And what a concert!!!

Once in a lifetime thing. I sang about 4 songs in a 24 song SPB KJY show. Chitra amma herself sang only about 5 songs and only one solo in that.
I sang KMI, Sahana, Thesalvudhe thenmalaraale and Ennaatha solvenungo. Was supposed to sing Mayya Mayya, but the audio people did not have an out chord for the laptop, and neither did they have a CD player. The musicians had told me that it was impossible to play that song.
It was probably the first time in 5 years that KMI was properly played by the musicians. This song is always botched up. "Shyaam group" is what they call themselves, but most of the musicians are highly established in the professional music maker's circuit.
I was supposed to sing Thenral Vandhu with KJY sir but since it was pushed to the end of the show he was not keen on singing it after the tempo had picked up to very fast numbers.
The response that we get especially from the Tamils here is out of the world. The monitors for the female voices was pretty bad, but after a point the engineer got a hang of it. Both Chitra amma and I had a tough time hearing ourselves sing before he could.
The Air Canada centre was totally packed - read 10,000+ people. And in an auditorium like that, getting the sound right is a herculean task. But then, most of the times, I have not really had a good monitor.
I gotta learn to get the in-ear monitor, but I tried it once while singing at Mumbai for the Filmfare awards, I wasnt quite comfortable with it.
Yesudas sir and Chitra amma said that my Thesulavudhe was very nice. Chitra amma always goes OTT praising me. She had takena soft corner for me right from the beginning and now, the bond we share is a special one.
I was looking forward to singing with KJY sir, but then I hope there will be another oppurtunity.The run order did not have a song that I could sing with SPB sir, and that was disappointing as well
Sahana - the applause I got was out of the world. Some of the times that I thank God and send him a silent prayer, and a silent thank you to Rahman sir. When I performed KMI first at Nehru Indoor Stadium for the then Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, Rahman Sir's act had Hari ji, a huge battalion of small children singing Vande Mataram and I. And we started with KMI. Rahman sir told me to give a short alaap before beginning with KMI and also told me how to finish, in an unpredictable way. The video is there in this blog and in YouTube to see. As soon as I had finished with the Alaap and started with the song, everyone applauded and did so again at the end. That was goose-bumps-happening time. And I had the same exp last night as soon as I had finished Sahana. I will not say that my rendition was perfect, it was tough to figure out what I was singing becos of the monitors. But in spite of that people went berserk. These are times when a singer gets the reaffirmation as to where the credit really belongs. With the music maker. And the movie.
Kangalal Kaidhu Sei is an excellent album. But except for abroad, people in Tamilnadu don't know of these songs because the movie did not do well. Once we cross the shores, only the music matters to the people here, the success of the film does nothing to the way they relish the music.
Everytime, Rahman sir makes sure that I dont disappear from the scene. He has kept me alive in this industry. Its common knowledge that I have not sung a million songs otherwise. Which is why now, none of the similies for "gratitude" to Rahman sir would quite suffice. Honestly, I have no idea why.
I do not think there will be time to look around this city this time. I have another concert this evening. And we fly back right after.
God willing, there will be another oppurtunity to look around this city.
P.S.: KMI = Kannathil Muthamittaal