I love things that are great!

I kept expecting Tony Bennett to break into that Alec Baldwin faux-Tony song tonight in his concert at the Paramount, but no. Maybe there was no time -- he tore through about 30 other songs, a speedy but enjoyable tour of the standards. Here's the P-I's quickie review.

Tony sounded great and looked great, and his four-piece band (a piano-bass-drums trio with a Joe Pass-style guitarist) was sharp. The songs are excellent. But I somehow found the show disappointing. Maybe it's because we just saw Clint Eastwood's terrific documentary about Bennett on PBS this week, highly recommended, but I found myself hyper-aware of the showmanship in Tony's show. Every move, musical riff and even anecdote seemed rehearsed almost to the point of lifelessness.

I was also annoyed by the audience, especially a doughy, 60-something pair of 30-year-olds sitting to my left. The stupid woman kept singing along -- god! -- and whipping out her bright-screened cell phone, apparently to take photos or video. I wanted to push her off the third balcony.