On Saturday night at Saadiyat Island, Ricky Martin charmed his fans from their seats to their feet throughout the night, with the dancing crowd's cheers overpowering the singer's vocals at points.
Playing to a packed arena as part of the Saadiyat Nights line-up, the “King of Latin Pop” made his debut in Abu Dhabi, delivering a performance so powerful, I was taken back to my early teenage years, when the artist first broke out on the pop scene, delivering hits that had me saving up pocket money to buy his albums on cassettes, which ultimately packed in given how many times I played and replayed his songs on my Walkman.
Three decades later, seeing him perform those hits live (which sounded exactly as I remembered them) took me back to a time when artists had to release singles that were truly memorable. There was no social media to help them go viral, and they didn't rely on marketing tricks to gain popularity.
At the time, it was Martin's catchy beats, high energy, and dance moves that made me a fan, and last night it was exactly that mix that made his performance a big success.
Alternating between his English and Spanish hits, Martin, 54, spent most of the night playing to his forte: pop. But his performance didn't shy away from displaying his vocal prowess with slower, more soulful renditions of songs such as Private Emotion and Tu Recuerdo, while his guitarist’s solo added a rock riff to Vuelve.
But the biggest hits of his career are what the fans came for, and Martin delivered. With Maria, Nobody Wants to Be Lonely and She Bangs, to The Cup of Life, Por Arriba, Por Abajo and Livin’ La Vida Loca, the artist proved he isn’t just a singer, but a performer par excellence.
And he moved as seamlessly between tracks as he made outfit changes. He started the night donning a black suit, later switching out to a gold shirt, a black vest, a white shirt with jewelled necklaces and a velvet vest. The finale had Martin in a classic white T-shirt and blue denims.
Even in his mid-fifties, Martin shows he has no intention of slowing down. Constantly interacting with the crowd, encouraging them to move to the beats of his hits, all while dancing around the stage, showed exactly why he can still depend on his three-decade-old bangers to pack an entire arena.
While he hasn’t released any new material for years, his hits have stood the test of time. The energy he brought to the stage was electric (and contagious), with an excellent band and troupe of dancers backing his performance.
“Thank you for the energy, Abu Dhabi, I will be back,” Martin said after his last song of the night, and surely, if he does, it will likely be to yet another full house.
