expected, NCT 127 – the NCT stands for Neo Culture Technology and the 127 is longitudinal coordinate of Seoul – elicited a huge response from the audience as it took the stage and began to move through equally slick choreographed dance moves and pop grooves.
The bill also included Louis Tomlinson (of One Direction fame) as well as Normani and Ally Brooke (both of the Fifth Harmony).
Here are my concert picks for the week https://t.co/QAMsffzg7I
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) December 5, 2019
Review: President @Lizzo? Campaign trail might have started in S.F. @LiveNationSF @apeconcerts @BillGrahamCivic https://t.co/uH7Z0LQlXC
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) October 28, 2019
