The first thing I felt when I arrived at the stadium was not excitement or anticipation, but the heat.

It was so hot.

Even with the gaping hole in the roof that screamed: ‘open air concert!’ ventilation was just not happening. The humidity was stifling and made the audience all gasp for breath, wondering how Kelly Clarkson was going to sing with all this condensed water in the air. The smart concert-organizers handed out fans to the throngs of sweating audience members who gratefully accepted and began to fan themselves, providing some measure of relief in the sweltering stadium.

Attendance wasn’t too good, I would say. Only about a third of the stadium was open for seating, and even that wasn’t filled up with people. Perhaps it was the terrible condition of the stadium that scared people off.

Anyway, I being the journalist of some sorts, immediately opened my eyes wide for a scoop. I immediately noticed my uncle, who was a big Kelly fan, who managed to get standing room tickets, and sighed jealously.

The concert-organizers had also handed out packets of thunder-sticks to the members of the audience, sponsored by Parkson - so on each stick, the letters P-A-R-K-S-O-N were printed on a white background. My sister had thought that the letters spelt C-L-A-R-K-S-O-N and was quite annoyed when she found out that it spelled Parkson instead - and I told her that was hilarious, and that it would be in my article.

Being familiar with the ways of superstars, we had arrived later than the specified time. Still, when we arrived the supporting performances hadn’t finished - when we sat down we were somewhere through a medley sung by the great Jaclyn Victor, followed by a performance by Suki - who clambered onstage in a red dress with a train so long it had to be carried by two assistants, and if it wasn’t so hot I would have laughed out loud at the spectacle that it made.

Everyone noticed when the car drove up into the stadium, and everyone knew it was Kelly. There was a little murmur of anticipation, and then she burst onto the stage in a very casual sort of outfit, bare-footed, with wild, frowsy hair, and very little make-up. My mum would later tell me that it was an injustice to have paid for the tickets to see a normal-looking Kelly who didn’t bother to dress up for the stage, but I digress. Seeing her so natural was very inspiring. She really didn’t pretend to be glamorous or better than anyone else with expensive clothes or make-up that caked her face. And she wasn’t skinny. Not fat, but not skinny either.

That was awesome - the audience feel right at home because she was so normal. The only way you could tell she was a star was when she opened her mouth and sang. And she sang all the best Kelly songs - opened with I Do Not Hook Up from her latest album, All I Ever Wanted, and continued with Already Gone, Because Of You, and a medley of some of her earlier songs, Just Missed The Train, Addicted, Low, and Walk Away. She hopped around the stage barefoot and sweaty, and was polite and humble and the audience loved her to bits and pieces.

There were cries of “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KELLY!” from the audience, since her birthday had just passed a couple of days ago. She laughed and thanked us, and broke into Miss Independent. She covered a couple of other songs, including one of my favorites - Use Somebody, originally by Kings Of Leon.

There were no back-up dancers, no visual effects, no changes of clothes. I think this was, of course, partly due to the fact that our dilapidated old Bukit Jalil stage couldn’t handle the extra visual effects. The entire concert was merely her enormous stage presence with a couple of lights to enhance the stage and band - the bare necessities of any concert - but it was enough to wow the audience.

Well, to be more precise, it wowed me. I was on my feet for most of the concert, but not many people besides me were standing (I speak for those in the seating area). Some people even looked at me weirdly when I cheered. I don’t think it was because they weren’t fans, they were merely not the type of audience who participated in a live concert, the type who were ‘just there to enjoy the music’ and were really not too happy with the condition of the stadium. Still, the lack of audience participation was a little frustrating, and it felt pretty weird to be the only one standing when everyone else was seated and looking at you with a ‘Now what on earth is she doing?’ look on their faces, but I got over the awkwardness rather quickly.

Perhaps I’m getting a little too used to that feeling - people do always seem to stare at me when I’m being enthusiastic at concerts. Ah, well. At least I know I definitely enjoyed myself, not being stiff and sweaty and static in their seats like the rest of the audience.

She ended her concert on a high note - My Life Would Suck Without You, from her album All I Ever Wanted. How sweet! The audience went. Encore! But that was it for the night, and I was satisfied with her performance, and it was really getting too hot for any more cheering.