Crónica e imágenes: «The 20/20 Experience World Tour en V Festival

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Justin Timberlake, V Festival 2014: ‘spellbinding’

Telegraph — To steal the title of one of his songs, Justin Timberlake had no need to «take back the night». From the minute he stepped on stage at V Festival in Chelmsford, Saturday night could never have belonged to anyone else.

The festival itself was pretty mixed. High points included watching a fluid, otherworldly Foxes leap about the Arena stage, and a rousing afternoon set from Bastille. Of the two acts warming up the main stage for Timberlake, Example was a disappointment, his voice often inaudible over his relentless bass. But Ed Sheeran was a delight: strumming furiously at his guitar, he demonstrated how one man with a passionate voice can completely own a stage.

Both Example and Sheeran turned cameras towards the audience during their sets, implying that they were grateful for the huge turnout, and wanted to capture the moment. But the only photo Timberlake snapped all night was a selfie with a star-struck fan. It was a touching gesture (it was her birthday) but also one that summed up Timberlake’s irresistible cockiness: he sees himself as a gift to his audience, rather than the other way round.

The singer opened with a track from his 2013 double album The 20/20 Experience, the smooth Pusher Love Girl. Dressed in a black suit and hat, he emerged from beneath the stage on a rising platform, looking like a cross between a very slick vampire and a Prohibition-era gangster. He then commenced what felt like a very practised seduction, alternating between teasing the audience and dazzling them with his varied talents: there was guitar playing, a stint at the piano, and, inevitably, lots of dancing.

The set contained a number of Timberlake’s newer tracks: catchy single Take Back the Night and anthemic R&B closing song Mirrors both received a rapturous reception. But the loudest screams came for the «classics». A singalong rendition of Senorita was tremendous fun, while the gleefully bitter Cry Me a River went down a storm, despite the fact that the majority of the teenage crowd were probably toddlers when the song came out in 2002.

The 2006 «sequel» to Cry Me A River, What Goes Around Comes Around, was also a highlight. The singer held the audience spellbound with a low-key, intense version of the song, before turning up the lights and breaking out into a gloriously excessive final chorus. It was a perfectly nuanced, controlled display from a man at the top of his game.

Rather endearingly, it seemed that no one had briefed Timberlake on exactly where he was. Rather than addressing Chelmsford or Essex, he punctuated his set with calls of «Sing it to me, England» and «Let’s party, England». (At least he had the country right.) While this was inadvertently funny, it also felt oddly appropriate: it was as if Timberlake believed that, if all of England could hear him, they’d be singing and dancing along. To be fair to him, they possibly would.

Justin Timberlake Scores 20/20 Set At V Festival

MTV — Has V Festival come around that quickly? Oh yes but boy it has not disappointed! Last night (August 16) Justin Timberlake once again shone on stage in Chelmsford during yet another stunning headline set.

The multi-talented singer/dancer/actor/all-round handsome man, brought his brand of sexy, classy, crowd-energising tunes to an audience of festival goers as far as the eye could see and it’s safe to say none left without a spring in their step…

Feeling: Following on from a rip-roaring set from man-of-the-moment Ed Sheeran (aka Justin Timberlake’s «brother from a redheaded mother» – his words!), people were on a high, only to be lifted even higher by what was to come.

The Look: In his trademark suit, button up shirt and fedora hat, Justin looked as slick as ever set in front of the brass and glamour of his band The Tennessee Kids.

Tunes: The Timberlake back catalogue never gets old. Seriously. The classics like Rock Your Body, Like I Love You and My Love still get the same raucous reception while the latest cuts from The 20/20 Experience make you want to sing along even if you don’t quite have the words nailed yet (guilty). Stand out moments were the infectious Take Back The Night which just get better live on every listen, the tease of Holy Grail before rounding into an amped up Cry Me A River and the guaranteed crowd-pleasers Sexy/Back and Mirrors which rounded off a 90 minute set of Timberlake greatness.

Banter: A chilly Justin Timberlake made fun of our paltry British summertime: «I guess I’m just a pussy!» – you should have been here the other week Justin! He also then cast his eye on the front row of the crowd seeing a request for a birthday selfie with a fan – a dream which he made true in an instant. Well played sir!

Celeb Spots: We caught a cheery aforementioned redhead Ed Sheeran nipping back and forth from side of stage. No doubt others were enjoying the set far from our prying eyes.

