NELLY FURTADO

WITH the good looks of a sex goddess and the voice of a siren, Nelly Furtado is poised to slip into music’s 2001 “It” girl slot.

The 22-year-old Canadian’s Irving Plaza showcase Tuesday – a 90-minute, 13-song trip through her debut album, “Whoa Nelly” – was very different from the typical fluff ‘n’ stuff pop-chick concert.

First, Furtado can’t dance; instead, she’s mastered the seductive, rhythmic sway.

Furtado can sing, so there was no need for a lip-sync safety net.

Finally, shuffling the program with the upbeat up front and the ballads in back was unusual for any show, especially a pop concert. But her snappy encore, featuring her break-out tune, “I’m Like a Bird,” managed to draw her performance full circle.

Furtado fronted a five-man band and took the stage wearing a simple black tummy tank for the song “My Love Grows Deeper, Part 1,” which flowed into “I Will Make You Cry” on the same groove.

While very catchy, neither of these opening songs stretched the singer’s vocal abilities. Had you left the show at that point, you would have though Furtado was a fraction of the singer she is.

Her full vocal abilities were revealed in the midset highlight, “Scared of You,” when the singer skipped from her lower, more comfortable register to climb the scale.

During that tune, Furtado also stepped out of English to sing in Portuguese – a nice touch that worked musically and acknowledged her parents’ ethnic heritage.

Unfortunately, the otherwise adoring crowd lost interest during that very pretty piece.

She had the house back in the pocket of her hip-huggers for “Like a Bird.” The kids sang along and waved their arms high in the air in mock flaps, garnering big smiles from the singer.

While Furtado doesn’t have the same stage presence as some of her blonder colleagues, she is a solid talent whose stagecraft will definitely be honed with each concert she plays.