By: Russell Baillie and Alan Perrott
On stage last night Ricky Martin didn't actually say sorry for the 24-hour delay to his concert which caused fans a weekend of turmoil and then soaked them as rains lashed Ericsson Stadium.
He did, however, twice thank the audience of more than 20,000 for their patience and at the end asked for a round of applause for the production crew - whose failure to build his stage's ceiling in time apparently caused the last-minute postponement.
If the star's brief pronouncements on what has been a PR disaster for him and promoter Paul Dainty fell well short of damage control, then the dazzling show itself managed some major spin-doctoring.
There was enough verve and fireworks, both musical and literal, to show that Martin isn't past his pop star use-by date and nor is he a one-hit wonder.
But as the rain fell and Martin slipped occasionally into overwrought ballads, you could feel many in the crowd wishing he would just get on with it - "it" being his stadium-sized pop pastiche on salsa, mambo, samba, while fronting a crash-hot band and a Vegas-sized dance troupe.
Firing on all Latin cylinders, Martin's show was great giddy fun with percussion-mad songs such as Por Arriba, Por Abajo and his 1998 World Cup song, La Copa De La Vida, which ended the night.
He had started with Livin' La Vida Loca, then as the weather hit a bit of a damp patch so, unfortunately, did he with some of those ballads.
During one of these he ascended to that stage ceiling on a platform, his messianic pose making him look like Christ-as-high-rise-widow-cleaner.
But with the meaningful bits out of the way, Martin and his brass-happy band found their syncopated stride all the way to full time.
The worst thing was that, despite the rain, those fans who couldn't make the postponed show missed a good one.
The postponement may have caused both matrimonial strife and financial worries for disappointed punters from outside Auckland.
Many of Martin's female fans queuing outside the stadium earlier were conjuring up good excuses for their extended stay to give to the husbands they had left minding the kids.
The show's promoters have yet to decide whether those who could not attend last night's show will have their tickets refunded.
Ticketek is recommending that anyone who had to miss the show should return their tickets with a letter outlining why they could not attend.
Nicki Cottle and Debbie Davies, from Golden Bay, had to juggle babysitters, husbands and bosses to see their heart-throb. They were trying not to count the bill for their extended stay. On top of extra food and time-killing shopping, each had to pay $80 to reschedule her flight.
The extra day cost the AWA netball team, from Ngongotaha, $600 on top of the $2000 they had already spent on accommodation and tickets.
Coach Anaru Paul said the team had started fundraising in February for the show and were determined to have a good time, so they spent Saturday night at a male strip club.
Another trio, Sue Waite of Tauranga, Kelly Lowes of Hastings and Sharon Shearer of Te Awamutu, had a simple message to Martin's minders before the show: "Get your act together."
They would not accept any excuse for the delays in assembling the set. "Their stupidity has cost us a lot of money," said Mrs Waite. "They must have known they had a problem well before they postponed the show. It's just not good enough."
The promoters were also lucky they did not have to face the wrath of the small group of disabled fans.
Caregivers were not allowed to watch the show in the special wheelchair section.
One woman, Rochelle, was worried about what would happen if she needed help and her caregiver, Doug, was not on hand.
"The security guys won't know what to do, and anyway, why can't we sit with our friends like everyone else?"
The latino heart-throb was so excited by his first skydiving experience in New Zealand on Saturday that he asked to stay and do another dive yesterday morning before leaving.
Martin tandem sky-dived from 3000m, with a Sony spokesman saying it was a means of getting an adrenalin rush and a way for Martin to escape the constant attention the lollipop-sucking singer creates wherever he goes.
Confidential managed to catch Martin's arrival at Fox Studios' new nightclub, Citylive, for his appearance on Pepsi Chart yesterday afternoon where he performed his sexy hit She Bangs, which has created controversy in the US with its ultra sexy video clip.
He also met the 10 finalists in the Australian supermodel of the year contest.
Martin performs in the first of his highly anticipated sell-out concerts tonight and promoter Peter Korda, who brought the star here before he became internationally famous, says he will present an award at next week's ARIAs.
The Latino sensation was forced to change his Saturday night concert after high winds and rain meant his monstrous stage couldn't be constructed.
And promoter Paul Dainty told Confidential that Martin was forced to charter a 747 at the 11th hour to make sure the 80 tonnes of stage equipment arrived in Sydney in time -- although "the gear is usually transported on a Russian cargo plane''.
On Saturday, Martin found the winds to be of use when he tandem-skydived twice from 10,000ft. Although a little nervous before the first jump, Martin enjoyed the experience so much he went straight back up to jump again.
The hunky pin-up boy was clipped to chief instructor Lynette Kirkman, whom he serenaded with Happy Birthday as their plane climbed.
The jump was paid for by the local branch of his music label Sony after Martin told them he wanted to do something different and exciting on a rare day off.
"I think he just wanted a rush of adrenalin, I mean he's just been hounded in Asia with journalists everywhere. I think he was quite keen to get away and probably thought skydiving was a good way to get some peace,'' a Sony spokesman said
getting excited for the sexy drop dead gorgeous Latin sensation, the one
and only "Ricky Martin". Finally gates were open, a herd of people rushed
in to get the best seats available. Another hour to wait.
8pm, lights went off. Screams of women, hearts pumping, adrenalin rushing
through every one.
A short video to get the audience in the mood, and at last the tunes of
"Livin' la vida loca" blasted through the hundreds of speakers.
The astonishing Ricky blossomed to every face in the crowd. Guys shaking
their bon bons, girls swaying their hips. Arms in air and singing along to the
Spanish lyrics of a beautiful Latin voice.
An experience of a life time. Leaving behind a touch of livin? la vida loca.
The Latin pop sensation was due to perform at Ericsson Stadium tonight, but concert promoters have been forced to postpone the concert until tomorrow.
Irate fans who have traveled to Auckland from all over the country are angry they will now have to pay for new flights and accommodations.
Publicist Lynn Smart said construction staff have simply been unable to complete the stage in time because of high winds and driving rain this week.
She said Ricky Martin insists on everything being 100% for his concerts and the stage simply wasn't safe.
Ticketek has been inundated with calls from fans, but is reassuring them that all tickets are still valid for tomorrow night's show.
However, an angry fan phoned an Auckland radio station this afternoon claiming Ticketek will not be refunding tickets of people unable to attend tomorrow's show.
When contacted by the Herald Online, a Ticketek employee said no refunds would be available.
A Ticketek spokesperson later said it is the promoter who decides whether or not tickets will be refunded and that "at this stage, it is unclear what the policy of the promoter is on that issue."
- IRN, Herald Online Staff
