y Charlene Chua
SHE surprised the 8,000-strong crowd with her sexy dresses - complete with peekaboo knee-high stockings - worthy of an avant-garde fashion show.
Then, she tried to work the crowd with a sparkly silver bikini-skirt ensemble, a body suit with white feathers and a metallic number with breast cones.
But that wasn't enough to warm up the otherwise sedate crowd.
Taiwanese pop star Jolin Tsai, 30, had to keep cajoling and pleading with the crowd to get up and boogie from the get-go at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday night.
The puzzled singer, who was in town for the Jolin Tsai Myself World Tour, couldn't help but notice at the one night only concert that the local audience "takes a very long time to warm up".
Perhaps the crowd was more preoccupied with the General Election results.
Said Tsai: "I was peeking from backstage just now and watched all you guys troop into the concert arena for the show.
"You are one orderly crowd. I didn't even notice any craziness at all.
"Can you all please liven up and go wild for me? The most important thing to me is your reaction.
"When all this dancing tires me out, what keeps me going is your energy.
"Please clap and scream for me!"
The sex bomb first implored the concertgoers to show her some love after a few songs.
But surprisingly, she continued to do so at every intermission.
Kudos to the Mandopop princess who just wouldn't give up on the reserved local audience.
Neither her boyfriend, Taiwan-based model Vivian Dawson who was born to Singaporean and New Zealander parents, nor good friend local songbird Stefanie Sun, who held her wedding ceremony yesterday, was spotted in the crowd. But she saved the best for last.
She shocked her fans when she danced with wild abandon while water shot up from beneath her during the visually stunning finale. The excited audience screamed their lungs out.
But why the initial lacklustre response?
Tsai, who noticed the lack of concert paraphernalia, kept asking: "Who brought lightsticks? Who brought my LED boards?
"I can see only my fan club here. What about the rest of you?"
A few of Tsai's fans spoke to The New Paper about the low energy level at the beginning of the show.
Said sales executive Mr Colin Tan, 29: "If you didn't notice, this is not some boy band concert where there are thousands of those crazy girls screaming at every word that their 'handsome' idol says.
"Jolin's fans are a well-mixed crowd of females and males and I can say for a fact that men will not act so 'mad' in public.
"I'm a big fan of Jolin, but I'm not going to buy some lightstick and wave it like a crazy person. I'm still a guy."
There were also fans such as 19-year-old student Kimberley Yap, who took her parents to the show.
The young and old
Said Kimberley: "What's beautiful about Jolin's music and pop star quality is that the young and old love her.
"So, there are many people in their 40s and 50s at the concert today; in my section alone, there were so many people from my parents' generation.
"Naturally, they wouldn't be jumping up and down."
She wasn't the only one who noticed the many older fans in the audience.
Tsai herself pointed it out, saying: "People sitting at the top, how are you? I can't see you, you're too dark!
"And this section here, are you guys the senior citizens section?
"Can I hear some cheering please? What about some applause?"
Another fan, who wanted to be known as Ling, said that Tsai's newest songs, which feature a lot of electronic music instead of her usual bubblegum pop, could have alienated some of the crowd.
But Tsai's efforts at trying to get the crowd on its feet didn't go to waste.
Slowly but surely, the atmosphere grew charged.
Taking on Madonna's hits like Vogue and Music, Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Out Of My Head and Lady Gaga's Just Dance, Tsai showed off her dancing skills.
Said the 1.58m-tall Tsai with a grin: "People always see me in person and tell me that they thought I looked so much taller on-screen.
"I seem like I'm 1.85m because I walk tall."
This article was first published in The New Paper.