The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Posted: 21 Oct 2011 01:19 AM PDT German deejay/producer Paul van Dyk is a man who firmly believes in the energy of the masses. IN the eyes of acclaimed German dance music maverick Paul van Dyk, Malaysia has always been a special place for the development of electronic music over the years. The 39-year-old deejay has performed to thousands here a handful of times in the past 10 years. How many of us would remember his first visit to Kuala Lumpur, playing to a 3,000 capacity crowd at the now defunct Movement club in March 2001? He certainly does. "I remember, after that gig, writing a song I called Movement, which I dedicated to that club. I remember it was a phenomenal club in those days," said the Grammy-nominated superstar deejay over the phone from Luxembourg, where he was due another stop on his Evolution World Tour 2011 last weekend. Movement appeared on his Columbia EP – released in 2001. That's some tribute from the man who claims to have no favourite venue or club and is credited as one of the hardest working artistes in electronic music, with sold-out tours that cross each continent, headlining spots at every major festival, live collaborations with symphony orchestras and a hugely successful recording career (selling over 4.5 million albums worldwide). He's certain to add more Malaysian memories to his tour diary when he appears at the XPlay party at the Helipad of the Sepang International Circuit tomorrow. Van Dyk's appearance is also billed as part of his current Evolution Tour in support of his upcoming album Evolution. It will be his sixth studio effort in the 20 years that has already spawned five best-selling dance records, remix projects, concept DVDs, movie soundtracks, weekly radio shows and the highly successful Vandit record label to boot. The forthcoming album is something he is pretty satisfied with and it comes four years after his last studio album, In Between. "The album is actually going to be released at the beginning of next year. I was working with highly respected and acclaimed people (in the scene) with a big production in mind," said van Dyk, who was born in East Germany and began his clubbing career in 1991. "Evolution is a more mature, more experienced record. In writing and inspiration, I have drawn from the power and energy of the people I have played to over the years. To see how happy and glad they are gives me energy. It is the best music I have ever made." That, in a nutshell, is the concept of the album and van Dyk's deejay sets these days. "I will be applying a lot of the album to the tour. The performance part is an extension of what I do." Taking the idea of the visuals a stage further, van Dyk has put together a live cinema performance that is set to take the crowd on a journey. Now that would be music to the ears of fans at Sepang this weekend as the deejay takes his sound outdoors for the first time in Malaysia, bringing two decades of "experience in life" to his music, as he described. "I am very clear about how the sound is going to be outside. It will be very special to bring Evolution out." With custom made mixers/keyboards and computer software on board, van Dyk says the creative level of deejaying has stepped up to modern day demands. It's a different landscape, but this veteran deejay (of CDs and vinyl) has adapted well. Over the past two decades, van Dyk doesn't claim to have a favourite venue or club. There is perhaps one exception – the 1.5 million crowd he played to at the Berlin Love Parade 10 years ago. The crowd this weekend may come nowhere near that, obviously. But that will not matter to van Dyk. "I enjoy the fact that they – the audience – are different all the time and everywhere." > Paul van Dyk's Evolution show is set to hit Asia for the first time at XPlay at the Helipad @ Sepang International Circuit in Selangor tomorrow. Italian trance producer Giuseppe Ottaviani, plus local favourites Terence C, Phil K & Ian Ross and Mister Ariffin provide support. Doors open 7pm. Pre-sale: RM55 (ends today). Door sale: RM75. Tickets available at select Rock Corner and Victoria Music outlets. Browse airasiaredtix.com. More info at xpax.com.my or futuresoundsystem.com. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 21 Oct 2011 12:24 AM PDT Alan Tam is all set to give local fans their favourite songs. EVERGREEN Hong Kong Cantopop singer Alan Tam promises to sing fan favourites during his upcoming concert here next month. "I've had fans telling me that they are partial to songs from the 80s and 90s. So, the mainstay of my Hong Kong show were 80s hits interspersed with 90s favourites," he said at a press conference here last Saturday afternoon. Tam, 61, had also graced meet-and-autograph sessions in Kuantan and Kuala Lumpur last week. Tam kicked off his concert tour with eight shows in Hong Kong in July last year, of which no two shows had identical set lists. "I'm looking forward to seeing what Malaysian fans have in store for me," said the busy singer, who has done cameos in three movies and has recorded most of the songs for his next Cantonese