Tata takes a 'Shot' in the dark

Teen star and occasional naughty girl Amita “Tata” Young returned to the stage last weekend after an absence of five years during which she’s served as a judge of reality TV talent show “Academy Fantasia” and also spent time in hospital.

“Turn Back Time with Tata” was also special for another reason, as it coincided with her 19th year in the music industry.

A born entertainer, Tata was able to keep fans’ enthusiasm and enjoyment at a high level throughout the almost three hour, sold-out concert at the 7,000-seat Royal Paragon Hall.

This reviewer attended on Sunday, the second night, and was impressed at how Tata kept the excitement going thanks mainly to a well-thought selection of songs and her superb performance. 

She kicked off the show with “One Night Only”, drawing an enthusiastic welcome from the audience, most of them young adults who stood up, danced and sang along with gusto. So lively was the concert that few bothered to sit down again, preferring to move in time with the lady on stage.

The 33-year-old singer played with the audience from time to time, joking about her figure and one of her show dresses that made her look like a cheerleader. After two years out of the media limelight, much of it spent recovering from a thyroid problem, the audience was delighted to welcome back their old friend and hung on to her every word.

Tata performed many of her past hits, among them “Rob Kuan Ma Rak Kan”, “Oh Oy” as well as the ballads “Prung Nee Mai Sai”, “Mai Rak Tua Eng” and “Kho Dai Mai”. She followed up with numbers from her English-language albums, including “Ready for Love”, “I Believe”, “Cinderella”, and the more up-tempo “Dhoom Dhoom”, “Sexy Naughty Bitchy”, and “El Nin-Yo!”

There were songs too from her acting career, namely “Piang Puen” and “Kae Chan Rak Ther”, with Tata showcasing her powerful vocals on both the slow and fast numbers.

She dedicated “Yoo Pua Krai” to her late dad,  American Timothy Michael Young, who died last year, and “Sak Wan Tong Dai Dee” to the late musical legend Rewat “Ter” Putthinan of GMM Grammy, who made it possible for Tata to release her first album with the label when she was just 14. That album, “Amita Tata Young”, was released in 1995 and within five months had sold 1 million copies.

Guests Jetrin “J” Wattanasin and award-winning Isariya Patharamanop, who is better known as Hun the Star, helped add more flavour to the concert, each performing duets with Tata.

Fans were both delighted and shocked when Tata returned to the stage for “Shot”, moving seductively alongside her two female dancers, one of whom briefly groped her breasts, then locked lips with each other at the end of the song.

She wrapped the show with a medley of dance songs, including “Sakkanid”, “Malaeng”, “Abodebe” and “Oh Oy” as fans once again rose to their feet and sang along to the lyrics.