CES, Performing Arts Hotbed

LAS VEGAS--It's a noisy place, down on the show floor of the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Between the audio blaring from every speaker in sight and the chatter of thousands of attendees, it can be hard for an exhibitor to get anybody's attention.

So many of the companies here try to put on a show. They'll have performers come out and sing and dance while somebody chats away about whatever the product du jour happens to be.

For example, Sanyo hired a string trio--all, by some odd coincidence, young women in slinky dresses--to play as a representative talked up the company's phones. Casio, meanwhile, had breakdancers whirling in circles while a presenter filmed them with one of that firm's digital cameras.

It might seem a strange and expensive way to get some PR, but this tactic usually does work. (Hey, it got me to write this blog post!) I'm just happy that I have been spared, so far, from the most cringe-inducing variant of CES performance art: People singing popular songs with lyrics that have been rewritten to promote somebody's new gadget.