Frankly, it takes bevy of stars to properly honor Sinatra in CBS special

By John Katsilometes

Friday, Dec. 4, 2015 | 2:45 p.m.

The conclusion is reached fairly early in this made-for-TV extravaganza: What Frank Sinatra achieved onstage was brilliant, and it is not so easily duplicated.

As we say today, “Well, duh.”

But apart from his cultural impact, his artistic influence and the leading role he played in the architecture of Strip entertainment, Sinatra was a mesmerizing live performer. I’d say it is not enough to refer to him as a “saloon singer,” as he himself said of his stage performance. He was a real actor who had a great voice who inhabited every song he sang.

This was evident in the clips shown at the top of “Sinatra 100: An All-Star Grammy Concert” just before the live show that will be telecast from 9-11 p.m. Sunday on CBS. The scene at Encore Theater was impressively formal: black tie mandatory, folks. When those who favor Old Vegas over today’s model bemoan the often-sloppy attire of audience members, they hark to this scene. Everyone was decked out, and it was uber-groovy.

Inside, the Chairman of the Board once more served as the host. And it was a reminder that, always, Sinatra is at once talking to, and singing for, just you. “When I was 17, it was a very good year …” is a moment both in song and life.

So it was a great charge on this night for even the best in the business to carry of the task of paying tribute to Sinatra. Singing in his style were some genuine, contemporary superstars, the likes of Adam Levine, Seth MacFarlane, Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Harry Connick Jr., Alicia Keys, Trisha Yearwood, Juanes, Carrie Underwood, John Legend and Usher. For the one legend on the stage who was famous at the same time as Sinatra, Tony Bennett, delivering “I’ve Got the World on a String” was an instinctive process. The strut is still there for Bennett, age 89 and still the greatest hepcat in the room, as is the big finish.

But time and again, I was left very aware that the stars onstage were pushing to approach Sinatra’s own greatness. These were wonderful performances, keep in mind, but again, bringing these songs back to life in Sinatra’s own fashion was not easy. The show’s producer, Ken Ehrlich, called for the artists to perform in the same manner as Sinatra (more or less, aside from Lady Gaga, whose fiery closing brought to mind Sinatra as if mixed with a Liza Minnelli production number).

This was especially apparent in appearances by Levine and Zac Brown, who are real rock stars (and MacFarlane, at the top, commented that “Sinatra was a rock star before there was such a thing”) who took to crooning far outside their usual rockin’ format. Brown sang “The Way You Look Tonight” backed by Dave Loeb’s 32-piece “Showstoppers” orchestra and actually seemed to warm to the song during the performance. Brooks moved and sang with uncommon grace in “The Lady Is a Tramp,” donning a cowboy hat and tuxedo to great effect.

Legend, in a white tux jacket, was silk-smooth with “Young at Heart,” and Usher evoked a Sammy vibe with a snappy “That’s Life.” Among those who were presenting were Quincy Jones, who talked of recording “Sinatra Live at the Sands,” maybe the greatest live performance ever captured on audio.

“Frank always said to live every day like it was your last because one day you will be right,” Jones recalled in maybe the most memorable comment from the evening.

A star who uses Sinatra, in hologram form, in her stage show at the Colosseum at Caesars is Celine, who was especially subdued with a warm retelling of “All the Way,” a favorite of her husband, Rene Angelil, still struggling with throat cancer and to whom the song was dedicated. Underwood and Yearwood were soaring, the former with “Someone to Watch Over Me” and the latter with “I’ll Be Seeing You.”

Connick, who especially envelops the Sinatra practice of actually learning a song’s meaning before trying to sing it in public or in a studio, kicked the lyrics in “The Lady Is a Tramp,” repeating the second verse and saying, “Wait! That’s not the line!” But after giving this a little thought, I feel that might have been intentional; Sinatra was known to drop lyrics during live shows. The song was not re-recorded for TV, so it seems that trip-up will remain for the national broadcast audience. The end of that song featured the montage of famous Las Vegas signs, the Golden Nugget, Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Vegas Vic and Glitter Gulch (and Glitter Gulch has never enjoyed such exposure as to be featured on network TV in prime time).

Up for the task of host, to my genuine surprise, was MacFarlane. He’s something of an acquired taste, and when I saw that the creator of “Family Guy” and the voice of Stewie would helm this show, I was curious at the outcome. But near the end of the performance, a bar was rolled to the middle of the stage, and MacFarlane, in the cool confidence of a bygone era, sang to us about needing “One For My Baby, And One More For the Road.”

It was left to Lady Gaga to close this great saloon, and she performed in tux and fedora in a full-scale production of “New York, New York.” She had the high-rising stage and dual spiral staircases, and when one of the dancers fell behind on those steps, she snapped, Sinatra-style, “Get to your spot, will ya? It’s my birthday.”

The TV audience will see this explosive number once, but we saw it twice. A malfunction of the confetti cannons forced Gaga to do it all over again. It was only right that she got it right. Sinatra, on this night or any other, deserved the best of the best.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.