album. For his upcoming show in Kuala Lumpur, fans can vote for their favourite songs by choosing from a list of 100 songs on the organiser's website (starplanet.com.my) and the top 20 highest-voted songs will be shortlisted and included in the concert. Tam was pleasantly surprised to hear that the current top three songs voted by his Malaysian music fans were his lesser known hits. Since last week, the top three songs were Ngai Hoi Fau Toi, Yau Lui Bat Hing Lau and Mai Chi Dik Sam. "The first song, Ngai Hoi Fau Toi, is one that I keep suggesting for concerts in Hong Kong but it always gets dropped from the final list. The same goes for Yau Lui Bat Hing Lau, so much so that now I don't even remember how to sing it! I've practised it for concerts before, but it somehow gets cut in the end. Mai Chi Dik Sum is a song I wrote myself." Fondly dubbed "Principal Tam" by Chinese media, the veteran entertainer has been active since 1973. He has more than 50 movies under his belt and is well-known for his romantic ballads and upbeat tunes. His current concert tour features musicians and dancers from Beijing and Hong Kong and is set to take fans on a trip down memory lane. The show is organised by Star Planet in celebration of its 10th anniversary. The official radio station is 988, which is operated by The Star. Said to be "forever 25", Tam was asked his secret to eternal youth. Laughing heartily, he declared: "The secret is staying young at heart. I do a lot of exercise. I play a lot of soccer. Four times a week. Two times in the day and twice at night. Every week!" he exclaimed, wowing his audience with his passion for his favourite sport. "I play with Eric Tsang and Nat Chan and other members of the All Stars Soccer Team, as well as with members of other football teams. If I'm in Hong Kong, I'd play ball in the daytime on Wednesdays and Saturdays, then on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'd play at night," shared the singer-actor whose father is the renowned footballer Tam Kong-Pak, who played in the Republic of China's national team during the 1936 Summer Olympics. With his concert tour taking up most of his time, Tam still managed to guest in a few movies this year. "Previously, I said I wouldn't do cameos. That was in 1991, which means I'd never done any cameos in the past 20 years. But, this year, I've done cameos in three movies already." "One is Yue Si Seung Tong Gui (Sleepless Fashion), which is due to be released soon. That was filmed in Beijing. Another one was Kenny Bee's Dong Sing Sai Jau (East Meets West 2011). Then there's the movie commemorating the Xinhai Revolution's 100th anniversary titled Ying Hung Tip Huet (72 Heroes), which already opened in China." So, will he only be doing cameos from now? "No, I'd love to make more movies, but the script has to be suitable and the story very attractive. You know I've filmed in all sorts of genres: action, romance, drama, gambling, horror, comedy. Now, I need an attractive script to interest me." What about a biopic? Would he be interested in doing something along the lines of "The Story Of Alan Tam"? "Ah! Something like that has to be done as soon as possible. Otherwise, I won't be able to act young any more," Tam teased to another round of laughter. "Or, perhaps they can get Kelvin Kwan to play me! He sort of looks like me when I first debuted with Wynners." (Well-known as Tam's godson and his doppelganger, the Canadian-born Hong Kong-based Cantopop singer Kelvin Kwan is the son of Tam's record producer William Kwan.) > Alan Tam Concert Live in Malaysia 2011 will be staged at Bukit Jalil Putra Indoor Stadium on Nov 19 at 8pm. Tickets are priced at RM600, RM450, RM350, RM290, RM230, RM170 and RM120. For details of the concert and ticket reservation, contact Star Planet (starplanet.com.my/ 03-9223 3667) or TicketCharge (ticketcharge.com.my / 03-9222 8811). Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 21 Oct 2011 12:23 AM PDT Teenage star Charice is taking on a new look and a stronger focus in her own music identity. Not many people have to worry about their careers being over at 21. But then again, not everybody has a voice like Charice. Since she got her big break as a 15-year-old on The Ellen Degeneres Show four years ago, the pint-sized Filipina has been belting out mega-ballads to standing ovations around the world. And the kind of songs that are her bread and butter on stage is the stuff that would have even the biggest divas doing extra warm-ups backstage. We're talking about I Have Nothing, And I Am Telling You, Listen, and the ol' reputation maker (or breaker), All By Myself – and she almost always does them at full throttle. "It's actually pretty bad," said Charice, on the phone from Los Angeles. "Belting high notes all the time is not good for the voice. So for me, I just try to limit it, but still try to sing the same songs that people love watching me sing. I'm 19 now and I don't wanna turn 21 and lose my voice!" But with so many shows to do, especially being part of the David Foster and Friends tour – which we'll see her singing at the Putra Stadium, Kuala Lumpur