UPDATE 5 p.m. 6/19: In response to my somewhat cheeky call for Rieu reviews, one commenter said:

"Mr. Munro, I suggest you go to an Andre Rieu concert. You will be amazed."

OK, I should have offered a little more background. Not only have I been to one Rieu concert, but I've been to TWO: one in Seattle that The Bee sent me to in 2006 for a preview profile of Rieu, and then his first appearance at the Save Mart. So, yes, I've done my Rieu duty. Not my thing. I don't begrudge the fun that his fans seem to have at his concerts, but the sticky-sweet, schmaltzy-slick approach to classical music that he takes -- beautiful themes pumped up to sugary heights performed by players that I suspect are selected as much for their happy stage presence and good looks as their playing ability -- wears a little thin.

ORIGINAL ENTRY 7 p.m. Thursday: I must have done something good in a past life, because I am NOT going to be at the Andre Rieu concert tonight at the Save Mart Center. But many thousands of people are, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the waltz-er-mungous festivities. What color of taffeta gowns did the fetching young string players in the orchestra wear? Was there an act involving liederhosen? How glistening was Andre's hair? Did hundreds of couples make a bee-line to the stage area so they could hang out with the King of the Waltz? Post your recollections (and cell-phone pictures) in the comments section.

UPDATE 4:30 p.m. Thursday: The more I find out about this story, the weirder it becomes. My colleague Matt James has posted a fascinating extended account of his interview with Alphonso Bigelow regarding Bigelow's $10 million pledge to Fresno State athletics. Among the details:

• Bigelow talks about his "commodities trading" business. It's not what I was expecting -- gold, silver, pork bellies, etc. "There's people that have large amounts of money who buy from people who own large amounts of commodities, privately," Bigelow told James. "It's not on the exchange. It's not on anything. And I take a commission on that." As James puts it: A guy in Europe has a bunch of diamonds for sale. A guy in India wants to buy a bunch of diamonds. Bigelow puts those two people together and gets a cut of the sale.


• When asked how much the company makes, Bigelow said, "We don't make much money at all. We're looking at $12 million maybe, $13 million." James points out that the next logical question is why a company that makes $12 or $13 million would pledge $2 million a year for the next five years. And what happens if this company, which has been in existence for a year, only makes, say, $7 million next year?


• Bigelow said he wanted to keep the donation a secret, but Fresno State talked him into a mega news conference, for which he showed up in a stretch Hummer limo.

DONALD: What a difference a week makes. On the first week of the finals for "So You Think You Can Dance," Fresno's Jason Glover was a darling of the judges. Words like "chemistry," "charisma" and "you rock" were tossed at him and his partner, Caitlin Kinney. But on last night's Week 2 competition show, Jason and Caitlin didn't receive any raves. Two of the three judges were downright hostile. And a lot of it had to do, I think, with the bad luck of getting stuck performing a hip-hop dance staged by the evening's weakest choreographer, Shane Sparks. Can you set the scene for us, Kathy?

KATHY: Jason and Caitlin drew hip-hop and were the first couple to perform a Sparks routine this season. Sparks, who was a fan-favorite in past seasons, gave the couple a softer style hip-hop routine that told the story of a guy longing for a girl he can't have, danced to Trey Songz's "Missing You." It meant the dancers had to show the crisp hip-hop precision AND had to convince viewers of great passion through soft, affectionate moves. To make the routine work, Sparks said: "They need to dance, they need to have character and they need to act like they are in love - they need all three of these things to make this piece come alive." No small order.