P. Diddy lived up to his reputation of throwing the world?s best parties last Monday in Toronto. The rap icon was part of Kiss 92?s Wham Bam Canada Day Jam at the SkyDome. Diddy brought the one thing to the concert that was lacking, prestige. No other artist on the bill held his or her own like Diddy.

Accompanies by scantily dressed dancers and a DJ booth lit up with his initials, Diddy serenaded the crowd with his unique dance moves, crotch thumping, and familiar background tracks. He had plenty of pyro-effects, and even had balloons and ?Diddy-dollars? drop from the sky. These dollars, which only flew into the first few rows, were fake dollar bills baring Diddy?s face.

Loon joined him for ?I Need A Girl Part II,? and he performed ?Pass The Courvosier,? with Busta Rymes, who appeared ?live via satellite.? In a questionable move, he ended the party with his tribute to all that have passed away, ?I?ll Be Miss You,? but the crowd didn?t leave somber. Before leaving, he invited fans to the after party, as the beats blasted live on the speakers.

Diddy played right after Ja Rule, who drank a bottle of liqueur (a ?40?) during his entire set. He had the girls screaming when he took off his shirt, but just Ja?s presence had everyone standing up and dancing. Before Ja and Diddy, everyone in the crowd, estimated at 15,000, were sitting in their seats. It looked more like a CD-listening-party then a concert, but the 2 rappers changed that quickly.

Ashanti, who played the shortest set of the night, made up for that when she, Ja, and Charli Baltimore performed ?Down For You.? Ashanti also helped Ja Rule with their duet, ?Always on Time,? and Baltimore performed with him on ?Down Ass Chick.? Since most of Ja?s more popular songs are duets, much of his set consisted of the audience singing the main parts, such as when he performed ?I?m Real,? but the crowd had no problem performing Jennifer Lopez? part.

During Ashanti?s set, two things became obvious: she has a large entourage and she says ?baby? too much. Her bodyguard stood on the stage the whole time, as several other people from her crew stood on the other side. Irv Gotti, the man behind ?Murder Inc.,? also stood on the stage the entire time.

The show improved a lot since last year?s show, which was held outside at the much smaller Kingswood Music Theater at Wonderland. Over a dozen acts, including O-Town, Usher, and LFO, played just a handful of songs, leaving many fans disappointed. This year, each artist played a complete act, most lasting a half-hour or more.

The biggest complaint was the time between acts. When one artist wrapped, fans were forced to wait for about 20 minutes before another act took the stage. It would be understandable, had each act actually had a set change to do. The stage had a sheet hanging at the back, but that was the only stage set up for the most part. Because of that, there was no clear reason why the set changes were so long.

Another thing that could be improved upon is the venue selection. Clearly, the SkyDome sky tent was far from a sellout, and it did not give an intimate feel that most urban-heavy concerts possess.

Tweet opened the show, almost an hour later then scheduled, and got little crowd reaction. Besides her hit song, ?Oops,? nobody seemed to care that she was part of the show. With a mostly young audience, it was interesting when she asked, ?How many chronic smokers we got in the house?? That was when she received the most feedback, almost as much as when she reminded fans P. Diddy was still to come. With this being her first time in Toronto, it probably was not a very good idea to be part of a festival show. She?s a very talented singer, but she?s also very unfamiliar to the audience.

Avril Lavigne, being the only ?rock? act, showed Canada that they have a true talent on their hands. She recently went platinum in Canada, and could do the same in the U.S. in a matter of weeks. Lavigne, wearing a green and black striped shirt and a black and white striped tie (her trademark), woke up the crowd, although they still sat back in their chairs throughout the whole set. What was impressive about her live show is that she can jump up and down without missing a beat, which was going very fast.

What came next was rather unfortunate. Remy Shand played brilliantly, but most of the crowd headed to the concession stands during his 5-song set. It was a case of a talented performer playing at the wrong concert.

Waving a Canadian flag, Amanda Marshall showed Canadians why she is the real deal. Flying in from Switzerland especially for this show, Marshall mixed in a few recognizable songs while performing ?Double Agent,? including Destiny?s Child?s ?Survivor,? ?N Sync?s ?Bye Bye Bye,? and Blu Cantrell?s ?Hit ?Em Up Style.? Even if you don?t like her music, you?ll like her performance. Marshall was the best true singing performer on the bill.

andPOP rates the acts (out of *****):
1. Tweet *
2. Avril Lavigne ***
3. Remy Shand ***
4. Ashanti **
5. Amanda Marshall *****
6. Ja Rule ****
7. P. Diddy *****






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