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Nelly Furtado's diva impressions ill-advised
06/21/2007 5:17 PM, Reuters
Darryl Morden
Wearing a floor-length
cocktail dress, her hair up, Nelly Furtado looked like the
Audrey Hepburn of modern pop midway through her sold-out show
Wednesday night at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.
Furtado has a girl-next-door, classy, yet free-spirited
appeal, and that's when she was most vibrant during the
110-minute performance. But her attempts at playing the dance
music diva didn't work at all, changing outfits five times and
attempting some pseudo-production numbers.
The Canadian singer-songwriter is at heart a charming
dorkette with a trilling and honest voice somewhere to the
right of Stevie Nicks. Her best songs have been expressive
quests for personal meaning in love and life, incorporating
elements of folk, pop, hip-hop, Latin and her Portuguese
heritage as well, though now she's now become the full-on pop
star thanks to her most recent work with hot
songwriter-producer-artist Timbaland on her latest album
"Loose" (Geffen).
The glittery staging with a massive disco ball, risers and
Day-Glo bright colors was ultrabusy, almost painfully Vegas. As
she walked down the stairs in a tight red retro-'60s minidress
and black stockings with heels, that Hepburn-gone-dance-club
look was in effect, and she launched into the catchy,
syncopated "Say It Right," followed by the teasing funk of
"Turn Off the Light," from her 2000 debut album "Whoa, Nelly!"
But Furtado looked awkward trying to move with her quartet
of male and female dancers, who were completely unnecessary
anyway and hampered rather than enhanced the concert.
When the dancers went away, she turned to a captivating
acoustic version of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," a torchy
"Showtime" and plaintive "Try," accompanied by just piano until
a U2-ish big rising finish. One had the feeling this was the
real Nelly and the whole diva push was the wrong-headed
concoction of managers and marketers.
Most of the night's material was drawn from "Loose" as she
just dipped a bit into her first two albums. A heavy-handed
treatment of her usually gliding first hit "I'm Like a Bird"
almost crashed, until the audience joined in for the chorus.
The current release's dance-floor-friendly rhythms were
carried by a breezy sexuality that was cute rather than
pandering, thanks to her playful delivery. The hip-hop-driven
"Promiscuous," thump-rock of "Maneater" and Brazilian-styled
"No Hay Igual" revved up a party atmosphere at the end of the
show, when she finally looked most comfortable, a woman at
play, the diva costumes finally shed for another side of that
real Nelly.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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