“It’s Just a Party for 15,000 People, and You’re Invited.” – Michael Bublé is the Perfect Host at Madison Square Garden

In the mobile entertainment industry, my good friend, Jim Cerone, is known as the Perfect Host.   In the contemporary pop-jazz category that features old-school romance and classic performances  like Sinatra and the rat pack used to bring to the table, Michael Buble is as close to perfection as they come.

I know a lot of talented emcees, but I’m not sure if any of them could make 15,000 people feel like they were sitting in the front row at the Copacabana with such poise and savior-fair.  Did I mention that Michael can accomplish this without a microphone too?  (If you’ve never been to a MB show, Buble always performs one track…un-plugged-acapella.   I wouldn’t believe it either if I hadn’t seen him do it at three concerts.)

As always, Michael mixed in just the right amount of newer releases like Everything and Haven’t Met You Yet with his modernized versions of classics like Georgia and Heartache Tonight.   What everyone will be talking about today though will be his heartfelt impromptu shout-out to his grandfather who was in the audience and his mini-Michael Jackson tribute. The band ripped into Billie Jean to the delight of the crowd and Buble almost brought the house down when he did the moonwalk after singing the first chorus.

I’d like to welcome Danielle, Joanna & Luigi to the MMP family.  They sat behind us and were the perfect fans.   They were reading all of Buble’s Wikipedia stats on their iPhones before the show started, (“did you know he was Italian and that his middle same was Steven?”) and knew almost every word to every song.   They also joined our little dance party when Michael did his homage to Ferris Bueller and sang Twist and Shout! The whole stadium, (except for about 18 party poopers who refused to get their butts up off their seats, smile and enjoy life for a few minutes) was up and dancing the night away.  What a moment!

When Michael Buble told us “it’s just a party for 15,000 people and you’re invited” after the first set… we believed him.

I know we’ve got readers from all over the country so check out the Crazy Love Tour dates and treat yourself to a night of what Andy Ebon and James Cameron might consider perfection, you deserve it. Special thanks to our good friends, Mike and Kelly, for treating us last night. And it was a pleasure catching up with Dominick and getting to know his girlfriend, Sarina… best wishes with your nursing career.

P.s   Kudos to Mike who got up and ran the NYC half marathon in 1:45:18 this morning.   At dinner last night, Kelly joked that Mike only scans the first section of lengthy e-mails and articles- so he probably won’t even see this.

2010 Begins With ‘Perfection’ for Nicole & John at The Villa

You know you’re in for a special wedding reception when the bride sends her dress all the way to China to get some custom work done.  Not only did Nicole look gorgeous, she and her husband, John, were smiling from ear to ear the whole night.  At the end of the evening, Nicole summed up the day she’d been dreaming about since she was a little girl with this highly illusive and sought after bridal phrase… “It was perfect!” What a nice way to start off the New Year.

If you tuned in to the TLC channel last year and watched the hit show, Masters of Reception, you’d be familiar with The Villa in Mountain Lakes and Frungillo Catering.   The Frungillo family is well known in the special events community and deserves its stellar reputation. It was an amazing experience.

John and Nicole were an ideal bride and groom.  They brought a lot of joy and happiness to their own celebration. From the initial phone calls to the e-mail exchanges to the final design session at their home, John and Nicole were committed to making this one of the best days of their lives; fortunately, their family and friends had the same game plan.  When you bring that much positive energy to a first class venue and put some of the industry’s finest professionals in charge, simply let nature take its course and enjoy the ride.

I was delighted to work with The Villa’s expert banquet manager, Joe’l Falco.  We’ve teamed up several times over the past decade and it always resulted in a stellar event.  When the menu was finalized and the special details were confirmed, Joe’l and I designed an event timeline that enabled us to produce a seamless blend of hospitality and entertainment for all of the guests.

Capturing the once in a lifetime moments throughout the day was one of the best photographers in the business, Dave Kotinsky, from Visionmasters. His work is all over the MMP website and the MMP blog.  I appreciate his photographic artistry.  Special thanks to Dave for providing the photos for this entry.

Among many highlights, one of my favorites was when John and Nicole presented the bouquet to John’s grandparents, Lester and Erna.  After playing Unforgettable by Nat King Cole and At Last by Etta James, we determined that out of all the couples on the dance floor, Lester and Erna were together the longest… over 50 years!    As Nicole handed the bouquet to Erna, a collective “aww” could be heard from the sentimental crowd.  I asked Lester and Erna if they had any advice for the newlyweds and Lester said, “be flexible.”  Then without missing a beat, Erna replied, “I’m usually right.” It was a classic Kodak moment. To top it off, we went on to play Lester and Erna’s wedding song, Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White.  The look on Erna’s face was priceless.  As a result of the detailed planning session two weeks prior, we already knew who the longest married couple was going to be.  With the help of John and Nicole’s Sherlock Holmes-like investigative research; we had Lester and Erna’s wedding song cued up so they could experience the joy of their first dance as husband and wife one more time.   I love my job.

We finished the night with one of John and Nicole’s favorite artists, Michael Buble. Their guests enjoyed Michael’s version of Save The Last Dance For Me for their grand finale and then The Best Is Yet To Come for their goodbyes, hugs and kisses outro.

Perfect indeed.

Next Page »