CHICAGO — Flirting with the crowd like a brunette Britney — but packing an arsenal of less commercial, more refreshing styles — Nelly Furtado brought her mix of liquid jazz, jugular hip-hop and Brazilian swirl to a capacity crowd at Park West on Wednesday.

On the second night of her first headlining tour, the 22-year-old Canadian singer/songwriter skipped around the stage with her arms floating freely, halting occasionally to answer screams of "I love you, Nelly!" with "I love you, too."

Fresh from picking up four trophies at Sunday's Juno Awards, Canada's equivalent to the Grammys, Furtado shifted back and forth from innocent poet to sexy diva (complete with "uh-uh" finger waves) as her five-piece band let loose on nearly every track from the singer's debut album, Whoa, Nelly!

Kicking off with "My Love Grows Deeper Part 1," Furtado gained a backup choir from audience members and seemed somewhat startled they knew the words. She used the energized fans to her advantage on the next song, "I Will Make You Cry," which she stopped midway to repeat the line "I demand attention when I walk into the room" until she was satisfied with the "attention" the crowd gave her.

Percussionist Daniel Stone joined Furtado at center stage for "Baby Girl," on which he played an archaic guitarlike instrument built with a branch and string.

Stone spent the remainder of the evening behind a buffet of percussion tools that helped bring out the Portuguese and Brazilian flair in Furtado's music. The rest of the band — guitarist Michael Krompass, bassist Dean Jarvis, drummer Adrian Passarelli and keyboardist Kevin Saulnier — played off Furtado's wide-ranging voice, providing everything from hip-hop beats to guitar-rock slams.

Furtado donned a guitar for "Hey, Man!," and then treated fans to "I Feel You," her collaboration with Canadian trip-pop singer Esthero that serves as a B-side to the ubiquitous hit single "I'm Like a Bird." With help from a slick bass groove from Jarvis, Furtado managed to keep the tune funky without the presence of her co-author.

The one-two Portuguese punch of "Scared of You" and the unreleased "Onde Estas" followed, and found Furtado losing her mostly Caucasian crowd for the first time. She gained back the momentum, however, with "Party," in which Furtado rightfully declared, "All I can rectify is that the party's just begun."

Furtado brought the party vibe into "Turn Off the Light," the singer's rollicking latest single, carried by Krompass' catchy guitar lick.

"... On the Radio (Remember the Days)" closed out her first set, and though such lyrics as "You liked me till you heard my sh-- on the radio/ But now I'm just too mainstream for you, oh no" are meant to be humorous, a few heads in the crowd nodded, apparently pondering the meaning.

Furtado came back for an encore that included the Cyndi Lauper-like "Trynna Finda Way" and, of course, a straight-ahead version of "I'm Like a Bird." Radio candy or not, her fans feasted on the hit.

Furtado continues on her monthlong U.S. tour Thursday night (March 8) at the Quest in Minneapolis. The outing wraps up April 9 in Boston.

(For a full-length interview with Nelly Furtado, check out [article id="1438031"]"Nelly Furtado: Teen Pop Goes Global."[/article])