When Alicia Keys finally took to the stage as the closing act of SINGfest 08, she was nearly 2 hours behind schedule.

In fact, even after the Pussycat Dolls sang their last notes past 11pm, she was no where to be seen backstage, where a group of her fans had been waiting patiently for her to show up at a meet-and-greet, which was scheduled to happen at 9pm.

“Oh my God, the Dolls are playing! Why isn’t Alicia here yet,” several fans could be heard complaining, as they were herded around into groups of 7, then 8, then 9, by her artiste management. There was even a big hoo-ha over the difference between pink and purple backstage passes.

UrbanWire was there to try and get some exclusive coverage just for you. Unfortunately, we were rudely (and roughly) chased out by Alicia’s artiste management on several occasions, who even tried to bar some fans, who had won the chance to meet Alicia in person, from meeting her.

Even when she finally arrived, the fans barely had 20 seconds with her, being herded into the media tent for photos, and back out even before they could do so much as to shake her hand.

Luckily, the fans were pretty forgiving.

“She was actually really sweet and tried to shake each of our hands. But they [her artiste management] chased us out before she could,” Heineken Green Room competition winner Julian Lim told UrbanWire as he clutched his unautographed As I Am sadly.

“She’s really not a diva at all,” he said.

So, does Alicia Keys need a better artiste management?

Yes, she does.

If you’re wondering why we only have 7 photos of Alicia’s performance, it’s because only 10 publications were allowed in the photography pit. These are the best our photographer Serena Chew managed to get whilst squished in the crowd.