Hilary Duff Kentucky Concert Review at oh-hilary.com

Louisville, Kentucky: August 25th 2007!

The Night Before:

I was taking out my contacts and one of them had ripped. And I thought I had brought 2 sets just in case but 1 set got left at home. So I was so upset that I was going to have to wear glasses in my pictures.

Earlier The Next Day:

We went to get my hair done which took forever but I loved it! While I was getting my hair done we met up with Kayla and her family! Then we went to go get my eyes checked because my prescription was a year old. The doctor didn?t think they would have them in but to my surprise they did! So that was a prayer answered! After that we ate at the California Pizza Kitchen then went back to the hotel to get ready!

Read more at the site itself...
Courtesy: oh-hilary.com

Canoe Jam Music, Concert Review

Scotiabank Place, Ottawa - Sept. 5, 2007

By DENIS ARMSTRONG -- Sun Media

Ottawa, and the rest of the world for that matter, just can't get enough of that teen queen Hilary Duff. The 19-year-old entertainer has released four albums over the past four years, including her latest collection of derivative dance numbers and ballads called Dignity. As if that wasn't enough, she's also done a couple of movies, designed her own line of tween wear and launched her own fragrance, "Stuff." Even with all that on her plate, Duff made time to walk through something that looked like a concert at Scotiabank Place last night. Talking about dignity, there wasn't much of it in this brazen parade of marketing-based entertainment. And much like her last visit in 2006, Duff worked the screaming bubblegummers and their parents over ruthlessly with a tightly choreographed but hopelessly robotic show. It opened with a truly deafening wail from 4,200 hormonally discharging teenaged girls as Duff dove into Playing With Fire, Danger and that theme song for dozens of acne cream ads, Come Clean. And when she leaned back, closed her eyes and belted that one out, it actually looked like she was singing. Courtesy: Canoe Jam

Duff has learned lessons in Dignity

Hilary Duff performed for just over 7,700 fans at the Bell Centre last night, as part of a tour in support of her album Dignity. JOHN KENNEY, THE GAZETTE

JORDAN ZIVITZ,The Gazette

When Hilary Duff played the Bell Centre in January 2005, she seemed like a marketing man's defective puppet, with an off-kilter yelp and clueless stage presence. By contrast, when she unpacked songs from her recent Dignity album last night at the same venue in front of just over 7,700, she seemed - well, dignified.

It didn't take long for her to make a decent impression: After a strobe-heavy intro gave many young girls their first taste of simulated epilepsy, Duff strode out to the electro-pop beat of Play with Fire. She seemed more refined, less desperate to please than in the past, with the directionless energy of her earlier shows transferred to a quartet of dancers who won't be sweeping any choreography awards.

Composure isn't the only lesson she's learned: Her vocals throughout the 100-minute set were considerably smoother than the dog-torturing shrillness of 2005.

Three songs in, Come Clean was a case study in another valuable teaching for the teen-beat crowd: Tinker, but don't overhaul. When Britney Spears turned her prepubescent sex-me-ups into jazz-club standards on her 2004 Onyx Hotel tour, she lost the crowd. Come Clean was tweaked to bring it in line with the blurpy beats of Dignity, but wasn't a pointless revamp.

Most of Duff's banter was of the "Sing with me, insert-city-name" variety, but she's either good at feigning sincerity or living by her own platitudes. Speaking of sincerity, titling your album Dignity is pretty rich when you're stamping your name on overpriced souvenir glow sticks. But Duff is perhaps the only mall queen these days who could sing the disc's title track - a dig at her contemporaries' vacuous celebrity, accompanied by a parade of tabloids on the video screen - without sounding like a drunk pot calling a baby-dropping kettle black.

That and other new numbers sounded meatier live than on album. But the kid-pop cavalcade

following the first wardrobe change squeezed some of the most delighted squeals from the grade-school crowd. This should worry Duff: Her audience isn't growing with her - each of Duff's last two visits have seen her shed 3,000 or 4,000 fans, and last night's crowd didn't look any older than the one in 2005. The singer smiled and cooed throughout Why Not, but one imagines it may gall her to see early hits getting most of the ear-burning cheers.

