Barbra Streisand performs ''Evergreen'' at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California February 13, 2011.

NEW YORK | Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:05pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blending photo montages with at times a thick accent and a singing voice still soaring at the age of 70, Barbra Streisand performed on Thursday in her first big concert where it all began - her birthplace of Brooklyn, New York.

In the second show of her "Back to Brooklyn" tour, Streisand performed for nearly three hours at a new 19,000-seat arena, kicking off the concert with the words "I've come home at last!" from the show tune "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from "Sunset Boulevard".

Accompanied by more than 50 orchestra players, she connected with fans through references to Brooklyn and her Jewish background, talking about the borough's docks and knishes. She recalled that the last time she sang in Brooklyn she was 8 years old and it was "on somebody's stoop".

"I left Brooklyn to pursue my dreams, but Brooklyn never quite left me," she told the crowd sprinkled with stars such as actor Michael Douglas and musician Sting. "I am so glad I was born and raised here."

She sang a series of songs by Brooklyn-born composers Alan and Marilyn Bergman including "Nice 'n' Easy" and a love song from her 1983 film "Yentl", called "The Way He Makes Me Feel".

Changing costume several times, she kept the crowd entertained with funny anecdotes and introduced other musical acts including the teenage Italian tenor group Il Volo, trumpeter Chris Botti and her son, Jason Gould.

She paid tribute to collaborators such as Donna Summer with a short, snappy version of their 1979 duet "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" and composer Jule Styne with a medley of songs from the musical "Gypsy", and later "People" from the musical "Funny Girl".

In a tribute to another collaborator, Marvin Hamlisch, who died in August, she sang "The Way We Were", with his original orchestration, and then "Through the Eyes of Love", which he wrote for the film "Ice Castles".

"He could always make me laugh, which is not an easy thing to do," she said of Hamlisch.

Other hits included Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine" accompanied by Botti, "Evergreen" and "Lost Inside of You".

Toward the end of the concert she asked the crowd to take seriously the environment, the upcoming U.S. election and to "appreciate the moment".

She recalled not singing for 27 years after suffering stage fright during a 1967 concert in Central Park, before discarding rumors she would be quitting her career after this tour.

"If I learned anything, it's to say 'Never say never' and it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings - and I ain't fat," she said, before finishing the concert with two encores ending with "Happy Days Are Here Again".

(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Dale Hudson)

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Entertainer Jay-Z performs on stage at the newly built Barclays Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York September 28, 2012. This is the first event at the new stadium.

NEW YORK | Sat Sep 29, 2012 2:45am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rap superstar Jay-Z returned to his home borough for a sold-out concert on Friday night to open Brooklyn's new basketball stadium.

The rapper who grew up just two miles away from the new Barclays Center arena - now the home court of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team - talked about how far he had come in a show sprinkled with emotional speeches.

"I've been on many stages all around the world and nothing feels like tonight," Jay-Z told the cheering audience.

"I'm really overwhelmed by the moment," he said as he described his humble beginnings in Marcy Houses, a Brooklyn public housing project he noted was just 15 minutes away from the arena. "I can't believe that this day has come."

Jay-Z, who raps about the time he spent as a drug dealer, released his first album in 1996. He is now one of the most successful rappers in the world, owns a minority stake in the Nets and has businesses including a clothing label.

He encouraged members of the packed crowd to have their own stab at success.

"I believe everybody in the world is born with genius level talent ... Apply yourself to whatever you're genius at and you can do anything in the world," he said.

It was the first of eight Jay-Z concerts planned for the venue in the arena's first week.

Jay-Z sported the team's jersey and hat as he sang recent hits like Empire State of Mind and returned to his highly acclaimed debut album Reasonable Doubt.

The rapper, whose real name is Shawn Carter, has been heavily involved in the promotion of the 18,000-seat arena, which took years to move from concept to reality partly because it met with legal challenges and opposition from people in nearby residential areas such as Fort Greene and Park Slope.

The stadium, which started construction in 2009, will bring a major professional sports team back to Brooklyn for the first time in 55 years when the Dodgers baseball team moved away from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and became the L.A. Dodgers.

Jay-Z showed off a jersey worn by Dodgers player Jackie Robinson - also the first African American Major League Baseball player.

He paid tribute to deceased rap star and fellow Brooklyn native Notorious B.I.G. by projecting an image of him on the stage and covering two of his songs. Brooklyn hip-hop pioneer Big Daddy Kane appeared later in the evening.

Bob Dylan, Barbara Streisand and the Smashing Pumpkins are all due to appear at the Barclays Center during its first two months.

(Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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