A personal take on the King of Mandopop, incorporating pics, vids and links to relevant websites and forums.
NB: Absolutely no copyright infringement (of pics) intended.
One scene from The Green Hornet which blew me away was when Kato serenaded Lenore with Un Sospiro, an etude of unbelievable beauty by Franz Liszt. It was totally unexpected in a movie of this genre and made me curious enough about this Jay Chou guy, who up until then was just 'some Taiwanese pop star', but that curiousity has since transformed into full-blown mania, which explains the existence of this blog. ;)
Let's go back to Liszt for now, for which this is a clip from a Taiwanese programme where Jay mashed up Chopin and Liszt with a modern twist. He first plays Chopin's famous Waltz in C-sharp minor (used in Secret) and followed by Liszt's Un Sospiro (used in The Green Hornet)...lovely!
Mozart's Turkish March is an extremely popular piece of music and one which Jay loves to improvise on for many performances on stage and more recently, he put it into one of the songs on his latest album.
Another piece he loves is Flight Of The Bumble Bee (by Rimsky-Korsakoff).
Here are some occasions where he has done so:
On Mr J Channel, where he injects a Chopin-like feel to it, and ends off with a dramatic flourish of chords...lol!
From LOUD Festival, where he starts with the Flight of the Bumble Bee and goes into Turkish March:
From the ASUS Incredible J promotional event...his piano part is from 2:00 to 3:15:
Here with Yuhao who starts off with Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu and Jay comes in with his part and some music from Secret, Super Mario and then Mozart's Turkish March (again!), and a Chinese tune, followed by Flight Of The Bumble Bee...awesome!!
And the latest use of the Turkish March was in Piano Hurt aka Qin Shang 琴伤, from his latest album, Exclamation Mark, where he started off with Tchaikovsky's Bacarolle and inserted the Mozart in the middle...the MV is very good too!
Most fans appreciated his usage of such classical pieces in his own compositions but I also know of quite a few who felt that he should not have to resort to doing so as he is a talented enough composer in his own right and I agree that he is, indeed.
However, I also feel that this improvising of his is just another way for him to have fun with his music and also perhaps to open his fans' minds to more classics like when he invited Li Yundi to be his guest at one of his world tour concerts in 2007. Anyway, improvising is also composing and to me, it may be even more difficult as one has to come up with a tune which is distinct yet connected to the original in a way.
Here are some of the pieces mentioned in their original entirety:
Liszt's Un Sospiro:
Rimsky-Korsakoff's Flight Of The Bumblebee:
Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor:
And of course, Mozart's Turkish March...where you'll notice Jay has a tendency to play it really fast and maniacally unlike this version here:
I'm fairly certain that, as a young student who diligently practised his scales, exam pieces and honed other skills as part of his piano lessons, Jay Chou Chieh Lun never in his wildest dreams could have envisioned that he would one day be the King of Mandopop and showered with adulation by millions of fans for his music and more.
Indeed, becoming a piano teacher or performing pianist was a more likely career path but as mentioned in my post on his early years, [http://jaychoudiaoness.blogspot.sg/2012/05/early-years.html], Jacky Cheung's hit song, Goodby Kiss proved to be a strong influence in Jay's teens [http://www.jaychoustudio.com/archives/the-3-songs-that-have-influenced-jay-chou-the-most/569], as he then veered into the world of pop music and the rest, as they say, is history.
For all the rigours of his music education, however, it is irrefutable that it was precisely such a strong grounding in the study of the piano and classical music which would lead to Jay's eventual overwhelming success as an innovative and creative songwriter/performing artiste.
And it is no surprise that the one composer whom he unfailingly mentions as his most favourite ever (yup, even Mandopop Kings have their fandoms!) is none other than Frederic Chopin.
Examples abound of Jay's love for Chopin, which he shows in his music and other works.
November's Chopin (circa 2005)
The photo at the top of this post is the cover for his sixth studio album, November's Chopin...and yes, it is without a doubt, my most favourite cover amongst all his eleven albums! The title, the hair, the suit, the piano, the Venetian background and his whole stance just shouts "COOL"!
