Taiwanese pop diva Jody Chiang (江蕙) yesterday apologized to her legions of fans for the ticketing fiasco surrounding her final live performances, and said that she planned to add 10 more dates to the original 16 farewell concerts.
“I have heard the thousands of voices expressing anger and dissatisfaction. I’m so sorry, and I make a bowing apology to everyone here,” Chiang wrote on her Web site.
Chen Tzu-hung (陳子鴻), Chiang’s agent, announced yesterday that all 160,000 tickets for the 16 concerts had sold out
Photo courtesy of Kuang Hong Arts Management
In order to satisfy overwhelming demand, Chen said 10 more concert dates are planned.
“We are set to make new ticketing arrangements, and these will not be sold by Kuang Hong Arts Management,” Chen said.
Each ticket for the original concerts is priced at NT$6,800, however scalpers are selling them for 10 times the price and even higher on the black market, according to media reports.
Affectionately called, “Second Sister (二姊)” by her fans, Chiang, who has released 60 albums and won 11 Golden Melody Awards, announced last Friday that she would end her four-decade-long singing career with 16 farewell concerts to be held from July to September, 12 of which are set to be held in Taipei and four in Greater Kaohsiung.
The news resulted in a wild scramble by fans for the tickets.
Kuang Hong has been the main target of anger after its Kham Ticket online sale system which repeatedly crashed, frustrating fans. Fans have also been enraged by waiting in lines, some for up to three days, and still being unable to obtain tickets.
On the first day of ticket sales on Monday, about 350,000 people tried to log onto the Kham Ticket Web site to try and buy tickets, causing the system to crash and leaving stores without a connection. The demand was described as “unprecedented.”
News of the chaos has been detailed in press headlines and on television screens this week, as the waiting crowds in front of Kuang Hong’s building fought and shouted at each other, and the situation nearly degenerated into a riot on several occasions.
Police had to keep order, with the Department of Consumer Protection and other government agencies promising to crack down on scalpers.
The National Police Agency issued a press statement yesterday to announce the opening of investigations into illegal ticket touts, warning people not to buy tickets through unauthorized platforms, as more than 20 people have been cheated by fraudulent scalpers.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture on Wednesday night said that it had instructed the governments of Taipei and Greater Kaohsiung to handle the controversy in accordance with the Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法), adding that it would hold discussions with ticket sellers as it considers establishing a related mechanism to address the controversy.
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber
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