Nelly Furtado Lyrics

She started the 94th Grey Cup half-time show with a fitting tribute to football.

Even if Forca is about the wrong kind of football (the theme song for soccer's World Cup in 2002), and despite suggestions her performance might have been taped, Nelly Furtado's short performance didn't disappoint fans at Winnipeg's Canad Inns stadium.

Sporting fitted black pants and a cropped leather jacket, topped off with over-sized teardrop bling in her ears, the pop star rocked a three-song, pyrotechnic-packed set the audience swore was live.

"She sounded really good. She has amazing talent. I think she was singing live," said Rebecca, 15, whose only criticism was the short set, no more than eight minutes.

"But you can't expect a concert," she added.

It's "guaranteed" Furtado's hits, which included Promiscuous and Maneater, were actually live, at least in Dustin Materi's opinion. But he admitted one of his neighbours didn't think so.


"I heard one guy in front of us saying she was lip-synching," said Materi of Saskatoon, Sask.

The show's producer, John Michael Elder, said in a published report that it's difficult for Grey Cup performers to sing live.

It was live, the CFL's live show producer Jamie Nishino said yesterday through spokesman Jamie Dykstra.

"The mic was right there, you could see her breath," agreed 51-year-old John Telepchuk.

Whatever the case, "who cares" was the thought of one football fan from Dryden, Ont. "She's great looking," said Kevin Rankin, 27.

After the show, Furtado got into an SUV parked on the field and was whisked out of the stadium.

Canadian Idol winner Eva Avila, a Quebecer, belted out O Canada in English and French before the game. Cheerleaders at mid-field held a giant Canadian flag.

Avila's performance was followed by flyovers by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds and a pair of CF-18 Hornets.