The Andrews Sisters got a 21st century tribute, courtesy of Katy Perry, Keri Hilson and Sugarland's leading lady Jennifer Nettles in the opening number for "VH1 Divas Salute the Troops" at the Marine Corps air hangar in San Diego.While "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (which was an iconic tune during World War II) isn't just for the good-ole boys anymore (there are plenty of women now in the armed forces, and a good portion of the audience, these days), it still had that swingin' thing that made it a staple so many years ago.
Perry, Hilson and Nettles all donned WAC uniforms like the ones theAndrews Sisters wore back in the day and started the evening with a lip-synched homage to the original, complete with a black-and-white video and that instantly recognizable trumpet call.
Things didn't stay old fashioned for too long, as the performers, accompanied by a bevy of flashy dancers, soon appeared onstage in shimmery, gold dresses that would make a flapper proud (they still tipped their hats to the troops by wearing a variety of armed forces caps). Thankfully, with all due respect to the Andrews Sisters, the three eventually sang the tune themselves.
Perry, Hilson and Nettles have such striking voices from entirely different genres of music, but for this show they sounded as though they could have been coming from a Crosley radio. The already raring-to-go crowd loved every nostalgic second of it. (One man in uniform, who like so many others, was snapping photos, could be seen mouthing, "I love you, Katy Perry!")
The backup dancers sequence at the end distracted a bit from the spirit of what the three women had re-created, but then again: new century, new attitude.