A-Mei: rock babe, ballad queen, dancing machine

(Toggle) A year and a half after her last concert on our sunny shores, Taiwanese diva A-Mei returned last night to dazzle fans with Utopia 2.0 Carnival World Tour 2017, which was launched to commemorate her 20th anniversary in the industry. This time, she moved the show from the colossal National Stadium to the comparatively more intimate confines of the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

After kicking off the three-hour gig with hard-hitting tracks like ‘Straightforward’, ‘Are You Ready’ and ‘What Do You Want’, the 44-year-old Mandopop queen settled down to speak to the audience for the first time.

“When I was backstage, I was raring to get the show started, but I understand that you all needed more time to come in because of safety reasons,” she shared.

In addition to the usual bag check, concertgoers were also subject to a metal detector scan at the entrance of the venue. The extra precaution came as part of organiser Mediacorp VizPro’s efforts to ramp up security amid concerns following the terrorist attacks at Ariana Grande’s Manchester show.

Despite the added step, the concert was delayed by a mere 20 minutes, and everyone managed to have a good – and safe – time. Every now and then, the live feed would pan to a random part of the floor and show a group of absolutely thrilled fans singing their hearts out.

Because of her closer proximity to the crowd, A-Mei was able to see faces and fan boards much clearer, and even responded individually to a few lucky folks: one extremely hyper devotee near the front row received air kisses from her idol, and another who held up an LED sign asking for A-Mei to call him by name had his request granted.

As with all her showcases, A-Mei constantly transitioned seamlessly between upbeat tracks and heart-wrenching balladry. There was even a moment where she impressed everyone with a brief dance break, complete with powerful movements and loads of whipping her waist-length hair back and forth.

While spectators clearly had a good time rocking out to the fun and fast hits, it was the mellower favourites – such as ‘Have You Heard Lately?’ and ‘Truth’ – that drew more enthusiastic cheers (and had the loudest singalongs).

But out of all the moving ballads, none were as emotional as her performance of ‘Listen to Me’, a song she recorded as a memorial to singer and producer Chang Yu Sheng (who is often credited with propelling A-Mei into the spotlight early in her career) after his untimely death in 1997.

“I always talk about this person at concerts; he was a very good friend and is very important to me,” she said, requesting the audience to turn on the flash on their phones, which created a gorgeous starry night-like effect in the arena. A-Mei was seen wiping away tears several times during her recital and almost ended on an off-key note before successfully correcting her pitch.

The sombre atmosphere did not last long as A-Mei was soon back with her army of backup dancers and more energetic tunes. Then came one of the highlights of the night: a 50-minute-long medley of hits spanning her impressive 20-year discography.

“Let’s take a walk down memory lane,” she said. “I don’t know if you remember when you started listening to me, but it’s okay, let me take you back one song at a time.”

What followed was indeed a nostalgic treat for fans as A-Mei delivered presentations of ‘Remember’, ‘Hostage’, ‘Hand in Hand’, ‘Sisters’ and more. ‘Rainbow’ and its accompanying “kiss cam” also made a comeback.

“To all kinds of love out there, jiayou!” she declared, waving around a huge rainbow flag.

#LoveWins, especially at an A-Mei concert.

Source: Toggle

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