Nelly Furtado's Pinoy connection

International singing sensation Nelly Furtado has never been to the Philippines and counts her August 16 concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum as her first time to perform in the country. “It’s my first trip [to the Philippines] and I’m very, very, very excited,” she states.

Like The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan before her—who, during his recent monsoon-whipped visit here, said he grew up around a lot of Filipinos in Chicago—and even Lady Gaga way before who had also revealed having a Filipino best friend, the Canadian singer-songwriter already has some form of affinity with her would-be audience on Thursday when she plays here in Manila with New York rap/rock band Gym Class Heroes.

Nelly rose to fame with the hit single I’m Like A Bird and, in 2007, continued to be a force of music worldwide with her album Loose that spawned her other hits Promiscuous, Maneater and Say It Right. She notes that her Asian concerts are “leading up to the release” of her latest album, The Spirit Indestructible, that will drop in September, which she will promote in Europe and in North America and possibly supported by a 2013 world tour.  It is Furtado’s first English language release in six years.

During a phone conversation with Bulletin Entertainment, she casually says, “I love Filipino food. My favorite is the puto.” After naming pansit and lumpia as familiar Filipino fare, she reveals, “My daughter is quarter-Filipino, her grandma is Filipino.” When asked if she hopes to work with Filipino artists in the future, she responds, “I would like to, they are amazing. I love Bruno Mars.”

For now, though, her Filipino fans would be given a chance to finally see her perform here. “My show is really fun and I interact with the audience quite a lot,” she promises, also nothing she would be playing the hits that people would be expecting to hear. Nelly Furtado and Gym Class Heroes: Live in Manila is set for August 16, 2012 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.