CUTE BIGBOY

Push-ups with a little furry help...

BOY CULTURE REVIEW: ***1/2 OUT OF ****

I just saw Lady Rizo's show last night at the Highline in NYC and I'm left feeling kind of how I felt when Janice Dickinson kissed me and licked my eyeball—except less afraid of getting herpes and more hopeful that Rizo's creativity might be viral.

Having no idea what to expect, we calmly ate our grilled cheese sandwiches and coconut shrimp and tomato soup that was really just Ragu in a bowl. I was nervous about what would happen if I didn't like Rizo (not pronounced like the Grease character, more like Ree-zoh) since my pal Greg and his partner Dan are friends of hers and had invited us. I needn't have worried. As soon as she emerged (in total darkness) and we heard the first notes, it was clear this bitch could sing just about anything. And wound up doing so.

Lady Rizo is hard to describe. She has the offbeat sense of Lady Gaga, but that comparison feels too easy, and Gaga always feels in character whereas Rizo is more in on her own joke. She looks like Moon Unit Zappa meets Taylor Dayne and sings like Bette Midler, Jimmy Durante, Amy Winehouse and Janis Joplin. Her stage banter is hilarious, like Jane Krakowski. Buts in spite of the myriad of comparisons, she's original. She was able to perform covers and completely—and I mean completely—change them into her own creations. Her "Close To You" by the Carpenters and "Toxic" by Britney Spears were unrecognizable, whimsical and aggressive.

For me, a highlight among the covers was her tribute to the late, great Donna Summer. With exquisite taste, she selected what I would argue is Summer's most important and best song, "I Feel Love". Rizo could easily have aped Summer's sound, but instead gave the song a more muscular and eventually a more '60s frat house feel. "Can you feel it???" she implored, seguing into a bit of "Love to Love You" as well. We felt it.

I FEEL LOVE

I loved, loved, loved Rizo's original material, some of which I would say was less intentionally bawdy and humorous and more haunting. She can write a song as well as she can sing it.

The most hilarious moment came when she dragged an audience member on stage to witness one of her costume changes behind a backlit scrim. "Tell me when you lost your virginity?" she asked, and the rest of the interview took off in that direction.

But her most brilliant number might have been when she sang T-Pain as cabaret, relishing the stupidity of every word.

The only part of her show that left me cold was the inclusion of some burlesque numbers executed by a pair of cuties. The stripteasers were talented but really just in the way, and distracted from the impact when Rizo emerged mostly nude at the end (reminiscent of Sandra Bernhard's Without You I'm Nothing).

Happily, we will soon have Lady Rizo's album and you can hear for yourself what I'm inadequately trying to express. But in case you have a chance to witness her in the flesh, don't miss her.