We don’t know about you but it was impossible not to feel a surge of national pride while watching JJ Lin on stage last night (Dec 21) at the National Stadium. The Singaporean star became not just the first local singer to hold a two-night concert at the esteemed venue, but also the first Asian singer to do so. (P/S: He pipped Jay Chou, who will hold his two gigs there in January, to the title by just two weeks.)

But if you ask us, JJ, who also made history with his sold-out four-night concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last year, was always meant to claim the National Stadium as his own.

The concert kicked off at 7.25pm with JJ dressed in a white outfit covered with what looked like mosaic tiles and a visor that may or may not have been inspired by another home-grown singer Jasmine Sokko. Unlike last year’s Sanctuary World Tour, this year’s 2.0 version comes with different costumes, songs and set — for example, a massive triangular structure in the middle of the stage and a moving platform that extended into the audience ’cos who wouldn’t want that?

His performance began with ‘Cao Cao’ and he didn’t stop to address the 40,000-strong crowd until four songs later. “Hello Singapore!” he said, happily proclaiming that this was the 65th concert of his tour and also the first time he’s on stage at the National Stadium. “I’m so happy to share with all of you this milestone,” he beamed. “Singapore is also called the Lion City. They don’t call us the Lion City for nothing. Let me hear you lions roar!”

And JJ showed just why he’s the king of our pride for the rest of the three-hour long gig.

So good was the 38-year-old that the oft-mocked acoustics of the arena didn't seem to be an issue at all. JJ’s remarkable vocals embraced the massive stadium tightly like a warm blanket, even when taking us on an aural rollercoaster with the impressive twirls and spins his unstoppable voice can do. He sounded so on point on songs like ‘The One’, ‘If Only’, ‘Back to Back’ and ‘Twilight’ that we wondered if he was singing live. P/S: Of course he was.

So good was JJ that he even gave Singlish lessons to Singaporeans, which included Mrs Goh Chok Tong, and non-Singaporeans, like Tiffany Young from Girls’ Generation, who were in the audience, along with JJ’s family and NS buddies from his MDC days. “[The term] ‘leh’ is used in a more ‘sai nai’ (Hokkien for ‘cutesy’) way,” he schooled us, while his fans seated on floor level held up signs that read “Welcome Home Lah” during his performance of 'The Right Time'.

So good was JJ, he even managed to make it not rain. (We’re crossing our fingers and toes for everyone watching his concert tonight.)

He’s now so natural and so at home on stage — more so than we ever remember him to be — that we wondered if it had anything to do with him actually being home. And being back in Singapore has its benefits for the audience too. JJ performed two songs he has never sung before on tour: Stefanie Sun’s ‘What I Miss’, which made a woman seated behind us squeal: “If Stefanie Sun appears on stage, I will just die”, and National Day song, ‘Our Singapore’.

It may have seemed cheesy to some, but when you’re in the audience listening to a local boy, who has become an inspiration for a whole country, sing a NDP song, you can’t help but get choked up with emotion. It also made one thing very clear: the National Stadium now has its king.
 

Photos: JFJ Productions
JJ is performing a second show tonight at the National Stadium. Tickets are sold out.