By: Mary Fran Bontempo

I know I’m dating myself, but do you remember crooners?

Truth be told, I don’t either, at least not directly. Crooners were of the Frank Sinatra generation, and of course, Sinatra was the king of crooners. Thanks to my parents, mostly my dad, I was pretty well schooled in Sinatra, but I never swooned over Sinatra. The closest I ever came to swooning over a singer was my massive crush on Donny Osmond, and he was not, nor ever will be, a crooner.

Michael Buble, however, is another story.

Last Saturday, Dave and I ventured into Sodom and Gomorrah, also known as Atlantic City, for a concert at Boardwalk Hall. The talent? The one and only Michael Buble, simply the best, and perhaps the only, of the modern day crooners. (Sorry Robin Thicke–anyone who comes within twenty yards of a twerking Miley Cyrus is immediately disqualified.)

Opening act, Naturally 7, a seven member acapella group, warmed up the audience with an impressive 40 minute set of vocal gymnastics, featuring an array of sound that made it hard to believe there wasn’t an instrument on the stage.

Then, after a brief intermission, Buble made his entrance, suave, smooth, handsome oh, and let’s not forget that voice. Buble is one of those iconic singers with a unique sound. He opens his mouth and you know it’s him. Which is not a bad thing at all, given his way with a melody and a phrase.

Buble brings to mind Sinatra and Dean Martin, and readily admits their influence on his style. But he’s also at home with the Motown sound, as he proved on a medley of tunes when he was joined onstage by his opening act.

An hour and forty-five minutes later, Buble closed the show by walking on the stage alone, no musicians, no pyrotechnics, nothing. He proceeded to stand alone and sing to the crowd–without a microphone. Now that’s a singer. Buble is the whole package–a crooner for modern times. I think Sinatra would be proud–and perhaps even a bit envious.

Watch Michael Buble below and then check out Naturally 7. Happy weekend!