Poparazzi

Firstly, was Patrick Watson’s gig on Tuesday da bomb or what!

Ahem, okay, so here’s a quick update on what’s been happening this week that’s of importance – well, to me, anyway. Whether it means anything to you depends on whether we share the same tastes, innit?

On the gig front:

Firstly, Taiwan female trio S.H.E. will be in town on Apr 17, as part of their S.H.E Is The One World Tour.

This is the first full-on gig by Selina, Hebe and Ella in three years, so it should be interesting to see what it’s going to be like. The gig will happen at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, 8pm and tickets are priced from $88 to $168. Mind you, their opening gig in Hong Kong sold out within a couple of days, and organisers here are expecting the same thing, so you’d better hurry if you want to make sure you get yours. You can start buying from tomorrow (Jan 22).

Our concern is that news has come that it falls on the same date as Taiwanese rockers Mayday’s gig too, which happens at the Padang. The rock quintet’s stop is part of their DNA World Tour.

Apparently, the date is inevitable as that’s the only free date available to the band and the Padang. Incidentally, this is the first time their outdoor gig here will be ticketed – the last two times they performed for free. We’ll let you know of ticketing details as soon as we get them.

Also on sale tomorrow, tickets for the Dinosaur Jr’s Mosaic show are up for grabs at Sistic outlets and at the Esplanade box office. Price from $40 to $100.

And if you didn’t know yet, Norwegian duo Kings Of Convenience have added a SECOND DATE on the Esplanade’s Mosaic calendar after the first sold out like, very quickly. The added date is Mar 18 and tickets go from $40 to $80.

On the album front:

Here’s a tasty treat for U2 fans! No, they’re not coming to town, but if you’re a subscriber to their website U2.com, you can get this brand new U2 collection that you won’t find for sale in the shops or online.

According to them it features tracks never previously made available. “And it’s strictly limited edition”. Ooh.

It’s called Artificial Horizon and it’s a remix album featuring 13 tracks, such as the Grand Jury Mix of If God Will Send His Angels, Trent Reznor’s version of Vertigo, Jacknife Lee’s remake of Fast Cars, David Holmes’ remix of Beautiful Day and I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight (Live U2360° Remix).

Again, you have to be a subscriber to get this.   

Speaking of new albums, Aging Youth has announced several releases aimed for this year…

B-Quartet will be releasing their as-yet-untitled followup to the critically acclaimed Tomorrow Is Our Permanent Address within this quarter of the year. It’s 70 per cent done, and I, for one, can’t wait for this, since I loved Tomorrow.

Singer-songwriter Inch Chua (above left) too, has a new album, Wallflower, slated for July. And like her EP, The Bedroom, it will be FREE! She’s one to watch out for this year – she’s also been invited to South By Southwest, so who knows what else is in store? There’ll be a gig to raise funds for that, so watch this space for more news…

Others also slated for album releases this year are “art metalheads” Lunarin, who are apparently “exploring more ambient textures”, and the fabulous Lard Brothers, with album No 3, Simply As Designed targeted for an August release. According to Lard Brother Robin Ng: “It’s like those Best-Of-The-Eighties compilation albums which you find in the record store’s bargain bin!”

So definitely a must-have! Haha!

Well, that’s it for now. Tune in again, when we’ll have more news that you can use and abuse. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to sink myself into more Patrick Watson.

Cheers,

Da Abang

Tags: Aging Youth, Artificial Horizon, B-Quartet, Dinosaur Jr, Inch Chua, Kings Of Convenience, Lard Brothers, Lunarin, Mayday, Mosaic Music Festival, S.H.E., Singapore Indoor Stadium, The Esplanade, U2, Willy Ang

Tags: addy rasidi, Cannes, Carrie Underwood, Chow Yun Fat, Coco Lee, CSI, Dragonball Evolution, Electrico, Fun Asia, Fun Taiwan, Ion Orchard, Janet Hsieh, Jeanette Aw, Jolin Tsai, Little Nyonya, Qi Yuwu, S.H.E., Singapore, The Who, Tom Cruise, William Peterson

SO as it turned out, the 15th Singapore Hit Awards, or SHA, should have been renamed the S.H.E. awards, seeing as the babelicious Taiwanese trio picked up four – count ‘em, four – awards Friday night.

(Okay, they were pipped to the post by Mayday, who picked up FIVE – one for each member – but then my pun wouldn’t have worked as well.)

Anyway, babesome threesome, who were also in town to launch the Osim uKimono, picked up trophies for Best Group, Most Versatile Artist, Asia Media Award (Group) and Oustanding Regional Artiste (Taiwan). 

Too hot to handle (from left): Hebe, Ella and Selina of S.H.E.

Other big winners included Rachel Liang (below) and Tanya Chua (three each) and Lala Hsu, Jam Hsiao, Kelvin Tan and Jay Chou (two each).

As expected Rachel picked up a not only the Most Popular Newcomer and the Meritorious Newcomer awards, but in a surprise move, also picked up the Most Popular Female Artiste award.

Rachel Liang belting it out

Tanya (below), on the other hand, was feted for her outstanding achievement to local music, and also picked up an award for Best Local Lyrics. It was, she said, gratifying for her because writing in Mandarin wasn’t her strongest suit.

However, if there was an award for Most Succint Artiste, it would have gone to Jam Hsiao.

Jam Hsiao: Tall in height, short on words

The good-looking singer, who is known for his economical use of language, was the butt of many jibes. The show’s presenters joked that  they were promised $50 for every word he uttered.  And even then they couldn’t even make more than a couple of hundred.

