Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54913 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-12-01
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Colour, DVD-Video, Enhanced, Import, Live, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Watch My Lips is essentially a video record of the culmination of Britpop girl singer Sophie Ellis Bextor's 2002 tour. It successfully mines the seam of hits spawned by her Read My Lips album and of course, "Groovejet", her mesmerising collaboration with DJ Spiller. Bextor's ironic interpretation of the role of the pop princess, a native musical intelligence and a host of influences from Blondie's guitar-driven rock circa 1979 to Moby are a potent combination which help to underline the breadth of her appeal.

From the moment the anthem "Sparkle" hits home, the audience at the Shepherd's Bush Empire clearly adores her even if, for all her constantly proclaimed love of dancing, Bextor's stagecraft and between-songs patter are sometimes limited to the point of being static and clichéd. "Murder on the Dancefloor", "Groovejet", the tenderly joyful "Is It Any Wonder" and the empowering "Move This Mountain" are the highpoints of the set and reveal where Bextor's strengths as a writer of sophisticated, danceable songs currently lie. But the accompanying interview suggests she is still in the foothills of her ambitions; there is enough grit, lynx-eyed determination and focus to see her through the multiple reinventions she'll need to build a lasting career on her initial success. Watch this space.

On the DVD: Watch My Lips is presented in widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 mixed soundtrack that emphasises two things: the attention paid to reproducing a highly electronic studio sound in a live concert and the fact that Bextor really can sing, in an aloof, post-Deborah Harry way. Extras include interview and tour diary material, promo videos for five tracks from Read My Lips and, for curiosity value, promos from Bextor's apprenticeship with indie group The Audience. --Piers Ford

Special Features
English
Region 0

Synopsis
Pop sensation Sophie Ellis Bextor is captured live in concert on this DVD along with a host of extras including an interview, tour diary and promotional videos (including those of her former band Theaudience).

Customer Reviews

Good performance - odd dancing and costumes!
Filmed on the final night of her first solo tour. It has been well recorded visually by her step father, and in fact the stage set and lighting despite being small are very nice and easy on the eyes. Not lighing effect overkill like you sometimes see.

All the hits and best album tracks from Read My Lips are on the set list, and SEB does them all credit. It's a very accomplished performance for one so fresh as a solo artist. Her youthful charm is charming!

The only detractions are the odd choice of stage outfits (a strange and not-totally unique to this performance 'issue' for SEB). She seems to be a glamour puss when you see her in the papers, but often she chooses the most bizarre outfits! Two of the three she wears in the concert make her look like a novelty xmas decoration! And then tied in with that is her dancing. Now, it's not a biggie and SEB has admitted she is not the best dancer in the world. Fair enough, nor am I. But it's not helped by wearing VERY high heeled shoes which make her incapable of fluid movement and so her attempts at dancing make her look like a wind-up doll with her teetering around the stage in grave danger of falling over! A bit embarassing to watch.

But that aside a great show, and the DVD also has the videos from the first album's singles, as well as from her previous band; The Audience.

Excellent
Very good final performance of the Read My Lips tour. In the beginning she seems a little cold but by the 3rd song in she's got it.

Not a "Mylenium Tour" level production to be sure but the 5.1 sound is awesome. No lip-syncing as far as I can tell and the voice is dead on.

Only one question: Who is dressing her? In her vids and photo shoots she always looks great. This concert has her wearing the worst outfits you could imagine. None go with her body and they just make her look awkward and a bit chubby.

Watch My Lips...and then some!
Since her tragic demise as the glamour-puss face of indie teen rock band 'theaudience' (sic), the music industry had placed Sophie Ellis Bextor into one of two categories - a faded star, whose displayed talent wasn't quite enough to match her potential, or someone with a very bright future indeed (one, however, that very few would actually take on). It took the work of Spiller, and Bextor's natural ability to right simple, catchy lyrics, to launch her career into what seemed like a summer-long orbit, with 'Groovejet' becoming THE song of the Millennium.