Incidentally, this was also one of his first albums which I bought in my early days of Jay-mania (the title and cover were sooo intriguing!) and listened to and it still ranks up there as one of my absolute favourites as I like almost every track on it.
It is a wonderful tribute to Chopin by Jay as the very first track is entitled, Nocturne and is one of his best compositions ever.
As is well-known, Chopin's nocturnes are also among his very best and most melodic works for the piano.
Here's an article about the shooting of this photo, taken from multistars forums, which shows how much passion and commitment Jay put into this album:
"Ye Hui Mei album was Jay's wonderful present to his mother. And now,
November Chopin is also a present to Jay's idol, Chopin, with an extra
feeling of respect. November Chopin will be released on the 1st of
November. Although it is a bit late this year, but still, his fans do
felt the perfectionism that Jay wanted on his album. He even went to
Venice for album cover photoshooting, this shows that inside Jay has the
genetic of Romantic & Classical. Being a perfect album, AlfaMusic
had put up almost a million dollars on photoshooting! This has been the
most expensive photoshooting Jay ever had.
This ancient romantic
scenary is from Venice, Italy - Piazza San Marco. To avoid the place
being crowded, Jay and his workers woke up very early, at about 6 AM for
photoshooting in this empty piazza without any people around. As early
as that, even pigeons weren't seen flying. Not long after the begun of
the photoshoot, the pigeons were seem so hyperactive, flying around and
creating a wonderful and perfect scenario in the photoshoot for Jay's
new album promotional pictures. What's so special was for a classic
brown colour piano to be inserted on the scene, workers were in such
trouble because in Venice, there's no suitable piano available. Not
bothering anything, the classic brown piano actually traveled for 5
hours by ship from Milan to Venice. The night before the photoshoot,
people were hired to look after the scene .
The photoshooting
session costs the earth, not including the flight ticket and hotel, they
spent almost a million dollar. Mainly because of many photoshooting
scenes needed rental pay, such as Piazza San Marco, Opera House, Castle,
Ballrooms ... When the staff actually spotted the master bedroom, the
owner who'd never allowed any photoshoot inside its castle, had
surprisingly let Jay to shoot in the castle just because the owner was
impressed by Jay's piano skill .
Jay Chou was nominated in the
movie of Initial D in Golden Horse Award as in the Best Newcomer Award
& Soundtrack Composing Award - Piao Yi + Yi Lu Xiang Bei. These 2
songs have a lot been discussed by fans in forums. Therefore , AlfaMusic
decided to put in these 2 tracks as bonus track in Jay Chou's upcoming
album. In addition included 3 MV's - Ye Qu, Yi Lu Xiang Bei, and Fa Ru
Xue. Plus the photos have been shooted in Venice were to print into
calender to satisfy Jay's fans."
Firstly, Chopin is mentioned in a classroom scene early in the movie and named as the Poet Of The Piano
Secondly, there are paintings of the master and his lover in the piano room where Xiang Lun and Xiao Yu discuss the love affair between Chopin and George Sand.
Thirdly, the iconic Piano Duel between Jay and Yuhao (who's referred to as the Prince of the Piano in the movie) features two Chopin pieces viz Black Key Etude (Opus 10, No 5) and Waltz in C# minor (Opus 64, No 2), with wonderful improvisations by Yuhao.
Fourthly, Qing (the other main female character) is seen clutching a book of Chopin's music in a scene at their lockers.
Fifthly, the Time Travel theme which starts off very Bach/Baroque-like in the first part evolves into a Mozartean-sounding midsection and then goes into a Chopin-ish march with the virtuousic running notes in the right hand and the emphatic base, ending in an awesome flourish!
It is noteworthy that these attributes owe alot to Jay's love for and imbibement of Chopin's music as the master himself was, after all, known as the Poet of the Piano...'nuff said!
For more in-depth analysis about Chopin's music, here's a good link and I'd like to highlight some quotes:
"Chopin found in the piano sonic possibilities soon to be exploited by
Liszt and, later, the French Impressionists and the rest of the world." "For all the high craft of this music, however, it conveys an
improvisational sensibility, as if the pianist were inventing these
mercurial lines at the moment."
