EIPHNH
Toppers 2008.
Friday, May 23th, I had the pleasure to visit the Toppers Extravaganza at the Amsterdam Arena, together with my partner and a good friend of his. As most of you probably know, I predominantly go to concerts with a Mediterranean or a classic theme. This was an exception, and a very nice one!
This was the second time I was at the Toppers concert and it was even better than the first time! The chemistry between the Dutch star singers Gerard Joling, Gordon, and René Froger is simply astounding. The dramatic sound of Gerard's voice, the subtle soul voice of Gordon, and the dark tenor of René keep giving me goose bumps.
The repertoire was very diverse, in language and in genre. Many Dutch songs (luckily, because we live in The Netherlands, not in the US of A!), some English, and, last but not least, a wonderful medley of French Eurovision songs like "Après toi", "Tu te reconnaîtras", and "Un banc, un arbre, une rue".
Special guests were: Anita Meyer who sang her Eighties hit "Why tell me why", Bonnie St. Claire with a medley of her greatest successes (she has a wonderful voice!), The Trammps ("Disco inferno"), and the three Dutch heroines from Idols, Nathalie, Charlene, and Nikki, who brought us a Tina Turner medley, together with the Toppers. Wonderful performances, all of them!
I loved the relaxed, but joyful and happy atmosphere: everybody smiled and enjoyed singing along with the hits, but they also were moved by a - to me - unknown ballad, sung by Gordon, which obviously was referring to his tragic love life of the past few years. Well done!
A nice extra: "It's raining men", sung by Gerard en Gordon, accompanied by a big parade of hunks in golden(!), tight shorts, an obviously gay-inspired act. The Netherlands should be the country in which it is perfectly normal and safe to be gay: my two idols explicitly pointed this out with this performance.
Excellently done, guys! If you perform next year, Freddy Konstantinou is going to be there, for sure!:)