Mariah Carey fans happy her stage at National Stadium is closer to audience

Concertgoers are happy that the stage for American singer Mariah Carey's concert at National Stadium on Friday has been moved off the pitch and closer to the audience. -- ST PHOTO: NATASHA ANN ZACHARIAH
Concertgoers are happy that the stage for American singer Mariah Carey's concert at National Stadium on Friday has been moved off the pitch and closer to the audience. -- ST PHOTO: NATASHA ANN ZACHARIAH

Concertgoers are happy that the stage for American singer Mariah Carey's concert at National Stadium on Friday has been moved off the pitch and closer to the audience.

On Tuesday, it was announced that the singer's performance stage will be repositioned off the pitch to ensure that the field would not be damaged. The hybrid field, which is made of natural grass, mixed with artificial fibre inserts, has come under fire for being too sandy, after an international football friendly between Brazil and Japan took place there last week.

The 21m by 15m stage was moved off the pitch and onto the track - a boon for concertgoers.

Ms Nurul Athirsh, 23, a estate manager for Housing Development Board, calls it a "blessing in disguise". She said: "If it was the original spot, I don't think we would be able to see as much because we're quite far up."

Business development manager Nicholas Teo, 28, agreed: "Any time we get closer to the singer, that's a good thing."

But Ms Fay Yeo, a branding manager for a hospitality company who is in her 40s, was hoping for a more hyped-up atmosphere. She felt that with only part of the stadium open for the concert and the rest of the stadium cordoned off, the pre-concert lacked a buzzy vibe.

Ms Yeo, who arrived at 7.30pm, said: "Moving the stage made no difference to me. The stadium still feels empty, because you can still see the empty seats all around the stadium. A singer like Mariah should perform at an indoor stadium. Anyway, we're here to hear her sing. After all the negative reviews (of her concert elsewhere), if she's bad, I'll leave."

Singapore is the latest stop in the songstress' Elusive Chanteuse World Tour, which has been to Tokyo, Seoul and five cities in China. Carey will play to a 12,000-strong crowd here.

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