Tesh Pages Offer Sites For Sore E

So, you want to know how popular John Tesh is? Well, for one thing, he has his own Web page.

It features the latest “Tesh on tour photos from the road!” which include a shot of Tesh accepting a plaque from a Kansas City church choir.

And do you want to know how much John Tesh is disliked?

Consider that there are four “anti-John Tesh” Web pages.

One in particular is titled “Because Nobody Likes John Tesh” and features messages such as: “He’s stupid and annoying. He sucks worse than Kenny G and Michael Bolton combined. I feel sorry for his neighbors. I heard he was the spawn of Satan.”

To his credit, the former “Entertainment Tonight” co-host, occasional Olympic Games commentator and now full-time musical composer/performer recognizes the curious position he holds in the pantheon of popular entertainment.

“If Howard Stern is the king of all media, then I’m the reviled of all media,” Tesh said during a recent phone interview from Santa Fe, N.M. Preparing to perform as part of his Avalon tour, Tesh - who will bring his road show to the Spokane Opera House on Friday - even offered a couple of reasons why he is regularly pummeled by critics.

“I can get you on many levels,” he said with a laugh. “Hey, you wanna hate me at the Olympics? Here you go. Hate me on ‘ET’? Here you go. I can even pull out some old radio shows and you can hate that, too.”

This, of course, suggests part of the problem. Tesh, who admits that he once styled himself as “Dr. Multimedia,” is at age 45 a virtual telecast ubiquity. He’s known for his 10-year stint on “ET,” his Olympic broadcasts, his infomercials, the music that he wrote as backup to various network sporting events and now the music that both fills up concert halls and goes into best-selling CDs such as “Live at Red Rocks” and “Avalon.”

On top of all that, he stands 6-foot-6, has a full head of blond hair and a smile to rival Barbie’s Ken, and he’s married to television actress/beauty Connie Selleca, with whom he parents a 3-year-old girl named Prima.

Not to mention the fact that, in both performances and interviews, he comes across as a genuinely good guy.

Who wouldn’t hate him just a teensy bit?

And if you do, don’t worry. Not only does Tesh refuse to take it personally, he views it as a virtual asset.

“The reviews this year, a lot of them, have been really good,” Tesh said. “That’s scary because once that happens, people don’t show up anymore. A lot of people come to see us just to see what all the noise is about.”

So what exactly is the noise about? Well, a Tesh concert has been likened to everything from “Yanni lite” to the tunes of a “cheesemeister.” That’s the negative view.

On the positive, listen to one Tesh fan railing at the author of the “Because Nobody Likes John Tesh” Web site: “I think John Tesh is the greatest composer, musician since Beethoven and Bach. … His music is one of the few remaining selections of music that still has passion and love and meaning. So bite me.”

Taking the neutral view, Tesh puts it this way: “It’s just pop instrumentals.”

Within that general framework, though, Tesh takes his listeners on a musical world tour. He employs Latin rhythms, gospel-soul sounds, Irish jigs, Middle Eastern melodies and jazz-lite blendings, and he melds it all with some big-band pop ‘n’ roll. The orchestras he used for the taped shows at Red Rocks and Avalon (Tesh recorded the latter at the classic Avalon ballroom on California’s Santa Catalina Island) have been pared down to an 11-person band for this tour.

Even so, you can expect to hear from Tesh on piano, keyboards and the occasional percussion instrument. The other performers will play the likes of guitar (acoustic and electric), violin and cello (electric and acoustic), accordion, mandolin, fluegelhorn, trumpet, flute, three types of sax and various kinds of drums.

“The cool thing about instrumental music is that we can go in any direction, and people accept that,” said Tesh.

They also embrace the band’s energy, which makes a Tesh concert more joyful noise than any intense study of jazzy angst. When large-framed Tesh sweeps around the stage, punctuating profound musical moments by shooting his fist in the air, he seems like a New-Age Wayne Newton working an Up With People show.

No surprise there. Good feelings are Tesh’s main intent.

“The whole idea is to be uplifting in nature,” he said. “Most people are trying to escape a life that probably has been brutal prior to showing up for the concert. We try to move them in an upward direction.”

You gotta love him for that.

At least.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: See related story under the headline: Spokane native enjoys life on road with Tesh

This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT John Tesh will perform at 8 p.m. Friday at the Spokane Opera House. Tickets are $35, $29 and $22, available at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets or call (800) 325-SEAT.