SINGAPORE - Singer-actress Rui En and Singapore Idol winner Taufik Batisah will reunite to perform Reach Out For The Skies, 17 years after they first sang it at the National Day Parade in 2005.

Rui En, 41, announced the upcoming concert on Aug 6 at Gardens By The Bay in an Instagram post on Monday (July 25), writing: "So stoked to announce this concert. For the first time in a very long time, I will be performing Reach Out For The Skies with Taufik and Hate It live."

Hate It is a song from her 2002 debut album, Rui En Vol. 01, which has been covered by the likes of Taiwanese singer A-Lin in reality singing show Mask Singer in 2017.

As for the familiar duet with Taufik, the pair had last performed it live on stage six years ago. Of the upbeat number with a choreographed dance that many people grew up with, she said: "For the peeps who keep telling me how they were forced to learn the dance in school, now's your time to shine."

In the comment section, Taufik, 40, who won the first season of reality singing show Singapore Idol in 2004, wrote: "I also kena force to learn the dance."

Rui En replied: "I also. Then dance so many times all over SG until muscle memory liao."

The concert, which is back after a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19, will be hosted by Class 95 DJ Jean Danker and 987 DJ Joakim Gomez. Other performers include Dick Lee and his band Omnitones, rapper Yung Raja, singer-songwriter Shabir, Broadway Beng's Sebastian Tan and SGAG persona Xiao Ming, among others.

In an e-mail interview, Rui En said: "The first thing that I felt strongly was that coming out of Covid-19 and facing all the obstacles ahead, this concert would be the most fantastic way to celebrate simply being alive and our collective resilience. Really looking forward to hanging with Taufik again too because it's been a hot minute."

The free tickets have all been snapped up but the concert will be live-streamed from the Supertree Grove.