I had the good fortune to watch Siti Nurhaliza in concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium a couple of days ago. I was seated at section T11 of the terrace area, and from my viewpoint, Siti Nurhaliza was about the size of my extended thumb. But Oklah; still managed to see (albeit vaguely) her facial expressions and the large screen on either side of the stage helped alot too.
About 845pm.
Iskandar Ismail, or more affectionately known by the media as Eiss nowadays, came onstage and performed two solos. The first was his "hit" single (the title of which I've completely forgotten) and I gotta admit, the guy has the vocal chops to make it big. I wasn't too crazy about his cover of the Marc Anthony song though. When he started singing the opening verse of Bagaikan Sakti, the theme song of Puteri Gunung Ledang, I could practically hear the whole stadium wait with bated breath, expecting Siti to join in at the appropriate verse. A mellifluous voice did resound and was met with thunderous applause and wolf-whistles, but only to be replaced with embarrased laughter and cries of dismay when a close-up on the huge screens revealed that it was NOT Siti.
The Siti clone, (some girl named Mahirah who won the recent Sing Like Siti contest) did have a slight resemblance to Siti (but maybe it was just the tepong-gomak make-up??) and she has a similar vocal tone. However, Bagaikan Sakti has a difficult melody and it was quite apparent Mahirah's upper register could not hit some of the higher notes properly. Still, it was a commendable effort for an amateur. When the opening act came to a close, a cursory check of my surroundings showed that there were still people (makciks, pakciks, mats and minahs, of varying shapes and sizes), going up and down the steps -- either heading to their seats or otherwise. A very disturbing sight indeed...
Eiss & Mahirah -- this is the best my lousy digicam can do... =(
About 9pm.
All the lights in the stadium went off, except for some showy floodlights from the front of the stage. Siti's unmistakable crystal clear voice then rang out, singing the opening bars of Dialah DiHati without music accompaniment. When she finally appeared centerstage in a gorgeous purple kimono/kebaya-like thingy, and illuminated by a single spotlight, it was as if all hell had broken loose; People were clapping, cat-calling, whistling and whatever. Numerous flash-bulbs from digital cameras went off; Camera-phones were whipped out -- The "purple-dress" segment had begun and Dialah DiHati kicked off the concert to a promising start.
The concert is starting!
I never liked Kumilikmu but Siti's rendition that night was an exception, probably due to the altered arrangement of the song. Altered for the better also was Badarsila, which was given a unique, middle-eastern twist but I think Siti's performance for this song would have been much better if accompanied by backing dancers.
However, they did eventually appear during the traditional-songs segment, which was up next, and Siti zipped offstage and came back in an orangey dress. Nirmala was her opening number for this segment and it was a flawless rendition, with a couple of charming conversational interjections to tease the audience abit. I don't think I've ever heard this normally tedious song sung any better before. A couple of nondescript traditional songs followed, but it was Lagu Rindu and then, Cindai which finally got the audience's attention. By the closure of Siti's second act, the audience, it seemed, was willing to stand up and dance or clap in unison, according to Siti's persuasive directions... Except of course, for those spoil-sports (like yours truly!) who couldn't be bothered to "participate" in such activities :p
Siti then went off to don a turquoise gown for the third and last segment of the night, starting off with a pared-down rendition of Jerat Percintaan. It was a goosebumpy performance and Siti did not let the mood dissipate at the slightest as she delivered a medley of well-chosen ballads, with Purnama Merindu and Kau Kekasihku being the most effective pieces from this set. Bukan Cinta Biasa was a Siti-audience collaboration and I was amazed at how melodious-sounding the audience was during the chorus! Even Siti herself commented that it was indeed, almost like a "choir"! Very cute seh...
Another lousy picture from my digicam...
A cover of Na Ying's Zheng Fu was Siti's effort at promoting racial harmony and multi-culturism and I must admit that her Mandarin isn't too shabby at all. Nevertheless, from what I know, it wasn't her first time performing this song onstage. Get Here was Siti's solo English offering for the night and while the vocals were in fine form, the weird hand gestures (was Siti attempting to joget melayu??) were unsuited to the jazzy style of the song. But all was forgiven when Seindah Biasa was belted out as the final showpiece. Again, another magnificent offering from Siti, nothing like I've heard before on recordings or previous live performances.
About 1050pm.
Siti bid goodbye, goodnight and left the stage. The band started playing an unrecognizable instrumental piece... Most of the audience members in the Terrace section had begun filing out toward the exits. More and more seats became vacant but those in the more expensive areas were busy clapping away (instinct told me to keep myself glued to my seat). Suddenly, around five minutes later, Siti's plaintive sweet singing pleaded the audience to "Tunggu Sekejap..."
Out she came, (perhaps she went for a much-needed toilet break?) and proceeded to give a heartfelt thank-you speech and dispense proper introductions for her accompanying band and crew. An encore set was in order and Siti asked the (remaining) audience to select a song for her. A unanimous cry for Percayalah was heard and thus, within the next few minutes, I believed I bore witness to the most beautiful rendition of my favorite Siti song ever. A more raucous version of Cindai followed and it was indeed a fitting, celebratory end for the concert of one of the malay music industry's most successful and talented singers.
About 1115pm.
End of concert. Time to balik!
On the whole, I felt that the concert was too brief, and I had left the stadium wishing she had sung some of her more obscure, yet spectacular songs, such as Ku Menunggu, Kurniaan Dalam Samaran or Nian Di Hati. For something which was supposed to be a replica of the grand Royal Albert Hall concert, the number of songs were modest and so were the costume-changes and dance-choreography. Probably, Siti was limited by the size of the pathetic stage; the band itself already took up more than half of the available space onstage.
There was also plenty of room for improvement in the almost barren set design/decor and the slow response of the lighting engineers to Siti's movements during many instances. Acoustics-wise, I can't really tell whether it was any good but thankfully, there were no technical glitches. Siti's repartee with her audience was entertaining enough although after awhile, I got a little sick of the endless "I love you! I love you all! Siti sayang kamu semua!" Then again, Siti wouldn't be the Siti we've all grown to love if she didn't say all this mushy stuff, right? ;)
From start to finish, Siti came across as a genuinely sweet, nice and sincere performer and it is difficult to find anything truly disagreeable about her. In the end though, I think it didn't matter much really, how unimpressive the stage, how inefficient her crew, or how unglamourous her dresses looked -- all I had to do was to close my eyes and listen to that angelic voice, sans music, and then I'll know, I am in the presence of a bona-fide talent, and a gifted artiste.