Special Guests: While we would’ve loved to see a fellow V-Fester make a cheeky cameo on stage with the superstar, The Tennessee Kids deserve a mention for their incredible energy, talent and personality getting right in on the action around the solo star.

Sweat Factor: It’s physically impossible not to fully dive into the Timberlake groove and get wet in the process. Wait that sounds bad… While the ballads settled the tens of thousands in Hylands Park, the majority of the set saw guys getting down to the RnB beats while girls swished their hair as if their lives depended on it.

Summary: Man this guy has some moves! Working the microphone stand like a fifth limb, Justin Timberlake is one of, if not the best front man of this generation. No big parlour tricks – just great songs, great moves and a great way to end the first night of V Fest! In short, just like his tune TKO it was a total knock out.

V Festival 2014: The slickest moments from Justin Timberlake’s pop-packed set

Metro — Justin Timberlake is without a doubt, one cool character — very cool indeed, considering he allegedly brought a whole bus full of chilled Fuji water to his headline Chelmsford appearance.

Here are some of Justin Timberlake’s slickest moments from said top-billing set.

The mooooooves

Justin isn’t renowned for his engaging on-stage conversation (save for tonight calling Ed Sheeran, his ‘brother from a redheaded mother’ a ‘baaad motherfo*kaa’) and nor does he want to wow with big tricks.

A steady stream of engaging N*SYNC-esque boyband roleplay is what the crowd wants, and gets.

With Justin Timberlake’s unflappable fedora in full swing and tip, who could want more?

Holy Grail Me A River

While it may be on-stage suicide to consider halting a song before its drop, Timberlake pulls it off when he samples the chorus of ‘Holy Grail’ — the Jay Z hit he features on.

Though the slow-swinging chorus cuts off straight after the end line (and ok, it wasn’t going to kick off into Example style shenanigans of high bassery, but it was at least continuing with a fast-paced instrumental interlude and refrain would have been, to paraphrase Shaggy, ‘boombastic’) Justin reels it back with a smooth saunter into ‘Cry Me A River’.

A hit the crowd goes wild for.

FutureSex/LoveSound turning it around

By now, if you hadn’t known it at the start, you’d realise that Justin Timberlake can — as V Fest would have you put it — ‘bring the vibe’ with his array of hot-stepping knee-tripping dance sequences.

As ‘FutureSex/LoveSound’ sees Justin turn around and around, it truly turns around the terribly-named title track of his second studio album (also titled poorly).

Lucky for the crowd, Justin’s slick, sexy schtick sees the singer pop-pop his derrière to the tune, not forgetting the important microphone tip. But, can he rival Janelle Monae’s hip-topping foot-sliding finesse earlier? Jury’s still out.

Shake (and rock) your body

If clean-tapping hit ‘Rock Your Body’ wasn’t enough earlier, Justin later covers The Jackson’s ‘Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)’ with such aplomb you forget it’s attributed to the great MJ himself — before Justin reminds us.

‘Raise two fingers in the air to Michael Jackson’, cries our singer appreciatively; let’s just hope those fingers were all turned the right way round, eh?

Birthday selfie success

‘Oh my god how awesome’, breathes one onlooker as Justin steals down to the barrier for the purposes of taking a ‘selfie’.

Finding a willing participant, who happens to be a fellow Tennessee kid and celebrating their birthday, Justin Timberlake does the button clicking honours before flying into ‘Summer Love’ — and complaining about the British summer.

Suit and No Tie

He may be sporting a slick suit and a no tie as part of his keep-it-smart-casual attire but he doesn’t forget to bring things nearly to an end with ‘Suit AND Tie’.

While there is no grandness as such to the finale of ‘Mirrors’, none of Kanye West’s elongated (ego-sated) pillar project or a stunning fireworks display, the subtle understatement of the end is all part of Justin Timberlake’s cool-cat slicker-than-thou act.

V Festival 2014 continues Sunday over two twinned festival sites: Weston Park, Staffordshire and Hylands Park, Essex. For more information visit the official V Festival website.

Justin Timberlake wows crowd at V Festival

digitalspy — Justin Timberlake thrilled the crowd during his headline set at the Virgin Media V Festival on Saturday (August 16).

The singer took to the Virgin Media stage at Hylands Park, Chelmsford in Essex for the first night of the music event. Timberlake kicked off his set with ‘Pusher Love Girl’, wearing a suave trilby with a red flower accessory.