While Duff's previous Gong Show level of competence wasn't missed last night, there was often a distinct void of charisma. The speed-freak traffic video accompanying The Getaway provided more action than Duff's blas presence, and giving So Yesterday a slight reggae lilt was no excuse to chill by the drum kit.

Duff came alive after changing into a glitter-ball skirt for a run dominated by Dignity material. Outside of You pointed the way forward - a solid slab of pop durable enough to hang around after all those glow sticks die out.

jzivitz@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007

JORDAN ZIVITZ and The Gazette (Montreal) are neither way related to this site.

Courtesy: The Gazette

Duff gives audience what it wanted

By Molly Hirschbeck NEWS CONTRIBUTING REVIEWER

Hillary Duff is the center of attention Saturday at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center. Related photo on Picture Page, C8.">

Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News

Hillary Duff is the center of attention Saturday at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center. Related photo on Picture Page, C8.

DARIEN — She’s not going to rehab, she isn’t serving a highly publicized jail term, and as far as I know, she isn’t picking out baby clothes anytime soon.

And if Saturday night was any indication, Hilary Duff fans [and their parents] seem more than OK with that.

Perhaps that’s because 75 percent of the audience that showed up at Darien Lake to support Duff was under the age of 15, and when it comes right down to it, these kids are looking for a role model rather than a racy tabloid celebrity.

Instead of grabbing headlines with stories of DUI turmoil and drug busts like her peers, the uncharacteristically mature Duff has made a point throughout her career to be someone her tween fans can look up to. And though you won’t see any paparazzi pics of Duff’s car wrapped around a tree in People magazine, you will see her fresh, doe-eyed face promoting her ever-expanding brand.

In addition to being recognized for her breakout role, Disney Channel’s Lizzy McGuire, Duff has made a name for herself through her clothing line, big-screen projects and her recently released perfume, With Love.

Duff’s Darien Lake show brought another title to the young star’s resume: semi-decent pop-rock princess. Click Five, a Gin Blossoms, Romantics love child of sorts, opened the night to a sea of screams, homemade posters and, of course, marriage proposals.

The young guys were hugely popular with the young crowd, who stood on their seats and bopped along to “Just the Girl,” “When I’m Gone” and “Flipside.” And although the Five received a standing ovation, the audience was clearly awaiting the entrance of the Duffster.

And she made quite the entrance. With strobe lights flashing and dancers gyrating to their own rave parties, Duff finally appeared onstage, taking the spotlight with plenty of hip shaking and model-esque poses. Dressed in silver shortshorts, a bikini top and not much else, Duff shimmied through her opening number, “Play With Fire,” along with her hyperenthusiastic — and very tacky — dance troupe.

There were absolutely no traces of fresh-faced, innocent Lizzy McGuire; instead, a sanitized Britney Spears stood before the Darien crowd. Fortunately, from the sound of the ear-piercing screams, the audience approved.

“Are you guys having a good night?” Duff asked her adoring audience. “I love that you guys are standing already. Does that mean that I won’t have to ask you to later?”

But she already knew the answer. Her young fans were mesmerized by her flashy show, which covered Duff’s hits as well as many tracks off of her latest musical effort, “Dignity.”

Although the upbeat “Danger,” “Get Away” and “Come Clean” all seemed to trigger a content response, the gem of the night came when the carnival lights were put on pause. During the slow, acoustic “Someone’s Watching Over Me,” the strobe lights ceased, and the singer’s true talent was finally able to peek through.

At night’s end, it didn’t really matter what her song selection was or how polished her dance moves were. For the Duffs-intraining who showed up to sing their hearts out, merely seeing their idol in the flesh was more than enough.

Concert Review

Hilary Duff

With the Click Five on Saturday night at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center.

mhirschbeck@buffnews.com

Molly Hirschbeck, and Buffalo News are neither way related to this site.

Courtesy: Buffalonews.com

Duff, and her tunes, are all dolled up

Hilary Duff, seen in New York state earlier this week, brought her sparkly pop to town. (mike okoniewski/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

By Joan Anderman, Globe Staff | September 1, 2007

If Barbie were a pop star, she would be Hilary Duff. Duff came to Boston on Thursday, and Barbie was in the house: sparkly gold shorts, pretty plastic voice, devoted little girls, mall-friendly electro pop. If Malibu Barbie had a record deal, this would totally be her sound.

