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‘Shark Tale’ Soundtrack Features Line Up of Musical All-Stars, Including Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige, Christina Aguilera & Missy Elliott

Wednesday 28th July 2004 - SANTA MONICA

In advance of the 1st October opening of DreamWorks’ new computer animated comedy “Shark Tale,” Geffen Records will release the film’s soundtrack CD on 21st September. The soundtrack features performances from several of today’s chart-topping musical artists, including Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige, Christina Aguilera & Missy Elliott, “American Idol’s” Fantasia, Cheryl Lynn, Nelly Furtado, Sean Paul with Ziggy Marley.

Tracks on the “Shark Tale” soundtrack include Christina Aguilera & Missy Elliott performing a new version of the disco classic “Car Wash;” Mary J. Blige singing “Got To Be Real,” and Sean Paul partnered with Ziggy Marley (who provides the voice for a Rastafarian jellyfish named Ernie in the film) on “3 Little Birds.” The CD also features Justin Timberlake, with several more artists to be announced shortly.

“Shark Tale” is the story of Oscar (Will Smith), a fast-talking little fish who lands in hot water when a great white lie turns him into an unlikely hero. It stars the voices of Academy Award® nominee Will Smith as Oscar; two-time Academy Award® winner Robert De Niro as Don Lino; Oscar® winner Renee Zellweger as Angie, a beautiful angel fish who harbours a secret crush on Oscar; Academy Award® winner Angelina Jolie as Lola, a dragon fish who uses her feminine wiles to get what she wants; Jack Black as Lenny, a great white shark who is a wardrobe vegetarian; and multiple Oscar®-nominated director Martin Scorsese as Sykes, a puffer fish who is full of hot air. Rounding out the main cast are Peter Falk, Michael Imperioli, Vincent Pastore; and Doug E. Doug and Ziggy Marley as Bernie and Ernie, two Rastafarian jelly fish with a stinging sense of humour.

“Shark Tale” is directed by Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron and Rob Letterman. Bill Damaschke, Janet Healy and Allison Lyon Segan are producing.

Source: Yahoo

Whoa, Nelly’s found her feet - Once uncomfortable in concert, Furtado’s a richer singer and better dancer
By Kerry Gold - Vancouver Sun - Saturday, 24th July 2004

Twenty-five-year-old new mum Nelly Furtado basks in the adoration of her Orpheum audience Thursday night.

Orpheum, 22nd July

Nelly Furtado, Victoria’s Grammy-winning breakthrough artist, has traversed a long flight path as a performer in the last three years.

The talented 25-year-old singer and songwriter had never nailed the art of the live performance. At times, she seemed uncomfortable and rushed in concert, failing to connect with audience or bandmates, leaving the impression that she’d phoned in the show rather than lived and breathed it.

Times have changed. Perhaps it is motherhood that has transformed Furtado into a more confident performer, a far richer singer and an even better dancer. In interviews she has said as much, and judging from her near-two-hour show Thursday at the Orpheum Theatre, motherhood has it’s rewards.

The sound was crystalline, and Furtado’s voice was a strong, fluid, and frequently breathtaking instrument as she worked through her new Latin-flavoured Folklore album in the first half of the show, gaining momentum with the multi-layered pop of Explode, and extra special adoration from the packed audience for her best song and most compelling melody to date, Try.

And it was an audience that clearly came to adore this eclectic artist who first caught our attention for her undefinable melange of pop, hip hop, Brazilian, dance and Portuguese fado. The large crowd that gathered at the front of the stage was a mix of young men and women, raising their hands to grasp Furtado’s. Furtado happily complied, constantly slapping hands, taking flowers and in one instance, signing a baseball cap for a guy from the Dominican Republic. A testament to Furtado’s adventurous songwriting spirit was the diverse audience, which ranged in age from toddlers to grandparents.

The irony of course, is that while Furtado has developed hugely as a performer, she’s no longer playing GM Place-sised venues because of comparatively weaker sales of her recent Folklore album. It’s a strong, wild pastiche of a pop album, but unlike Whoa, Nelly, it does not contain a song as candy-coated sweet as I’m Like a Bird. (Furtado now refers to her debut as a “Starburst candy.”)

She’s more comfortable on stage, but Furtado still seems at a loss for words. She over-uses the cliche call-out to her fans — in our case, “Vancouv-ah!” And although she was thoroughly engaged with her seven-piece band, including a perfect-fit female back-up singer and dancer, it would have made for a more interesting and dynamic performance if she’d switched tempos or picked up her acoustic guitar more often.

