Jewel was grumpy and not in the best of moods, according to a reporter who interviewed her hours before last night's concert. 

Clocking one and a half hours, the singer-songwriter's This Way concert was half an hour shorter than her gig here three years ago.

And that's surprising, since she's just released a brand new album.

Furthermore, a full house of 4,500 at Harbour Pavilion in 1999 has whittled down to a cosier, 2,500-strong crowd at the Suntec Convention Hall, with pockets of empty seats glaring from the sides.

Could Jewel be (gasp!) losing her sparkle?

Yet the leftover army of loyal Jewel lovers (expats and locals ranging from mid-20s to 40s) begged to differ.

They lapped up everything their angelic goddess had to offer-every sigh and scream, warble and wail.

They cheered robustly and unending declarations of "I love you, Jewel!" punctuated every tune.

Especially when Jewel, 27, belted out hits like Standing Still, Hands, Who Will Save Your Soul and Foolish Games.

ONE GROOVY BABE!

Looking every bit the rock-cum-country chick with her unkempt blonde mane, black micro-mini and thigh -high leather boots, Jewel initially looked stiff and uneasy, clasping for wrists and wringing her hands as she sang.

But when the screams intensified during the third song, the Alaskan-born chanteuse got her groove back and those pitch perfect vocal gymnastics went into full swing.

"What do you feel like hearing?" she toyed with her captive audience in her saccharine-sweet babyish voice.

Suggestions were hollered in all directions, prompting her to joke: "I feel like I'm on The Price Is Right."

And when increasing proclamations of love interrupted her acoustic guitar intro to You Were Meant For Me, she teased again," Let's get the 'I love yous' out of the way. But I don't see a lot of gifts here!"

Immediately, a tiny horse soft-toy was tossed at her (cowgirl Jewel loves horses, by the way)  

Later when she asked-"Any fans of rodeo here? Guess not many cowboys live here. How about cowboys at heart?"-We could guess what was coming next.

While most stars shy away when it comes to their paramours, Jewel talked about her rodeo champ boyfriend Ty Murray with coy pride. (He co-wrote her new song, Till We Run Out Of Road).

And is that a sparkly ring I spy on Jewel's wedding finger? Hmmm.

The humorous rapport with her fans continued when she announced: "This is the polka portion of the evening. It was inevitable. You'll be stunned by its poetry."

Instead, the idiosyncratic, whimsical lyrics ("I had a cold and started to sneeze/Wiped my nose on my sleeve/Do you wanna catch a cold with me?") left us in stitches.

In the middle of the concert, Jewel commanded everyone to move forward to the stage.

Those sitting in the front row excitedly charged ahead and pressed themselves against the barricades, whereas the not-so-lucky rest of us stood on our seats.

That's when Jewel really cast her spell-swaying her hips and doing some sultry undulating a la Aaliyah in Queen Of The Damned.

Okay, so there were none of the poem-readings or quirky anecdotes that her live act is famous for.

But phew, at least Jewel ended with her bullet-speed yodelling-the crown jewel of every fan's dream concert.