Review: Giovanni Pernice goes full throttle to thrill Aberdeen fans

Giovanni Pernice let slip a secret at the Music Hall – and not just that he will be back on Strictly Come Dancing this year.

Nope, the star’s true confession was that he’s not really Giovanni from Italy, he’s actually Dave from Aberdeen and this was his homecoming gig.

Which got a roar of laughter and approval from the sold-out audience of adoring fans – as did the other quips and asides which peppered his Made In Italy show, putting his cheeky fun side in the spotlight.

But Giovanni wasn’t joking when he got down to the serious business of putting on a barnstorming song and dance show that made two hours go speeding by faster than the Vespa scooter on which he made his entrance.

A La La Land-infused opening number was a delight in Giovanni Pernice’s Made In Italy show which arrived at Aberdeen’s Music Hall last night.

Giovanni Pernice had the Music Hall audience in the palm of his hand

From the La La Land-infused opening, he had the Music Hall audience in the palm of his hand as he and his talented fellow performers went full throttle to entertain.

As you would expect from the title of the show, this was a celebration of Giovanni’s heritage – the stage was transformed into a Sicilian piazza for the first half.

It was also a tongue-in-cheek look at the differences between Italy and his adopted homeland on these shores. No, you can’t compare Primark to Prada and, yes, pineapple on pizza is just plain weird.

But this was just the hook on which to hang a non-stop series of brilliant numbers, like the high-energy and bouncy lindy-hop Angelina through to his stunningly seductive tango a la Scent Of A Woman with fellow Strictly pro, Lauren Oakley.

Giovanni Pernice and Lauren Oakley oozed chemistry during the Made In Italy show at the Music Hall in Aberdeen.

Leading lady Lauren gets top billing along with Giovanni on this tour and rightly so. They simply oozed chemistry. You hang on every move when they are dancing together, whether it’s dramatic and passionate duets or fun and cheeky routines.

Giovanni stepped out with fun and cheeky moments for Aberdeen fans

On the subject of fun and cheeky, Giovanni offered up a knockabout interlude by plucking a hapless male audience member out of his seat to join him on stage in a wee dance routine. Which happened to be me.

Bit of a change of pace from taking notes to attempting a ceilidh stylee pas de bas in front of a packed house. Even bigger change of pace when I ended up sitting on a chair with dancers raunching around me in wee skirts and high heels – one of which turned out to be Giovanni.

And yes, for all those ladies asking me at the interval, Giovanni does smell nice close-up and yes he has a firm rear end. You had to be there.

Greased Lightnin’ was a high-octane highlight of Giovanni Pernice’s Made In Italy at the Music Hall.

Back to the real star of the show and Giovanni leading the ensemble in a barnstorming take on Greased Lightnin’ that had the audience screaming for more. It was good enough to be a finale to any show, but this was just to close out the first half. Wow.

High octane level of Giovanna’s show maintained through to the finale

After the interval that high octane level was maintained with a fashion show that let Giovanni et al show off their vogueing chops, before moving on to a stunning duet with Giovanni and Pasquale La Rocca – a veteran of countless series of Dancing With The Stars overseas.

It was touching, tender and playful and the perfect antidote to anyone who tuts at men dancing together.

The whole ensemble of Giovanni Pernice’s Made In Italy were a class act.

Mind you, the ensemble went on to channel the machismo spirit of James Bond, just after Giovanni announce the next 007 should be Italian. Judging from the roars when he came on in a tux and bowtie, the Music Hall crowd agreed with him.

Although they could also have been roaring their approval for the astonishing vocals of Michelle Andrews and Conor Mellor, West End stars in their own right who made every number they tackled soar. Conor, in particular, knocked Sam Smith’s Bond theme Writing’s On The Wall out of the park.

Music Hall audience wanted to say ‘thank you, thank you, thank you’

And the roaring just got louder as the show went on, so by the time the finale arrived, the audience needed no encouragement to get on their feet and clap and dance along.

You could have heard the screams in Sicily when Giovani ripped open his shirt and then threw it into the crowd to bring a superb show to an end.

As the Strictly star might put it himself – thank you, thank you, thank you.