These are trifling complaints, however, because Furtado managed to take her audience from sitting politely to a standing, arm-waving sea. She has learnt, over the years, to be a grateful and giving artist, and her generosity was felt. Furtado still has a tendency to rush a little through her set list, but the advantage to this show — her best here yet — was that she’s got a lot more material. And although her debut album Whoa, Nelly earned her an ardent international following, the songs from that release felt unsophisticated and undeveloped compared to her new material. For show’s end and during the encore, she performed Turn Out the Light and On the Radio, but they didn’t stand up to the simple, bittersweet melodies of Try, Explode, Picture Perfect, or even the buoyant, anthemic pop of Powerless (Say What You Want).

Furtado returned to her hip-hop roots and celebrated former collaborations with Swollen Members and Missy Elliott when she brought Swollen Member (and audience member) Prevail and opening act MC Shankhini on to the stage for singles Breathe and Get your Freak On.

Canadian supergroup Shaye, comprised of heavyweight talents Tara MacLean, Damhnait Doyle and Kim Stockwood, set the tone of the evening with their spot-on opening set. The threesome delighted the crowd with their charisma (they’re young, but they’re also seasoned performers by now) and played songs from their melody-driven The Bridge debut CD, including the joyously upbeat hit, Happy Baby.

Source: Vancouver Sun

Fan review by Jeff Stackhouse for SOTR.com - Come As You Are Tour 2004

Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, BC - 22nd July 2004

I was at the Nelly Furtado Concert in Vancouver this Thursday for the Come As You Are Tour. It’s been called one of the best Nelly shows of all time…but all of the shows I have seen have been awesome, of course this one was the best. The thing with this concert that was different from all the other ones I have seen was that Nelly seemed really comfortable performing in front of the sold-out crowd… she was lovin’ it and so was the crowd.

From Fresh Off The Boat’s hip hop jam, to the Portuguese stylings of a traditional songs of her heritage, Nelly was workin’ it. On Explode, right when she said “We’re counting the stars” all of the background lit up with thousands of lights that looked like stars! It was the coolest! Oh a hip-hop remix of Breath/Get UR Freak On, Prevail from Swollen Members came out and did a freestyle rap that was very awesome. It was hype.

Se did every great song she has. Powerless, Try, I’m Like A Bird, Shit On The Radio, Well Well, Fresh Off The Boat ( the first song of the night! ) as well as Picture Perfect ( Nelly’s favourite new song! ) On Forca, the whole crowd was just so hyped and were singing and chanting and really totally into the spirit of the football theme! She danced throughout the night and was clearly enjoying herself and her fans the whole night.

It was so amazing to see grandmas and children and many generations of family all at one show. You don’t see that very often at other concerts. She has fans of every culture every creed every walk of life. It’s really COOL.

I was in the first row on the second level looking down upon Nelly and her band. It was the perfect spot… though I would have liked to have shook Nelly’s hand gotten a hug and or kiss and a personalised autograph. I did however buy her autograph, which is real and awesome! and I got the brand new COME AS YOU ARE 2004 Tour T shirt in Black! It’s really really nice. She was also selling lots of lovely shirts for females - like a nice bright orange hoodie and mustard embroidered long sleeved shirt. Oh and I can’t forget the silver body glitter with ” NELLY FURTADO” on the side of the jar… that was cool.. I didn’t get the glitter though. Just the shirt and autograph.

Oh ya and I made a sign for Nelly that said “:I love you nelly” and she appeared to love it! Prevail looked up to me and my friend and gave us the “rap stance” Our arms were folded and he played that up on stage by giving us a full out rap pose. I dunno if anyone got that picture but I would love it.

I took my friend for her B-day. She just loved the show. Like me, she has been to every Nelly show and also thought this one was the best one to date. It was the stage presence and vocal ability that was clearly stronger then ever before.

I think Nelly has grown musically and spiritually and culturally and as a person over the past 5 years and will just continue to get better in all areas in her life… including being a new mum. Congrats to Nelly!

Furtado feels no limits - With second album, ‘I’ve really knocked down the door’
By Tom Harrison - Thursday, 22nd July 2004

With her first album, Nelly Furtado opened the door.

With her second, Furtado ventured outside.

