Justin brings his love to the 'No

Katrina Garcia
News Editor - Spring 2007

I'm not gonna deny it — I love Justin.

I was secretly a huge fan back when he was the heartthrob of 'NSYNC, even though I was a die-hard Backstreet Boys fan. When he went solo, I fell even harder after hearing him sing those profound lyrics, "Senorita, I feeeeeel for you."

So it's no surprise that I think Justin Timberlake's performance last night at the Save Mart Center was one of the best concerts I've attended.

Despite my love for JT, it's hard to believe that anyone who saw him bring sexy back to Fresno could disagree. Not only does he sound just as good live, if not better, he has moves that rival Michael Jackson — the '80s-Thriller MJ, that is. But perhaps his time spent on the piano was what impressed me most. JT proved he has staying power with his piano performance of "What Goes Around...," his latest single. JT also has no problem getting up close and personal with the audience, as he sang thisclose to the front-row fans several times during the concert. Damn those JT fan club members for taking up all the good seats...

The best moment had to be when some front-row fan tried to give Justin a gift. Who knows what was in that shiny red box, wrapped panties, perhaps? (I'll refrain from making any SNL references. I've never blogged on here before, so I don't want to use any words I'm not 100 percent sure I can use.) Timbaland's guest DJ stint was fun too, and a really effective way to keep the predominantly female audience from screaming "Juuus-tin! Juuus-tin!" during the 30-minute intermission. Although some of the songs he mixed were random: The Fray and Coldplay as dance mixes? I guess anything goes at a JT concert. Pink's opening was surprisingly good too. I would definitely not describe myself as a Pink fan, but she got the crowd pumped for JT.

I'm a huge concertgoer, and I've been to many of the shows at SMC. I've seen the "legends" — Elton, Madonna and Prince, among others. And I was really impressed with his 2 1/2 hour performance. I had pretty high expectations of Justin... and he exceeded them. I wouldn't be surprised if years from now, I can list him among the legends I saw.

If you too are a fan of Justin and attended the concert as well, let us know what you thought about it.

What was your favorite moment?

Did you feel like you got your money's worth?

Did more than a total of, like, 11 guys go to the concert?

Are you tired of people using the phrase bringing-something-back?

I know I am.