Tan Yng Jich | 22.11.2000

The sophisticated and the elite, mingle together in Singapore's six-star hotel. Ladies clad in gowns of silk or satin, gentlemen in suits, holding champagne flutes and munching on tidbits. Think you're in some formal government function? You're wrong. This was the setting for The Platters' performance in Singapore on a rainy Wednesday night.

The doors opened at 7.45pm and the crowd slowly spilled into the Grand Ballroom of the hotel. Brian Richmond from Gold 90.5FM had the hosting honours for that night. Titled “Only You”, the concert promises to be romance, romance and romance all night long.

8.15pm, The Platters appeared on stage and started their first love ballad. Beautiful lead vocals set against “doo wop”, that is what the Platters have always been known for since they first appeared back in the 50s. The original Platters were formed in 1953 by Herb Reed and The Platters that performed during the concert is the group that bears the “registered trademark” of The Platters.

The three men and a lady sure knew how to please the crowd, performing one of their most well known hits next, “Only You” before launching into “Twilight Time”, “Remember When” and “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”. Though audience participation was lukewarm, The Platters was not deterred. One of the members of the group came down from the stage and serenaded two lucky members of the audiences with what was the most romantic song for the night, “Unchained Melody”.

The Platters built up the tempo of the concert with a cover of “The Twist” that had many of the audience standing up and “twisting” together with The Platters. Then it was back to more love songs, or rather, like what one of the members said, more of “their” songs, with “Red Sails In The Sunset” and “You've Got The Magic Touch”.

More audience participation was up next, as The Platters asked the audience to sing along to “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”, with the gentlemen in the crowd singing the chorus and the ladies singing the refrain. One of the more touching moments in the concert was when The Platters asked a couple to serenade each other with the song.

Then it was on to the last song, “My Prayer”. But of course the audience wanted more, and so The Platters came back on stage again and did “The Great Pretenders” as an encore.

A lacklustre sound aside, I realized that the reason why people still love The Platters till this day is simply because love is a universal language that needs no explanation.