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Katie Melua: Apollo, London W6

Lisa Verrico, The Times, 6 February 2006

THE AUDIENCE stayed in their seats all evening, applauded politely at the end of each song and, despite the occasional invitation, refused to join in with the hits. If Katie Melua has an image problem, it is her fans who are to blame. On stage, the 21-year-old did her best to live down to her age, discarding her guitar to shake hips squeezed in to skinny jeans and trill a purple tambourine, chirpily chatting about death, sex and prostitution as middle-aged men squirmed in their seats, and shelving jazz standards for adventurous covers inspired by her own iPod.

Total word count of piece: 442

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