By Victoria Barker

WHOSE fault is it when an artist cancels a gig?

That was the question on the minds of the confused audience at the Tom Jones gig last Friday night.

Though British crooner Engelbert Humperdinck must have been rubbing his hands with glee when his rumoured long-time rival pulled the plug just two songs in, claiming that he wasn't feeling well, the audience was left dumbfounded.

Why, why, why, some concert- goers jokingly began singing in a nod to the guy's 1968 hit Delilah. And unlike his other 1965 smash, the situation was, to put it simply, highly unusual.

Later, the singer's camp revealed that Mr Sex Bomb himself was suffering from acute laryngitis.

Now, this is not the first time an artist has pulled out of a show on little or no notice, and it certainly won't be the last. Back in 1996, American alt-rockers Smashing Pumpkins cut short a gig here because of technical difficulties and frontman Billy Corgan being unwell.

Powerhouse diva Mariah Carey, too, called off a 2003 concert here in the aftermath of the Sars crisis, less than a month before it was scheduled to take place. She promised to reschedule the concert, but has yet to deliver on that promise.

Janet Jackson, on the other hand, finally performed here in 1995, after postponing shows almost a year earlier.

And who could forget Kylie Minogue, who cancelled her first gig in Singapore in 2005, a month in advance? The singer had been diagnosed with breast cancer then, which she beat. She played her first Singapore show in 2008.

And, in January, mega rockers The Killers bailed just days before their Asian and Australian tours, due to "a serious illness of a close family member".

Fans were incensed.

As for Sir Tom, his track record has not exactly been stellar.

Last year, he was forced to scrap a string of United States tour dates when he contracted bronchitis.

But, while there's no denying that last Friday's turn of events left fans disappointed (not to mention inconvenienced, especially for those who'd flown in for the gig), the question of where the blame lies is unclear.

Can the man - at 69 years of age, mind you - really be faulted for falling ill?

Sure, he could have made the decision to postpone his gig a little earlier, when he felt unwell.

That, at least, would have saved his loyal fans the trouble of travelling to the event venue with high hopes of a rockin' concert.

But, hey, we can't say he didn't try, managing to belt out two songs before he stopped the show. By choosing to put off the gig, he avoided straining himself further - and robbing attendees of their money's worth.

What's the point of giving fans a half-hearted concert, right?

Plus, the guy has quickly made good on his promise to reschedule, and will take to the stage on Thursday to, hopefully, make up for the trouble.

And it's unlikely that the concert organiser, RWS, is to blame either. After all, it had received no indication that the singer was unwell and could not have foreseen the postponement.

Perhaps, in the end, it is up to concert-goers to make exceptions - and perhaps be a little more understanding - when it comes to circumstances beyond the control of event organisers and even, in some cases, the artists themselves.

For now, let's just hope for the sake of the concert-goers still willing to go to Jones' gig, that the singer manages to recuperate before Thursday's show.

vbarker@sph.com.sg

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