Billy Joel impresses at Roman Coliseum

ROME, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A half-million Italians packed the Roman Coliseum for a concert by New York rocker Billy Joel and Canadian Bryan Adams, ANSA reported Tuesday.

Although he's hardly a household name in Italy, Joel, 54, garnered high praise from the Italian press and entralled the audience with his piano/rock at the annual Telecom Italia-organized event, ANSA said.

The Roman daily, La Repubblica, marveled at Joel's two hour set with nary a "dud" song while the daily Il Messaggero dubbed him "Uncle Billy."

Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni summed up the experience as "marvelous" with "great musical quality and intensity."

Observers were overheard ranking Joel's concert higher than last year's show by Elton John and the 2004 concert by Simon & Garfunkel, ANSA said.

Organizers were leaning toward Italian artists for next year's fifth annual "Telecomcerto" concert with the name of Vasco Rossi mentioned, ANSA said.