T.K.O...Justin Timberlake and The Tennessee Kids @The O2 arena, London

London 20.15. Showtime 20.30. 

With 15 minutes before showtime, Justin Timberlake's Manager announces that with regret, Justin Timberlake and The Tennessee Kids must cancel the show due to a throat problem. Tom Jones is promised as the replacement.
April Fool's Day! Although it could have been credible for some as the audience went wild after spotting Kylie Minogue and The Voice contestant Jamie Johnson.

The experience begins with mechanical graphics and digital numbers, a real vision of things to come. First Song? 'Pusher Love' performed right into the breakdown goes down a storm. 

The set list goes on to incorporate tracks from 'Justified' and 'FutureSex/LoveSounds' in between  several tracks from The 20/20 Experience such as 'TKO', latest release, 'Not a Bad Thing' and 'Murder.'

Boy did he kill it!

Hours of dancing and singing, thanks to opting for no support act, amazing lighting and graphics, and a performance of one of my favourite songs from The 20/20 Experience Part 1, 'Let The Groove Get in'. Many of us on level 1, centrally furthest from the stage, Block 106, got an even better view of JT as the stage glided slowly across the audience during this song. 

 'Everybody get down!' Just kiddin'. 

I had done a little homework and knew that something like this might go down.

Not only did JT and the dancers move across the new stage freely, he also took to sitting on either end, legs dangling while singing. Talk about trying to reach your fans!

But the technical aspects don't stop there. Clearly 'down to go to that level', (last reference to 'Murder', I promise but it's such a good jam) fans watched stairs unfold, allowing JT to take centre stage but also flatten out to include the bar as a walking platform. Time for a quick drink and mingling with fans.

Justin Timberlake performs again tonight at The O2 and in June. I would love to go again. No doubt tickets are gone but at least I've been there and got the tshirt....and mug....and keyring...and programme. What?

If you ever get the chance to see Mr JT live, do it! You'll be left dizzy by his footwork and totally knocked out by his voice.

Fearless for Art...Jazmine Sullivan @ Koko, Camden

Last night Jazmine Sullivan  took to a London stage, for her first gig in almost 10 years, courtesy of Soulgigs. If you've been following twitter @thellondonista, you'll know I've been rather excited about this gig and with reason!

Opening the show from backstage at Koko, Jazmine had the audience screaming with anticipation as she sang 'Famous' with full band and 2 backing singers. 

The set also included popular favourites, 'Bust Your Windows', 'In Love with Another Man' and encore song, 'Need U bad'.  

There was also a rendition of Daft Punk and Pharrell's,' Get Lucky', after Jazmine admitted to being single and finding refuge and fun in music. She threw some shapes on stage with her backing singers and delivered vocal acrobatics to showcase an amazing range and a scatting ability to leave you with your mouth open. 

Atlantan Singer and Musician Marian Mereba (left) also introduced herself to London for the first time last night and her track, 'Go to London', implies it's clearly something she has always wanted to do. She has an incredible voice. She can throw in the odd rap à la Lauryn Hill,  she plays guitar and harmonica and she does a wonderful cover of Rihanna's Man Down. 

Other support artist Cleo Sol  blew everyone away with her smooth voice and her mixed heritage influences. Check out her soundcloud for free downloads.

In between artists, FriskyDJ and Milktray kept the audience educated with a history lesson of good ol' back in the day r'n'b. They took us back to a time of walkmans not ipods, Opal Fruit not Starburst and BT Phoneboxes with a 10p calling charge. 

But they soon turned comedians or you could say poets, describing one guy as wrapping himself around his girl 'like a roti'. They had people on the floor in stitches, as I'm sure they did when they played 'Candy'. Honestly, it should be illegal to play that jam in crowded multi-level venues. Let's just hope no one turned down the stairs. Doh!

Later on during her set, Jazmine Sullivan openly admitted that her time away had been related to issues of image and confidence, knocked by an abusive relationship, to which the audience shouted, 'F*** him!' and,'You look amazing!', which she did.  

