Australian singer-songwriter Guy Sebastian delivered a stunning one-hour set in his first performance in Singapore and for MTV Sessions on Monday night at Resorts World Sentosa’s state-of-the-art Waterfront Studio which saw over 250 fans packing the venue.
Sebastian engaged the attentive audience with anecdotes about his songs and joked with them throughout the intimate live recording session. Backed by a five-piece band, the seasoned singer held everyone in thrall with a setlist that showed off his signature vocals, proof of his continued success as one of Australia’s bestselling artistes. He offered up hit after hit, from latest single “Like a Drum” from his soon-to-be released album to familiar songs like “Battle Scars,” “Who’s That Girl,” “Get Along,” “Like It Like That,” and “Don’t Worry Be Happy”.
Photo Credits: MTV Asia/Aloysius Lim
When we met him the next morning for a quick chat, we asked if, despite the many times he has performed in front of an audience, he still gets nervous before a show. He confessed, “You know, sometimes, when you try to calm yourself down..you end up working yourself up even more! I think I can never get used to getting nervous before a show.”
“Probably the most nerve wrecking moments I’ve ever had are when I have to perform for people or doing things that I’ve never dreamt of doing like..performing for Oprah when she was in Australia. She was on stage with me with her arm around me singing..for an hour! It was amazing like, Oprah? On stage with me? I’ve also performed on David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon and Conan..and it’s those moments when I sit there and go..oh my gosh David Letterman is talking to me, like what?”
Photo Credits: MTV Asia/Aloysius Lim
As for his most nerve wrecking moment ever, he said, “Beyoncé..that was probably one of the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life. I was a judge for X-Factor in Australia and I had Beyoncé as my guest judge. We were on a two-seater couch and she was sitting right next to me for an entire day! And in between filming, I’m like..so..whereabouts in New York do you and Jay live? It’s like..I’m small talking with Beyoncé – what do you say to her?! Except, ‘You’re perfect!’ because in real life she’s like a painting. She’s flawless.”
We also had to ask him about the song that he holds very dearly to his heart and he replied, “There’s a song called Get Along, which I wrote in my last album..I wrote it at a time when I guess..my world was being rocked. I was about to have a child and I remember..as this kid was coming, I started to freak out about the world that he was gonna inherit because it’s a world where there’s a lot of crazy things happening. Every time you turn on the TV or read the news, you know, it’s hard to comprehend what’s happening to the world. So I wrote that song which was basically my heart’s wish or a heart’s cry for a world where people (regardless of where they’re from, their religion or sexuality or colour or race) can just learn to love the human being behind all of that.”
Lucky us, we got to hear that live! Thank you so much for speaking to us, Guy Sebastian. And special thanks to our friends from Sony Music Malaysia, Sony Music Singapore, and MTV Asia for making this awesomeness happen.
“MTV Sessions: Guy Sebastian” premieres on MTV Asia on Friday, 18 July at 9pm (WIB), 10pm (SG/HK) and 11pm (MAL) with additional content available online here. Repeat airings of the show are at the following times:
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Sunday, 20 July at 10am (WIB), 11am (SG/HK) and 12pm (MAL)
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Tuesday, 22 July at 3pm (WIB), 4pm (SG/HK) and 5pm (MAL)
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Saturday, 26 July at 3am (WIB), 4am (SG/HK) and 5am (MAL)
For more information, visit Guy Sebastian’s official website. He’s also on Spotify if you want to check out his music. Also, don’t forget to follow him on Twitter and Instagram!