ANDY COMER: Famous people love to cancel on the Valley

Was it something we said?

Vinny Guadagnino, one of the “guidos” (he said it, not me) from MTV’s Jersey Shore canceled his scheduled appearance in McAllen last week after originally delaying a February visit to Chill Nightclub downtown.

Vinny’s appearance in the Valley seemed dubious to begin with — we’re a long, long way from Jersey, after all — and as soon as he postponed his Feb. 18 visit, I knew it was only a matter of time before he canceled altogether. Besides, it’s not like he’s the first celebrity/band/artist to bail on us.

In case you don’t remember the acts that have in one way or another abandoned Valley fans in recent history, I’ll refresh your memory: Rappers Soulja Boy, Snoop Dogg and Bow Wow; hottie singer/songwriter Kate Voegele; reggaeton duo Calle 13; R&B group Boyz II Men (which was an alleged a scam); teen flavor of the week Mitchel Musso; rockers ZZ Top; ’90s “divas” Sugar Ray; and my back-up celebrity crush to pop star Katy Perry, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, are names that I managed to find in The Monitor’s archives. I’m positive there are many more.

What’s surprising is that although many entertainers have canceled on the Valley, there are even bigger acts that seem to make stops in South Texas on a regular basis. Lil Wayne, Shakira, Paulina Rubio, George Lopez, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, LeAnn Womack, Def Leppard, Creed, Sugarland, and Jewel, among others, have all entertained the region in the past couple of years.

As successful as this past weekend’s BorderFest was, especially with the Saturday night appearance of Tim McGraw (who, as my boss pointed out, flew all the way from McAllen to Los Angeles to make the Academy Awards ceremony the following night — he played a major role in The Blind Side, which won co-star Sandra Bullock a best actress Oscar), even the popular Valley event wasn’t immune to its share of potential “cancelitis.” Bret Michaels, the star of Vh1’s Rock of Love and lead singer of Poison, was scheduled to appear Sunday — but didn’t — much to the dismay of a coworker of mine. Michaels says he will make up the missed date on April 17, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he, too, bailed on us. I really hope I’m wrong about Michaels, especially for my coworker’s sake, but I can’t help but resent acts that don’t follow through with their commitments and disappoint local fans that just want to be entertained.

There’s a part of me which is stupidly cautiously optimistic that Katy Perry (whom Festiva interviewed in 2008) will someday make it down to this part of Texas, but I’m not sure how I would feel if Perry, the most shameless, unattainable crush I’ve ever admitted to having, canceled a scheduled Valley concert.

On second thought, I’m pretty sure I’d forgive her.

Andy Comer is the slot editor and a columnist for The Monitor. Contact him at acomer@themonitor.com with feedback or future column ideas.