Of course, there are other composers who have also influenced Jay and I shall write about them in a separate post, as I feel Chopin deserves his own space here. :)
My pianistic standards, unfortunately are not up to performing Chopin with any degree of competency but as a result of wanting to write this post, I have been reading about and listening to more Chopin works now and am appreciating his immense effect on Jay even better.
I just listened to this beautiful piece and would like to share it here.
It's the second movement from Chopin's Piano Concerto No.2 in F Minor-Larghetto, performed by Artur Rubinstein:
And here's the Chopin Waltz featured in Secret, in its entirety...enjoy!
Jay's F1 concert was simply beyond expectations for me, what with being in the Fanzone and getting to see him so up close!
Like I said in my review, I only wish it could have gone on for longer.
Nonetheless,
I was still totally hyped-up after that and when I got home by 1am
plus, all the images and sounds of his performance kept going through my
mind. There was just no way I could sleep so I proceeded to upload the
video clip I had recorded on to youtube, and posted some photos on
Facebook.
I was actually planning to catch a few hours of
shut-eye before heading to the airport to meet up with the fanclub at
about 5.30am to send Jay off.
However, it was only at about 3.30 that
I could finally try and lie down for awhile....and after 20 minutes of
closing my eyes and still recalling all the moments from the concert, it
was obvious I would not be sleeping and decided I'd make my way to the
airport and just have to get by on adrenaline therafter.
It was a surreal experience, driving to the airport at that hour and I really did not know what to expect.
But
since I had gotten the chance to see Jay upon his arrival, I thought
why not go all the way and do the send-off as well...since I was also
not working the next day and could afford the time.
Thankfully,
my hubby did not put up any objection about my somewhat crazy behaviour.
I think he knows me too well by now that when I get caught up in
something like that, there's really nothing much he can do about it and
should just let me get it out of my system. Plus I made sure that this
would not disrupt any plans for the morning.
I met up with the others
at the airport and after some nodding off and dozing, we proceeded to
Terminal 2 to wait at the VIP Lounge exit where presumably, Jay would go
through to get into Immigration.
Whilst waiting, the admins debated whether to try and request for autographs or a group photo.
It
was decided that the photo would be a better and more manageable option
and thus, we readied ourselves getting into positions with the club
banner so that Jay could be ushered into place quickly and efficiently
for a shot.
It's safe to say that all of us were really excited but
mindful that we had to behave politely and in a civilised manner so as
not to 'scare' Jay.
After waiting for nearly an hour though, some of us were wondering if he'd somehow given us the slip.
But we knew he was bound for Guangzhou and there was only that particular flight so we kept waiting.
Then
a few security staff came along, positioning themselves near us and
also a man and a woman wearing lanyards with passes around their
necks...in other words, looking official. So we sensed that they were
here to see Jay off too and our spirits lifted.
True enough, David,
one of the admins came running in soon and told us to get into place,
which we quickly did, feeling more and more anxious now, and wondering
if Jay would agree or would just ignore us.
I mean...you never know how it is with these stars, right?
He might be really tired and not keen or something.
But I guess we need not have worried.
Danni emerged first, followed by Jay and saw us standing there all nicely positioned with the prominent banner.
Jacky, our president then stepped forward and politely asked if he would agree to take a group photo with us.
To our utter delight and amazement, Jay nodded and walked towards us!!
Omg...I
think all of us could not believe our eyes but of course, we quickly
made way for him to get his spot in front with us around him and Danni
helped us take three shots in quick succession!
After which he gave
us a small wave and went on towards the Immigration entrance, with us
thanking him (and Danni) profusely and saying our goodbyes.
He did not say anything all this time, or maybe I just did not hear anything.
But it was enough for us that he had taken the photo with us!
As
he went in and out of sight, there came whoops of joy and plenty of
hugs and high-fives amongst the 22 of us there as all our pent-up
excitement erupted, so overwhelmed were we! And it was not long before
practically everyone wanted to use their phones to take a photo of the
photo on Jacky's camera as we simply could not wait for him to upload it
to Facebook! Such fun!!!