Shortly after came Bextor's debut single and album, followed by much hype over her attitude, from her dress sense, to her candour in interviews, from her looks to her lovelife. Less attention seemed to be paid to her music, which quietly simmered away, becoming a success of far greater depth than the commercial 'smash hit'. The best word to sum Bextor up seemed to be 'unconventional' - not since Kate Bush have we seen a British pop figure so young yet so mysterious, brash, brazen and fresh. And, like Bush before her, the were many speculations about Bextor's voice and her ability to write good music, but with it being so original in it's production and theme, credible forces within the industry began to form the opinion that, despite it being overtly pop music, it might actually have been good!!!

Then comes the crunch time for the artist and the fans - the live set. I had the pleasure of seeing Bextor on her first solo tour (from which the concert footage seen here was taken), and she was every bit the smouldering, sultry voiced, raven-haired popstrel we had already seen. Her voice was almost flawless, and she hardly missed a note. Her banter with the crowd instantly dissipated all those rumours of snobbery and an attitude problem. Bextor came across as a very sweet, down-to-earth young woman, who simply has strong opinions and firm beliefs, qualities unfortunately frowned upon by the media in women of the music industry, for example such as Madonna. If Bextor can use it right, there's no reason why she can't be as popular or have the longevity that the latter has gained.

Particular attention should be paid to Bextor's fantastic band, who played most of the set list with conventional instruments, eliminating a lot of the synthesised and electronic sounds the tracks have on her album. This very different take on her music gives the whole experience a refreshing twang. Most pop concerts consist of the artists singing (if not miming) to backing tracks - one could argue that you may as well sit at home and listen to the CD with a variety of pictures to peruse whilst you do so. Not here, though, as the songs themselves display their versatility and pliability very well, which is something that Bextor and her co-writers should be proud of. This was more than likely a stroke of luck rather that strategy, but still, who's complaining? How exciting it must have been for Bextor to discover a totally new element to her music long after it's initial creation!

All the hits can be seen in the concert, sadly minus the feverishly catchy 'Music Gets The Best If Me', which had not been released at the time of recording. The opening number is the decadently understated 'Sparkle', and Bextor takes the show home with, you've guessed it, 'Take Me Home'. We are treated to a beautiful acoustic version of 'By Chance', an homage to her former indie-kid days with 'The Pessimist Is Never Disappointed', plus 'Murder On the Dancefloor', the tours' new track, 'Get Over You', which has since become another hit, and a fantastic live version of her pivotal 'spring-board' hit, 'Groovejet'. Don't expect any lavish sets or costumes, or even particularly fantastic lighting concepts as this was only the first outing for Sophie and her crew, and probably had a minimal budget. Having said that, Bextor's infamous eye-makeup and colourful get-up should provide something rather pleasing on the eye, and goes to show that Bextor is, primarily, about the music.

Concert footage and DVDs are a strange concept for release, the argument being that a recording artist is there to be listened to, not watched, so only die hard fans will find the need to purchase this snappy little collection. Having said that, it is quite entertaining if you fancy a night of Sophie based pleasure. Not only do we have the concert, but there is also the added bonus of her Promotional videos, from 'Take Me Home' to 'Music Gets The Best Of Me', and including the rare 'Move This Mountain' clip. As if that wasn't enough, we can see where it all started with her early 'theaudience' videos, 'The Pessimist...', 'I Got The Wherewithal' and 'I Know Enough (I Don't Get Enough)'. And another thing...most of these music release videos and DVDs tend to be a skimpy 30 and 40 minutes long - we are treated to a comprehensive 90 minute package here, visually chronicling Bextor's rise to fame, which has recently been acknowledged by her second Brit award nomination for Best British Female.

Bextor is a musician first and an entertainer second. In a world where pop music is scoffed at, laughed at and frowned upon, it's nice to see artists trying to put the 'edible' back into credible. Bextor's pop is full, juicy and delicious, and let's hope that when we get seconds it will be just as tasty.