tomorrow – the only thing she can do at the moment to avoid any damage is to know her limits. "Every artiste will feel that sometimes their voice isn't in condition, but there are techniques to get around that. It depends on the arrangement of the song. "Sometimes I tell my music director that my voice is not in condition, so maybe we won't do this song, or we'll change it to this song so that I won't damage my voice. There's always a plan B," she said, quickly adding: "But it hasn't happened a lot of times." It's hard to imagine Charice having to worry about losing her voice, because on the phone, she talks with this tiny little chipmunk voice, and she adds this cute, girly chuckle after every other sentence. In many ways, Charice is still a kid, one who says her favourite pastime when she's not singing is playing video games. But because of the trajectory of her career, she's having to grow old and mature a little faster, just like her voice. Speaking about touring with legendary producer David Foster, 61, whose concert series in KL will also include stars like Phillip Bailey, 60, Russell Watson, 44, Ashanti, 30, and Michael Bolton, 58, she said: "I feel like I'm getting old too fast because I'm the only teenager in the group! It makes me feel happy actually, cos that's what I've always wanted. "It might sound weird, but I actually love hanging out with these people more than hanging out with people my age because I'm not into clubs and everything." But there are some downsides to growing up so fast, like having to miss out on "regular school". Charice currently does online schooling alone at home, still working towards her childhood ambition of being a lawyer. "I miss my classmates from back in the Philippines. I don't even know where they are now, and I don't know how to reach them. I see them sometimes when I go back to do shows. Some of them actually watch the shows, and it makes me happy," she said. As an artiste, however, Charice is wary of being typecast as the young girl who sings the "old songs". "It's like the Bodyguard medley, I Have Nothing and I Will Always Love You – people want to see me sing those songs, so I just made them into a medley. But I think a medley or edit version is enough, because my genre is totally different now. It's more pop/R&B now, and I have to go that way. "And sometimes I think people should understand that, cos people are like 'Oh, why isn't she singing ballads anymore'. I'm not saying I'm gonna abandon the ballads. I still sing them every time I do concerts, but we're trying to create Charice, a pop/R&B singer," she said, in one of the few times during the interview where she doesn't laugh or chuckle. Charice grew up in the province of Lagunain Philippines, and started singing when she was four, encouraged by her single mother. She would perform and take part in singing contests throughout her childhood, doing everything from town fairs to reality TV competitions. She got her big break when Ellen DeGeneres was so amazed by a YouTube video of her singing that she flew her over to the United States to feature on her show. Then Oprah came into the picture, also bringing her on her show, christening her the "Most Talented Girl in the World", and introducing her to people like Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion and Foster, who immediately took her under his wing. She credits both Ellen and Oprah equally for having helped with her career, and says she "feels special" to have both of them continue to take an interest in her life. But funnily enough, having met so many of her music heroes, she says the person that has left her the most starstruck so far, is Paris Hilton. "It was kind of funny because I was just sitting at a table and drawing or something, and Michael Bublé was at the same table talking to somebody else. Then all of a sudden this tall lady just taps me on the shoulder and she's like 'Hi, I know you! You're the girl on Oprah, right?' "I couldn't say anything! And she was like 'Can I take a picture with you?' and I was like 'Are you kidding me? Of course I'll take a picture with you!' I couldn't believe it. She was really nice," she said. Back to music, Charice's sophomore album Infinity features a track called Before It Explodes, written by someone with whom she shares a bit of a Filipino connection – Bruno Mars, who is of Filipino-Puerto Rican descent. So we just had to ask – what is it that makes Filipinos such good singers? "It's part of us! We love music, we love singing. Even people who aren't as good as Bruno Mars – they still love singing!" she said, with that girly chuckle again. "We love karaoke, we love singing other people's songs, and I think it's just part of our culture, and that's what I love about it." > David Foster & Friends – Live in Asia Tour 2011 takes place 8pm at Putra Indoor Stadium in Bukit Jalil, KL, tomorrow. Enrich Malaysia Airlines, in collaboration with JAG Concerts and Events, are the concert presenters. Tickets are available at www.jagtickets.com.my Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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