Jamie Foxx and Fantasia

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Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

"I'm an Oscar winner and a n***** too" stated Jamie Foxx repeatedly during the stand-up portion of his show Friday night at Arco Arena. It's clear that he's achieved megastar status from the mini movie that opened the show. See Jamie on tv, in the movies, see Jamie in the magazines and on all the major talk shows-- oh yeah, it was an impressive display of an enormous body of work in a man's life. And the minute the movie started there were people both in their seats and in the aisles up dancing around. I always love seeing that jubilant spirit in people! His performance had plenty of star quality and production value too even though it had a very late start time while they were still fiddling with staging and sound check before letting the crowd go to their seats.

Check out the gallery of images at www.emusiconnect.com.

Opening act Fantasia is a powerhouse, a dynamic and forceful singer who really impressed me with her vocal range and styling originality. Winner of the third season of American Idol, she wore a short black dress that showed off the tattoos running down the entire length of her left leg and when she decided to take off her high-heels and continue barefoot she still sang her heart out at the side of the stage while a guy took them off for her, her hand on his shoulder helping her to balance.

Charr photo brass tacks: We shot from the sound board the first two minutes of the stand-up routine. Then two minutes of the musical portion of the show. I wish we could have shot the first few seconds though. It was stunning. Foxx, wearing a beautiful white suit, stood at the top of the steps, backlit by a glowing triangular yellow beam of light and it was just a gorgeous visual. It was all I could do to control myself and keep the camera down.

Claire, The Muse

Since the beginning of time inspiration has long been an important contemplation of the creative mind. We are always searching for it. Sometimes it's a quiet search-- just watching, waiting and sometimes it's a desperate search-- a deadline looming and nothing but a blank page to stare at.
But sometimes inspiration hits us in the face when we least expect it and if you are ready for it just enjoy the wet and wonderful waterfall that will rain right down on you. This is such a face on such a lovely girl, which inspired me today. The original image is of Claire standing on a sidewalk in a quiet neighborhood during the late hours of the afternoon-- and a million miles from where it evolved to in this final creation.