We’ve got a feeling – that this year’s going to be a great year! Elysium Cabaret started off 2017 with a stellar show that stunned the audience with displays of celebration as festive as freshly popped champagne. We know we’ll go strong, and you could hear it in the excitement of DJ Gunner von Phoenix’s voice as he announced each of the show-stopping, jaw-dropping dances that hit The Empire Room stage this past Friday. We know we’ll never fail to thrill, and you could feel that energy radiating from the hearty welcomes given by host Paul Woodrunner. And we know that you, our beloved audience, will see many awesome acts over this new year, as Elysium Cabaret showed with its variety of exciting, sensual and visually stunning routines.
Act One: Babypea with BB and Jo – Celebration – Kool & The Gang
Babypea is a true starlet, never failing to shine, and her opening act lit up the audience. Its subject was celebration, and the driving tunes of Kool & The Gang seized the attention of the audience and started the night by sending the crowd’s energy through the roof. Upbeat, elegant and flawlessly orchestrated, this act put all the icons of New Year festivity on display – from fine dresses to flashing lights – and got the party going right!
Act Two: Angie with LuLu and Candinette Metaluna – Earned It – The Weeknd
January may be mid-Winter, but New Years is meant to be one hot holiday, and Angie really cranked up the body heat with her rendition of one of The Weeknd’s most smoldering melodies. Erotic and graceful, Angie’s dancers evoked the spirit of refined sexuality that comes alive on this romantic holiday. With sexy outfits and sleek moves, this act was as juicy as a New Year kiss at midnight!
Act Three: Ame with Zach, Gunner, Baby, Paul, Jilley, Devlin, Wiz, Kyshra and Winnie
Few can argue that Kid Rock doesn’t really rock, and Ame’s act left no doubt when she shook the stage with a monster of a choreographed number to his hit tune, New Year. The prior act’s sensual blazed away into a supercharged routine that seamlessly directed a colossal crowd of dancers, psyching up the audience and bringing down the house!
Act Four: LuLu – Chandelier – Sia
LuLu summoned a darker note to the stage with her act, Sia’s awesome devotion to the self-abusive side of partying hard, with a dance that shone with splendor from every detail. On a stage dressed in notes of gold and black, and decked with icons of celebration, LuLu literally swung from a chandelier, with a gorgeous display of orgiastic motion. With shifting props and exquisite attention to timing, this was a truly spot-on rendition of a perfect hymn to the agonies of ecstasy.
Act Five: Lina with Monavie Voight, Josephine Jinx, Goddess Shayna, Queenie, Melvis Baum, Seb, Prestor and Paul Woodrunner – Let’s Groove In Our Suits & Ties – Earth, Wind & Fire/Justin Timberlake
The follow up to LuLu’s sardonic solo act was a massive routine by Lina – a nine-person swarm of celebration that wowed the crowd! Grooving in New Years’ finery, Lina’s squad of dancers got down with modern dance moves in a classic environment. It kept the audience’s high spirits at their highest, putting on a brilliantly orchestrated display of choreography that illustrated the New Year tradition of getting together and getting down!
Act Six: Winnie – What Are You Doing New Years’ Eve – Ella Fitzgerald
Sometimes whimsical, sometimes woeful, Winnie is always wonderful. And for this exquisite New Years’ act, she went for wistful and nailed it, taking the stage as a solitary dancer and seizing the audience’s attention with a gorgeous rendition of Ella’s hopeful, tragic New Years’ tune. Marvelous and delicate, dainty and sweeping, her dance dazzled the eyes and, as ever, moved many hearts.
Act Seven: Devlin – Partyman – Prince
On this ultimate occasion of new beginning, Devlin broadened our minds with his thrilling routine – an Empire Room choreographer debut that drew from a classic Prince tune to announce that the Partyman was in the house! Wonderfully composed and with a dash of sass, Devlin’s act was all class, with his involvement of the Mad Hatter and the best song from the 80s’ Batman delivering an exciting homage to Tim Burton’s work. He was an outstanding avatar for the spirit of celebration, and we hope to party down with him more over the months ahead!
Act Eight: Kyshra with Babypea, Jilley, Queenie, Jo, Ame, Shayna, Winnie, Lina, Fuki, Monavie, Nadi, Gunner, Wiz, Si, Rory, Zach and Paul – Show Me How You Burlesque – Christina Aguilera
“Wow” was the word that echoed during Kyshra’s number – a saucy, sexy, astonishingly elaborate dance routine that brought almost the entire Elysium cast onto the stage! Just as New Year celebrates inspiration, Kyshra’s act got right to the heart of what the Elysium Cabaret is all about – bringing many talents into harmony for a visually amazing display of what SecondLife can do! It was a fitting finale – a Times Square of a routine – that
Act Nine: Eva (Crowd Dance) – Don’t You Worry Child (Swedish House Mafia), Give Me Everything (Pitbull), The Final Countdown (Europe)
Eva’s crowd dance selected tunes that got right to the essentials of the New Year holiday and electrified the audience with them! Bringing the crowd onto a stage adorned in New Years’ swag, Eva’s group number reminded us that fresh beginnings mean new hope, revived energy and a feeling that something big is about to happen. With a packed house moving as one under The Empire Room’s golden rafters, it hardly gets bigger than this event in SL!
We’ll continue to raise the bar in 2017 – you can count on that! With hilarious, happy, heart-rending and hot-and-spicy routines, the Elysium Cabaret is sure to bring the full breadth of imagination and inspiration to the SecondLife stage. Here’s to seeing you in the stands for an awesome year ahead!
Pictures by Goddess Shayna and our crowd picture by Sorcha Wylde
Elysium Cabaret 