Vancouver Sun

Chinese constellation
The stars of Saturday's S.U.C.C.E.S.S. gala represent the cream of talent from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China

Wyng Chow
Vancouver Sun

Thursday, February 06, 2003

Hong Kong superstar Sally Yeh celebrates a homecoming Saturday when she heads a cast of Cantonese pop singers performing at an expected sold-out concert at General Motors Place.

Raised in Victoria, the Taiwan-born Yeh rocketed to stardom after returning to Asia, where she launched her solo singing and acting career.

Among her film credits, she starred with Chow Yun-Fat in director John Woo's cult movie, The Killer, in which she played a blinded lounge singer. She won a Hong Kong best actress nomination for her role as an aspiring opera singer in director Tsui Hark's seminal classic, Peking Opera Blues.

In the early 1990s, Yeh's hit Mandarin song, Handle Life Light-Heartedly, was the rage of karaoke lounges around the world.

"That is still one of the most requested songs when I do concerts for Asian audiences around the world," said Lini Evans, a blond, blue-eyed Vancouver multilingual singer who performs in seven different languages, including Mandarin.

These days, Yeh usually shares top billing with her husband and mentor, George Lam, a veteran crooner of note.

Produced by Television Broadcasts Ltd. (TVB) of Hong Kong, Saturday's live variety show, marking the 30th fundraising gala for Vancouver's United Chinese Community Enrichment Services Society (S.U.C.C.E.S.S.), will be televised to viewers in Hong Kong, China and Singapore.

About 800 pre-show VIP diners are paying up to $1,000 a plate, while another 12,000 spectators are shelling out between $32 and $130 for tickets to the annual gala -- billed as the largest Chinese concert held in North America. The event was previously described by a mainstream Vancouver music critic as "the Chinese equivalent of a show by Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Bryan Adams."

Saturday's other headliners --performing in Cantonese, Mandarin and English -- include:

- Twins, a.k.a. Gillian Chung and Charlene Choi, both in their early 20s, who became overnight sensations after teaming up less than two years ago. Their singing style has been described as "like Britney Spears without the sexuality."

- Miriam Yeung, currently among the top artists in Hong Kong, who has released more than 20 CDs over the past seven years. Her clean-cut image has become a role model for teenagers.

- Flora Chan, who won TVB's coveted Most Popular Female Artist Award in 2002, after starring in dozens of TV and movie productions and commercials over the past several years.

- Newcomers and rising stars Jade Kwan, Shawn Yue, Juno Mak and Yu Chiu.

Masters of ceremonies and other performers include popular TV game show hosts Eric Tsang and Jerry Lamb, variety show host Vinci Wong (a University of B.C. graduate), renowned actor Fung Woo, and actress Sonija Kwok, a former Vancouver resident who was crowned Miss Chinese International in 2000.

While the younger generation swoons over the likes of the Twins, Yeung, Chan and Kwan, the older crowd will be on hand to see and hear Lam, 55, and Yeh, 42, making music together for the first time in Vancouver.

Before taking a five-year sabbatical after she married songwriter-singer Lam in a Victoria ceremony in 1996, Yeh had become one of Asia's pre-eminent female Canto-pop artists. She decided on making a comeback because she says she missed singing and her fans.

"I can sing now like I have never sung before," Yeh said. "It's a pity that with my power and ability right now, I'm not working as much as before."

During her varied career, she has wowed audiences in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia with slow and fast Canto-pop tunes, including Taking a Stroll, Moon Heart, True Love and Autumn Comes, Autumn Goes, as well as Believe Myself. Yeh also does Cantonese versions of Janet Jackson's Love Will Never Do Without You and Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On. In English, her repertoire includes the Broadway anthem, Memory, Phantom of the Opera and Don McLean's American Pie. Her latest CD, You've Heard, released in December, contains eight Cantonese tracks and two Mandarin ones.

Meanwhile, Lam's solo Chinese hits include One Man, Thousand Needles, In the Middle of the Water, Man's Strength of Will and Need You Every Minute.

Together, Yeh and Lam sing duets of Best Wishes, Don't Be Sad, Go Through Life, Surrender, Forever Friends, I Love You (a Cantonese cover of Billy Joel's Uptown Girl), and Dare To Love, Dare To Do, as well as a Cantonese version of Starship's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now.

On stage, the two are sometimes reminiscent of Sonny and Cher, but without the wisecracks and putdown lines. Although they are known for unabashed lovey-dovey behaviour, there are no reports they plan to revive I Got You, Babe.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. representative Tony Moy said this year's ticket demand has been pouring in from places as far away as New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

"Asian performers have been more mainstream in recent years," Moy said. "We now have Caucasian people buying tickets. Some of them know more about Asian artists than Asian people do. Not so long ago, very few non-Asians had ever heard of Asian stars like Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li or Jackie Chan."

Net proceeds from Saturday's show -- the target is $400,000, a conservative figure after last year's net of more than $500,000 -- will help S.U.C.C.E.S.S., a non-profit social services agency with an annual operating budget of $16 million, maintain its services and programs to assist new immigrants from all ethnic backgrounds.

Services include settlement and integration, family and youth counselling, group and community programs, business development, language and employment training, public health education and seniors' health care.

With the support of more than 300 staff members, 18,000 members and 8,600 volunteers, S.U.C.C.E.S.S., founded in 1973, served more than 420,000 clients through 12 locations in Greater Vancouver last year.

On Feb. 16, Saturday's event is scheduled to be televised to audiences across Canada by Vancouver's Fairchild Television.

Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun