Curtain falls on Singapore topless Crazy Horse cabaret

SINGAPORE, Feb 3 (Reuters) The final curtain is set to fall on Singapore's version of the Parisian topless cabaret Crazy Horse tomorrow after poor turnout and financial losses forced the show to close down about a year after a roaring debut.

The ''art of the nude'' show had opened to great fanfare in December 2005, with the government saying it would jazz up Singapore's image and help woo more tourists.

But while its arrival over a year ago was cheered as a sign of a more liberal Singapore -- where Playboy magazine is banned and oral sex is illegal -- some now say that Crazy Horse was a flop in the city-state because it was simply too dull.

''It's so boring. People looking for something sexy could go online and get it for free,'' said Wong Poh Chin, a ship chandler who watched the show earlier this week with his wife.

For S85 dollars, viewers could sip cocktails in a theatre lavishly decorated with plush red carpet, velvet sofas and golden chandeliers, while a group of leggy, bare-breasted women in stilettoes and g-strings struck seductive poses.

Their nudity covered only with varying patterns of coloured lights, the women -- mostly from Eastern Europe -- strut and twirl around poles, while lip-synching to lyrics such as ''I am a good girl''.

Although Cinema operator Eng Wah had extended the show by a few days -- citing overwhelming response since the announcement of the closure last week -- the theatre was still barely half-filled in the run-up to its finale.

Crazy Horse, which has been running successfully in Paris since 1951, suffered an operating loss of S3.1 million dollars in Singapore for the first half of 2006/07.

Eng Wah says that official limits on advertising the show are partly to blame for the show's failure. Singapore's Media Development Authority said that advertising channels including taxi tops were available to Eng Wah, and cited the need to protect the ''diverse interests'' in society.

But while Singapore has a reputation for being prudish, social commentators say that locals have a higher tolerance for nudity than they are given credit for.

The city-state had it own topless cabaret, The Neptune, for years before it closed last year, while Singaporeans who want more titillating and less pricey erotic shows are just a short budget airline flight away from Thailand and its many sex shows.

''Nudity is not an issue, especially if there is no sex,'' said Alvin Tan, artistic director of theatre group The Necessary Stage, adding that Singapore has allowed nudity in some plays from as early as 1993.

REUTERS KD BD1610