Nelly Furtado opens Olympics and announces tour

Nelly Furtado, genre-bending global superstar, Grammy Award winner and native of nearby Victoria, British Columbia, kicks off what promises to be an extraordinary 2010 with a performance at the Vancouver Olympics. One of 12 major Canadian artists selected to perform at BC Place during the Olympics, with each concert paying tribute to that day’s medal winners, Furtado’s concert has the honor of being the first, on Sunday, February 14.

The acclaimed multiplatinum-selling singer-songwriter soon thereafter heads to Latin America for a 10-city tour that reaches Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela in support of platinum-selling Mi Plan, her fourth album and first entirely in Spanish. The disc’s first single, “Manos al Aire,” made history last summer when it soared to #1 on Billboard’s Latin singles chart, marking the first time a North American artist reached the top spot with a song originally written in Spanish. In addition, the single hit #1 in Italy, Germany, Colombia, Spain, US Latin, Chile, Central America and European charts, and Top 5 in Mexico, Spain and Argentina. Also, the album, Mi Plan hit #1 on the US Latin and Mexico charts.

Mi Plan is critically acclaimed and is garnering award nominations across the board. The disc earned two nominations at last year’s MTV Latin Music Awards and two at the Premios 40 Principales, Spain’s most important awards show. This year Nelly is nominated for two awards at the Premio Lo Nuestro 2010: Best New Artist (Latin artist), and Best Female Artist. The Premio Lo Nuestro awards take place in Miami on February 18 and broadcast live on Univision. In addition, she has also earned four nominations at the Billboard Latin Music Awards: Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year, Female; Latin Pop Airplay Artist of the Year, Female; Tropical Airplay Artist of the Year, Female; and Latin Digital Album of the Year. The Billboard Latin Music Awards will take place in Puerto Rico on April 29 and will be broadcast live on Telemundo.

Meanwhile, Furtado is finishing her fifth album, expected to be released in May. Early collaborations see her working with award winning producer Saalam Remi (Amy Winehouse, Nas, Fugees), and once again, Timbaland, the renowned producer who helmed much of her 2006 smash Loose, including its platinum Grammy-nominated, #1 pop hit “Promiscuous.” The U.S. platinum plus album, which debuted at #1, spawned five Juno Awards, including Furtado for Artist of the Year.

As if the Olympics, a tour, various awards and a new album were not enough, on February 23, Furtado will begin shooting her second feature film role, alongside Olivia Newton-John, for Score: A Hockey Musical, written and directed by Michael McGowan, Director of the critically acclaimed, St. Ralph in her hometown of Toronto.

From her eclectic 2002 double platinum debut Whoa, Nelly! (which included the Grammy and Juno Award winning “I’m Like A Bird”) and the gold Folklore (whose “Forca” became the official anthem of the 2004 European Cup Football Championship) to Loose, which sold more than 10 million copies worldwide to rank as the #1 global seller of 2007, and the record-setting Mi Plan, Furtado has taken the world by storm.

Latin Tour Dates:
Mar 13 – Guadalajara, Mexico – Auditorio Telemex

Mar 15 – Monterrey, Mexico – Arena Monterrey

Mar 16 – Mexico City, Mexico – Auditorio Nacional

Mar 18 – Caracas, Venezuela- CCC Tamanaco

Mar 20 – Guayaquil, Ecuador – Centro de Conveniciones

Mar 22 – Santiago, Chile – Movistar Arena –

Mar 23 – Buenos Aires, Argentina -Luna Park

Mar 25 – Porto Alegre, Brazil- Teatro do Bourbon Country

Mar 27 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Via Funchal

Mar 28 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil- HSBC Arena