The family of late singer-songwriter Hung Yi-feng (洪一峰), who was known as “the king of the Formosan song,” will be holding a tribute concert in Taipei on Wednesday next week, but is falling well short of the money it needs to organize the event.
The tribute is expected to cost at least NT$10 million (US$324,000), but the organizer, the Hung Yi-feng Cultural Inheritance Foundation, is still NT$6 million short after some civic groups that initially pledged financial assistance pulled out.
STARS
To pay respect to Hung, who died of pancreatic cancer in February at age 82, his family is inviting a group of A-list stars and groups, including Jay Chou (周杰倫), Chang Hui-mei (張惠妹) and Mayday (五月天), among many others, to perform at the free concert at the Taipei Area.
SHORTAGE
The foundation has only raised NT$4 million, but needs another NT$6 million to cover the cost for rent, stage, equipment, musicians and other expenses even though the performers are not charging for their appearance.
TAKING, BUT NOT GIVING
Earlier, some private enterprises and social groups had promised to support the foundation and its concert. However, most did not keep their promises. Several had already taken concert tickets in exchange for their sponsorship, but the money never materialized, organizers said.
Starting at 10am tomorrow, people interested in attending the concert can obtain two tickets by showing their ID card at the service desk of the Taipei Arena.
However, to resolve the financial difficulties, the organizer has called on fans to pre-order Lian Hua (戀花), a tribute album produced by Hung’s son, Eric (洪敬堯).
People who pre-order two copies of the new album will receive two tickets for the tribute concert. The album is scheduled to be released on Friday.
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