Rami Kleinstein / Shiri Maimon in NYC 6/6/06

(Note: As you read this, you may notice that I have a new-found crush on Shiri Maimon. Yes, I know I'm a married man, but let's ignore that for now...)

I've always been a big fan of Rami Kleinstein. I've seen Rami live in concert about five times now. He's always impressed me in a big way...from his intimate "Rami and the Piano" show to "Rami and Rita: The Joint Concert" - I've always thoroughly enjoyed watching him perform. He has a great stage presence, is an incredibly talented pianist, and TOTALLY warms up to the crowd by telling some great, humorous stories. And of course, he sings all of the hits. He's usually a bit hoarse when we see him, but it's easy to look past that because we're having so much fun.

With that said, his concert Tuesday night at Symphony Space in New York City has got to be the best I've seen. This time, Rami performed along with his new band, "The Council 2". Although he spent much of his time behind the keyboard, the band's presence allowed him to move all around the stage all night long.

And as we've seen Rami (and Rita) do in the past, he took some time to walk through the audience, with hugs, handshakes, even some photo opportunities for all who could reach him. How cool is that? How many other artists would do the same thing at their concerts?

He sang just about everything you could hope for: (In no particular order) Chutz Mimech Klum, Od Lo Tamu Kol Pla'ayich, Tapuchim U'tmarim, At Shara Baradio, Aish, Inyan Shel Z'man, Al Hagesher Hayashan, Tza'ir Lanetzach, and many others. He also sang three songs from his latest album: Ruchot Milchama, Mashehu Tov and Delet Ha'knisah.

About half way through, he began singing "Bayom Shel Haptzatza." After one verse, he introduced Shiri Maimon, and they finished the song as a duet.

Let's talk about Shiri. Ever since I heard the highlights album for Season One of "Kochav Nolad," I've been blown away by Shiri's voice. What an incredible talent! I still think she should've beat Ninette on Kochav Nolad. She has a phenomenal voice that's incredibly powerful. She sang three more songs on her own: Kama Pe'amim, Hasheket Shenishar and Le'an She'lo Telchi.

True, she didn't do much I hadn't heard before, but I was thrilled to see and hear her live. I could listen to her all day. The audience was genuinely impressed, and in speaking to her manager later, it looks like they're really grooming her to become the next big thing. She's already seen a ton of success in a very short time in Israel, and her manager tells me that they're looking to set up a larger-scale American tour, perhaps later this year. Mairov thinks that, with a few dance lessons, she's going to become Israel's next Rita. We'll see...

(BTW...Some famous people tend to look much better under the lights on TV or on stage, but when you see them close up in person they're not nearly as attractive. We had the chance to speak to Shiri up close and personal after the show, and she looks just as incredible. Hence, my crush...)

Shiri left, then Rami came back. Soon he got the audience up on their feet, cheering and dancing throughout the theater. For an encore, he called Shiri back and they did "Le'an Shelo Telchi" again together, since Rami wrote the song for her (why would they have her sing the same song twice?). Then Rami kicked her offstage to do a couple more songs on his own.

We had a great time. Rami never disappoints and it was a thrill to see Shiri in person. Don't miss either of 'em the next time they're in your town.