Duff materialized, oiled and golden on a pedestal, ready for her close-up. Lights flashed and hot dancers blew across the stage and the band played and Duff sang. Nothing sounded real, but everything sounded good. Perfect, in fact.

The 19-year-old star - one of a dying breed of Hollywood good girls whose legions of young fans first fell for her as Disney's "Lizzie McGuire" - isn't a natural on the concert stage. But for 90 minutes Duff made the most of her winning smile and trendy outfits, to which the songs seemed a brilliantly programmed soundtrack. She sang many of the tasty club confections from her new album, "Dignity," and dressed up several of her older pop tunes in synths and rock guitar. "Beat of My Heart," a bubble-headed but infectious ditty from 2005, segued into a pulsating cover of the Go-Gos' "Our Lips Are Sealed," and the symmetry was new-wave poetry.

Duff, being the courteous sort, paid tribute to her influences. She transformed Pat Benatar's "Love Is a Battlefield" from a bitter anthem into a girl-power singalong, which struck an audience-appropriate, if musically deflated, chord. Bob Marley, one can safely say, is not one of Duff's personal heroes. Inserting a chant of "everything's gonna be all right" from "No Woman No Cry" into the middle of "So Yesterday" was a good-taste gesture all but lost on the screaming tweens, who filled roughly two-thirds of the Pavilion. And it wasn't even a school night.

Boston power-pop quintet the Click Five, armed with an animated new frontman and a fresh dose of retro-rock edge, earned their own share of screaming thanks to candied hooks, tight harmonies, and adorable shag haircuts. "Jenny," the single from the group's new disc, "Modern Minds and Pastimes," is the greatest hit Weezer never wrote.

Joan Anderman can be reached at anderman@globe.com. For more on music visit boston.com/ae/ music/blog.

© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
Joan Anderman is neither way associated to Hilary Duff Encyclopedia, and Hilary Duff Encyclopedia promises to preserve the rights associated with this article.

Courtesy: Globe Newspaper(Boston Globe)

Hilary Duff captures grandstand crowd at Allentown Fair with music and moves

Hilary Duff performs at the Allentown Fair. (DENISE SANCHEZ / The Morning Call)

By Len Righi |Of The Morning Call 11:49 PM EDT, August 31, 2007

The costumes were eye catching and revealing. The choreography was flashy and pelvic-centric. The singing wasn't bad, and the six-piece band and the two backing singers didn't miss a beat.

Yes, Hilary Duff's show at the Allentown Fairgrounds Grandstand Friday night was a series of dance-pop videos come to life.

The Texas native, who will turn 20 on Sept. 28, drew a crowd of 3,549 -- substantially less than the 9,000 who turned out in 2005.

But she had the portion of the crowd on the track -- glow-stick bearing teens and pre-teens, virtually all girls and most of them accompanied by their moms or female adult chaperones -- standing on their seats and singing along through most of the 100-minute show.

Though technically proficient, Duff's performance was often impersonal and sometimes mechanical. Still, she started strong with "Play With Fire," "Danger" and "Come Clean," and reached her first high point with "Dignity," the title song of her fourth and latest disc, tapping her inner Madonna as seamy tabloid headlines flashed on a screen behind her.

Though "Gypsy Woman" was little more than excuse for Duff and her two female dancers to shake their butts and boobs, and the ballad "Someone's Watching Over Me" and "Never Stop" were yawners, she showed some cleverness with a complementary medley of "Beat of My Heart" the Go-Go's "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "Why Not."

The evening's best moment? "Wake Up," which Duff prefaced with a heartfelt explanation to her fans that despite peer and adult pressure "you can be yourself." She then sang the song like a big sister would to her younger siblings. Based on the crowd's reaction, It was a tender mother-daughter bonding moment with hugs all around.

Finishing on a high note with a fist-pumping cover of Pat Benatar's "Love Is a Battlefield" and "I Just Want You to Know Who I Am," Duff returned for an almost 25-minute encore that included "Fly," "No Work All Play" and "Stop Watching Me." Unfortunately it was 15 minutes longer than necessary.

