I have been biased about Seal. He has a great voice and I have been a fan of some of his hits, but… The unfortunate skin problems on his face distanced the eyes from his album covers. His sparkling suit at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was too flashy even for a world famous singer.

His thick legs and unstable walk was a barrier to the smoothness of his performance on stage. His constant appearance next to his wife, Heidi Klum seemed like an undeserved publicity. I have been wrong about Seal.

His performance in Istanbul on July 19th during the Garanti Bank’s Jazz Festival was exceptional. We made the decision to go to the concert 2 hours before with Aydin. Questions like “what were his most popular songs?” and “will Heidi show up?” kept popping out on the way to the Cemil Topuzlu Concert Hall. Confused, clueless and unorganized we took our seats, waiting for a singer we were both not very impressed with. The huge legs were still unproportional. The pants were unnecessarily y tight. The walk was still sloppy. Yet, such details were only there to mislead us.

An incredible voice filled our ears. A perfectly motivated spirit recharged our batteries. A well-versed and humorous personality touched our hearts. We clapped until our palms hurt. We sang out loud any lyric we were familiar with. We cheered whenever we were prompted to. We have been blown away.
I have been wrong about Seal.
P.S.: I am also equally content to meet someone who can sweat a little more than I do on the stage/dance floor.