Nelly Furtado – The Spirit Indestructible Singapore Showcase

It is said that one way to tell the difference between a fresh face artiste and a veteran who has been around for years is to see how they work the crowd.

On a slightly warmer than usual Singapore Tuesday evening, Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado reminded everyone why she is still at the top of her game as she performed for the 1500 strong crowd at The Coliseum, Hard Rock Hotel.

It wasn’t hard to blame the crowd as the weather was less than accommodating and the hour long wait for the showcase sure didn’t help. Even the host for the night tried and failed as the crowd started looking rather annoyed. Yet all it took was Nelly’s 2006 hit, “Maneater” from her third album, “Loose” to get the crowd going.

Moving on to her next song, the recently released “Big Hoops (Bigger The Better)”, Nelly brought on a special surprise for everyone present. Tony Duncan, a champion hoop-dancer was brought onto stage to give everyone a taste of what Hoop Dancing was all about. Hoop Dancing was featured in the music video for the song as well and it was definitely a nice touch to be able to see it performed live on stage.

Perhaps the highlight of the night would be showcase of Nelly Furtado’s soothing vocals as she amazed everyone during her stripped rendition of “I’m Like A Bird”. She even got the crowd singing every word of that famous song back to her as she continued to keep the energy high even though it was late into the night of a work day.

Ending off the almost an hour showcase was a song that kept ringing in my head the entire journey home, “Say It Right”. It’s a song that have always been on my playlist till today and both me and POPCulture Online’s photographer, Nicholas, couldn’t help but add in our own versions of “Eh” to the song (which is done by American record producer, songwriter and rapper Timbaland in the music video).

As a little parting gift to everyone for attending Nelly Furtado’s first ever showcase, lead-guitarist Sean Kelly, the lead guitarist played the guitar rift of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit to Nelly’s “Say It Right” to the delight of the crowd.

I guess after that, all those thoughts of the long queue, the uncomfortable weather, the long wait and the clueless dance music spinning just faded away into a night to remember.

Setlist

1. Maneater
2. Big Hoops (Bigger The Better)
3. Turn Off The Light
4. I’m Like A Bird
5. Powerless
6. The Spirit Indestructible
7. Medley – No Hay Igual, Give It To Me, Morning After, Hot & Fun, Who Wants To Be Alone, Night Is Young, Jump
8. Parking Lot
9. Say It Right

Photo Credits: Amos Wong

By Kenneth Wong
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