Even when presenting the awards, Jam was tight-lipped. “Good evening. Here are the nominees,” he intoned before the video clips for the Meritorious Newcomer Awards started. And after: “The winner is Liang Wenyin… Lala Hsu… Huang Jing Lun… Zhang Yun Jing.” Don’t think about a career as a public speaker anytime soon, Jam.

There were a few interesting moments, particularly those involving Yes 933FM DJ Dennis Chew’s turn as Auntie Lucy, although admittedly, it always strikes me as psycho creepy whenever he does that.

Still, he had his arms full, literally, when S.H.E.’s Ella decided to jump him. We’re not sure who was more shocked, but we’re thinking it was co-presenter Michelle Chong.

And when JJ Lin (below) won the Best Local Artiste award, he sent back a text message to his fans, explaining his absence: He was in Los Angeles mixing his new album, which is expected to be out next month.

There were gaffs too. The video projections failed to live up to the occasion more than once, but overall, everybody – from fans to er, more fans, alike – had a good enough time. And maybe next year, we’ll hear Jam actually say something more than just sound bites.  

Anyway, here’s the full list of winners…

Album Of The Year: Poetry Of The Day After Spring, Mayday

Best Album Producer: Jay Chou

Best Single Producer: Edward Chan, Charles Lee, Khalil Fong

Best Local Lyrics: Shi Nian, Tanya Chua

Best Local Composition: Ru Yan, Olivia Ong (below)

Best Local Artiste: JJ Lin

Best Male Vocalist: Jam Hsiao

Best Female Vocalist: A-mei

Best Group: S.H.E.

Best Band: Mayday

Best Composing Artiste: Sodagreen

Meritorious Newcomer: Rachel Liang, Lala Hsu, Huang Jin Lun, Zhang Yun Jing

Zhang Yun Jing (left) and Rachel Liang

Most Popular Male Artiste: Jam Hsiao

Most Popular Female Artiste: Rachel Liang

Popular Group/Band: Mayday

Most Popular Newcomer: Rachel Liang

YES 933FM Pick of the Pops Award - Single of the Year: Heartbeat, Wang Lee Hom

YES 933FM Pick of the Pops Award - Artiste with Most Chart Hits: Mayday

Asia Media Award (Male Artiste): Jay Chou

Asia Media Award (Female Artiste): Tanya Chua

Asia Media Award (Band): Mayday (below)

Asia Media Award (Group): S.H.E.

Outstanding Regional Artiste Award (Mainland China): Zhou Bi Zhang

Outstanding Regional Artiste Award (Hong Kong): Eason Chan

Outstanding Regional Artiste Award (Taiwan): S.H.E.

Outstanding Regional Artiste Award (Malaysia): Fish Leong

Inspirational Award (Local Media’s Choice): Kelvin Tan (below)

Outstanding Local Music Achievement Award: Tanya Chua

Most Versatile Artiste of the Year Award: S.H.E.

Most Acclaimed Artiste of the Year Award: Fahrenheit

Courts MV Award: Kelvin Tan

i-weekly Dazzling Newcomer Award: Lala Hsu

(Thanks to Yes 933FM for the pictures.)

Tags: A-mei, Abang of the Airwaves, Auntie Lucy, Aunty Lucy, Best Local Lyrics, Chinese music, Christopher Toh, Dennis Chew, Eason Chan, Fahrenheit, Fish Leong, Huang Jin Lun, Jam Hsiao, Jay Chou, JJ Lin, Kelvin Tan, Khalil Fong, Lala Hsu, Mayday, Michelle Chong, Most Popular Female Artiste, Olivia ONg, Rachel Liang, S.H.E., Singapore Hit Awards, Singapore music, Sodagreen, Taiwanese, Tanya Chua, Wang Lee Hom, Yes 933FM, Zhang Yun Jing

HEY there fellow Poparazziacs, here’s a question for you: Where do you go if you want to see your favourite Asian singing stars in the flesh?

No, you don’t have to fly all the way to Hong Kong, China or Taiwan; you just need to head on down to Ion Orchard. Yup, Singapore’s newest shopping addition has been seeing loads of celebrities within their walls of late.

Last week, country superstar Carrie Underwood turned up for an hour-long concert, and tomorrow evening (Oct 23), singer-actor Wang Lee Hom (above) will be doing his concert outside the mall too, to mark the final day of the establishment’s grand opening celebrations called Constellation.

And on Nov 6, one of Taiwan’s hottest pop stars, S.H.E. (below) will make an appearance at the Osim store to launch the Osim uKimono, a “complete all-in-one slimming device that burns fat and tones muscle while massaging to enhance circulation” – or so I’m told.

Personally, I’m not sure why Selina, Hebe or Ella would need this device, when they’re trim enough as it is! But hey, I’m definitely going to be there doing my fanboy thing and get some snaps.

I guess it’s time to keep an eye on Ion.

***UPDATE***

Oh, and this just in: On Oct 27, Chinese star Zhang Ziyi (below) – or is it Ziyi Zhang now? – will be here again. This time, she’ll be here to officiate at the opening of the Omega flagship boutique, she being one of the ambassadors for Omega and all.

And yes, I know she’s technically not a singing star, but here’s something more pressing: Is Zhang Ziyi hotter than the Omega Constellation that was done for her? Only one way to find out.

(The female contingent in the office were, of course, hoping George Clooney would turn up, but hey, here’s a gratituous shot of him anyway…)

Tags: Abang of the Airwaves, Asian, Carrie Underwood, Christopher Toh, Constellation, George Clooney, Ion Orchard, Omega, Osim, S.H.E., uKimono, Wang Lee Hom, Zhang Ziyi