On hindsight, I think we misjudged Jay if we really thought he would not be agreeable.
After
all, we were not a group of screaming fangirls (as you can see from the
photo, the guys are ardent fans too!), each one armed with a camera
pointed at him, although I'm sure all of us really wanted to squeal when
he appeared. ;)
And neither were we papparazzi.
And thank God, there WERE NO pappz around too!
Our club president has also taken pics with him before so I guess he was no stranger to Jay.
I
have a feeling Mr Chou was probably quite happy to see us too (he had
seen us during his arrival too, and during the concert) and should have
been impressed with our dedication at being at the airport at that hour
to send him off.
If there's one thing he appreciates, it's his fans and their support.
Anyway,
it was soooo worth the wait to get the precious photo...'cos he had
such a sweet little smile in the photo and look at how his left hand is
helping us hold up the banner!
And look at the photo.... it's
uncanny how well his hoodie/teeshirt matched our JMS colours of black,
white and pink...it's like it was meant to be!
21 September dawned, bright and hot, with me once again having taken the day off, as I was pretty certain I would have been too hyped-up to concentrate at work anyway.
Came the evening and F and I made our way to the Padang where we met up with friends and fellow Jay fanclub members before we headed to the Fanzone which we were entitled to.
Jay's concert was scheduled for 2315 hours but we decided to go in early to get a place nearer the stage, and it was just as well, 'cos when we got there, there were already fans who had snagged the choice spots right at the front of the stage and at the side of the runway.
The practice runs were telecast live on the big screens in front so after we had found a nice spot at the side of the runway, we sat down to wait patiently accompanied by a huge 1.5L bottle of Carlsberg...lol!
It was interesting to see what other fans had brought, including lightboards with 杰伦 (Jay's Chinese name) on them. Couldn't resist borrowing to take a photo. :)
Anyway, F was my official photographer, avid shutterbug that he is and proud owner of very good lenses (Nikon) which he is always keen to put to use...so I left the photo-taking in his extremely capable hands. :))
After the practice rounds ended, an aura of palpable expectation built up as the fans awaited Jay's performance. At various times, screams were heard from the front, even if as much as a stagehand appeared! False alarms they were but the crowd soon got to their feet and surged forward about a good twenty minutes before the start time of 2315. I noticed Yang Junrong (Jay's manager and one-third of JVR) running down the side of the runway to the sound console and knew that it was almost time for Jay to appear.
(NB: I shall be inserting links to a youtube playlist which contains all the songs from the concert, which were nicely recorded by raynerwong...all credit to him! And one by VJSkratch...thank you to him too!)
And appear he did!
With a flourish of images on the screen, I knew immediately that my prediction of him starting with Exclamation Mark (jing tan hao 驚嘆號)was spot-on! The unmistakeable heavy rock intro came on, his dancers soon after and then....THE MAN HIMSELF coming up from the floor of the stage in the midst of it all, to rapturous cheers from the fans!
This song is notable for the"WA KAO!" chorus which the crowd enthusiastically responded with!
After which he launched into The Era (kua shi dai 跨時代) where he was elevated even more on a special platform:
Love In BC (ai zai xi yuan qian 愛在西元前) was next, where the intro was changed to a simple accoustic guitar ditty and the song was arranged differently from the studio version...with a richer and more up-to-date sound and feel....I loved it!
Then came Where Is The Promised Happiness (shuo hao de xing fu ne 說好的幸福呢), a definite fan favourite (actually, practically all his songs are!).
He ramped up the tempo after that with Enchanting Melody (mi hun qu 迷魂曲) which saw him donning the special LED jacket which we first saw in his Gaoxiong concert...so DIAO!!
He came on with sunglasses, looking SUPER DIAO, which he threw into the crowd oh-so-coolly, to shrieks of excitement!
I knew Super Sports Goddess (chao pao nu shen 超跑女神) had to be on the playlist and I was not wrong! This song has a marvellously catchy tune and breezy feel which always makes me smile! The "Oh Oh" chorus is also really fun to join in! Of course, there were the requisite sexy girls writhing around him (as in the MV) but there was never any direct contact as he sang and danced....totally cute and cool! And of course, who could miss the fiery red Ferrari on stage??
