Mariza

Mariza impressed me. I saw the YouTube videos on the blog but the experience in a live theater was different. Her powerful voice carried throughout the audience, with and without a microphone.

Her dress stood out immediately as she appeared to be a gigantically tall, skinny, model. She gracefully moved across the stage as if her feet floated above the ground

At first the lighting bothered me because I thought it was too dim. I wanted sharper contrasts between light and dark. I could see Mariza and appreciated the individual spotlights for the different musicians. But I wanted to see the detail of her necklace, dress and makeup. We were seated higher in the theater so I'm not sure if a darker illusion fell over my eyes but by the end I was pleased with variety of lighting and greater emphasis on the spotlight.

As for her singing...it was powerful. It was in Portuguese but as she mentioned everyone in the audience was united by the music. I didn't really mind that I didn't know the exact translation. I was able to look around at the musicians or her stage presence. I think she made a very personal, stage presence and a high comfort level between audience and performer. There was not a fourth wall in my mind. She broke that by teaching us new words, asking for us to clap and shout out where we were from. I think she truly cared about her performance and wasn't like an American pop star who goes on concert tour and doesn't always seem to be the happiest camper.

Lastly, I'm glad she sang one song in English because it just proved to me the capabilities of her voice. It still sounded excellent when she wasn't singing her native language...which further impressed me!