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2005年9月29日 Sun2Surf
Songs sung duo
Peter Yap
DESPITE being an odd couple on stage, Taiwanese singer-songwriters Emil
Chau and Jonathan Lee had enough songs and experience in their bag to give
their fans a night of good music at their concert held last weekend.
While a majority of the 20,000-odd fans were Chau fans, Lee, who is better
known for his songwriting prowess, slowly but surely won his way into the
hearts of the fans as his delivery of every ballad was filled with emotion.
There were no gimmicks. No sexy dancers to look at, just two 40-something
men with their guitars, band, backup singers and 20-member orchestra to keep
the audience entertained. There were some fireworks too but those were from
a cultural event held at the nearby Merdeka Square.
Still, there were lots of small talk and jokes by Chau and Lee, who reminisced
about their past. "We have known each other for more than 20 years. It
was Lee who signed me to Rock Records," Chau reveals.
"You guys are lucky today because Lee normally hides in the studio and
people hardly see him sing. But he has a good voice."
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That night marked the first time Lee was headlining a concert in Malaysia.
And he had great fun as he belted every song, be it a solo or duet with Chau,
on tracks such as You All, The Man Who Raced with Himself and Is There a Song
That Reminds You of Me, with ease.
During one segment, Chau wore a pink shirt and a makeshift skirt as he sang
songs composed by Lee for female singers.
"I'm doing Lee a favour because if he sings, he'll sound really horrible.
You guys will have sleepless nights," he says jokingly.
Chau's crystal-clear vocals, very expressive and wide-ranging, did wonders
to such songs as Sandy Lam's Dream Love and Winnie Hsin's Gift.
He clearly enjoyed himself on stage as he said: "You all can laugh.
Just don't call me a transvestite. I'm doing this because of our friendship."
Lee has written many hit songs, including Sylvia Chang's The Price of Love,
over the years. He sang that song that evening, but got the loudest cheers
when he sang Jeff Chang's worldwide hit I Really Love You which he wrote in
1992. But the night belonged to Chau, who has had several sold-out concerts
in Malaysia previously.
During this concert, Chau had the audience constantly rooting for him even
when he was backstage. He got the fans singing along to his many songs, including
Love Follows, Loneliness is Hard to Bear and Fearing Darkness.
The J&W Anthology Concert ended when Chau and Lee sang Sincere Hero.
The show was organised by Galaxy Productions and jointly presented by Ogawa
and Samsung.