[1Babygirl2000]

I attended the Oct. 12th Nellyville concert in Washington, DC, and I must say that Amerie definitely gave it all she had. Dressed in a fabulous beige, tan and white python print ensemble, Amerie was ready to do her thing!! To accentuate the neutral colors she wore, her background singers and dancer wore tans, white, and browns.

Upon hearing the announcer introduce their hometown sweetheart, the crowd went wild! I'm sure this uproar made Amerie feel right at home. When she hit the stage, the crowd's first in person glimpse of her since Usher's 8701 tour, their reaction was one that would make you think that Amerie was the headliner of this tour.

"I Just Died," the song that kicked off the set is obviously a crowd favorite at this point. The first sounds of the hard hitting baseline drove many to jump to their feet and sing along. The smooth track and the jazzy melodic sounds fell not on deaf ears, but on attentive ears as the crowd was listening intently. You could tell by the bobbing heads that even the most hard core rap fan was feeling this song. Upon the announcement of her name and the first down beat of the song, I noticed one woman in a fitting red dress get out of her seat and sing every word to "I Just Died."

Amerie then slowed the tempo down a bit by singing "Nothing Like Loving You." This song definitely captured the attention of Amerie fans and any non-believers that may have been in the arena. Amerie definitely proved that she has the vocal ability to back-up what they heard on the CD. I overheard a group of girl saying, "Oh my gosh!! She sounds even better live!" Thus proving that Amerie definitely has the skills needed for a long lasting career. The crowd was full of people who were feeling the song; they were up on their feet singing along and swaying as if they were in a trance. They were definitely in the mood of the song. I caught a glimpse of some guys decked out in their hip-hop gear standing and letting it be knows that this song was, as one guy said, "Definitely off the chains!"

Amerie took a few minutes here to let DC know how good it felt to be back at home even if only for a short time. She then introduced her second and current single "Talking to Me." "That's my jam!!" Was being screamed by a group of teenage girls, who could obviously relate to the words of the song. Showing a bit of her dancing ability, Amerie did a few moves with her dancers and continued to work the crowd.

It was time for the last song of her 15-minute set and everyone seemed to know what that song was going to be. Amerie asked the audience to stand up and help her sing this last song…"Why Don't We Fall In Love." The entire arena jumped to their feet to show that this was the song they were waiting to hear. As Amerie was singing and dancing with her dancers in their choreographed moves you could tell the crowd loved it. As they danced and sang in the aisles, they were definitely in the moment of Amerie!!

You could see and feel the excitement in the room. It was a moment for everyone to say that DC's newest sweetheart has made it. You could see by the smile on her face that she was pleased with the performance and by the crowd's reaction. The lights went down and the audience applause and screams could still be heard. What a wonderful way to come back home and to end the day. I was still keeping a close watch on the woman in the red dress who was now about to grab her seat. She then proceeded to let everyone in her section know that "That girl can sing and definitely has an old soul." From that statement she received many affirmative responses. At this point the music for intermission came on as the crowd eagerly awaited the appearance of rapper Fabolous.