Michael Jackson - Prince - Justin Timberlake (?)

It's like that question they often place in the literacy component of aptitude tests: Which is the odd one out? Increasingly, the opinion is being built that Justin (JT) is very much in line for induction into the pantheon of solo male popstars, MJ and the artist formely known as (but now known as such) amongst the groups finest. Some of the evidence is quite strong: teen star of N*Sync turned glamour boy thanks largely to the brilliant production of the Neptunes on his debut album, then popstar with (minimal) musical cred thanks to the arguably even more brilliant production of the current studio king Timbaland. So the faithful ask..why doesn't he deserve his place among the greats?

I have had the great fortune of seeing MJ in concert (1997 SCG 70,000 sold out crowd) and Prince (2002 Sydney Entertainment Centre), and last week I went to JT to see if he was the one to make the holy trinity. He was not.

The boys talent, nobody is doubting. The dancing - spectacular. The voice (i'll get to that later). The musician (well..sort of, but not really), but the general showmanship was better than any other solo artist touring today. This however, I would argue, is thanks largely to the strength of the pop/dance tracks produced by Timbaland. As a spectacle, with the lighting and sound effects, the show was a success.

Although in many ways pop music is self indulgent by nature, JT's constant posing throughout his gig doesn't allow for any real connection to be made with the audience - it's all about him. This might not seem to faze the 13 yr old girl, a concert first timer, and her friends sitting in the row below as they are enthralled to simply see his face projected onto large screens (omg he's real!). He is obsessed with showing us, his lowly audience, that he can do everything. So he dance, sings in his painfully thin falsetto voice, and takes any opportunity to strum out chords on guitars, synths, piano - then the 13 yr old girl said 'I didnt know he could play so many instruments'. The magic trick worked, and for most people playing chords = virtuosity = musician. Evidently, and I will spell this out - he is not the Princely musician he wishes to become - Eric Clapton said Prince was the best guitarist he'd ever seen.

The greatness of MJ and Prince (just examples - there are others) lies in their ability to never let their artistic superiority get in the way of losing their connection with the audience. In their shows there is elements of the spectacular, lighting, sound, explosions, the posing (and what is a pop-star without the 'hey look at me' element) but there was also honesty and humanity. Watching Prince sing purple rain, or MJ sing 'shes out of my life', and no matter how large the audience, pindrop silence ensues, and for the girls out come the tissues (and some of the guys - ok yes maybe it was me). Timberlakes 'Prince imitation' falsetto really is false - rather than communicating the song it feels like he's singing just so he can show us his wafter thin high notes.

Even with a band as great as i've ever seen, I can only really recall one 2 minute window where I saw such honesty from JT. Part of it isnt completely his fault. Although his pop/dance tracks are among the best pop songs of the last 10 years, a glaring weakness in his repertoire is his ballads. MJ had great ballads, Prince had the sort of ballads that hit you straight in the gut (think 'Adore'). JT's ballads are not only poor songs, but in the wake of his paper thin voice he is drowned out by his band, so theres almost no articulation..what is he singing about? Probably some kind of love, so the girls scream anyway 'he's amazing!'. If only you knew, what a superstar was. Timberlake is a somebody, a megastar in the youtube 'everybody can be a star' era, but dont put his name amongst the others. MJ - Prince - ? we're still waiting, and i'm hopeful, but perhaps it'll have to wait till the next generation.

So after leaving the concert, I felt entertained, but not amazed and not with the feeling that you were the presence of greatness. It wasnt all his fault, it was Just-him.