Courtesy: Morning call

Duff shows she’s more than fluff

By Lauren Carter
Friday, August 31, 2007 - Updated: 07:05 PM EST

One thing is clear after Thursday night’s performance at the Bank of America Pavilion: Hilary Duff isn’t just moonlighting as a musician.
The former Lizzie McGuire, successful film actress and teen-pop princess is taking her role in music seriously, and it shows.

Judging by the set of teens, tweens and parent chaperones in the audience, Duff still caters to a younger crowd, but does so with the air and style of a young sophisticate and the positivity of a motivational speaker.

And while Duff may not be this generation’s power vocalist, her high-pitched, angelic vocals held up well throughout the night, as on the “Laguna Beach” theme song and crowd sing-along “Come Clean.”

There was plenty to focus on during Duff’s 90-minute set: multicolored light shows, urban-sexy backup dancers, Duff prancing around the stage and working in light choreography, as on the butt-bumping fun of “Never Stop.”

Duff’s arsenal of glam-sexy jumper dresses, glittery tunics, sequined frocks and short flapper skirts helped keep things interesting, while her pre-song speeches about following dreams and ignoring negativity likely made parents happy they brought their children to the show.

Duff explored different genres, working in the disco flavor of “Play With Fire” and “Danger,” the pop/rock of “The Getaway” and the synth-heavy power pop of “With Love,” which garnered mega-screams from the crowd.

The 19-year-old threw in a few cover songs as well, including the Go-Gos’ “Our Lips Are Sealed” and Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield,” with Duff lending sweetness to the gritty chorus while her backup crew got into their best fist-pumping, pseudo-tough stances.

Duff’s double encore included an impressive reworking of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” and even though few audience members were likely old enough to know the original, it didn’t seem to matter.

Boston’s own Click 5, a shaggy-haired boy band somewhere between the Beatles and Backstreet Boys, provided adequate scream warm-up, especially with the spunky pop/rock of “Headlight Disco.”

lauren-carter@hotmail.com
PS: Lauren Carter isn't related to Hilary Duff Encyclopedia in anyway.

Courtesy: Bostonherald.com

Shop Like Hilary Duff, will U?

As said in People.com

A few weeks ago, we saw Hilary Duff go on a mini-shopping spree at chic boutique Maxine in Los Angeles — and last night, the singer hit the streets of New York in the spoils of her trip!

Hilary snagged this adorable bird-print Karen Zambos silk tunic while shopping, and you can have it too! Get it for yourself for $330 at shopbop.com, or get a similar look for less with this Floating Lotus tunic, $98 at anthropologie.com.

Accessorize with Hilary’s CC Skye bamboo hoops, $132 at testimoboutique.com or these lookalikes at girlprops.com, $8, and get the look of her YSL “Triumph” heels with these Steve Madden “Kristin” pumps, $100 at stevemadden.com.

Courtesy: People.com

DVD Review: Raise Your Voice

Written by
Cara de Pescado
Published August 31, 2007


Raise Your Voice isn’t a Disney movie, but it could have been. It is the story of Terri Fletcher finding her voice. It begins with a happy teen, Terri (Hilary Duff), and her older brother Paul (Jason Ritter). Unlike most teen siblings I’ve come across, they get along famously. Terri and Paul sneak out to go to a concert and are in a car wreck on the way home. Paul dies and Terri doesn’t want to ever sing again. The problem with that is Paul sent in a DVD to a prestigious summer music program as his sister’s application and she was accepted. From there you can guess the rest; Terri makes new friends, discovers new love, and once again finds her voice.

For those looking for a wholesome movie, Raise Your Voice definitely fits the bill. Hilary Duff’s Terri sings in the church choir, listens to Christian music, and finds solace in going to church. Those who find Duff attractive will find lots of shots of her in tight tank tops. And those who enjoy the feel-good movies that could be on Disney Channel or Lifetime will enjoy the message.

That being said, Raise Your Voice is a bunch of clichés thrown together in an attempt to be a modern day Fame but failing. The script is lacking, the acting isn’t great, and the music isn’t exactly compelling. Though to be perfectly honest, pointing out all the ways the film fails to soar is sort of like beating a dead horse. But to be fair, it is only a PG-rated film. The thing I found most distracting was the presence of a lot of “pretty shots” that really didn’t add anything but time.