Highlighting her feminine curves, she wore a black dress with cleavage on show, thigh high split and ankle strap skyscraper heels adorned with that big curly hair.

Her story, however, is a reminder of how much of herself she puts into her music, citing that she now appreciates that every part of her is a 'work of art' in new song, 'Masterpiece'. Watch out for it on the third album. Can't wait!!!!

Ben L'Oncle Soul at Scala!

Hi Londonistas! I think we can all agree that one is never at a loss for things to do in London Town. One thing you can expect on The Leaping Londonista is suggestions and features on activites you can busy yourself with in all parts of our city. One such event that I attended on Wednesday night was a gig by Ben L'Oncle Soul, who is to me one of the best contemporary soul artists France has to offer. (Before you kill me, I'm just expressing personal opinion!) The venue was Scala in Kings Cross, which is befitting for a French artist me thinks. The chill in the air was more than crisp and had me thinking I was in an arctic container. Lol! So you can imagine my grin when I saw that the queue to get in wasn't too long. 

 Ben L'Oncle Soul's support act was a Senegalese singer, who introduced himself to us as Father Freddy. I welcomed Father Freddy with some apprehension. After all, do we not all dutifully wait for supporting acts to come and go, so we can see the real deal? The artist we have actually paid our £££s to see? My cynicism increased when Father Freddy walked onto the stage, banging a walking stick on the floor with every step, with a guitar strapped to his chest(or was it his back?) and locks tumbling out of a bowler hat. Can this get any more gimmicky? I'm thinking by this point. To cut a long story short, Father Freddy pleasantly surprised me. His voice is amazing, and he did a good job at engaging the audience. I would describe his style as soulful folk music. (Sorry for the compartmentalisation but it's the best way I can describe it). He sang songs such as Reality and Child's Play and even took us though a soulful rendition of Aloe Blacc's I Need a Dollar. He had me believing that he would actually sing until someone threw a dollar his way! By the end of his set, I was converted. I must say though, that I didn't realise that his name was actually Faada Freddy until I was given this small card by the beautiful singer himself, at the end of the event.

Faada Freddy's album is entitled Gospel Journey and you can listen to a few of his tracks here.

By 9pm Faada Freddy, had me sufficiently riled up and ready for Mr. Soul himself. So you can imagine my excitement when finally at 9.10pm Ben L'Oncle Soul swaggers onto stage, with the Monophonics and two very palatable backing singers. By this time the floor had totally disappeared, and from where I was standing, on a kind of raised balcony, all I could see was a carpet of heads. 

Ben L'Oncle Soul's childlike excitement was so obvious in the way he jumped and danced all over the stage without it making an iota of difference to his voice! He sang songs like Yes I do, and Walk the Line, a track featuring on his next album of the same name. I wish I could talk about how much I sang my little heart out, but I must admit that although I've owned Ben L'Oncle Soul's self entitled album since 2010 I'm still not familiar with all the lyrics (half of which are en français). So I mumbled along with half confidence, which I must say hurt me when he launched into Petite Soeur ("Je te connais par cœur" Lol!). What I loved the most was the way his feelathomeness dispelled all signs of formality. Literally, we could have been in a jam session with him in his living room. And this casualness was most charming when he suddenly reprimanded some people who were beginning a scuffle. "Eh! Stop the fight. On n'est pas là pour se battre", in the middle of verse two will be one of my fond memories of the night. 

Ben L'Oncle Soul is an amazing performer, and for most of the night I had the feeling of partying in a mowtown fête! I hate making comparisons, and Ben L'Oncle Soul is totally an artist in his own right. But his music reminds me of Otis Redding and Bill Withers. The Soul Man really is an exciting performer, with so much energy! He even came back on stage twice to two encores! The £20 we paid was so worth it. My only disappointment was that he did not perform Seven Nation Army, which is what I expect most of the crowd was waiting for too.

Ben l'Oncle Soul's new album, 'Walk the Line' is set for release in February 2014.

Check out his latest single 'Hallelujah!!! (J'ai tant besoin de toi)' on www.benlonclesoul.com