Nelly Furtado

International superstar Nelly Furtado will bring her Get Loose Tour to the United States for 17 concerts, starting May 30 in Hollywood, Fl, close by where she recorded most of her five-million-selling hit album Loose.

The Get Loose Tour started in Europe with 23 shows over five weeks. The next leg crossed her native Canada, starting in Victoria, B.C. where the mayor's office proclaimed March 21 as Nelly Furtado Day. (Loose garnered the Victoria-born, Toronto-based Furtado the biggest-selling album in Canada for 2006.)

"This Nelly Furtado thing has hit a whole 'nutha level," praised the Toronto Star.

Furtado will be backed by four dancers and her six-piece band, including Toronto rapper Saukrates on percussion who also fills in for Loose producer Timbaland, from whistling on "All Good Things (Come to an End)," to rapping on the duo's monster hit, "Promiscuous." Saukrates will also double as the opening act.

"For the last eight years I've never really traveled with a full production of lights, visuals and dancers - and this tour I've got all of it," the 28-year-old singer enthused to Sun Media in Victoria. "I've spent eight years building my musicality so that now I can rely on that, but then I also have a great backup up there with all the production, which is a treat for me.

"The show is inspired by Miami. There's palm trees on the set, white palm trees and a white stage, and it's got a little bit of drama to it. I think the show's a little more sensual or sophisticated, but I keep the primary focus on the songs."

Loose debuted at #1 when it was released June 20, 2006 and has spawned four worldwide hit singles: "Promiscuous," "Maneater," "Say It Right," "All Good Things (Come to an End)," with "In God's Hands" waiting in the wings for its turn in the spotlight. Loose has been awarded platinum and gold sales in 28 countries so far.

Furtado says her recent decision to make a foray into acting-she appeared earlier this year on episodes of "CSI: NY" and the ABC soap "One life to Live"-after taking acting lessons in Toronto, has also helped her as a live performer:

"Yeah, incredibly, it has really helped me let go, be able to escape more, into another personality on stage. It taught me more about the theater of performing."

The Toronto Star observed: "The giggly ingénue slightly awestruck at her own sudden stardom who first tirelessly made the rounds of the planet on the back of "I'm Like a Bird" and her hit debut, Whoa, Nelly!, six years ago was supplanted at the Air Canada Centre by a confident, if not quite yet cocky diva-in-training, perfectly at home on an arena stage."

Earlier this month Furtado pocketed five Juno awards - the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys. She won for best artist and pop album of the year, as well as single, album, and fan's choice. Furtado also took the trophy for Best International Female Artist at the Brit Awards in the U.K. in February.

Earlier in the year she was nominated for a Grammy for the lead track from her album, "Promiscuous." (Furtado was nominated for four Grammys for her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, taking home the trophy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I'm Like a Bird.")