[ 17-07-2007 ]
It was a night to remember for Emil Chau Wakin fans as the singer wowed them with all his hits in The Wakin 20 Live in Malaysia 2007 concert at Bukit Jalil last Saturday. On 13 July, 1986, a young singer named Emil Chau released his debut album Xing De Fang Xiang. Twenty years and a day later on Saturday night, Chau celebrated his two decades in show business with more than 10,000 fans at the Putra Indoor Stadium in Bukit Jalil. I have to admit that, initially, I was not exactly looking forward to the concert on Saturday. No, it’s not because Chau (now known as Wakin Chau, which is the Cantonese pronunciation of his name) is a bad performer. On the contrary, he is a brilliant live entertainer. It’s just that last Saturday’s concert marked the fifth time I was watching him, and before it started I was already dreading a show that would be too similar to his previous shows. Fortunately, even though there was that inevitable air of familiarity throughout the concert and he sang largely the same songs all over again, it turned out to be Hong Kong-born Chau’s best and most entertaining concert here yet. Chau has always been known for his lively concerts, and this one was no exception. The usual cheerful banter and jolly demeanour was intact, keeping proceedings lively during breaks in the music, the band was in its element, and Chau’s vocals were almost faultless throughout the entire concert, despite singing for almost four hours and 30 minutes. However, all those things were present in his past concerts as well. So what made this one so special? Well, it was helped mostly by the fact that Chau was truly in the mood to celebrate, and thus was at his most entertaining best. In fact, he was so obliging on the night that he sang almost every single hit song he has ever released in the past two decades. Hua Xin? You got it. Zui Zen De Meng? Yup, it’s there. Qi Shi Bu Xiang Zou? “Of course, I’ll sing it,” said Chau. Ai Xiang Sui? “Sure, no problem.” Zai Ai Wo Ba? “It’s not on the song list, but hey, I’ll sing it anyway.” Peng You? “Well, you have to wait until the end but I’ll still sing it.” Needless to say, this was a concert that was worth every sen of the ticket price. And just in case you were not satisfied with just watching and listening to Chau alone, he even had three guest artistes. And to top it off, all three of them were Malaysians, comprising Taiwan-based singers Victor Wong and Nicholas Teo, as well as songwriter extraordinaire Lee Chee Ching; who all grew up listening to Chau’s songs. Therefore, it was an especially memorable sight to see all four of them on stage singing Zhen Xin Ying Xiong; as it was a rather poignant display of the influence that Chau has had on the younger generation of musicians, and the respect they have for him. Ultimately, the concert was a true celebration of the evergreen Chau’s 20-year career, and by the time he wrapped things up at close to 1am with the classic fan-favourite Peng You, I had already banished all thoughts of dread and boredom, and already looking forward to watching him in action for a sixth time... The Wakin 20 Live in Malaysia 2007 concert was presented by Sports Toto and Ogawa, and organised by Galaxy Group.
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