«You all came to party, right?» he asked the crowd under the clear night sky, before launching into ‘Rock Your Body’.

He then proceeded to play ‘FutureSex/LoveSound’, his debut hit ‘Like I Love You’ and ‘My Love’. After performing ‘TKO’, a spotlight shined on Timberlake to massive cheers.

«Hylands Park, what’s up? You all feel good tonight? There’s so f**king many of you», he exclaimed. «So wait… Let me get this straight – this is summer weather, right? Mmm. This is warm to you guys? I guess I’m a pussy».

Timberlake then jumped off the stage to take a selfie with a crowd member. He then proceeded to play ‘Summer Love’, ‘Until The End Of Time’ and the chorus from ‘Holy Grail’.

The crowd went crazy when he began ‘Cry Me A River’, which included an interpolation of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’.

«Make some noise for all the acts who played V Fest today», he said, adding: «My brother from another red-headed mother Ed Sheeran – he’s a bad motherf**ker!»

Timberlake then played ‘Señorita’, ‘Take Back The Night’ and a cover of The Jacksons’ ‘Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)’.

«Two fingers in the air tonight for Michael Jackson», Timberlake declared, before performing ‘Not A Bad Thing’.

Timberlake rounded out his set with an acoustic rendition of ‘What Goes Around/Comes Around’, ‘Suit & Tie’, ‘SexyBack’, and a finale of ‘Mirrors’.

Justin Timberlake Is Slick And Oh So Sexy As He Headlines Hylands Park

Justin Timberlake headlined the first night at the Virgin Media V Festival on Saturday night at Hylands Park and his 20/20 Experience wasn’t to be missed. Justin Timberlake couldn’t have given much more, with his slick and energetic performance.

It was all about the boys for the main stage and the crowd was pretty riled up following a day of strong performances from the likes Ed Sheeran and Example but it was Justin who ultimately took the crown.

He might have been performing to thousands, but his charisma oozed off the stage as he whipped through his back catalogue of hits. Tunes like Cry Me A River and Like I Love You might be ten years old, but they’re standing the test of time; sounding fresh and invigorating alongside his newer stuff.

Justin’s a professional performer and really there’s no-one better than him when it comes to a musical showman right now. He’s pretty playful and cheeky, but does it with incredible ease and style.

You can’t help but be a little in love with him and impressed even if you’re not a huge fan of his music. Luckily, we are and it was not a disappointment.

Justin Timberlake at V Festival: Bringing selfies and sexy back to Chelmsford

Express — As I rack my brains, I struggle to think of a better pop performer than Justin Timberlake. Beyoncé and perhaps Rihanna on a good day but there can’t be many others.

A good old fashioned entertainer, Justin isn’t afraid of putting on a proper show. And at V Festival on August 16, what a show it was. Coming off the back of his latest world tour, Justin’s headline set in Chelmsford was slicker then warm butter.

Something that was much-needed on a chilly August day. But from the moment Justin Timberlake and his backing band, The Tennessee Kids, came on stage, the crowd was oblivious to the cold.

The superstar was damn cool. Wearing a slick tuxedo-style jacket with a rakish porkpie hat, Justin danced, sang, played the piano and the guitar – all without breaking a sweat. But as he joked to the parka-clad crowd, it wasn’t exactly a glorious summer’s day.

He began the set with Pusher Love Girl, a track from his 2013 album 20/20 Experience, and Rock Your Body and over two hours, the energy on stage never waned. He played all his hits including Senorita, Like I Love You and My Love, much to the delight of the crowd.

His pretty acoustic rendition of What Goes Around (Comes Back Around) and a mash-up of Holy Grail and Cry Me A River worked particularly well.

The Tennessee Kids were as smooth and polished as their frontman although it almost does them a disservice to call them a backing band as they’re an integral part of the show and danced, instruments in hand, with Timberlake throughout.

As the show drew to an end with Sexy Back, Justin encouraged the 90,000 strong crowd to twerk along with him. The audience eagerly obliged, including Ed Sheeran, who could be spotted watching at the side of the stage.

Justin put on a decent British accent to thank the crowd for being there, took a selfie with one lucky audience member and then closed the set on the superb R’n’B anthem Mirrors.

