By Delia Paunescu

Hofstra Concerts has put on many a show over the years. Some have rocked (All-American Rejects), some have rolled (The Roots) and others were just plain fun (Gym Class Heroes). But few were as completely wonderful as the one that took place Monday night at Hofstra USA.

For their first of 2009, Concerts brought us Estelle. Yes, that Estelle of “American Boy” fame, one of the most popular singles of last year.

But before she took the stage, C4, Hofstra’s own rap group opened. Up on the stage, among the instruments of Estelle’s live band, these four students looked just as comfortable as the professional singer would minutes later. And they did a fine job getting the crowd excited for what was to come.

When she did come out, to “Wait A Minute (Just A Touch),” the English singer put on a show that was exciting, fun and generally amazing. Estelle even insisted the crowd dance and enjoy themselves from the start, a demand she didn’t let up on until the end of her 45-minute set.

Standing in a shiny gold top, fabulous fake eyelashes and tight jeans, she performed most of the tracks from her 2008 release “Shine.” Even “American Boy” made list, though Estelle admitted being sick of having to sing it.

To show a range of talent, the petite songstress covered Coldplay’s “God Put A Smile Upon Your Face” and “Get Ready” by The Temptations. Her live band and attractive back-up singers helped move the show along, providing not only music but also additional entertainment, maintaining an incredibly high energy throughout the night.

Halfway through her performance, Estelle decided it was time to further involve the crowd. For most singers, this might mean having them sing along or giving someone in the front row a shout-out. For Estelle, it meant literally bringing people up on stage and inviting students to dance alongside her. Two of the lucky participants were junior Tammy Kim, a PR major, and senior Sean Hutchinson, a marketing major.

“She was picking from the left and right and then she looked straight ahead at me. Originally, I raised my hand to point to my friend but she picked me,” Kim said of the experience. I thought ‘Oh my gosh I can’t believe I’m doing this.’ It was a little intimidating because I’ve never danced in public like that. Kim added, “In the end it was very cool and very exciting. It was a really great experience that I got to meet Estelle. I definitely had a lot of fun.”

Estelle on stage was real. She spoke to the women in the audience of breaking up, of those “not quite” relationships and of not taking crap from men. “The men in the audience will hate me. ‘What’s this b-ch taking about?!’ they’ll say,” Estelle mentioned during a break.

Like her songs, she is both empowered and empowering. During her night at Hofstra, she was eager to share her gospel of the sisterhood with any woman in the audience who would listen. There were no pretenses and no diva behavior as exemplified in the fact that she jokingly kept pulling up her jeans all night. Only her purple bedazzled mic let the slip that this is a woman who’s talented enough to have worked with the likes of Kanye and John Legend.

Talented as Estelle is, playing at Hofstra USA was definitely aided by improvements that were made to the space. A most impressive light show made the simple room, best known as the place where students go for chicken fingers and fries either post-gym or in the middle of the night, into a valid concert venue.

Estelle was lit up in every color of the rainbow, resulting in some amazing pictures for those students who used their digital cameras nearly the entire time.

The one thing that was missing from the near-perfect show was a sold-out crowd. Hofstra students, while present did not pack USA the way they have the much-larger Playhouse in the past-even though Estelle is arguable just popular as past acts who have sold out. Hearing complaints that not enough big-name performers come through our gates will now be rather ludicrous. Given the opportunity, only 200 students decided the Grammy-nominated singer was worth the $12 dollar ticket price.

And they were right. Estelle was well worth that and much more.