Diari Hati Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza

My sister and I set out quite late. I wasn’t worried as there was allocated seats, D 11-12. We reached Esplanade around 7:15pm. We hang around and see any familiar face. At the same time, I was waiting for Firdaus and his wife, Ayu and my fellow Siti Nurhaliza group moderator, Khairee.

Her last concert here was held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2005. Three years later she held her first ever acoustic concert at The Esplanade Theatre Singapore after marrying Datuk Khalid Mohamad Jiwa and has also become the youngest, at 29, Malaysian to hold the title Dato’, an honorific conferred by the Sultan of Pahang.

Slighty after 8pm, the lights at Theatre Esplanade dimmed. The four backing vocals known as Swara came on stage. The four musicians lead by music director Mr. Aubrey Suwito came out; making sure their instruments were tune correctly and set to rock the stage.

Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza then appeared and opened the acoustic concert wearing a blue dress with Lagu Rindu. Following are the song list for the night, in order.

Lagu Rindu
Nirmala
Siti Situ Sana Sini
Mulanya Cinta
Flaws and All (Original song by Beyonce)
Wulan Merindu (Original song by Cici Faramida)
Sutramaya
Cintamu
Love You Inside Out (Original song by The Bee Gees)
Biarlah Rahsia
Destinasi Cinta
Bisikan Hati
Suatu Masa (Original song by M. Nasir)
Ada (Original song by M. Nasir)
Cindai
Melawan Kesepian
Ku Mahu

In all her concert, she will always sing songs from another artiste. Not that I detest but it is Siti’s concert and it should featured her songs. Khairee agreed with me on this.

Her take on The Bee Gees song titled Love You Inside Out was ok and I have seen and heard it two or three weeks back on Zoom In on TV1 but it was her take on Beyonce’s Flaws and All that I absolutely adore. Her diction has no doubt improved since her Because You Loved Me days.

And it was her time chatting with the audience that brought laughter and tears to all of us. I have never heard Siti as amusing as she was last night. After each or a couple of songs, she would share her story. Although nothing I haven’t heard before but it was fascinating to hear it from Siti herself and the little, little jokes she affix to make us laugh.

She recapped that Singapore was where she won her very first award with 2 By 2 for the song Kau Mawarku. Winning Best Newcomer at seventeen was the first of many awards she won throughout twelve years singing.

This is a picture of me and Khairee. Khairee is one of my three moderators. The only Singaporean, I must add. This is after the concert and called him for a picture.