Missy Elliott Botches Aaliyah Tribute In New York

NEW YORK (Aaliyah Fans Website) - Every artist has an off night once in a while, and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's was Tuesday (Oct. 22) night at Irving Plaza in New York for the Vanity Fair In Concert Series show to benefit the Step Up Women's Network.

An enthusiastic hip-hop crowd stood for over three hours enduring heartfelt, but out-of-place, performances by Michelle Branch and Howie Day, waiting for the Aaliyah tribute featuring Missy Elliott.

So when a glammed-out, slimmed-down Elliott finally hit the stage, in a custom-made Adidas warm-up suit with a picture of Aaliyah on the front, a furry Kangol hat, with a long braid peeking out, and big gold hoop earrings, the crowd exploded -- until she forgot the words to her first song, "Work It," from Under Construction, due Nov. 12. She apologized and explained that the material was new to her.

But the mishaps didn't end there. When Aaliyah's dancers came out, and the late singer's old backing band began running through the hits, Elliott didn't know the words to those songs either (even "One in a Million," which she penned for her). After the dancers went through a few tunes, and Elliott shouted a few remembrances of her times with Aaliyah, she said, "That's our show, goodnight!"

This didn't go over too well with the crowd, which began calling out for Elliott's hit songs, begging her to perform another one. The band broke into "Get Ur Freak On," but after a few bars, Elliott called it off saying she didn't know the words. She apologized again, and threw an autographed T-shirt into the crowd, hoping to appease the disgruntled audience. The person who caught it threw it back onstage at the singer.

Additionally, Elliott and her prot�g�, Tweet, didn't perform "Where My Girls At" together as expected. Rather, they just got the crowd going with a few shouts of the song. (Tweet also played a short, but well-received, three-song opening set, including her hit, "Oops (Oh My).")
As one angry $40 ticket holder said, "It was a case of false advertising."