Jacky Cheung shows you what’s flexibility

Jacky Cheung shows you what’s flexibility
By Leong Wai Kit, channelnewsasia.com |
Posted: 27 August 2011 0432 hrs

 

 

 
 
 

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SINGAPORE: Oh, My ‘God of Songs’. Cantopop Heavenly King Jacky Cheung is not only versatile, but also one flexible performer.

In Singapore for the “Jacky Cheung ½ Century Tour”, the 50-year-old opened the first of his five sell-out concerts with a bang. Many, many mini bangs, to be exact.

Cheung – dressed in a smart, white suit – tap-danced and showed off nifty footwork in his opening act, to a crowd of 9,000 fans at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday night.

He also impressed the audience by pulling off a half-Arabesque Penchee, a ballet pose where one leg is raised behind the body.

But that’s not all.

While singing “Fei Jie” (Plump Sister) – a song where he paid tribute to the late Lydia Sum who died in 2008 of liver cancer – Cheung did what most people his age could not do: A full front split.

Commenting in Cantonese later, Cheung said he had trained very hard to achieve the front split, which Sum, his Godmother, once famously did.

“For those of you who don’t know much about Jacky Cheung, I’d like to say that not only can I sing, I can also dance.

“I’ve been in the music industry for 27 years, and in between, I’ve been dancing. I want to show off while I still can,” he said jokingly to the cheering audience.

Despite that, what stood out in his near-three-hour performance weren’t his dance moves.

In the earlier part of his concert, Cheung wowed the crowd with his absolute showmanship.

He presented a medley of Cantonese songs – including “Casanova” and “First Kiss” – musical-style, and for the first half-hour, fans saw the theatrical side of Cheung.

With numerous musicals under his belt, Cheung easily matched emotions of his songs with dramatic body language and precise facial expression.

In fact, Cheung was so determined to be in character that when he needed to drink water at one point, he made sure he did it as a part of his act.

But still, nothing could beat Cheung’s secret weapon, which he saved for the later part of his concert: His ballad-crooning vocals.

Indeed, he is not dubbed ‘God of Songs’ for nothing – and his fans obviously cannot get enough of his trademark high notes and that subtle, underlying vibrato.

So it was only when Cheung cooled down to move on to the acoustic segments that the crowd truly warmed up.

Judging by the reaction of the audience members, it was apparent they enjoyed the down-tempo Cheung.

And when Cheung started crooning all-time favourites later on in the night, such as “With You Along The Way”, “I Waited Till The Flowers Withered” and “I Only Want To Journey With You”, the crowd roared with approval.

It was also during that time that the audience sang along with Cheung.

Perhaps, Cheung need not have showcased versatility in his concert and instead, invest more time in pleasing his fans with more ballads.

One of the let downs of the night was that Cheung didn’t sing enough of his 1990s classics, which sealed his “Heavenly King” status in the Mandopop world.

Another disappointment, surprisingly, was the audience members, who couldn’t sit long enough to wait for their pop idol to get offstage before rushing for the exit.

But still, Cheung’s final number – “Blessing” – was executed in style, along with pyrotechnics and indoor fireworks.

To wrap up the night, Cheung and his dance crew delivered a stomping tap-dance, in what must have been Cheung’s interpretation of bringing the house down.

And boy, he did just that.

- CNA

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