Jacky Cheung 1/2 Century Tour–Malaysia

I first heard of Jacky back in the early eighties, maybe in 1985, when I was around 8 years. He was performing at this annual Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards and he was singing this song with very infectious ( and of course, easy to remember and hum) chorus that goes like ‘Amore, Amore, Amore”. Of course, at later years, I learnt that the name of the song is actually called Amore ( regrettably, this song was not in the list of song for the concert).

But during the eighties, he was shadowed by 2 other heavyweights, Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung ( I am sure that you 70-s babies out there remember the competition between these 2 to vie for the much-coveted ‘Most Popular Male Artists Awards) ( and of course, who can forget Alan’s infectious 愛情陷阱 (Love Trap) or Leslie’s Monica).

Well, Jacky’s time to shine came during / after the 90s. He released the famous  每天愛你多一些 (Loving You More Every Day) in 1991 and from thereon, there was no looking back.Dubbed 歌神 (God Of Songs), he belted out hits after hits and most of these songs remain as our all-time favourites. It is no mean feat that a song can stay relevant and still give you goose bumps ( in a good way) whenever you hear it. Whenever you hear this songs being played on the radio, you sit back and enjoy ( not literally, though) and at times, reminisce the memory that may be attached to these songs [ it is so common to hear lovebirds proclaiming that their ‘couple’ songs are of Jacky’s]. If you are over 30 of age, a Chinese national and you have never heard of 每天愛你多一些 ( 1991) , I guess you either have been vegetating in a cave for far too long or you are simply from another planet!

Another song that I love very much is 只想一生跟你走 ( Just Want to Spend My Life With You) holds a very special memory for me. Ah, nope, it is not about my first love or whasotever. A hit back in 1993, the song started off slowly and began ‘to pick up speed’ at the chorus – it was so fast ( at least to me who can’t even carry a tune without sounding like a runaway train) that you can’t stop to catch a breath. And you know what this Chinese- illiterate did ( and some of my classmates too) to memorise the song? I put the song on repeat mode, stopped it after a line or two and jotted down the lyrics in pin yin, most of time, rewinding again and again to ensure that I get the correct intonation!  And guess what, after 20 years or so, I can STILL sing this song from front to back but of course, my Chinese has improved enough for me to read the entire, if not half of each line of the song!

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Tonight show, or rather yesterday show, started ‘unofficially’ ( lights were not dimmed which is uncommon for concert of this nature) with Astro’s DJ, Ms Siow Hui Mei coming on stage to pre-empt the enthusiastic audience that Jacky was down with flu and after 2 nights of performance ( Thursday and Friday), his vocal cords were severely injured!

[ At this juncture, the audience were already getting nervous. Some of us had already gotten wind that there were some glitches and he sounded a bit exhausted on Friday night and of course, the above announcement did not go down well with the die-hard fans. Were they going to cancel the show? The look of disappointment were clearly etched on the face of the audience, which is comprehensible as it is safely to assume that those who came for Saturday night’s show are really die hard fans of Jacky. There were initially 2 shows for Malaysia’s stop ( Friday and Saturday). These response were so overwhelming that the organiser added 2 shows ( Thursday and Sunday) which were a sold-out too! According to the outlet where we bought the tickets on the 2nd day after the tickets were released, there was a queue and scuffle during the first day of release, specifically for Maybank’s credit card holder! My sister was grumbling and complaining that it is unfair because we bought these tickets so early and we specifically chosen the Saturday show as it is common that the last show should be more exciting. And they are now telling you that the show MAY NOT go on! We waited a few months for this show! Well, I was more practical. I was screaming for refund! Maybe I lacked empathy but really, having to fork out RM480 for a ticket, I would not settle for sub par performance ( if Jacky were to continue)].

Then, the man himself, donned in a all-white glittering suit came on stage and before he can stated to talk, the audience were hysterical and were screaming away! After the cheers quiet down, Jacky explained that he was sick and had seen a doctor earlier in the afternoon and had taken some medication. He insisted and hoped  that he would be able to continue with the concert and assured us that if he were unable to continue with the concert, there would be replacement show and hence, reminded us to keep the ticket stubs! Before he went out of stage and re-emerge again later for the ‘real’ opening, he jokingly mentioned ‘ Just pretend that you guys did not see me just now!’. Well, that got the audience cracking and hence, lightened the ‘tense’ atmosphere.

I am not about to go into details on the concert. I am sure that it would be sufficiently covered by our press. As most of you have known, he sang 30 songs ( I did not count, it was from the press) over a 3-hour long concert. The concert was divided into a few segments, clearly defined by the stage outlay, musical genre,etc). Each time, Jacky re-emerged with new costumes, nothing over the top like those with miles and miles of train or some spiky headgear! Just suit ( some are glittering but tastefully executed) and in one of the segment,he was so suave in this black tux with the bow hanging loosely on his neck.