The Special Features on the DVD include five deleted scenes, a reel of outtakes, a behind the scenes look at the making of the movie, an orchestra sequence showing clips from the movie and the recording of the score, a music video for Hilary Duff’s “Fly”, an interactive jam where you make your own music, the theatrical trailer, and previews for other New Line releases. In addition to that material, the DVD has features and web links accessible on your computer running Microsoft Windows. I don’t have a PC, so I am not sure what those materials might be.

The DVD itself is dual-sided with Widescreen or Full Screen versions of the movie on either side. The audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 in English with options for English or Spanish subtitles.

Overall, the movie isn’t one I’d rush out to buy but it is 107 minutes of harmless entertainment the family can watch together.

Courtesy: blogcritics.org

Hilary Duff not getting The Best of Reviews

Poor Duffster, her man leaves her and within months impregnates another woman and now she is not getting the best of reviews on her music.

Hilary Duff has begun her tour and let’s just say she isn’t getting much love from the critics.

There was an article about her tour basically saying that she really doesn’t have a good voice. They did however say that her music is good club music because of the high tunes and her squeaky voice. They did mention that she should not sing any ballads.

I don’t think Hilary Duff thinks she has an amazing voice. She knows she is an entertainer more than a singer. It would be silly if she thought she had Christina Aguilera’s or Whitney Houston’s voice. The girl is just having fun with her music.

Hollyscoop.com

Duff drawas young crowd

Thursday, August 30, 2007
By Laura Silvius
Contributing writer

It's hard to believe it was four years ago that Hilary Duff took that plunge that is inevitable of all tween icons in this day and age (especially those under Disney's control) and released her first album.

When Duff, 19, returned to the state fair for a concert Wednesday (her last one was in 2005), one might have expected her fans to have grown up with her. But most looked barely old enough to warrant the label "tween," which applies to children between the ages of 8 and 12. Perhaps it is Duff's still-wholesome image that prevents her demographic from aging as she does. But she plays the part of the tween queen wonderfully, complete with a full-on light show, costume changes, background dancers and supplemental video.

The costumes and choreography had more sex appeal than anticipated for a show geared toward such an age group, but the tweens didn't mind. In fact, Duff seemed quite at home in her tween-dom. Duff performed primarily songs from her most recent album, "Dignity," which premiered in April. Though not without talent, Duff's voice varied from sounding relatively common to downright meager. At times she sings as clear as a bell, at other times she's obviously straining.

Duff doesn't possess a strong voice, but it's a distinct one, and she moves from song to song without much effort. The arrangements and back-up singers managed to help her find her way through the more difficult spots, but often it seemed that the talented individuals on stage with Duff were having more fun than she was.

Opening for Duff was The Click Five, a rock band that took the stage in the snappy costumes that are almost a trademark, making them look reminiscent of the Beatles (though with slightly shaggier hair). It was clear who had attended the concert especially for the band, because they averaged five to seven years over those who came wearing Hilary Duff T-shirts.

The quintet warmed up the crowd beautifully. Promoting their new album, "Modern Minds and Pastimes," which was released in June, the band played with strong lead vocals in Kyle Patrick, who has been with the band less than a year, and an undeniable bass talent in Ethan Mentzer. The other members of the band are Joe Guese on guitar, Ben Romans on keyboard and Joey Zehr on drums.

The five come from Boston: all but Zehr attended the Berklee College of Music. They have one hit from 2005, "Just The Girl," and the single "Jenny" from the new album.
A couple of the songs sounded like one another, but for the most part the band demonstrated an irrefutable appeal, and audience members nodded their heads in time.

Courtesy: syracuse.com

Hilary Duff helps collect food, Harvest program marks 20 years

By Sara Cunningham

scunningham@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Stan Curtis was on his way to a meeting this morning when a man stopped him on the street and asked for a meal.

“So I took him into the Hyatt,” Curtis said.

The act was not unusual for Curtis. Finding a way to feed those without food has been his passion for two decades.

The Louisville resident founded Kentucky Harvest in 1987. It grew into the international food-sharing program U.S.A. Harvest.

More than 200 people, including actress and singer Hilary Duff and other celebrities, celebrated his vision today over lunch at St. Vincent DePaul’s Open Hand Kitchen on Jackson Street.

“Good things happen because good people stand up and make them happen,” Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson said.

