By Erica Hector Vital

DELECTABLE DELISCO

The Vegas showroom is as much a concept, a legend, as it is a physical space of live bands and studly crooners. Under Vegas lights Sammy, Dean, Wayne, Sinatra, became one named gods whose common feature was delivering the goods, giving the people what they want, and in a Vegas showroom where the people migrate from parts unknown with life experiences running the gambit from grocery store clerk to head of state, the challenge in the giving should be more than a singer, songwriter, by rights and the laws of physics, should be able to handle. But when Wayne Newton began his million dollar talent search for “The Entertainer” on the E! Network reality series, this brand of iconoclastic showroom performer was exactly who he was looking for. Wayne and America found it in the multi-faceted, orgiastic energy of showroom delight, Delisco.

Armed with a come-hither sensuality and an arsenal of moves, the Jacksonville, Florida born counter-tenor aims to please with dance standards from Richie to Jackson, Estefan to Wonder. But it is with the ballads that Delisco taps into the magnetism and old school charisma that is noticeably missing in contemporary performances and in the market driven performers who sacrifice musical integrity for the quick record deal. “It used to be that stars made records,” Delisco says reminiscent of a time when his brand of soul-filled dedication would have been celebrated not only on the Vegas Strip but beyond. “Now records make stars.”

Disproving his own aphorism lies at the heart of a Delisco performance. Delisco’s handling of a song is so true to itself and to that first purpose of music, which is to uplift, to inspire, that true music lovers are awed by the innocence of a young performer, a star in the true sense, who can maintain such purity of voice and of spirit in an age of hip-hop slow jams riddled with such less than inspired proclamations as, “I’m N Luv Wit a Stripper’ and ‘Let Me See You Do the Rodeo.’ Delisco recognizes that music has crossed into an age where hits depend heavily on synthesizers and sampled tracks. Still, he continues to strive for integrity as a singer/songwriter.

From his first headline performance in the Shimmer Room of the Las Vegas Hilton in September 2005, part of his million dollar award for beating out the 145,000 performers who competed nationwide for the title of “The Entertainer,” to his contract’s end this past January 2006, his every move has been a celebration of an energy and a musical ethic hailing back to the era of the consummate entertainer, Sammy Davis, Jr. to whom Delisco gave tribute nightly in a rendition of ‘Mr. Bojangles’ that was both performance and performance art.

Before coming to the televised “Entertainer” competition, Delisco, nee’ James Delisco, was already doing his thing. A featured performer in the Broadway hits, “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” “Ragtime,” and in Elton John’s “Aida,” Delisco came to his critically acclaimed Hilton performance after years of training and hard work, backed by talent.

When asked where Delisco will go from here, his answer is confident. “I’ll give some performances in Europe. A lot of performers take their art there then come back to the States. Strong.” His Hilton contract was a boon and a blessing. What comes after, the freedom to return to his own direction in music and songwriting, will be fed by that engagement but no longer limited by it. A Vegas showroom demands the tried and true versions of showstoppers but it is a repertoire that will change as Delisco completes his upcoming CD of his originals, featuring the pop-blues inspired, ‘I’m Not Worthy,’’ which not only won him the E! network competition but also brought Vegas audiences to their feet. Again, his strength is in his ballads. The most stirring among them, a passion-driven version of The Righteous Brothers’, ‘Unchained Melody.’

Delisco cites Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and Terrence Trent D’Arby, as influences. But it is Sam Cooke, the grit behind the innocence, that soothing tenor steeped in seduction, to which he is musical heir. With an ambition and love of song that will not be stopped by expectations or fixed musical conventions, Delisco morphs and molds the sacred Beatles tune, ‘Let It Be,’ into “Let It Be Love”, an original mix of reggae, funk, gospel, and blues, in a self-styled treatment the performer calls RaGaBaR.

Watching a Delisco performance you are aware of standing with him on the threshold of a career that will span decades. “I wanted to do cruise ships; I wanted to do Broadway; I wanted to do Vegas. I’ve done them all.” Delisco’s ultimate goal is to become “The Entertainer” in more than name only.