I was really pleased when I was offered free tickets for the Jacky Cheung concert at the Arena Of Stars, Genting Highlands. I have always been a fan of him since secondary school days. Although I have not listened to his new songs much this couple of years, his golden classics has always been the top of my list among my favourite Chinese songs.The concert in Genting was only suppose to be for 2 days but due to popular demand they extended it to a 3rd day. Again the third day was fully booked as well. I guess many did not get enough of him at Bukit Jalil last year. To be honest, the concerts at Genting are so much better since you are able to see him so much closer up front.
As I got in the Arena Of Stars, I was definitely not disappointed as my seat was about 10-15 rows from the front and situated almost at the centre of the stage. The perks of having free tickets...hehe.
8.30pm sharp, the concert started with Jacky Cheung rising up from a platform at the centre of the stage and him singing "Ngoi For Far" (Love Fireworks).
From the start of the concert you would know that something was a miss. Somehow the Jacky I knew that has perfect vocals did not perform up to expectation. After a few songs, we were informed by Jacky himself that he nearly cancelled the concert due to a terrible sore throat and flu. You can hear from him talking that indeed he was not well. There were points in the concert that I truly thought he would not finish the concert as he was grasping with air and notes that he is able to hit easily seems so hard to achieve. But beside his health, everything was spot on. The dancing was very well choreographed and every part of a medley ended with a well planned finally (ie confetti flying all over or fireworks shooting up). He also told us a bit of himself and in a way gave us a slight insight on who Jacky Chung was.
One thing that I did learn through this concert was his sheer determination. He persevered through and made the 3 hour and 15 minute concert a night to remember for a long time for his fans. This concert was not about his voice but about a dedicated artist trying his very best not to disappoint his fans. There were a few parts into the concert where he was virtually shouting and you could feel his pain and there is this sense of disbelief that he is doing it, despite his condition. There was also parts in which he had to catch a few gulp of water before he could even speak a few words as every attempt to talk ended up with him coughing. Who else would command such great cheer from fans even when singing while eating an apple! (yup... he was singing while eating the apple at the same time.... apparently it helps). He had to drink water after every song half way through the concert as well. And to top it off... he gave 10 encore songs (that's another 40 minutes of golden hits).
I guess some of the fans might complain that they did not hear Jacky at his best that night but for me its not that important. If I wanted to hear him sing at his best, I could have just listened to his CD's in my car or at home. For me, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made me realise that this 46 year old artist cares a lot for his fans then the money that he is getting (So far he has made RM11 million over 98 concert). They nearly cancelled the show.
Respect to you Mr. Jacky Cheung!
Here's a short video of him at the very end of the concert
Enjoy!
