It takes a bold man to title his own tour "Incomparable," but, as the king of Mando-pop, Jay Chou (
Starting with his entrance onto the stage at Taipei Municipal Stadium on Saturday night, by being lowered from the rafters on a glowing bright red crucifix, the show was an extravagant statement of Jay's status within the pantheon of Taiwanese pop music.
And the crowd of at least 20,000 who turned up under threatening skies indulged him every step of the way by singing along through all but the newest songs. They even shrugged off Jay's occasional stumbling over his own lyrics.
"I can never remember my lyrics. Thanks for filling in the gaps there," he joked after the crowd eased him through Tornado (
There were also a few awkward audio adjustments at the beginning to make Jay audible over the two drum sets, a bank of extremely enthusiastic back-up singers, a couple of keyboards and three guitars that threatened to smother his voice.
Yet by the fourth song, when he blasted into Yeh Hui-mei (
Jay was on his own, though, through most of his fast rap songs and defied his critics by nailing his lines while keeping step with his dancers through a jamming Aborigine-flavored medley, Father I'm Back (
In the middle of another dance routine moments later, he answered a call on his cellphone, saying: "Hey, I can't talk right now, I'm giving a concert," and then hung up right on cue as the beat came back in. It was all perfectly executed and the kids went wild.
He slowed things down a bit with a short set of acoustic songs, including Clear Stars (星晴) from his eponymous first album, and Love me, don't leave me (愛我別走) by Chang Chen-yue (張震嶽), a perennial KTV favorite that reverberated off the stadium's grandstands.
A two-song interlude by Jay's Alfa Music label-mates Nanquan Ma-ma (
Landy (
But the night belonged to Jay and if the crucifix routine hadn't made that point, then he drove it home with a ripping medley of Luanwu Chun Qiu (
Having hit that high, he made his first exit with Simple Love (
Having gotten what they came for, namely pyrotechnics and a handful of hits, fans started to stream out of the stadium. But Jay returned again to the stage for an anti-climactic rendition of his two contributions to the Hidden Track soundtrack.
After an evening of fireworks, flame-throwers and a solid performance by a singer who's forte is not live concerts, the finale was lackluster by comparison, but as always, the kids screamed in approval. After all, Jay can do no wrong.
It’s only half the size of its more famous counterpart in Taipei, but the Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature Science (NMNS, 國立自然科學博物館植物園) is surely one of urban Taiwan’s most inviting green spaces. Covering 4.5 hectares immediately northeast of the government-run museum in Taichung’s North District (北區), the garden features more than 700 plant species, many of which are labeled in Chinese but not in English. Since its establishment in 1999, the site’s managers have done their best to replicate a number of native ecosystems, dividing the site into eight areas. The name of the Coral Atoll Zone might
The US war on Iran has illuminated the deep interdependence of Asia on flows of oil and related items as raw materials that become the basis of modern human civilization. Australians and New Zealanders had a wake up call. The crisis also emphasizes how the Philippines is a swatch of islands linked by jet fuel. These revelations have deep implications for an invasion of Taiwan. Much of the commentary on the Taiwan scenario has looked at the disruptions to world trade, which will be in the trillions. However, the Iran war offers additional specific lessons for a Taiwan scenario. An insightful
On Monday morning, in quick succession, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) released statements announcing “that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) have invited KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to lead a delegation on a visit to the mainland” as the KMT’s press release worded it. The KMT’s press release added “Chairwoman Cheng expressed her gratitude for the invitation and has gladly accepted it.” Beijing’s official Xinhua news release described Song Tao (宋濤), head of the Taiwan Work Office of the CCP Central Committee, as
Polling data often confirms what we expect, but sometimes it throws up surprises. When examined over time, some patterns appear that speak to something bigger going on. In this column, whenever possible, Formosa’s polls are used. Despite the sometimes cringeworthy antics of Formosa’s Chairman, Wu Tzu-Chia (吳子嘉), the data produced includes detailed breakdowns crucial for analysis. It has also been conducted monthly 11-12 times a year for many years with many of the same questions, allowing for analysis over time. When big shifts do occur between one month and the next it is usually in response to some event in
RSS