JAY PLAYS HK : Meeting an Asian pop phenomenon.
Living and working in Hong Kong, I often feel like the whitest man in the room, never more so than when I attended a concert given by Taiwanese music idol Jay Chou at the HK Coliseum. Chou is a huge phenomenon throughout Asia. Unlike most of his contemporaries, he writes all his own music, plays five (or more) instruments, raps, dances and probably sweeps up the auditorium after his shows... (The majority of the other Asian pop icons of his generation can barely hold a note.)
My first involvement with Chou came a few years back when he shot a martial arts themed MTV, Double Blade, in LA. (The short features Robert Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo, Machete himself!, in a supporting role.) The director, Alexei Tan, later became a protégé of John Woo, who produced his debut feature, Blood Brothers. The producer on Double Blade was Alexei’s then–girlfriend, Chris Yen, sister of Donnie, and I was called on to help arrange the final sound mixing for the promo in Hong Kong. Jay is apparently a long-time martial arts enthusiast, and the MTV sees him showing off some moves in a fight scene choreographed to one of his hip hop flavoured tracks. Originally, Chris herself was going to play his female opponent, but the role was eventually played by Beijing wu shu champion Li Jing, with whom I also worked on The Twins Effect. Though my involvement was limited, I did get a ‘special thanks’ in the MTV’s credits, which I greatly appreciate (especially when I consider how often I haven’t received appropriate credit on films where I did make a major contribution!)
I first met Jay a few years back when a company I was working with released his starring debut, Andrew Lau’s manga inspired car racing film, Initial D, in the UK.(His actual theatrical acting debut was a cameo in the 2003 romance Hidden Track.) He was charming and cooperative, slightly deadpan in his demeanour. His answers to our questions were very detailed. At the time, we were preparing a perennial reissue of the Bruce Lee titles, and I asked Jay about his affinity for his idol. (He’s even penned a song dedicated to Lee’s weapon of choice, the nunchaku!).
His earlier roles having been fairly close approximations of his own persona, Chou was in at the deep end when he played Prince Jai in Zhang Yimou’s Curse Of The Golden Flower. It was his first foray in into period film-making, and alongside the greatest Chinese screen actors of their day, Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li. Besides the acting demands, he also had to learn martial arts beneath the unforgiving eye of action director Ching Siu-tung. As a visual spectacle, the film remains impressive, and Jay was also called up to compose its title song. The performer also lent his musical skills to Jet Li’s magnificent Fearless, recording a track featuring a unique blend of hip-hop and Chinese opera. The MTV incorporated footage from the film, and saw Jay spinning his own three-sectioned staff with impressive dexterity.
Having shot several of his own MTVS, Chou made an impressive feature directorial debut with Secret, a sweet romantic drama in which he plays a shy music student. Worlds apart from his next role, in Kung Fu Dunk, a kind of ‘Shaolin Basketball’ that sees him finally tackle a full-on contemporary martial arts project. Ching Siu-tung is once again on-board to choreograph the action.
The live show is, honestly, amazing, and I say this as someone who is (generally) an un-fan (if there is such a word) of contemporary Chinese pop music. For one thing, Jay is quite evidently the real deal. He can sing, he can dance and, during the course of the evening, played piano, guitar, drums, a Chinese guqin (kind of a flat harp)... He even juggled and swung a nunchaku. I was kind of waiting for him to cook paella… His easygoing patter between songs was many miles removed from the rather sullen demeanour he seems to adopt for photos and MTV shoots.
After the show, accompanied by Jay’s manager, my two female sidekicks and I ventured through the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the stadium. The main corridor outside the dressing room was lined with good luck bouquets from local stars. Jay himself was surprisingly relaxed and very gracious following what amounted to a three hour one man show. I told him that, despite the language barrier (I speak Cantonese and only understand a little Mandarin), I’d really enjoyed the show, and he mentioned that his current tour would include dates in the US. These will be aimed primarily at his expatriate Chinese fan base, but, if he plays a city near you (and you’re a fan of Asia pop culture) I recommend you check it out. He’s probably the only Asian pop icon of his times who actually exceeds the hype.
Comments
- jaychourules, Singapore | 2008-02-22 19:46:46
- Wasila a Jay Chou Fan, London,England | 2008-02-23 05:23:59
- esther, canada | 2008-03-16 21:01:51
- Glenn, England UK | 2008-01-23 11:16:13