Following that was Cannot Speak (kai bu liao kou 開不了口) where he conducted his gigantic karaoke session like he did during The Era concert...I loved this one! His voice sounded really good and the singalong was heartfelt and so 感动 (moving). He had such a nice smile at 1:49! And watch out for him blowing a kiss to the fans at 3:38....so sweet!!! But sadly, that was not where yours truly was standing. *pout*
It was time after that for Jay to tickle the ivories with the familiar intro of Tornado (long juan feng 龍捲風). Singalong time again! This one is timeless (it's from his very first album) and forever a favourite. :)
I told you he would beatbox and he did....in the intro to Qing Hua Ci 青花瓷 (Blue and White Porcelain), of all songs! But it was really cool and he played piano for this song....I always find it difficult to sing this one but the melody of this award-winning song is beautiful! And he added his own lovely improvisations on the piano, as usual.
After which was another fast number, Sunshine Homeboy (yang guang zhai nan 陽光宅男) first on the piano and then he got onto his feet to prance around...this is a lively song, after all! The fans were also jumping!
Qian Li Zhi Wai 千里之外 (A Thousand Miles Away) was next and he changed into a beautiful black and gold Chinese-style jacket for this and the subsequent songs. I love this jacket SO MUCH....very smart!!
He came on with Nunchucks (shuang jie gun 雙截棍) after that, which is a must at all his concerts, awesome for the "Hng Hng Ha Hee" chorus and audience participation! And of course ends with his flinging of the nunchucks into the crowd amidst loads of pyrotechnics and flash!
He came on for an encore with a song from a Jet Li movie viz Fearless ( Huo Yuan Jia, 霍元甲)yet another popular Chinese-style rock song with a chorus made for audience interaction..."HUO HUO HUO HUO HUO HUO HUO HUO!", anyone?? And yet another fling-out toy for his fans...yup, a golden fan, literally! But he did say at the end that he would see us again next year (or his World Tour most likely!!!). ;)
That was apparently definitely the final song 'cos even though the crowd waited and chanted his name, he did not reappear and the stage came on with this:
And an announcement that the concert was well and truly over...to the disappointment of the fans.
But then again, the schedule had specified that Jay would only be performing for about 75 minutes...of course, we were all hoping for more....it did not feel right to end so quickly!
All in, it was a fantabulous experience for me to see him so up close! And gosh, he must have been sweltering in the heat, with all those jackets. I'd of course been hoping he'd wear less and show more of his arms and pecs but Jay was too modest as usual. ;)
He was in fine form, bantering with and engaging the fans, who screamed incessantly and sang along lustily with every song. He made full use of the runway to be closer to his fans, sang his heart out and as you can see from the photos and watch on the videos, the spectacular visual effects really complemented Jay's music beautifully...I would not have expected anything less from His Royal DIAOness! All the hands of the fans were up, holding cameras and phones to record everything for posterity. :)
And need I mention how much I liked his artfully mussed-up hair?? Very handsome!! Kudos also for his costumes which were just the right touch of stylish without any signs of feathers, frills or fur....lol!
I was on such a high after that when I went home that I could not sleep and instead spent the time uploading my video to youtube, posting some photos on Facebook and looking with glee as the Notifications icon kept blinking with loads of Likes and Comments, despite the unearthly hour!
Here's to more of Jay next year for the premiere of Rooftop and his solo concerts!
But before that, there's something else to look forward to first....Album #12 due on 12 December 2012!!!!
NB: All photos courtesy of my Jay fan friends whom I met at the airport today....you know who you are!
I wonder, dear readers, if any of you have ever gone to the extent of meeting your favourite stars at the airport? If you have, you would empathise with the sentiments which I shall shortly express. If you have not, then let this be an eye-opener...lol!
As has been plenty obvious from my previous posts, THE highlight of my concert calendar this year will be His Royal DIAOness' extremely anticipated concert at the F1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix on 21 September 2012. For the uninitiated, that's TOMORROW NIGHT!!!!!
