THE LEFSETZ LETTER: Olly Murs At House Of Blues

How did everybody know?

You can't hate Olly Murs. Oh, I know you want to. He's part of the Top Forty juggernaut, another young pip appealing to those who haven't hit puberty.

But let me tell you… Live, there were melodies. Unlike Beyonce, he wasn't singing to track, nothing was on hard drive, the show was totally live…AND THE GIRLS ATE IT UP!

And that's all there were. I didn't see a single dude in the audience.

Now I was shocked it was sold out. When Olly opened for One Direction at the Gibson last year seemingly no one knew him, applause was polite. Now there was sheer MANIA!

Yup, screaming.

But even more, singing along.

I first noticed this at a Taylor Swift show years back. If you think these kids are going to make the scene, you're wrong, they're FANS! They know every lick.

	Bob Lefsetz, Santa Monica-based industry legend, is the author of the e-mail newsletter, "The Lefsetz Letter". Famous for being beholden to no one, and speaking the truth, Lefsetz addresses the issues that are at the core of the music business: downloading, copy protection, pricing and the music itself. His intense brilliance captivates readers from Steven Tyler to Rick Nielsen to Bryan Adams to Quincy Jones to music business honchos like Michael Rapino, Randy Phillips, Don Ienner, Cliff Burnstein, Irving Azoff and Tom Freston. Never boring, always entertaining, Mr. Lefsetz's insights are fueled by his stint as an entertainment business attorney, majordomo of Sanctuary Music's American division and consultancies to major labels. Bob has been a weekly contributor to CelebrityAccess and Encore since 2001, and we plan many more years of partnership with him. While we here at CelebrityAccess and Encore do not necessarily agree with all of Bob's opinions, we are proud to help share them with you.

But how?

The album's never come out in the U.S. His previous single only made it to the bottom of the Billboard Hot 100. If something should be dead in the water, completely stiff, it's Olly Murs.

But we're no longer living in the twentieth century. Not even the turn of the century. You see barriers and borders are history. TV and movies…windowing, BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID! You can't keep the audience down.

The girls in attendance literally knew every word, except for the Stevie Wonder medley, when they were curiously silent, even though Olly hit "Superstition" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" out of the park.

No, Olly's fans are not educated on anything other than him.

They knew not only his age, 28, and middle name, Stanley, but his "Xtra Factor" cohost Caroline Flack. Huh? That show has never aired in the U.S. and never will!

That's how Olly got his start. Finishing number 2 on "X Factor" in 2009. And since then…he's become more than a singer in the U.K., even cohosting the aforementioned "Xtra Factor" TV show. He plays arenas there. He's on his third album. But unlike Robbie Williams, he's not meaningless in the U.S. He's on his way. You just don't know it yet. "Troublemaker" is a stone cold smash.

But not completely representative.

It was more like a ska show from thirty years ago than a scripted Top Forty extravaganza. There was energy, dancing inspired by the music as opposed to choreographed steps. And the audience was completely enthralled.

You see the twenty first century is all about PARTICIPATION!

Sitting down, standing and shoegazing…those days are through. Today's audience is not passive, it's completely active. Everybody's got their hands in the air, singing along… This is a show that's truly worth the money. It's a complete workout, having a fun evening out with your friends.

But how did everybody know?

I leaned over to the girl standing near me and asked her…

And after she told she had a friend…I realized she was not the average attendee. After all, we were upstairs in the exclusive area, you needed a pass to get here. And that's when I realized standing right next to her, inches away from me, was Michael Jackson's daughter Paris.

Yup, the little girls not only know, they understand.

Sure, Olly Murs was broken by TV. But he's developed chops. And like I said, the live show was anything but a studio concoction. It was real music played by real people…

AND WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT?