Rufus Wainwright — Rufus Does Judy At Carnegie Hall

Since her death in 1969, legendary Broadway songstress Judy Garland — along with her Carnegie Hall live album — has become a gay icon. Who better to perform a tribute to Garland’s 1961 "comeback" show than Rufus Wainwright, a man with enough musical pedigree and rampant fabulousness to tackle a string of beloved Broadway hits? On Rufus Does Judy At Carnegie Hall, a recording of his two 2006 copycat concerts, Wainwright keeps the mimicry down to a minimum, letting his own distinctively grand voice take centre stage instead of any fanboy tendencies. Wainwright’s love for the source material is obvious; he breaks for stage banter when Garland does on the original, and pretends to flub the same verse in "You Go To My Head." But any number of showtune-loving blokes could have recited Garland’s performance from memory. It's the versatility and sinuousness of Wainwright’s vocals, perfectly suited to venerable Gershwin standards, that lets him carry the performance off with such panache.