Furtado’s 2000 debut, Whoa Nelly!, introduced the world to a woman who grew up in Victoria, identified with hip-hop culture and referred to her Portuguese roots.

By last fall’s Folklore, the second album, she was living in Toronto, had become a mother and was examining those Portuguese roots up close in songs such as “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Saturdays.”

This made her an obvious choice to record the Portuguese theme song for this year’s football extravaganza, Euro 2004. The song, “Forca” (which means “go for it”), identified her even more closely with Portuguese culture. To her credit, “Forca” isn’t the expected rah-rah rallying cry of sports songs. The fans, the athletes are so emotional.

“Yeah!” exclaims Furtado. “That’s what I tried to do. I focused on the emotion of it. I’m glad I did it.”

Getting beneath the surface might be one of Furtado’s strengths. “Turn Out the Lights” or “I’m Like a Bird” are pop songs with depth, which is why they’ve stuck around. The more recent songs — “One Trick Pony,” “Powerless” — are even more subtle and so not as obvious but they do reveal a lot about the artist.

“It’s a more listenable album,” says Furtado. “It has a more organic feel. And I think my voice is richer. The hip hop is still there, though.”

The hip-hop scene of Victoria, which also produced Swollen Members and Kinnie Starr, was very important to Furtado when she first toured.

Yet the concert she performed at the Vogue a few years ago was more aggressive than expected, almost conventional in it’s rock setting.

“Those were my first shows,” Furtado explains. “This tour is different. It’s more sophisticated. I really love it. It’s more durable.”

Another significant difference is that Furtado knows who her audience is now. It isn’t a narrow range of girls no older than their mid-20s, but spans four-year-olds to seniors of both sexes. It is a cross-section that reveals the slower but longer- lasting impact of the new CD.

Furtado also has a stronger sense of her own identity. Motherhood — daughter Nevis is almost a year old — has reinforced that and examining the dynamics of her heritage has underlined her personality.

She isn’t a faceless pop star but someone who came from somewhere, who has a genuine background.

“My Portuguese roots are very much a part of me,” she says. “I can’t separate my roots from who I am. I’m really proud of my roots. But I’m grateful that I was born here. On the second album, I’m trying to celebrate a bit.”

Folklore isn’t Whoa Nelly! Part Two but expands on her identity. This gives her more room to move for her third album.

“I feel like I have really knocked down the door.” Furtado says. “I feel like I can do what I want. Now that I’ve created Folklore I can go anywhere. It’s really freeing.”

Source: The Vancouver Province

Digging Deep - Nelly Furtado Explored Her Ethnicity And Family History In Writing Her Folklore Album
By Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight

Success didn’t ruin Nelly Furtado but it did make her think seriously about why she’d decided to get involved in the music industry. The 25-year-old Victoria-raised singer did some serious self-examining once she finished touring for Whoa, Nelly!, a debut that roared out of nowhere in 2000 to sell more than two million copies. Furtado came out of the gates with a large-calibre bullet, scoring two massive radio hits (”I’m Like a Bird”, “Turn Off the Light”), becoming ubiquitous on MTV and MuchMusic, and travelling the world to sold-out shows. She doesn’t dispute that the ride was incredible. But her first thought when it was all over was that she needed to take a break.

“When I started to reflect on everything, I was like, ‘Whoa, this is really shallow,’” Furtado says, on the line from her adopted home of Toronto. “I remember looking at a picture of myself in a magazine wearing a pretty dress and going, ‘Man, look at the job I have.’ You wear the right dress and people will like you better. Obviously that’s a very pessimistic way of looking at things, but, really, how much more face-value can you get?”

The down-to-earth singer acknowledges that it’s easy to be cynical about fame once you’ve become a celebrity. But while most musicians tend to forget about where they come from once the royalty cheques start rolling in, Furtado became more determined than ever to stay grounded.

“I’m sort of a serious person,” she says. “My public image may not get that across, but I do think a lot. I spend a lot of time ruminating on the world and my place in it. And I think you hear that a lot on the new album.”

That sophomore disc is called Folklore and it finds Furtado in a more contemplative mood than on Whoa, Nelly!. The new mum hasn’t forgotten how to have fun: tracks like “The Grass Is Green” and “Build You Up” are as irresistibly buoyant as the hits that made her a household name not just in Canada but also in Europe. But even when Furtado’s at her most upbeat, there is, as she notes, a seriousness to her lyrics this time out. Nowhere is that more obvious than on the disc’s infectious first single, “Powerless (Say What You Want)”, in which the olive-skinned artist begins with “Paint my face in your magazine/Make it look whiter than it seems”.