The first 45 minutes was more like a concert blended with elements of theatre ( Jacky dabbled in stage musical in 1997 and had very successful run of his widely acclaimed Snow. Wolf. Lake). There was a love story being played at the giant screen at the back ( boy partying away, met girl, smitten by her, seek shelter during the rain at a building, bumped into girl who coincidentally was there, get to know each other phase, marriage, silent treatment). The choice of song was closely related to the above events and he played the main actor who sang and danced ( Jacky tap-danced quite a fair bit during the concert) and his expressions were so theatrical and animated and you could not help but fell that you are watching a stage musical. There were occasional cheers here and then, but the audience were still quite composed at this stage as the songs were not exactly the popular ones. However, after the 2nd ( or 3rd song), he belted out 你的名字 我的姓氏 ( Your Name, My Surname), one of my favourites ( I guess yours too),a song which is synonymous to wedded bliss! (Concurrently, the video at the main screen was showing a garden wedding and the way the director captured the romantic mood, the happiness on the bride’s face)

[ The video was shot by a famous director, starred the oh-so-beautiful Shu Qi and filmed at Macau, specifically at The Ruins of St Paul).

The second segment was the rock segment ( which Jacky later claimed was his greatest fear that night due to the flu). He re-emerged on a elevated stage with a red hot suit with amazing lighting flooding the entire stadium! He sang a song ( which I do not know the name) and followed by  吻别 (Good Bye Kiss), the rock version. The crowds were going crazy and I actually wanted to get on my feet and danced away!

[ The following may not be in chronological order as I was already so carried away by his performance]

Thereafter, Jacky did a tribute to his godmother, the late funny woman, Lydia Shum. Although it was just a song, 月巴女且(Fei Jie), he did not skimmed on the props. A giant inflated balloon of Lydia Shum was erected at the center of the stage with dancers donned in her signature outfit. And Jacky did a split at the end of the song! For 50 years ago, to attempt a split is not a laughing matter ( although he had done the same thing for the last 100 concerts!, still compliments to him).

Then he proceeded to the jazz segment where he poke fun at this latest release of jazz infused album 2 years ago – Private Corner. Not everyone knows about the album. I, for one, knew about the release but still prefer him doing ballads rather than jazz ( not that he is not good, it is just my ignorance of jazz music). He started with 十二個音 (12 Notes) and followed by a few old songs which he sang with jazz flavour.

The night went on with him belting hits after hits and us audience were clearly enthralled by his supreme vocal prowess. The hall erupted into cheers and applause and was turned into a mass karaoke with the audience singing along and swaying away. It was apparent that these songs hold special memories for the audience. If you look around, you would see contented fans, happiness to finally see their idol clearly written on their faces.

And of course, there was this hot dance segment where Jacky tried to prove that apart from singing, he can actually dance. The original music videos ( you would see the younger Jacky) were played at the background and allegedly, the dance moves were similar to those in the music videos, only this time, as Jacky proclaimed, has improved!

The concert ended at approximately 11.30 with his Broadway inspired version of 祝福 ( Blessing). Some of the audience were reluctant to leave and started to chant ‘Encore, Encore’. Well, it is a publicly known fact that there were no encores in the previous shows so, most us left and while I was jostling out way out from the fully packed stadium, I heard praises and compliments on Jacky.

There was also report by the radio that some actually cried while he was singing. I was incredulous – I mean, come on, it is just Jacky singing a song. I think I have to eat my own words – when Jacky sang 我真的受傷了( I Am Really Hurt) – I was so moved by his soothing vocal ( the accompanying music was minimised and hence, the entire hall was echoing with his profound and captivating voice)  that suddenly I just feel like crying. But of course, I did not.

In a nutshell, it was a superb show. As a matter of fact, I think superb is an understatement. It was tantalising. He gave a stellar performance with powerful vocal, energetic performance, amazing lighting, awesome audio, stage layout and dancers’ costume are worth my every penny. And we are referring to a 50 year old guy who still managed to sing from beginning to the end while dancing away. Mot of us can’t walk from one end of Midvalley to the other end without panting! Some commented that there the ratio of songs between fast and ballads are tilted towards fast songs, but really, I think that it was quite balanced and hey, he is already 50 and you might as well see him dance now as there may not be another opportunity in the future. Hey, you can’t expect a 60 years old dancing away, right?

On hindsight, I should get myself the RM680 seat instead!

Of course, thanks to my sister who went through the hassle of buying the tickets and of course, being adamant that we should splurge for this concert.

It was rumoured that Jacky decided to go on a world tour as he has lost quite a substantial amount investing in Lehman Brothers. Well, see, there are good things arising from this debacle. ( ok. I know. This is lame.)