Polished to perfection but, most importantly, a whole lot of fun, Justin had V Festival eating out of the palm of his hand. We were still singing as we danced our way back into the Virgin Media Louder Lounge.

My only complaint is that he didn’t launch into a rousing rendition of N*Sync’s Bye Bye Bye – but I suppose you can’t have everything.

Timberlake wows V Festival crowd

Belfast Telegraph — Justin Timberlake has poked fun at the British weather and gave shout outs to Ed Sheeran and Michael Jackson as he headlined the Virgin Media V Festival.

The American singer performed at the Essex site as the event opened on Saturday in Chelmsford, then headed to Weston Park in Staffordshire the following night.

Soon after opening his first show with hits such as Pusher Love Girl and FutureSex/LoveSound, he asked the crowd: «So wait… Let me get this straight – this is summer weather, right? Mmm. This is warm to you guys? I guess I’m a pussy».

Clad in a Tom Ford suit and pork pie hat, Justin praised British star Ed Sheeran, who had performed earlier on, saying: «My brother from another red-headed mother Ed Sheeran – he’s a bad motherf****r!»

And he told revellers before he launched into Not A Bad Thing: «Two fingers in the air tonight for Michael Jackson».

The star showed off his signature dance movies and performed a mix of newer hits and older tracks like Cry Me A River, which went down a storm with the audience.

Other acts included Lily Allen, Tinie Tempah, Elbow and The Killers, who were headlining for the fourth time.

The Las Vegas rockers performed several of their own hits and also put their own spin on Iggy Azalea’s Fancy.

Before they launched into the summer anthem, frontman Brandon Flowers told the crowd: «We’ve sort of been working on something and we wanted to show you a little bit of it, if you don’t mind hearing it».

As the others performed, Ronnie Vannucci stopped drumming and came to the front to dance to the song.

Festival-goers also got to see acts like Miles Kane, Blondie, Example and Rudimental take to the stages at the two sites.

However there was disappointment for some when rock band Manic Street Preachers were forced to cancel their performance in Essex after being stranded in Hungary.

Writing on Twitter, a band spokesman said: «After five hours on runway at Budapest Airport following Sziget Festival last night, MSP were informed the BA plane they were on would not fly. The band made every endeavour to get back to the UK in time to play. The band apologise to their fans at V Chelmsford for the cancellation».

Over the weekend more than 90,000 people attended Weston Park and about 180,000 flocked to Hylands Park in Chelmsford.

Justin Timberlake brings sexy back with slick performance at V Festival and takes fan selfie

Mirror — Justin Timberlake was a smooth-operator at V Festival as he melted hearts during his headline set yesterday in Chelmsford.

The superstar entered the stage looking dapper wearing a black short-sleeved shirt with white lightning bolts around the collar, smart black trousers and a trilby with a red flower attached to it.

He kicked off the high-energy slot with song Pusher Love Girl and asked the audience: «You all came to party, right?» From the reaction, they most certainly did.

GettyJustin TimberlakeJustin stormed the stage at V
Justin switched it up and went straight into his hit song Rock Your Body as the crowd lapped it up and he powered through FutureSex/LoveSound, Like I Love You, My Love and TKO.

«Hylands Park, what’s up? You all feel good tonight?» he asked the crowd. «There’s so f***ing many of you. So wait … Let me get this straight, this is summer weather, right? This is warm to you guys? I guess I’m a pussy».

One lucky fan then almost fainted when Justin jumped off the stage to take a selfie and she later uploaded it to Instagram with the caption: «OMG!!!!!!!! I still can’t believe it’s happend!!!(this is my sister next to me)»

Funnily enough, the female fan was celebrating her birthday and was also a fellow Tennessee kid, what are the odds?

After his fan moment, Justin got back on stage to play Summer Love, Until The End Of Time and the chorus from his track Holy Grail with Jay Z, although sadly Jay didn’t make an appearance.

Justin completely owned the stage and even gave a shout out to singer Ed Sheeran, who played before him at the festival, after his hit song Cry Me A River went down a storm.

GettyJustin TimberlakeI’ll sing – but first – let me take a selfie
Slick Justin started to wrap up the show with his more recent hit Suit And Tie, despite keeping it casual with his stage attire, and finished off with Mirrors, a track the fans had been waiting for all night.

All in all, the star proved he is the King of Pop and was the perfect act to headline this year’s festival. All hail Justin!

