Convicted felon Chris Brown is quietly dipping his toe in the water to see if it’s warmed up at all. Unfortunately for him while it’s not quite frigid, it’s still less than tepid. Chris is headlining his first concert as a convicted felon – quite the accomplishment! Before you get too upset that he’s famous and successful, let me just note that his career has taken a significant hit. Not as much as I’d like, but some. Chris is going to be singing at Power 105’s Powerhouse ’09 concert in late October. He’ll be joined by a bunch of C list acts, with one or two decent performers. But it’s a long way from where he was this time last year, when everyone thought he’d be the next king of pop.

Chris Brown’s first concert deal since he assaulted ex-girlfriend Rihanna back in February is on the books. On Oct. 27, Brown will headline Power 105.1’s Powerhouse ’09 concert. Keri Hilson, The-Dream, Trey Songz, Mario, Day26 and Ginuwine will also perform.

Concert promoters and music producers say the caliber of this lineup isn’t up to what Brown would have shared a bill with before the assault.

“This is a pretty C-list lineup,” said one promoter who’s not involved in the show at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ. “Keri Hilson is good, Ginuwine has some following, but this is nothing like the lineup that would have surrounded him this time last year. Chris was the Michael Jackson heir apparent, he had huge endorsement deals. This isn’t the sort of show you would have expected from him before he got in trouble.”

Brown still isn’t considered a “safe” booking, according to some music insiders, but for this concert, Brown was worth the risk.

“Chris isn’t advertiser-safe yet — his image has a long way to go,” said a producer. “But for this show, he’ll draw a crowd, so the producers of the show are willing to pay. Just because he pled guilty doesn’t mean that all his fans have gone away. And he’s got to start getting back onto the scene at some point, it might as well be here.”

[From MSNBC]

Isn’t it sad when bad things happen to bad people? Heartbreaking I tell you. Who I actually feel badly for are the other performers. Although MSNBC referred to them as “C list,” some of them are more “up-and-coming” than anything. They’re not at the point where they can be picky about who they’re sharing a lineup with though. I listen to that radio station all the time (well, used to) and I haven’t heard them play any Chris Brown songs since he beat the shi*t out of Rihanna. It seems like they knew it was bad to associate with him, but now that the fury has died down they figure they can ultimately make some money off him again. The little bit of justice in all this is that while Chris Brown’s career is in the tank, Rihanna’s more famous and successful than ever. Hopefully both of them will stay that way.