WHITHER THE HEART AND SOUL?

NING BAIZURA could have done much more at the recent Heart of Soul concert for the Secretaries Week at the PJ Hilton. Who would have thought after doing Secretaries Week shows for seven consecutive years, Ning still doesn't know her audience?

No doubt she is one of the best singers around but she has a long way to go before she can be called an entertainer.

If she is willing to take a hint, Ning should learn the first rule of entertaining a crowd a fine entertainer will never face empty chairs halfway through a show or weary faces in the audience when she is singing. Unfortunately, she was too wrapped up in her performance to notice all this.

Giving a straightforward performance and mediocre show is not really part of the deal especially if you are one of Malaysia's top singing divas and also an old hand at dinner shows and corporate functions. Surely with all the exposure, Ning should be able to hold her own.

Her opening number Love Is in the Air was not memorable. But her shocking pink bareback dress was. It enhanced her newly wrought frame to the maximum and helped her pull off this song with ease.

This aside, Ning's drowned vocals and the bad sound system were competing for attention. In the end, all we got was a piercing and deafening Love Is in the Air.

The catchy, upbeat Fire was no better. This popular song came across as too sharp and was not much of a listening pleasure. But it was the next song that really made one cringe.

When your voice is soprano-based like Ning Baizura's, you have a limited choice of songs. Tackling Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and even Diana Ross' songs is okay but not Shania Twain's.

Ning did a shrill rendition of Twain's Don't Impress Me Much which was rather distracting. As a result, the effect left something to be desired.

But Ning was excellent presenting the slow ballad Dugaanku. The hit song had a calming effect and went down well with the audience. A few members of the audience joined Ning on stage for autographs and photos.

Her subsequent choices, Whitney Houston's It's Not Right but It's Okay and I'm Every Woman, were fairly good attempts.

The show had become rather predictable by then as Ning had fallen into the routine of saying a few lines before singing each song. There was no audience participation whatsoever.

What could be more disappointing for fans than not being able to mingle with their idol when there could have been ample chance to do this? Either Ning conveniently forgot this or she doesn't place much importance on audience participation.

During her rendition of her old hit Kau dan Aku, a male secretary, Mohamed Ismail, walked up to Ning to shake her hand. Ismail's spontaneity in joining Ning in the number stole the show. He managed to add a sparkle to the otherwise lacklustre mini-concert.

By the time Ning belted out Diana Ross' If We Hold on Together, there were signs that the audience was getting restless and some were seen leaving the ballroom which could seat 550 people.

Ning's clothes just got saucier as the show progressed. She was in a pair of tantalising wraparound shorts and a tank top and was in her element during the hot Jennifer Lopez's Let's Get Loud. The Latin-pop number made many in the audience sit up.

Ironically, just as the show was picking up, it was time to wrap up. It was obvious the song was ``too little, too late'' to save the show.

So, when compere for the evening Yasmin Yussuf called upon Ning to give one last number before ending the show, it was actually a pointless effort. Ning sang Pasti and finally come down to meet her fans for a brief five minutes.

The wrong choice of songs and the lack of audience involvement made it difficult to rate ``Ning Heart of Soul'' as one of her better shows. It looked like this top R&B and soul performer had left her heart and soul somewhere else ....

BY ZIEMAN - PUBLISHED 12/4/2000