Humo’s Pop Poll 2007
20 Mar 2007I don’t know if I was expecting too much, but the content of the Humo’s Pop Poll De Luxe was a bit of a disappointment. Thanks to my good connections I was the “+1” for a VIP-ticket yesterday at the Sportpaleis. While the VIP-treatment is always a most enjoyable circumstance, during the show we often had a “WTF?” feeling, but not in a good sense. K3 doing “3 biggetjes” comes to mind, and the dance steps of the woman that was supposed to be the head of TV station één (she wasn’t). DJ Tony from Willy’s en Marjetten (Bart Depauw) came on stage in a Borat minimal swimming outfit and placed an image in our mind that took several doses of alcohol to get rid of afterwards. Whoever wrote Roos’ texts wasn’t very inspired and even the Methusalem of Humo(r), Guy Mortier, who undoubtedly writes his own texts, was not up to his – granted, quite high- level. Most of the comedy acts went for cheap routines on gays, blacks and women. Wim Helsen even combined all three in an interview with Tom Lanoye. The best stand-up comedy act came from a Dutch guy: Najib Amhali. Ouch!
As for the music: most of it was loud. It felt more like a circus: everyone was invited to do one or two tricks and then disappear again. Why a group like the Van Jets were invited to play, will remain a mystery for me. The musical highlights for me:
Just after the break: Steven Wold aka “Seasick Steve” who played blues with just a guitar and a heavy left foot. Authentic, addictive and big fun.
Geike Arnaert together with Sioen did a cover of Nick Cave’s “Wild Rose”. Gripping and classy. ‘Kiekevel’!
Then this morning I went to the HUMO site to see what pictures they published from yesterday. They must have at least one good photographer close to the stage, and that person must now be pissed off: they published the photos in a 335*223 format (i.e tiny) and so excessively sharpened (at least that’s what I think they’ve done) that faces become deformed and artefacts abundant. Take a look at the following picture:
Sioen has a square blob for a nose and Geike looks as if her make-up had been taken care of by a myopic monkey with Parkinson’s disease. My pictures, taken from 100m distance with a low-quality 55mm lens can be found on Flickr: Humo’s Pop Poll 2007