Omg...I've been waiting for this concert from the very moment my dear hubby, F texted me one fateful day in March, saying, "Jay Chou performing at F1." (minus exclamation mark...he's deadpan that way) which of course had the intended effect of me booking tickets post haste and getting the coveted Fanzone wristbands.
Meeting Jay at the airport would be my second airport greeting, the first being a fantastic experience in 2008 when the Osmonds came to town for their 50th anniversary concert.
The official Jay fanclub (JayMS) had organised a group of us for this exciting occasion and I duly packed the club paraphernalia (teeshirt/towel) along with my precious 1000-piece Jay jigsaw to bring along, in the faint hope that I might actually get an autograph.
Of course I had taken the day off for exactly such an event and come 2pm, I was happily chatting with the members of the fanclub, many of whom I was meeting for the first time. We enjoyed showing each other our merchandise which we hoped to get signed but Jacky (the fanclub president) did warn us that it might not be possible.
We gathered outside Belt 33, where Jay was supposed to exit from Customs and waited patiently. There were Singapore GP officials there too and I think our group were quite a sight with our official pink towels and black teeshirts!
I was bound and determined that Jay should catch sight of my masterpiece, even if he could not autograph it. As such, I got it out of the frame and held on to it carefully, planning to hold it up at an opportune time and place when he would walk out and to his transport.
There were barriers lining the path to the arrival hall doors so we could only stand behind them and hope for the best. I spotted Jay first in the distance and quickly alerted the rest. As he approached us from Customs, we held up the striking pink towels emblazoned with our emblem and slogan, and some of us called out his name in Chinese (Jie Lun!).
Yang Junrong was in front of him, smiling in a knowing manner.
Jay was wearing a black-and-white hoodie, white Mickey Mouse teeshirt ("awww!"), loose pants and had his sunglasses on...but most importantly (and I'm SO glad about this!), NO MASK obscuring his handsome face. ;)
He looked sooo DIAO, even in such a casual get-up and as he sauntered out in his characteristic gait, he saw our group, waved and smiled a little. Practically everyone's camera or phone was up except mine as I was concentrating on holding up my huge jigsaw. I figured someone would have a good shot for me to share later anyway....and there was!
I stationed myself at a point nearer the exit door where he would definitely see me and I swear...he did see the prominent picture of his younger self on my gigantic jigsaw! 'cos I was watching his face closely and I'm almost 100 per cent certain that he gave me a small nod and smile in acknowledgement. :)
Whatever the case may be, that little crinkling up of his mouth convinced me enough; to Cloud Nine I went and am still somewhat on now. *sigh*
He was bundled into the waiting car quickly and with the darkened windows, it was not easy to see him anymore but he did give us a final wave as he was driven off. :D
No autographs but still, we were quite happy with having seen him arrive properly!
Look at His Royal DIAOness on the cover of the latest Uweekly issue, in the run-up to this Friday's concert at the F1!!
Doesn't he look so cool??
Facial features quite quite perfect in that photo. *swoon*
I recognise that red and black combo too..it was from a promo shoot for his latest album, Exclamation Mark. ;)
But erm...I can't say the same about the outfit he's wearing for the article inside the mag...and I won't detract from the point of this post (which is about the countdown to his concert) by writing a critique about Mr Chou's at-times, 'adventurous' fashion sense. That will be a topic for another post where I'll discuss both the fabulousness and faux pas-ness of his dressing at various events...lol!
In a nutshell, the interview talks about how happy he is to be part of the F1 entertainment and whether he might get a chance to try some of the cars!
