Entertainer or Singer/Musician, which one are you?

On this Tuesday afternoon I am listening to one of my FAVORITE MJ (Michael Jackson) songs, which was remade by Boyz II Men.  I am a firm believer that if you're going to remake a song, it BETTER be as good or better than the original.  Anyone who knows me, know I love (and yes I have to stress "love") Human Nature, it's a perfect song to me.  It hits me in all the right places.  It's sensual, smooth, sexy, sung well, phrasing is on point, mixed perfectly, lyrics are wonderful, melody is right...I mean everything gels in this song.  Michael is one of the best, wait, let me take that back, he was THE BEST entertainers I have EVER seen.  Period.  I will never forget being a kid in the Capital Center watching the Bad Concert.  Before then I never understood why people fainted and screamed like they were on fire when he performed, but when I was in that arena (which was filled to capacity), you could literally feel the energy.  It was electrifying!  He literally lit up the stage!  But the thing that stood out the most was that it wasn't just the tens of thousands of screaming fans (myself included) that amazed me, it was Michael's presence on stage that captivated the hearts of billions of adoring fans.  You knew that when he left the stage, he left his soul on it.  That my friends, is what I call a gift from the good Lord.  Bearing witness to such a talent begs me to ask the question, what is the difference between being an entertainer and a singer/musician?  What category do you fall in?  In my opinion, an entertainer is someone who keeps you entertained.  I know, fairly simple right.  But the hard truth is that lots of people claim themselves to be entertainers, but really there's nothing about their show that's entertaining.  Someone who's going to dance, sing, give you great visual affects, will do anything to keep you watching and anticipating the next thing.  That's entertainment, to me at least.  A person who is just a singer/musician, doesn't really care about all the accoutrement that comes with the special affects, dancing and so on.  They are only focused on singing or playing their songs and sometimes can be quite boring.  It's not everyday that you come across someone who can do both.  Quite frankly it's hard to do both and do both well.  It's almost a treat when you see an artist on tour and they are actually, dare I say, singing AND dancing.  Back in the day, you had to entertain the people, or they would boo you off the stage!  The talent was evident.  They worked on their shows, they made the audience want to sing along.  I ask you, how often do you think the Temptations rehearsed their steps while staying in tune with each other?  The Jackson Five gave up their entire childhoods, maybe not always by choice, but nonetheless, they gave it up to get where they needed to be.  I realize that everyone is not going to give you MJ, or Janet or Beyonce', nor do they want to and that's perfectly fine with me.  Some of my favorite artists don't do much on stage in regards to gyrating, but when they open their mouths to sing, my goodness.  A true entertainer should be able to connect with their audience whether they're in the middle of the stage with a mic stand while sitting on a stool or giving me the excitement of dancing all over the stage.  Either works for me as long as when I leave that arena or club, I feel full.  Being both an artist and a patron, I know what I like in a show and what I don't like and I think we artists need to take that approach.  It's too often that we can get so wrapped in our own greatness that we forget about the people who are watching and listening to us.  We can forget to include them in the experience.  They want to be there, that's why they paid their hard earned money to come see us.  Bridging the gap between being an entertainer and a singer/musician is something that must be done.  We owe it our supporters to give them our best each and every time they take time out of their day to come to a show, buy our CD or watch our video.  Let's not get complacent and think because we are who we think we are, the people will just come.  Singing for people once will show them you have a talent and you might gain some praise, temporarily.  But keeping people entertained with your gift will is where the long jevity lies.  Artists, it's time to step our games up!