"BestOfVegas"
12/22/07 -see other reviews-
 Attitude - 3 Eye Candy - 4 Price - 2
"Too Much Audience Involvement"
Mike Weatherford of the Las Vegas Review-Journal saw Toni Braxton's show at the Flamingo and wrote this:
(An excerpt)
"Amid all the hoopla surrounding Celine Dion's final shows last weekend, Las Vegas' other working pop-star mom forged on with "Revealed," a revue that runs on a fraction of the budget of "A New Day ..." but likewise has become a smoother, more graceful showcase over time.
Braxton is actually a year older than Dion; she turned 40 on Oct. 7. But she's still able to work the spangly mini-outfits and the sex appeal cultivated through the steamy videos that accompanied her run of hits in the 1990s.
Just as important is delivering it with personality. Braxton banters with the ringsiders who line a small stage extension like a cross between Oprah and the Rat Pack, to the point that those seats could come with a disclaimer: "You will be in the show. The gents will have their laps occupied."
"Is there any truth to the seven-year itch?" she asks during a typical girl-talk detour. Elsewhere, she solicits all birthdays and special occasions for a collective singalong.
By this point, most of the crowd is extremely forgiving of a breathy contralto that often was barely above a whisper, albeit an agreeable whisper. Many lyrics were indiscernible to those who don't know them already. Braxton had canceled two shows earlier last week, and on Friday told the crowd that she was bouncing back from "a terrible, terrible cold."
It also may explain the anticlimactic treatment of her best-known songs. They just don't have the resonance they should, considering Braxton sold 8 million copies each of two albums ("Toni Braxton" and "Secrets") in the '90s. Could be the cold, but more of the letdown seems to lie in how the songs are handled beyond the actual singing. Time after time, the show seems to head toward a musical peak that never quite materializes.
"Another Sad Love Song" is interrupted to bring an audience member up to sing it. "Breathe Again" becomes the lap-sitting bit, complete with photo ops for the lucky fellows. Finally, at the end, Braxton emerges at the top of the staircase, looking all Diana Ross, ready to knock one out of the park with her biggest hit, "Unbreak My Heart."
But guess what? The crowd is invited to join in again."
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