U.S.A. Harvest, in conjunction with Kentucky Harvest, has been able to provide more than 13 billion pounds of food to more than 5,400 agencies in more than 130 cities in the United States and in other countries, according to its Web site.

It collects food and distributes it to shelters, food banks and other charities that feed people.

Duff joined the cause after she and Curtis met several years ago while they were working to distribute food in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, he said. And before a performance at the Louisville Palace last night, she met with 186 fans who had collected 1,000 cans of food for U.S.A. Harvest — enough to provide 500,000 meals, organizers said.

“I touched her leg, I touched her leg,” squealed one of them, Mackenzie Stovall, 10, of Louisville, to no one in particular after meeting Duff.

Mackenzie spent more than three weeks collecting the cans but said it was worth it to get a chance to be near Duff. “It was awesome,” she said, holding her hand up for a reporter to see. “I may not wash it at least for a couple of days.”

For others, meeting Duff was an opportunity to do more than just touch a celebrity.
Earlier in the day, Remington Maxwell, a teenager from Jeffersonville, Ind., managed to slip Duff a CD from Remington’s band, the Hightops. By the time she met Duff later at the Palace, the singer remembered the band and had already listened to the music. “She said she liked it,” Remington said. “Hopefully she’ll give it to people who’ll make us rich.”

Duff said the CD was “cute.” She laughed politely and said “That’s funny” when asked if she would pass it on to record producers.

Earlier, at the lunch, Curtis said of Duff that “any father in the world would be proud to have her as a daughter.”

Duff, near tears, called the other people in the room — most of them program volunteers or donors — “inspirations.”

“I’m overwhelmed to be in a room of so many accomplished adults,” she said, adding that she got involved with program because her mother raised her to “stand for something.”

At the luncheon, U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-3rd District, told the crowd that Louisville has many food-oriented things to be proud of, including the hot brown, but “there’s nothing that can give this community more pride than to say we originated the Harvest concept.”

For his part, Curtis said very little about what he had done and instead told stories about others in the group who had helped make his plan a success. He said he hopes to go out of business every day because that would mean there was no longer a need for what he does. Until that happens, he’ll just keep “food-raising,” he said.

“We’re doing the right thing,” he said. “Become more determined, become more dedicated. Let’s be stronger together.”

Reporter Jason Riley contributed to this story.
Reporter Sara Cunningham can be reached at (502) 582-4335, and the reporters do not belong to Hilary Duff Encyclopedia.

Courtesy: courier-journal.com

Hilary Duff concert was a night for girls

Review: Hilary Duff concert was a night for the girls

CREDIT: Times Colonist

Hilary Duff performs Saturday night at Victoria's Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

Leah Collins
Times Colonist
Sunday, August 05, 2007

Who: Hilary Duff
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre
When: Saturday night
Rating: 3 out of 5

There are many ways to describe Hilary Duff. She's nice: encouraging each of her fans last night at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre to bring canned goods for charity. Her last two Canadian tours have collected more than 57,000 kilograms of food for the hungry. She even tried on a hairnet last week in Edmonton to serve meals to the homeless.

She's sweet -- as hockey star boyfriend Mike Comrie would likely agree (no sighting of him last night). As she told Seventeen magazine last fall, there's nothing she wants more than "the cookie-cutter American Dream. To get married, have kids and have a house with a picket fence." She's polite: thanking the crowd for picking up those $45 and up T-shirts sold at the doors.

She doesn't party, she doesn't drive drunk on the wrong side of a freeway, she doesn't flash paparazzi.

She is also the idol of millions of little girls who've wanted her to be their big sister since catching their first episode of Lizzie Maguire on the Disney Channel.

All these things make the thought of a Hilary Duff show mildly heartwarming. Because it's stating the obvious to mention this show was for the girls. For hundreds of them, dressed up in their own pop-star finery, this was a rite of passage.

Before things started, they were squealing, some bouncing over their seats so much their watchful moms had to anchor them back to their seats. But when Duff appeared, there was one more way to describe her, and considering her effect on the fans it's a little heartbreaking to admit it: She's totally bland.

The electroclash-y Play With Fire was how she made her entrance, strutting down a staircase, flanked by four dancers in a silver short-short jumpsuit, drenched in ghetto-fab jewelry. The outfit sparkled more than poor Duff, though. The number was for dancing, but all she could muster was a few little struts around the stage, occasionally shaking a hip should she feel steady enough on those strappy stilettos. The pop princesses in the stands would probably have more pizazz in their mommies' heels.

