Lionel Richie, James Corden groove at Encore Theater
Lionel Richie and James Corden performed a version of “Carpool Karaoke” on Saturday night.
The new format was to sing with about 1,500 fans at Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas.
Corden was in the middle of the action, dead center of the theater, for Richie’s packed performance.
“I’ve seen him work, but I’ve never seen him do absolutely nothin’,” Richie said in calling out Corden from the crowd. “I don’t mean to put you on the spot like this, but you’ve been introducing people for so long, I just had to embarrass you a little bit.”
Corden’s visit could well have been related to the Grammy Awards, which have been moved to MGM Grand Garden from Crypto.com Arena in L.A. and are set for April 3. Corden is a partner in Grammys broadcast co-producer Fulwell 73.
Love it. A cool shot if it’s a random fan. But this is @JKCorden having a time of it last night @LionelRichie show @EncoreLasVegas @WynnLasVegas @reviewjournal #RJnow #Vegas pic.twitter.com/JCmp6Vqbgf
— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) January 30, 2022
Richie continued his early show monologue, claiming he had three attorneys in his dressing room before the show. “We have some problems tonight, my three attorneys said, ‘We have some problems with your songs,’” Richie said. “They said, ‘For example, “Brick House,” may be offensive, to some people out front. If I look over at somebody and say, “I’m Stuck On You,” that could be offensive.’”
#JamesCorden here @LionelRichie show @EncoreLasVegas @WynnLasVegas #RjNow @reviewjournal #Vegas pic.twitter.com/OpMN7FrKEJ
— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) January 30, 2022
The superstar went on, “’Penny Lover,’ could lead to the question, ‘Is she that cheap, Lionel?’ You have no idea what we’re going through here. So what I figure what I’ll do tonight, officially, is go from song to song. If it works out, I’ll sing it. If it offends you, I’ll sing it anyway.”
Richie later joked that he had misunderstood is role as judge on “American Idol,” saying he expected to mentor the young singers who were contestants. “The only mentoring I’ve done is with Katy and Luke,” a reference to fellow judges and Vegas headliners Katy Perry and Luke Bryan.
Richie sang the “musts” from his incredible career, reaching into the Commodores era (“Easy,” “Three Times a Lady,” and a righteous take on “Brick House”). “Running With The Night,” “Easy” and “Hello” were among the highlights.
Here’s @LionelRichie’s “attorneys speech” from last night. He sang all the songs mentioned. Column en route … #RJNow @reviewjournal #Vegas @EncoreLasVegas @WynnLasVegas pic.twitter.com/JZRI7o7fgc
— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) January 30, 2022
Corden was up and grooving, pointing at Richie as the two made eye contact throughout the show. It was a real love fest. Richie’s popular recurring engagement runs Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Check his jackets, too. Richie’s white-sequined number to close the show was emblazoned with “All Night Long” across the back. The jacket, and message, were a great fit.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
