Seriously? OMG! WTF?

Barbra Streisand isn’t one for surprises. From the rose-filled vases on the stage perimeter to the half-dozen TelePrompTers scattered throughout Madison Square Garden to ease her worry about forgetting lyrics, Streisand has it all planned out. Only a handful of artists could make such intense scripting work, but she is definitely one of them. Unlike earlier shows on the tour, Streisand was in fine voice from the moment she began "Starting Here, Starting Now," as she appeared in the middle of her 55-piece orchestra. And her skill at phrasing showed in the intricate twists of "Come Rain or Shine" and the subtle reworking of "The Way We Were." For her first New York concert in six years — since, you know, the one that was supposed to be her final live concert performance ever — Streisand was determined to give the crowd what it wanted. "I still think of myself as a New Yorker," said Streisand, who plays the Garden tomorrow as well. "Go Mets!" That New York attitude emerged later in the show, too. After a skit that poked fun at President George W. Bush, and a man yelled taunts at her, she said, "Shut the — – up if you can’t take a joke," and then offered to return his money. Politics aside, Streisand’s show was, on the whole, well-paced and elegantly executed. She drew heavily from 1967’s "Funny Girl," including an energetic "Don’t Rain on My Parade" and the show-stopping ballad "My Man." Her return was sparked by a desire to raise money for The Streisand Foundation, which will make contributions to health and education issues, as well as fight global warming, taking a bit of the sting out of tickets priced between $100 and $750. Streisand’s return also gives her a platform for her political views, which, to no one’s surprise, run counter to the Bush administration. Her political skit, where a Bush look-alike spouts ridiculous ideas like selling off Canada to balance the budget, is harmless enough. The problem comes when "Bush" sings "Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy" with her, ruining one of her best songs. The other main problem is bringing Il Divo, the multi-culti pop-opera hunks, into her show. Not only were they unnecessary, but the quartet brought the momentum to a halt when their mini-set was injected into the middle of Streisand’s set. They also stomped on the lovely "Evergreen" with their over-singing, a feat they duplicated on another of her showcase songs "Somewhere."

Newsday 

If I were the fan I would ask for my money back!

Barbra Streisand opened her first U.S. tour in 12 years on Wednesday with a show that ridiculed her political nemesis, President George W. Bush. Before a capacity crowd of some 16,000 people at South Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center, Streisand gave assured renditions of standards from her long career as a singer and actress including "Funny Girl," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Love Soft as an Easy Chair," and "Somewhere." The show also featured a skit where an actor playing Bush uttered such lines as, "I’m concerned about the national debt, so I’m selling Canada," and "If I cared about the polls I would have run for president of Poland." Streisand, 64, a longtime liberal activist, said she was coming out of retirement to raise money for her foundation, which supports a range of causes related to the environment, education, health care and other issues. Wearing a black sequin outfit with a slit skirt for the first half of the show and a black gown and shawl with gold trim after the interval, Streisand sat at a tall swivel chair at the front of the stage and at different times during the two and a half hour show moved upstage on a series of walkways around the orchestra. She explained her reliance on a teleprompter by recalling that she had been so traumatized by forgetting the words to three songs at a 1967 concert in New York she had stopped giving live concerts for more than 20 years. She declared six years ago that she would not play live anymore. Ron Long, 62, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said he had been a fan of Streisand’s for 45 years and this was the first time he had seen her in concert. "Her voice is just as good as it was in the early ’60s. She is godly," said Long, who paid $750 for two tickets and was happy the money was going to the foundation. Dave Vignola, 55, from Gibbstown, New Jersey, paid $750 apiece for three tickets and called it a unique opportunity to see the singer he had been following for decades. "She may never come around again," he said.

Reuters 

Maybe it is me, but I can not see spending that much money on concert? Well unless it is The Police, but that will never happen.

You would think that by the age of 64, most women would be self-conscious enough to ensure their choice of evening wear does not expose parts of the body which have…well dropped below standards. But no one seems to have shared this with legendary entertainer Barbra Streisand as she stepped out in this rather unflattering black dress at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. Streisand seemed to forget what a photographer’s flash can do to a black dress as she unwittingly revealed she had left the black bra tucked up in her drawer at home. But this was not the first time Streisand has been left emmbarrased by the camera. Last month she was snapped outside her LA home looking like she had given her make-up artist and hairdresser the day off.

Daily Mail

Oh the horror, the image is etched in my memory and it just won’t go away.
This is not the ’60s, she is in her 60s. She needs to wear a bra! 

That first picture is from July 27th and the second one was taken yesterday by AP. So it looks like, not only is she reconstructing her house, she is also reconstructing herself too. I wonder if her house is turning out as well as she did. But then again I am also wondering if she is holding her neck fat back with her hand?

Legions of Barbra Streisand fans are on high alert today, after an Internet ticket scam could render scores of ultra-expensive concert tickets useless. Oh, the humanity!!!! According to Ticketmaster, more than one thousand tickets to Bab’s upcoming national concert tour were illegally purchased using stolen credit card information. Now, the company is officially invalidating those tickets, mostly purchased through websites and other unauthorized sellers, leaving many die-hard Streisand fans praying that their stubs are legit. A list of the Streisand tickets that have been canceled to date is available for reference on Ticketmaster’s official website.

TMZ 

I hope they go after big fat cellulite a$$! B!tch should not have been charging so much for her show anyways.

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