Jay Chou World Tour 2008 (Singapore)

Jay Chou World Tour 2008
18-19 January
Singapore Indoor Stadium

Before moving to Singapore, chinese music equated only to both Aaron Kwok and Jacky Cheung who were the only chinese singers I knew in the early 90's.

I knew nothing about Jay Chou until around May 2007 when I heard one of his songs in a bar with a live band. I tried to learn the melody of "An Jing" until I reached a point that I can sing it with 80% confidence at KTV.

Since then, I have developed a higher interest and enthusiasm over chinese music. I would look around shops which sell chinese pop CDs. I would prefer Chinese (and Jap) albums while in the plane on overseas trips. And I guess the ultimate sign of my affinity to it -- purchasing a ticket to a concert which is 100% Mandarin. As a consolation, I was able to recognise "xìe xìe" / "thanks" which Jay Chou said after each song rendition.



As I've shared with a few friends, the concert was spectacular. It really felt like a concert, not just someone singing onstage. I caught Black Eyed Peas in October 2007 and though the audience were very receptive, I had never seen an audience so electrified while swaying a gadget with rapidly blinking lights that dotted the sold-out venue that night.

Jay Chou is a crowd pleaser, occasionally giving the impression that his fans are truly special (well, particularly the ones who paid around $178+ for seats close to the stage whom he waved to).

He sang a few tracks from his latest album, "On the Run", which after several rounds of playing on my MP3 player on long bus trips and idle time outdoors had already registered well in my mind.

Here are a few photos before my digicam died a natural death (my fault for assuming that the battery was fully charged).

For those who managed to catch the concert, I hope you agree with me that it was money well spent or worth more than what you had paid for.

On my way out, I noticed a long queue for some of his merchandise which included a Jay Chou doll (?!?).

Why do I bother listening to Mando/Canto-pop even if I only know English and Tagalog? Ask those who love Latin music even if they have no clue what the lyrics mean. :p

Beauty World

After watching this musical, I have decided to invest more money into watching what's in theaters this year (not just the films at Golden Village!). This production has helped Dick Lee (I first knew him by watching Singapore Idol in 2006) gain more prominence in Singapore.

I loved the execution of what seemed to be a simple plot - a girl trying to find her biological father and in the process also finds herself. It has some local colour and I'm happy to have understood most of the "singlish".

The songs were so catchy that I had to buy the soundtrack as early as the intermission. This is the song that carried in my view the musical's theme.

"I Didn't Care"

If there was another way

I would not be here today

I'd be back where I belong

Somewhere in my past

I should be the first to know

Where the road I'm taking goes

If I fail then I suppose

Every road must be wrong

Now I'm here

Now that I've made it this far

I must try to find out

What I'm all about

Cos I lost the answers long ago

Felt I didn't need to know

I didn't care

Now I do

I should be the first to know

Where the road I'm taking goes

If I fail then I suppose

Every road must be wrong

Now it's time to be trong

It's what I wanted for so long

No mater how it turns out

I must stay to face the consequence

Once it made no difference

I didn't care

Now I do...