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As Long as He Needs Me is a song sung by the character of Nancy in the musical film Oliver!, first introduced in the 1960 musical. It is sung as a love ballad to her criminal boyfriend Bill Sikes. The song expresses Nancy's love for him although he mistreats her. There is also a reprise of this song sung towards the end of the show; however, the reprise makes a strong reference to the fact that Nancy now feels that the young boy Oliver Twist also needs her. This reprise was omitted from the film version, but it expresses in song her affection for the child.
The song has also been sung as "As Long as She Needs Me," when sung by a male singer, and became a popular song by virtue of its renditions by several popular singers, including Lionel Bart and Shirley Bassey who reached number two in the United Kingdom charts with the song. The song was performed by Melinda Doolittle during the sixth series of American Idol.
[edit] Recorded versions
The song has also been performed by contestants Nadia Turner (2005) and Melinda Doolittle (2007) on American Idol. It was released as a studio recorded track by Doolittle, and sold as a donwloadable song on the American Idol website.
[edit] External links
