. Yesterday I had this gig at the NFL Kickoff Concert at Columbus Circle. Huge production with a big stage facing Central Park South that was not there three days ago. Streets were closed and I can imagine the traffic mess around, but, for just one day, it was worth the trouble.

. Concert “guests” were Natasha Bedingfield, Keith Urban and Usher and most of the audience were their fans as opposed to football fans. Usher had his “sound check” on Wednesday night. Keith Urban and Natasha Bedingfield had theirs in the morning. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a big live concert, and I could catch on with the reason why I like them so much: the energy, the sound pounding our hearts, the interesting people we meet for some hours, become BFFs and never meet again. Natasha Bedingfield was the first one to perform, followed by Keith Urban and then Usher. Great line up! The audience was the usual free concert audience that don’t really know the artist’s work requiring extra efforts from them. Keith Urban gave the best performance, his band seemed to enjoy playing together connecting with the audience with warmth even walking among them for a moment. Usher is an amazing performer and his show is elaborate and give the audience this good feeling that he does not scale down for a free concert. Natasha Bedingfield was surprisingly comfortable and her songs seemed to be popular with everyone.

. I checked for football fans. Dan, a California resident visiting, seemed to be the most involved. I became a footbal fan only last year. In Brazil, we completely love soccer and it was just hard to understand the American football. I started watching College Football (NCAA) to study the process of High School, College, draft and NFL. It seems interesting how the Football careers are related to schools and education. That was what I was researching at first. Soccer in Brazil has no connection with the education system and will probable never have. I thought it was an interesting aspect. After following some of the NCAA games I began watching the NFL, mainly because of my friend Brian, a huge fan.

. It seems that last NFL season (2007 - Giants beating the unbeatable Patriots and winning the Superbowl) was a good one to be introduced to Football here. The games were exciting, so sexy and confrontational. So American!

. “American Football” is fast, intelligent, unpredictable and we can understand good plays. It is also aggressive and violent, like piranhas swimming against the current. Players are strong, healthy and the outfits are sexy. Although it is not even close to what soccer is in Brazil, football is engaging, fans are passionate and involves gatherings, food and party. What’s not to like?

. I really like to watch it on tv. Cameras are everywhere, we see everything. I like the broadcast and the commentators. Well, last season was a good one, but maybe, like soccer, not all are that exciting and I will need to see how this one is going to be. I don’t have a team and decided to go by the season. Let’s see…

. I don’t watch soccer very much lately. But I still like to know about it and talk about our teams with my great “cariocas” friends who live here. For the moment I am waiting for the 2008 season to happen. As you know, they will need to “sing for their supper” to engage me in the action. But, also as you know, if I don’t care, it doesn’t matter.

. I am tired today, Nara. But need to go to work.

Beijo, tchau!

Marcia