She tried out all the singers, backing vocals and dancers vacancies. But none succeeded. Till one time, she saw a dancer fixing her outfit on top of a bar. Burlesque. That's the bar name.
So, she paid $20 out of her not-so-much money and went in to that bar. She thought it was a strip club, but turned out it was the dream stage of hers.
Tess (Cher) was performing 'Welcome to Burlesque' beautifully. And immediately Ali knew where she's suppose to be.
With a help of Jack (Cam Gigandet), the bartender/pianist, she went to back stage and asked for Tess. She met Sean (Stanley Tucci), Tess's best friend/wardrobe. As she met Tess and asked for a job, Tess sent her back to Sean. Meaning no job available.
Fortunately give up is not in Ali's vocab. So when she saw the waitress is not taking orders properly, she just grabbed a tray and started to take orders. And finally the opportunity came for Ali to show what she got to Tess and Sean.
An audition. Ali showed Tess and Sean that she can do what the other dancers do. And she did show them. Too good till one time, Tess asked Ali to replace Nikki, the best dancer in Burlesque with not-so-good attitude. Nikki protested in her way. As Ali was on stage, she turned off the music.
But Ali was a natural. She just started to sing and dance, the band and the other dancers joined after. Turned out, Nikki's protest was a step up for Ali. Previously, Burlesque offered only sexy dancers, now it offered live performances, live singer, live dancers, live band.
In no time Ali was getting all the attention. Including from Marcus (Eric Dane), contractor and a regular customer. She started going out with him and made Jack jealous. Though Ali lived with him, since her apartment was robbed, but they barely met. And the tension was getting higher and higher till after a friend's wedding, they fell for each other.
Things get complicated when Jack's fiancee came into town. Ali left and looked for Sean before she got picked up by Marcus. Marcus brought her back to his house where Ali saw his new building model which will be built right where Burlesque is. That's why Marcus was insisting to buy Burlesque from Tess and her husband in disguise to help her settling her debt.
Ali rushed to meet Tess and convinced that she didn't have to sell Burlesque to earn money. Ali learned from Marcus that there is an air rights. Just in front of Burlesque, there is a new condo which offers the best view in town. And when Burlesque is replaced by Marcus's building, no view available. So, Tess sold the air rights to the condo owner. And Burlesque is On.
I was open-mouthed the whole time times two (cause I watched this movie twice). It was beautiful performances by Cher and Christina Aquilera. The music, the songs, the dance, the wardrobe, the hot dancers, the lighting, everything is just beautiful.
I know I am being too much. Some reviews said that Steven Antin isn't delivering this movie well enough. Though it did win Golden Globe for Best Original Song Motion Picture on Cher's 'You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me'. But I love every single part of it.
Maybe its because I didn't have any movie-wise expectations. I just have music-performance expectations by Cher and Christina Aquilera cause I love their music works. And I was totally right and satisfy. Awesome performances by Cher and Christina.
But I can't help notice, some of my friends refused to see this movie because its title, 'Burlesque', which they assume its a strip movie. And I was stunned. Whaaaaa??
After several minutes to read Burlesque's history and the fact that starting from 1930s Burlesque is a strip show, still I can't understand their stand. *rhyming!! ;)
Stand that shows the fear of human sensuality and sexuality which we are created by.
I will not make a judgment upon anything or anyone, this is my personal thoughts. In that movie, we will see the same things. For example, barely minimum wardrobe, hot dancers (read: nice asses, stuffed breasts, sexy poses and dance moves) and 'sex-leading' lyrics. And I am sure that the boys are enjoying themselves while watching this movie. While the girls envious to the dancers.
Those things are contributing factors to a good (or great) performance. The wardrobe is specially designed to meet the theme of the song where beauty meets concept in details. The hot dancers are skillful and talented, no doubt. Their body is just benefit of their hard-worked skills and talent. The lyrics are the work of arts where concept beautifully defined in the language that we can all understand.
And with other contributing factors, voila! Beauty is defined in a good performance.
Suddenly behind that lingerie, hot dancers, sassy song, I see hard works, dedication, passion and faith. Much more than meets the eyes, huh ? :)
Sensuality, sexuality, in my opinion is a form of energy. A creative energy which can also form a hard work, dedication and passion. If we are afraid of sensuality, sexuality, well.. lets just say we'd waste an energy source.
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