Enrique Iglesias
Allstate Arena – Rosemont, IL
September 27, 2008

Enrique Iglesias opened his show last night with his 2004 hit “Not In Love” and followed it with two Spanish ballads. Switching up his English and Spanish hits, Enrique kept the audience on their feet waiting to hear what the next song would be. Having been performing and writing music for the past 20 years, he did not have nearly enough time to fit in all of the songs that have garnered him millions of fans from around the world. “Bailamos” was the 4th song of the night and brought back the memories of the moment years ago when he officially crossed over into mainstream pop in America.

Keep reading after the jump to see more photos from last night’s nearly sold out concert…

Five lucky fans were brought up on stage for some group bonding time with Mr. Enrique Iglesias himself. Shots of vodka all around! A bottle of Grey Goose was conveniently awaiting consumption behind two couches set up front and center on the stage. After everyone’s shot glasses were emptied, Enrique went around to each of the five fans (three guys and two girls) and poured vodka straight out of the bottle into their mouths. All band members and back up singers surrounded the chosen fans and positioned themselves for an intimate acoustic session in the middle of his set featuring two of Enrique’s Spanish hits from earlier in his career. In between the songs, Enrique chatted up his five super fans and effortlessly went back and forth between speaking in Spanish and in English. After performing his new hit single “Lloro Por Ti” white and silver confetti was blown out from all sides of the catwalk while he ended his set with “Dimelo” – the Spanish version of his hit song “Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song).”

A true bilingual performer aware of his audience, he knew quite well that the roughly 18,000 fans before him at the Allstate Arena spoke both English and Spanish. He also knew that some of those (ahem – myself included) in attendance did not speak Spanish all that well. Thank God for his fluency in both languages spoken by the American people because I have not spoken Spanish in about four years and needed him to speak in English in order to keep me from going insane! There is nothing more frustrating than not understanding what one of your favorite artists is saying to you! Enrique did an excellent job of making me feel included in all the inside jokes and not left out. More reason to love this man…

Before the show, I had the privilege to take part in a mini press conference backstage with TV, newspaper and magazine reporters. When asked what English speaking artists he would love to duet with in the future, Enrique told us Tom Petty for sure, and of course, Prince. Wondering what Enrique thinks his greatest strength is? That he sees his weaknesses very clearly, which gets him down. But that only makes him work harder with each new day. Believe it or not, Iglesias is just like us! Near the end of “Be With You” he jumped up from the end of the catwalk where he was laying down and actually tripped and fell! Stumbling to an upright position, Iglesias kept on singing like nothing had ever happened and walked right down the runway to finish the song. I always feel so bad for the performer when things like this happen. The last time I saw The Killers, Brandon Flowers fell off a monitor, but didn’t miss a beat. Embarrassing moments like that serve only to reaffirm to the adoring fans that their idol is human and normal – just like them.

Another lucky (very lucky!) fan was brought up on stage for “Hero,” the first song of Enrique’s encore. Taking the girl’s cell phone out of her hands, he placed it in his back pocket and continued to serenade her. By serenade, I mean he caressed her body, kissed her on the lips, grabbed her butt and continuously placed his hand on her heart while singing into her ear. That girl’s life will never be the same again! And last, but not least, Iglesias ended his show with my personal favorite, “Escape.” I love both the English and Spanish versions, and he chose to go with the English. I was in heaven. Make sure that you get to the show early if are going to see Enrique Iglesias on his current tour with Aventura. For the remainder of the tour, he performs first!

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