SINGAPORE — It must have seemed like a National Day Parade (NDP) show for a moment.

Singaporean fans of American popstar Bruno Mars, who performed the first night of his three-day concert tour here on Wednesday (April 3), were taken by surprise when a familiar patriotic tune was played.

While entertaining the crowd during an intermission towards the end of the 110-minute gig, one of Mars’ band members, John Fossitt, showcased his talent with a keyboard rendition of the National Day song Home.

Sharing a video of the moment on social media, TikTok user “radccaptures” wrote: “It was time for the (keyboard) solo and he was playing some instrumental. I was like, ‘Wait, what is this instrumental? It sounds so familiar’. And then the audience started singing.”

Dozens of clips posted to the video-sharing platform showed thousands of concertgoers enthusiastically singing along to the Kit Chan classic, their voices reverberating around the National Stadium.

One TikTok user quipped: “When you thought you bought the wrong concert tickets and went to NDP instead.”

Another commented: “Mr Lee Kuan Yew is smiling up in heaven that our (youth) love Singapore as much as him.”

Some viewers also humorously speculated that international fans might have found themselves confused by the unexpected inclusion of a song not originally on the setlist.

Others said that Mars performing the song himself would have been the cherry on the cake. Unfortunately, Mars was not present on stage at that moment.

This is not the first time Home has been featured in a concert by an international act. American alternative rock band Weezer reportedly performed the song last October at their concert held at The Star Theatre.

Previously in March, a backup dancer for Taylor Swift also went viral for injecting a local twist to the singer’s six concerts in Singapore. Mr Kameron Saunders delighted audiences by incorporating Singlish phrases such as “no, lah”, “walao, eh” and “alamak” into performances of the song We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.

Bruno Mars is set to play two more shows on April 5 and 6.