Icy icon expected to warm up Taipei

Asia's icy pop diva may have warmed a bit. She's smiling a bit more and even holding hands with her boyfriend in public. But Faye Wong's (王菲) fans haven't changed a bit. They still love her. And no less so here in Taiwan, where the concert scheduled for 7:30pm Sunday at Taipei Municipal Stadium has sold out.

Luckily, for fans who didn't or couldn't rush to the box office last week, the promoter has just released standing-room only tickets at NT$1500 each. So those without tickets should rush down there and pray.

Even though Wong has changed a bit, she hasn't lost any of the aspects that earned her the name "queen of Asian pop." Her exquisite, pristine voice continues to draw attention the world over. Her musical trademark of exotic, poetic lyrics mixed with alternative musical arrangements, remains in her 26th album Fable (寓言). And her chameleon-like styles and avant-garde fashion taste still keeps her in the spotlight.

It is estimated that Taipei Municipal Stadium will be crammed with more than 30,000 Faye fans on Sunday. "Faye Wong's popularity has boosted the slump of the live concert market in the past year. It is perhaps the hottest sold concert," said Chen Chang-jen one of the coordinators of the concert.

But Wong, despite her superstar status, doesn't always enjoy being out in the spotlight. "I'd rather my audience didn't look at me during the concert," Wong has said. She finds being on-stage distracting to her performance because she has to care about atmosphere and the response of her fans. "In a studio I can concentrate on my singing. In fact, I prefer singing in a dark studio when recording."

At Wong's concerts, there is no choreography or group of dancers backing her. And there are no fancy props accompanying Wong's music or call-and-response sessions with the audience. Taipei audiences may remember well that five years ago when Wong gave her first massive concert in Taiwan, she asked the fervent fans to "be quiet."

The repertoire in Sunday's concert will mainly be comprised of songs from the album Fable, on which she wrote five songs. As with her last two albums released by EMI, music producer Zhang Yadong (張亞東) and lyrics writer Lin Xi (林夕) are the key co-creators with Faye in the making of Fable. Chang encouraged the addition of more electronic music arrangements, keeping in line with the electronica movement of the past decade.

Her new style no longer resembles Faye's favorite band, the ethereal Scottish Cocteau Twins. Her style references more British trip-hop bands. Wong's vocal style has also shifted away from that of Sinead O'Connor, laden with humming. Instead she is making more of an effort to refine her fluidity and create more wavering sounds with her voice.

However, the music, the sound effects, the lighting and the costume design will still mesmerize the audience for 90 minutes. Wong is now concentrating on rehearsals with a Taiwan orchestra on a stage that's been rumored to cost more than NT$40 million. So this one is shaping up to be just as good as her last. And from the recent change of Wong's public attitude, it is less likely that she will call her audience "nuts" again. But even if she did, no one will probably care.