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SINGAPORE: Chinese singer Gary Chaw is often depicted as a smoky, broody soul in publicity pictures; but in person, he has a wicked sense of humour and a nervous excitement that is pretty contagious.
He has every right to be nervous: He's nominated for four awards at the Golden Melody Awards (GMA) tomorrow (July 5) - the Asian equivalent of the Grammys - including the prestigious Best Male Singer award.
"When I first heard about it I thought, "Here's another excuse to go for drinks then!," he laughed.
"Now my rates can go up by 25 per cent! If I win, it will go up 100 per cent!"
Another reason to attend the awards is so Gary can meet his idol, A-mei, who's nominated for both Song and Album of the Year, and Best Female Singer. His dream is to do a duet with her.
"And no, I won't charge her for my services," he joked.
But while he's excited about winning an award or two, he's more excited about his Asian tour, entitled Welcome To My World - his first ever solo concert tour, which started in Kuala Lumpur last month, and will arrive here on July 12.
"This tour is called Welcome to My World because this show is, in a sense, me opening up to everybody," he explained.
Born in Malaysia in 1979, Gary's world success came about after winning a newcomer award for Hong Kong's TVB in 2006.
He then scored a hit with his version of Superwoman by Karyn White. Buoyed by that success, he soon found himself penning hits for Taiwanese acts like S.H.E, Cyndi Wang and Aaron Kwok.
Despite being compared to the likes of Jay Chou, Gary said that he's trying to be his own person.
"My music's a bit of everything, a bit rojak. But I don't mind. No matter how you mix it, rojak still tastes good, right?"
For this tour, Gary's gone rojak too: His band, for example, is made up of Malay musicians who've never heard his music before.
"I always like to do something different. It's good they haven't heard any of my songs, because they can put a new spin on them."
And what about reports that he plans on stripping down to his underwear?
"Maybe more like boxers and shoes," he smiled conspiratorially.
"(But) the most important thing is the music. The show helps, but it's not the main thing. In the end, all I have is my voice. What I wear shouldn't matter, so why not get as naked as I can be, er, within legal limits? This is like the biggest visual statement one can make, right?"
Other than his potential nakedness, Gary hopes the audience will get wowed by the show.
"Well, I don't put on a concert everyday, right?" Gary said.
"So I'm going to give it my all. But maybe the best thing would be if they immediately went to a KTV bar and started singing my songs! Then I'll know I did what I came here to do!"
Gary Chaw's Welcome to My World Asian Live Tour 2008 happens on July 12, 8pm at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Tickets available from Sistic. - TODAY/fa
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