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SINGAPORE: Some two weeks ago, Hong Kong superstar Eason Chan reportedly promised "no fancy costumes whatsoever" at his Singapore concert, and said the focus instead, would be on his singing.
Well, thankfully, the "King of Karaoke Songs" was not true to his word, for what would be an Eason Chan concert without his whole array of slightly malfunctioning wardrobe?
Although armed with notably lesser fancy outfits than his previous gigs, Eason still managed to turn his 'Eason's Moving On Stage 11' Singapore concert around into a mini avant-grade fashion show.
The singer kicked off the concert with hit single "White Rose", cloaked from head to toe with a drape of sparkling lights - a get-up that promises to shine not just during the concert but during Christmas as well.
He then leaped straight into a fast number, "King of Karaoke Songs", with a perfectly normal chic black ballroom suit, and proceeded to show off sleek moves in a mix of Tango, Waltz and the Cha-cha, proving he is as good a dancer as he is a singer.
Soon after the soulful "We Are All Lonely", Eason emerged in a masked costume, which had a flowing rainbow-coloured cape, a multi-coloured frilly tail that swept the floor, and a mask with large blue female eyes that looked suspiciously like Britney Spears's from afar.
He then proceeded to belt out the next few numbers wearing the mask on his forehead with the blue eyes staring disturbingly at the audience.
To round off the flamboyant display, Eason took the beginning of his encore by storm in a maroon tracksuit with gold linings and a walking cane, tackling an Indian-inspired dance number with great enthusiasm.
In possibly one of the longest encore ever seen in concerts, Eason gamely took impromptu requests from the floor, living up to his name as the "King of Karaoke songs" with crowd favourites such as "Falling Flowers Running Water" and "Sunset's Infinitely Good", cheekily promising to sing until midnight if the crowd proved 'high' and rowdy enough.
Unfortunately, the lukewarm Singapore crowd fell short of the mark.
But funky costumes aside, the mini fashion show did not upstage the primary purpose of the concert - the focus on his singing.
The singer-actor expertly juggled both fast and slow numbers, in Cantonese, Mandarin and even English.
The Britain-educated Eason impressed with English tracks "What a Wonderful World" and "Aren't you Glad", as well as "Don't Want To Let Go" from his latest album.
He also seemed to have improved in his spoken Mandarin. The concert renditions of Mandarin hit songs "Brothers and Sisters", "Ten Years" and "Your Backpack" surpassed his album versions with better articulation and less awkward pronunciation.
But it was during the Cantonese slow numbers that truly proved why Eason has often been crowned one of the leading male artistes in the Canto-pop arena.
The soulful delivery of "Flower Shop" and the expressive take on hot favourite "Under Mount Fuji" were so heartbreakingly beautiful they could (and most probably did) raise goosebumps.
Too bad the singer decided to go with a more versatile approach in the concert instead of delivering more of what he does best - Cantopop.
Eason is also a natural comedian, and it is really not difficult to grasp his sense of humour - his infectious laughter would do the trick.
His keyboardist lead the crowd in a birthday tribute for Eason, who turned 34 a day after his concert, with the singer guffawing throughout his birthday song.
The audience chuckled along, thinking he was mighty pleased at having a 7000-strong crowd celebrate his birthday with him, until Eason, in between stitches, revealed he was laughing at the keyboardist's poor pronunciation of his spoken Mandarin and English.
And that - the singer's endearing on-stage antics, not the keyboardist's poor articulation - sent the crowd into another bout of roaring laughter.
The singer brought along a whole crew of TVB friends to celebrate his birthday with him in Singapore, including his wife, actress Hilary Tsui and daughter Constance, actor Jaycee Chan (son of Jackie Chan) and singer Edmond Leung.
The concert definitely proved much more 'hits' than 'misses' and the eccentric costumes just made it even more memorable. Hats off to Eason.
- CNA/yb
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