“If there was a theme to the first album, it was an overall one of self-confidence and finding my identity, celebrating my individuality,” Furtado says. “With Folklore I dug a little deeper. And I also did a bit of storytelling; taking what’s true to me in my life and using that for inspiration. There’s a definite social consciousness: talking about the immigrant dream and the working class, both of which are things that are very real to me.”

So instead of dwelling on her newfound celebrity and it’s trappings on Folklore, Furtado is more interested in thinking about her family history. The bouncy “Fresh off the Boat” pays tribute to everyone who’s ever started a new life in another country, while “Island of Wonder” was inspired by a trip to the Azores Islands in Portugal, where her parents were born.

“That comes from my roots–the village that my parents grew up in was really small and really rural and really poor. The island mentality was that, because you didn’t have a lot, you had to be really creative. Your worth was measured by how hard you worked and how you treated other people. I’ve never lost sight of that.”

She’s also perfectly aware of how others see her. Over the past decade, the pop landscape has been littered with one-album wonders. Furtado acknowledges she’s got something to prove to the critics with Folklore’s opening number, “One-Trick Pony”. Over a backdrop of club-kid beats, Old World mandolin, and sad-songs strings (courtesy of the Kronos Quartet), she immediately settles into a groove with the lines “I am not a one-trick pony/I really feel nothing can hold me/I really feel no one can own me”. And over the next 11 tracks, Furtado does plenty to back up that claim, mixing and mashing funkified R & B, old-school hip-hop, adult-contemporary pop, and sun-drenched world beat. Because she’s taken a more mature approach, Folklore lacks the overriding wide-eyed exuberance of Whoa, Nelly!. Furtado’s okay with that. After all, she did set out to get serious.

“I’m a very honest person, which is why I’m such a horrible liar,” she says. “So when I make music, I have to believe in what I’m doing. I think it’s important that a record reflect where an artist is at in their life.”

in & out…
Nelly Furtado sounds off on the things that enquiring minds want to know.

On approaching Caetano Veloso: “He’s been one of my musical idols since I discovered him when I was 17. When I first had to speak with him on the phone I was so nervous. I procrastinated the entire day because I was afraid to call him. And when I finally did, I had to have someone there holding my hand. I still haven’t fully absorbed that I actually got him to sing on my album.”

On Folklore’s original title: “I wanted to call it Fresh off the Boat. I remember my brother ragging on me, going, ‘You’re not fresh off the boat, you were born here, so you can’t call your album that.’ It was meant to be a declaration with a bit of irony.”

On having a social conscience: “It’s important to take action in your own life, which then sets an example. I’m doing something cool in Vancouver–a lot of the proceeds from the show are going to the B.C. Coalition of Women’s Centres. Their funding has been completely cut off by the B.C. government. Hopefully the show will help shed some light on that.”

(Source - straight.com)

Getting personal - Revealing her inner soul on Folklore was both liberating and healing for Nelly Furtado
By Kerry Gold, Vancouver Sun - 21st Jul 2004

Lucky thing that Nelly Furtado released her new album before the DreamWorks label folded, because the Canadian artist will probably not get another chance to dip so far into personal territory.

“It’s a very selfish album in a way because I got a lot out of it,” says Furtado, who grew up in Victoria but speaks Portuguese and feels strong ties with her parents’ Azores lineage. Furtado arrives at the Orpheum Thursday as part of the Canadian leg of a tour that has been receiving strong reviews in Europe and the U.S.

“I touch on the immigrant on Folklore and working-class things, the idea of identity and alienation and fitting in. It’s kind of a healing … I felt a sense of liberation and excitement about music again.”

Furtado had been signed to DreamWorks, a label known for realizing creative potential rather than just commercial profit (other artists included Rufus Wainwright and Robbie Robertson). It was a perfect fit for an artist who sings on her new Folklore release, “I am not a one-trick pony/I really feel no one can own me.”

But a week after the release of Folklore last year, the label was bought out by Universal, and it’s artists have been taken in by the Universal-Interscope Geffen unit. The major label is less likely to be as patient with an artist trying to recapture her folk roots with a banjo. She hints that the label is nudging her toward a return to a more urban sound, the wisdom being that it’s always popular with the kids these days.

