She stands at no more 5 ft. 6-ins., but Chantal Kreviazuk has a voice of a giant.

The Winnipeg songstress impressed a crowd of thousands who crammed the Coca-Cola Stage area last night.

Kreviazuk's outstanding vocal range and dynamic stage presence has been compared to Canadian superstar Alanis Morissette, but as she told the Sun recently, "we do write songs and sing and both have brown hair. And we're Canadian. Other than that, there's not much similarity."

And she's completely right.

Belting out songs like Hands and Believer, from her debut album Under These Rocks and Stones, as well as a heartfelt version of Don Henley's Boys of Summer, Kreviazuk's natural charisma and genuine connection to her music was refreshing compared to Morissette's hair-flinging, angst-ridden antics.

Wearing a black jacket and grey pants, Kreviazuk was humble and gracious when accepting the excited applause of the crowd of mostly young people, who were most likely introduced to her through the heavily-rotated video for God Made Me.

Of course, the biggest applause was for that hit single, which, oddly enough, she played within the first 30 minutes of her hour-long set. Although I was never big on the song, hearing her soaring vocals accompanied only by her accomplished piano playing gave the song a different dimension entirely.

Kreviazuk -- who usually plays solo -- would have no doubt been hindered by a full band.

Luckily, she was left on her own to entertain the audience and had no problem having all eyes focussed on the stage. This was her first Stampede show. It shouldn't be her last.

By: Lisa Wilton