Tonight, Chris surprised me with a Christmas concert featuring John Legend. This December, he’s releasing his Christmas album A Legendary Christmas, and this concert featured many of his Christmas songs, as well as a few of his mainstream John Legend classics. John Legend is one of those performers who, no matter what, always sounds so much deeper and more emotional live than on his LP. There are performers who are just fine or comparable to their LP  singing-wise when live, then there are the ones who should just rely on lip-syncing (not that I was ever much of a fan, but Britney Spears live… is not for the singing). In Mariah Carey’s heyday in the early to mid-90s, her emotions were felt far more live than on her LP. Her live version of “Hero” is a million times more moving than her LP version, which to me, sounds lifeless.

Then, there’s John Legend, whose LP always sounds flawless, and then you hear him in person singing the exact same song, and you think, “How could you outdo yourself? How do you do those vocal reverberations?!” I’m mind-boggled by his voice. You just want to tell him, “Sing! Sing! Keep singing! Don’t stop! Never stop!” His voice is a paradise.