V Festival 2014: Justin Timberlake shuns own VIP area, moans about the weather and calls Ed Sheeran ‘a bad motherf***er’

Metro — Justin Timberlake put business before pleasure when he skipped his after-show party at the V Festival to get to his next gig. Instead of rubbing shoulders with celebs waiting for him at the Mahiki Rum Bar, he was airlifted away from Chelmsford, Essex, moments after he left the stage.

‘Suddenly everything was on lockdown after his set and then a helicopter took off’, a witness said. The star was due to perform at the Staffordshire site of the Virgin Media V Festival yesterday.

Justin Timberlake also shunned his own private VIP area at the site so he could chow down with the backstage crew. ‘He was really down to earth and chose to eat meals in crew catering’, a Guilty Pleasures insider revealed. ‘He decided to get in among it despite having his own enclosure’.

The 33-year-old gave a flawless performance on Saturday night and thrilled fans by extending his set by ten minutes.

Joking with the shivering crowd, he said: ‘So let me get this straight, this is summer weather, right? This is warm to you?’

He also hailed Ed Sheeran, 23, who graced the stage before him. ‘He’s a bad motherf***er. A brother from another mother’, he said.

Justin Timberlake poses with fan during gig

TV3 — Justin Timberlake posed for selfies with a fan during his headline show at the Virgin Media V Festival last night.

The ‘Mirrors’ hitmaker was stunned here were «so f***ing many» people gathered at the main stage in Chelmsford’s Hylands Park to watch him perform, and after seeing one audience member holding a sign explaining it was their birthday and they wanted a selfie with him, the former N*Sync star was happy to oblige.

Justin – who donned a pork-pie hat and Tom Ford suit for his appearance – thrilled fans with a set which included his classic hits ‘Cry Me A River’, ‘SexyBack’ and ‘Take Back the Night’, as well a snippet of his Jay-Z collaboration ‘Holy Grail’ and a cover of the Jacksons’ ‘Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)’.

At the end of his performance, the singer thanked the other artists on the bill, which had included Kaiser Chiefs, Example and Bastille, and made a special mention of Ed Sheeran, who had performed directly before him, as he hailed him his «brother from a redheaded mother, a baaad motherf****r».

The festival continues today (17.08.14) in both Chelmsford and Stafford, with The Killers topping the bill in Essex and Justin leading the line-up at the Weston Park site.

Justin Timberlake celebrates V Festival performance with «car full» of Nando’s

Mirror — All those killer moves makes Justin Timberlake a hungry boy, and that’s why the Mirrors hitmaker ordered a CAR FULL of Nando’s for his dinner last night.

The singer was the headlining act at V Festival in Chelmsford, Essex last night, and after an amazing show, which saw him perform some of his hit tracks including, Sexy Back, Senorita and Rock Your Body, Justin Timberlake headed back to his hospitality area backstage, where he and his crew enjoyed a special delivery.

A delivery man made his way to the backstage area of V Festival, and was spotted delivering the goods at around 10.30pm.

«The driver of the vehicle was in a hurry to ensure the food was hot, he said he had a ‘car full’ of Nando’s for Justin – and indeed, the back seat of his car was full to the brim with takeaway bags of food», a source told Bang Showbiz.

Justin loves to tuck into a bit of Piri Piri and probably has his own loyalty card after he was spotted tucking into some of the Portuguese-style restaurant chain’s chicken after his comeback performance at the BRITs last year.

Not to mention when playing Wireless with Jay Z.

Looks like the clever team from the local Nando’s in Chelmsford have the inside lane at V Festival as Beyonce reportedly splashed out a whopping £1400 on a takeaway last year after playing the headline slot at the festival in Essex.

Justin Timberlake ‘Snubbed Own After-Party At V Festival’

MTV — However, Justin Timberlake is described as «down to earth» after he was spotted hanging backstage with the crew in Chelmsford, Essex…

Justin Timberlake is said to have snubbed his own after-party at V Festival, opting to leave the event straight after his set.

A source told The Metro: «Suddenly everything was on lockdown after his set and then a helicopter took off».

However, the Mirrors man did spend some time at the festival before his stint on stage, with the insider adding that Justin Timberlake shunned his own private VIP area at Hylands Park in Chelmsford to hang out with the backstage crew.

They revealed: «He was really down to earth and chose to eat meals in crew catering».