Since Sammi Cheng announced she will take a break from showbiz around 2 years ago, the media have been relentless with their assaults on her. Baseless rumors such as cancer, depression appeared, striving to condemn her into deeper darkness.
But determined as ever, Sammi made her comeback with 8 fabulous concerts at the HongKong Coliseum in May 2007, which resulted in even the media declaring that they were impressed by her energy and style of singing.
When I got news that she would be continuing her tour with a concert in Singapore, I knew I had to experience for myself the re-born Sammi Cheng.
The opening song was a slow song “唯独你是不可取替”,which deviated from her previous concerts, which usually started with fast paced songs. But it was even better as Sammi appeared in a wig which covered her eyes and angel wings at the back, making the audience filled with anticipation. When she threw the wig high up into the air during a song break, it made the stadium rocked literally with screams and applause.
She continued with songs, mostly in Cantonese, which were a relief since they were her forte. I was exhilarated to hear “唉声叹气”as it was one of my favourite songs. (However it was a shame when I realized the costume and performance was not as stunning as the on i saw from the hongkong concert dvd later on). New songs like “爱情万岁”and “Mi” were performed as well.
Sammi then confessed to the audience the ups and downs of her life over the years she has been away. It was the man she respect most, her father, who told her that she can rest for as long as she liked. When he suffered a stroke during that time, she also realized that life can change so fast and relentlessly. The media’s unfair treatment of her has made her stronger, training her body by jogging as long as 2 hours per day. She states the sweat that comes out is not salty at all, but sweet as success. After the success of her Hong Kong concerts, she finally knows that her courage has come back, all her efforts has paid off when she hears the applause ringing in her ears.
Singapore’s own star; Sun Yanzi appeared as her guest star and they sang “绿光”which brought the crowd standing with their vibrancy. Sammi also amused the crowd with her usual humorous self, making fun of Yanzi’s ‘sugercane’ bodysize.When Yanzi sang solo with Sammi taking a break, it was obvious the crowd just want Sammi back singing instead, as there was just not as much atmosphere.
When Sammi came back finally, she brought the tempo up to the highest level with ‘星秀传说/独家试唱/非男非女/小心女人/发热发亮/莹光粉红/神奇女侠/煞科’ sanged and danced all at once. The energy she showed while performing stunted the crowd as we anticipated some rustiness after years of rest. She just kept dancing and dancing, not willing to give up until the last second of the final song, showing us how determined she was to exorcise the demons of the past.
MC仁Jam made a surprise appearance to sing “爱是...”with Sammi, a weird yet soothing duet performance which added another unique experience to the whole concert. Though I cannot stop laughing at the way MC仁 keeps on nodding his head like a rooster.
Keeping with tradition, Sammi chose two similarly shaped fans (forgive my bluntless) to sing along with her, making the rest scream with envy. She picked fun of their weight, but it was nice to see them reacting sportingly to her well-intentioned jokes.Driving them away, Sammi made her way down the stage to shake hands with the audience, singing “亲密关系” along the way. I could have done the feat if not for the guard rejecting me from moving to the front when soon afterwards, others were allowed instead…Doh!
Her last song was “终身美丽”and after she disappeared backstage after the song, most of the crowd shouted: Encore! Encore! and stamped their feet simultaneously. I have attended all of her past concerts in Singapore and she would always appear after that for her encore performance. Therefore it was both a shock and disappointment to me when one of the guards actually wave his hand to indicate the concert was over.
The picture became clear when the media explained that she was actually recovering from a throat infection suffered when she arrived in Singapore. What a time to suffer from that! Without the encore performance, the concert was noticeably 30 mins shorter than her previous concert. Other complaints would be the lack of costumes compared to her Hong Kong concerts and the frustratingly one sided stage which really restricted her ability and freedom to perform.
Nevertheless, after experiencing her comeback concert myself, there is no doubt in my mind that she is still the undisputed queen of Hong Kong Pop.
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