Janet Jackson Expands Tour

Never write off a legend. At least that’s the lesson Janet Jackson’s naysayer’s are learning this year. For, due to phenomenal demand, it has been announced that the singer’s ‘Number Ones: Up, Close, & Personal – World Tour’ has been extended through to the Fall.

Jackson, 44, hit the road in February.
Full story below…
Via JanetJackson.com:
As a result of massive sellouts for performances in Asia and North America, the JANET JACKSON ‘Number Ones: Up Close & Personal Tour’ is being expanded. JANET’s largest ever world tour will now be vastly extended to even more global cities in addition to the currently scheduled performances in London, Paris and Monte Carlo. The North American leg of the tour, which is currently underway, will be continued in the fall after a scheduled spring and summer in Europe. Originally slated as a world tour of 35 cities to match the 35 number one singles from her double-disc album, NUMBER ONES, JANET will now greatly exceed her planned dates. The high demand from key venues on several continents will bring Janet around the world and back again. Several of the concerts on the initial schedule were sold-out in the first ten minutes of availability.
The star, addressing the new scope of her concert commitment, observed,
“When creating music or a tour, I draw from what is going on in my life and hope that the fans relate to it. I am excited to know that the fans are having a great time at my shows and are asking for more. Thanks for all the love and your input on where I should take the show next. I’ll see you soon!” said JANET.
Critics have been as enthusiastic about her concert performances as have her fans. Here is a sampling of the media praise for her nightly performance of songs selected from her thirty-five number one singles:
“More than a week has passed since I saw JANET JACKSON at Radio City Music Hall, and I’m still smiling…” –New York Times, Rob Hoerburger
“This is one tour not to miss, a tour on which you can see a pop icon who has done it all, giving you her all.” –BET, Clay Cane
“This was a concert displaying her growth as an artist and the tracks released during the journey.” –Entertainment Weekly, Brad Wete
“The best Janet Jackson performance I’ve covered in 20-plus years.” — Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot
“Often imitated, never duplicated, Janet Jackson’s outbursts of meticulous choreography, sassy exclamations and smoldering gazes into the audience kept them on their feet for the entire two-hour set .” — MTV, Vaughn Schoonmaker
Kudos to Ms. Jackson for proving her critics wrong. There is clearly still demand for her.
It’s now down to Janet and her team to turn that demand into a musical comeback. She’s said herself that she’s due back into the studio later this year. Hence, given that – unlike fellow older diva Jennifer Lopez – Janet doesn’t have a platform such as American Idol to overcome the industry’s silly age bias, she’s going to have to strike while the iron is hot. Her every musical move will have to be calculated down to a tee (label, direction, release). The tide is in her favour at present, here’s hoping it stays that way.