Also some info about Rooftop and he reassures us that his new album will be released on 12 December 2012 (12/12/12); how making movies inspires him in his songwriting and the requisite question about his love life, which as usual, the tight-lipped-about-his-'girlfriend' Jay manages to not make a big deal of. ;)
Singapore - Legendary rock guitarist Marty Friedman has said
that he would absolutely love to work with him. Asia's pop music elite
thinks he ranks up there as one of the best singer-songwriters in the
business. And his fans all think he's the best thing to happen to
Chinese pop since bubble tea. We are, of course, talking
about Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou, who'll be returning to our shores
for the 2012 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. "Being able to come to Singapore for the F1 - I'm looking forward to it," wrote Chou in an email. You could say that there's precious little things left in the
field that the man hasn't done already. Since he broke out in 2000, he's
not only established himself as a singer and songwriter, with 11 albums
to his name; he's also acted in movies such as Kung Fu Dunk, Curse Of
The Golden Flower, Initial D and The Green Hornet; he directs his own
music videos, and even did one movie, Secret; he runs his own company,
JVR Music; and he's also written a book, Grandeur de D Major. "All these years, the key thing I've learned is to be more active,
more hardworking in life and not be afraid of setbacks," he said. "We
must have the courage to keep trying. The most important thing is to
love yourself and be yourself." But if there's one thing
he's grateful for, it's his supporters, who he said he regarded more as
friends than fans. "I am well aware of the thousands - and more -
friends who have given me support - either from Taiwan or mainland
China, Hong Kong and Macau, or Singapore and Malaysia and the other
countries in South-east Asia, and even Japan and South Korea," he said.
"To have that long-standing support of my friends - I'm very grateful." As for his career, Chou said he didn't have a timetable set.
"Retirement? I don't know. In recent years, I've been doing other things
such as movies, and I'm happy to multi-task," he said, adding that his
new movie, Rooftop, is in the works, and there are plans for a new
album. "As for a legacy, my fans have become parents
already; I think it'll be great he would tell his children, 'When your
father was younger, your father's idol was Jay'. I think music is
immortal, it will never die. And I hope to give back some day, once I've
settled what I set out to do when I was 20 years old, then… and I hope
my old friends will still continue to sing my songs." Jay Chou performs on Sept 21, 11.15pm, at Zone 4 (Padang stage). Tickets from www.singaporegp.sg.
Anyway, I ended my previous post saying I had to get new batteries for my lightsticks; well, a serendipitious trip to Vivocity two days ago made that unnecessary 'cos I finally found beautiful, decent-sized pink and orange lightsticks at Tenchi, a shop there which specialises in manga, anime and similar stuff!
I mean, I've been hunting for these for ages and even contemplated asking security guards where they got their heavy-duty ones from...lol!
Thank goodness I don't need to now! ;)
As mentioned in my last post, the stage for the Padang is going to be of an unprecedented scale and magnitude and a quote from Mr Michael Roche, the executive director of Singapore GP confirms it in a newspaper report last Fri:
He notes that Chou's gig at the massive Padang stage, which measures 24m by 14m, will be his only concert so far this year. "His set is on a scale never seen before in Singapore. I should say this is the grandest stage and setting for an Asian artiste ever seen. He has curated the show and added some wonderful stage props and surprises that I believe will truly thrill the fans."
WOOHOO!!!
I already said Jay would put his own stamp on this special concert!
Here's link to the Singapore GP site with Jay's biography:
"Since releasing his first self-titled album Jay
in 2000, he has become one of the most influential Chinese music
artistes of the 21st century, winning more awards and accolades than
most veterans twice his age and sold more than 30 million albums
worldwide – with each album moving over 3 million units.
Hailed by the media as the "King of Asia," and the
"King of R&B", Chou's talents are not limited to music, as he has
also crossed over to the film industry. Chou is the first Chinese
artiste to direct his own music videos and has been touted by renowned
directors as the most promising movie star of his generation.
He is one of handful of Asian artistes who has made his
mark in Hollywood as a crimefighter on 'The Green Hornet' and conquered
the Asian box office at the same time. Chou directed and starred in the
romantic tearjerker 'Secret', picked up a Best Supporting Actor
nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his appearance in the period
blockbuster 'Curse of the Golden Flower', and amassed legions of fans
worldwide as a street racer on 'Initial D' which bagged him a Golden
Horse Best Newcomer Actor award.
In November 2011, he released his 11th album Exclamation Point. Chou is currently focusing on other directorial projects and running his own record company JVR Music.
Chou is the first Chinese artiste to grace the Padang stage at the
FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX, and will be staging a one-night
only performance with a set specially designed for the Marina Bay Street
Circuit."