The flash carried things along as hit bled into hit. Little fists were pumping along to Come Clean and Getaway while Duff ducked backstage for possibly the most anemic costume change in pop concert history: switching stiletto sandals for black patent pumps. The set stuck closely to Duff's latest record, Dignity, a dancefloor-engineered collection with a debt to pay to the godmothers of the arena pop show -- Madonna, Kylie Minogue -- though amusingly she has been paying closer attention to the work of Pat Benatar; a to-the-note cover of Love Is a Battlefield was probably Duff's most dedicated dance performance, recreating the classic video's shimmying dance-off. The few older, frothier E-Z rock hits included in the 90-minute set got slight retoolings to match the show's dance-y vibe.

So Yesterday turned reggae, complete with a shout-out to Bob Marley. She could have done the song to a polka beat, for all the kids cared, though.

What they got out of the show, never mind how good it was, were some skills they'll carry with them for years. They learned that it's OK to dance like a maniac to your favourite song, to raise a lighter -- ok, maybe a $10 glowstick -- when things shifted into power-ballad mode and to scream like mad when they hear the words, "Good night, Victoria!"

Courtesy: Canada.com

Hilary Duff's Winnipeg Concert Review by David Schmeichel

The first review of the first Dignity Tour Concert by David Schmeichel

”OMG times infinity, guys!!
Former tween-queen Hilary Duff rolled through town yesterday, delighting a somewhat sparse crowd of MTS Centre attendees with an evening’s worth of polished, kid-friendly pop music.

And while we’re not usually big fans of polished, kid-friendly pop, we’ve gotta admit we have a pretty big crush on Duff, thanks largely to the fact she hasn’t been arrested, shipped off to rehab, or caught flashing her nether regions to the paparazzi in recent weeks.

Seems we’re not alone — a pretty deafening round of screams greeted the 19-year-old singer (and sometime actress) when she took to the stage last night, flanked by a seven-piece band and four extremely agile back-up dancers.

"All we can see is glow-sticks everywhere," gushed Duff, who came dressed for the occasion in silver short-shorts and sparkly stilettos.
"It’s fantastic!"

Operating almost exclusively out of her upper register, the helium-voiced cutie opened her show with the surprisingly chunky pop-rocker Play With Fire, copping a gutsy attitude that would’ve made Pat Benatar proud.
Flirting playfully with her dancers as she strutted across the stage, Duff segued into Danger, another electro-clashish number from her latest album Dignity (which, to be fair, owes a pretty hefty debt of gratitude to the likes of Gwen Stefani, Kylie Minogue and ’80s-era Madonna).

Anyone with cable could recognize the opening refrain of Come Clean, the wistful ballad that doubles as the theme song to MTV’s Laguna Beach. But those clueless enough to confuse Duff with the air-headed celebu-tards populating that program would’ve been set straight by Dignity’s title track.

"You’d show up to the opening of an envelope," dissed Duff, taking a thinly-veiled swipe at the likes of Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Lindsay Lohan. "Why does everybody care about where you go?"
After ducking backstage to change into a classy-looking cocktail dress, Duff returned with the Kelly Clarkson-esque track The Getaway, then riffed on Frankie Goes to Hollywood before launching into Gypsy Woman.
She planted herself on a stool at centre-stage for the acoustic ballad Someone’s Watching Over Me, but quickly shifted things back into high gear with a medley of hits like Beat of My Heart, the reggae-infused So Yesterday, and a solid cover of the Go-Go’s Our Lips Are Sealed.

Her music might not be that sophisticated, but Duff has clearly done her homework, as evidenced when she beefed up one of her fluffier hits with elements from Dream Academy’s Life In a Northern Town, or delivered a fist-pumping version of Benatar’s Love Is A Battlefield.

Barring any unfortunate DUI arrests (or booze-fuelled head-shaving incidents), she’ll likely outlast the rest of her pop-tart contemporaries.
And while Duff has probably outgrown her fan clubs by this point, last night’s performance had us ready to sign up.
Via winnipeg sun

Also vote of thanks to Hilarynews.com