“I’m really looking forward to recording the third album, but I’m a little bit tentative,” she says. “I had a great creative team over at DreamWorks, and they really cared about me. They really cared about art.

“Now I don’t know. In the U.S., hip hop and urban stuff is quite popular and I naturally feel comfortable doing that stuff. But it’s more what I do for fun and in a collaborative way.

“But it’s like, we’ll see what happens. At the end of the day I am a really bad liar and I’ve just got to feel good about it. I have to really love stuff and I have to feel like there’s growth happening.”

Furtado’s second album Folklore will go down as her masterful but neglected release because compared to the multi-platinum-million-selling, Grammy-winning Whoa, Nelly debut, it’s looking like the pale-faced kid sister.

It’s not fair, of course, because Furtado’s Folklore is studded with joyous, supremely catchy melodies and world-flavour embellishments supplied by the Kronos Quartet, Bela Fleck and Caetano Veloso. Songs Powerless, Explode and Try transcend her breakthrough, thin-on-melody hit I’m Like a Bird.

Three years older and pregnant with her first child, Furtado recorded Folklore with her production and co-writing team Track & Field (former Philosopher Kings Brian West and Gerald Eaton), but the second time out, she stuck closely to her Portuguese and Latin influences without losing sight of the fact that she possesses a fluid pop music voice.

The result is critical acclaim without the astonishing sales, although Furtado insists that the album has transcended Whoa, Nelly sales in markets such as Germany and Holland. While Whoa, Nelly is a reflection of her-less experienced self, she is proud of her mining for substance on Folklore. She is at a stage in her career when she can reflect on the big picture when it comes to her debut and the long-awaited sophomore release.

“[Whoa, Nelly] is like a Starburst candy,” she explains. “It’s candy-coloured bright and happiness. I guess I boosted that a little bit and people really liked it and I had a great big song, I’m Like a Bird, but it actually took awhile to be in the Top 10. Whoa, Nelly didn’t blow up until a year after it came out.

“I believe a lot of the songs on this [new] album are pretty strong. I think if I toured it and promoted it as heavily as the first one it might have sold a little bit more. But at the same time I don’t think it’s the same kind of album. I think it’s a deeper kind of album . . . it impacts on the emotions a little bit more.

“It’s such a truthful album and it’s been so liberating for me . . . performing these new songs. I sometimes feel so naked on stage, and it’s a great feeling, like I’m really sharing a layer of myself with the crowd.”

It is, Furtado likes to say, an album that became necessary because she realised she needed to tell her story before she went any further. She’d also felt overwhelmed at her breakthrough success with Whoa, Nelly, and the pressures of following up with the next release.

“With Whoa, Nelly and touring the world and seeing so many things and having things thrown at me, it all seemed very confusing and you’re trying to run away from yourself, you’re searching the world for your destiny in a way, but then you realise everything you are is inside of you and the things that have been struggles for you are what make you so strong.

“The things that you have navigated your way through.”

These last 10 months Furtado has been navigating the new territory that is motherhood. She says daughter Nevis has adapted to life on the road, but her own 25-year-old body is still recovering from childbirth. Furtado didn’t throw herself into three-hour-a-day workouts to get ready for the videos that followed almost immediately after giving birth. She wasn’t afraid to look a little thick around the waist.

“Ah, I didn’t do the whole Hollywood schtick, you know, pretend that you didn’t just have a child,” she says, laughing. “I had to be on TV two months later and I was just wearing anything that fit me.

“I was nursing too. You need calories to produce milk. I’m proud to be a nursing, eating mother. The weight that has come off has basically just been from being on stage. Also, I need to get my balance back. And definitely your strength goes. I’m slowly regaining my strength and sense of balance. But it’s cool, because childbirth also makes you feel kind of more in your body and I’m more confident on stage now.”

Mentally, too, Furtado says motherhood has fuelled her creative drive. “I feel more compassionate. You are just in a better place for writing songs — it’s increased my sensitivity to the world. I notice people more now. I notice every mother, father, brother, sister.

“And when I’m on stage I am enjoying performing a lot more than when I did before. I am gaining enthusiasm.

“Because if you think about it, I finally have a life outside of music,” she adds, laughing.

“And I do still hope to be doing this 20 years from now, even if 10 people are buying the album on the Internet. It would be great to be like Neil Young or something — I don’t know if that’s possible, but I really admire people like that.”

Source: Vancouver Sun