For six weeks, Nelly Furtado presents her platinum-selling album “Loose” as a stunning stage show in Europe, the USA and Canada. And the perfect sound was provided by Sennheiser, including two evolution microphones in white and gold that were specially made for Nelly Furtado.

The performer could hardly have hoped for a better start to her European and American tour: at February’s Brit Awards in London, the 29-year-old won the “Best International Female Solo Artist” category. With this award in the bag, she set off on the six-week long tour to present live performances of her album “Loose”, a breathtaking mixture of Nelly’s typical folk rhythms, hip hop elements, rap, echoes of reggae and her unmistakable, energy-packed beat.

When she performs songs like “Maneater”, “Say it right” or “Promiscuous” on stage, everything has to be perfectly coordinated: lighting, special effects, choreography, costumes… As a special touch, Nelly Furtado asked Sennheiser to make a special version of her favorite microphone, the SKM 935 from the “evolution wireless” series, in white and gold. “That’s two wishes come true,” she said. “I get perfect sound and it looks great, really going together with the design of the show.”

But these two microphones were only the start: the entire microphone and monitoring technology for the stage show was provided by Sennheiser. “I think it’s really fantastic for my show to use Sennheiser equipment. It gives me more confidence and security,” Nelly Furtado explained. A stage show of such proportions is a technical and logistical tour de force for the entire team. “We have to make sure night after night that everything is perfect,” said Jeffrey Holdip, head sound engineer on Nelly Furtado’s tour. “With the Sennheiser equipment — wireless microphones, wireless monitoring and wireless system management — we know that the technical part will not fail, and that we get exactly the sound we want Nelly to have. Other things might fail, but not these, and that gives us a lot of confidence.”

The “Loose” tour will continue in the US and Canada until June and return to Europe in July: to Portugal. For the daughter of Portuguese parents a fitting finale to her mega tour, almost like playing in front of a hometown crowd.

As one of the world's leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems, the Sennheiser Group with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, had total sales of about €300 million in 2005. The export share is 82.5%. Sennheiser has a total workforce of more than 1,650 employees, of whom about 60% are employed in Germany. Sennheiser is active worldwide and, in addition to other partnerships, has its own sales subsidiaries in France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, India, Singapore, Canada, Mexico and the USA.