Eason at the 20th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards

Eason with Sandee Chan (Best Mandarin Female Artist winner)


Jacky Cheung & Jody Chiang with their awards

The 20th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards Ceremony was held on June 27, 2009 at Taipei Arena in Taipei, Taiwan. Eason Chan, nominated in two categories, won in one category, as follows.

Best Mandarin Album - Don't Want To Let Go
最佳國語專輯 - 不想放手

Note: Jacky Cheung and Jody Chiang presented the award for Best Mandarin Album. Jacky won the Favorite Song Award for the first 9 years of the Golden Melody Awards with 吻別 and Jody won the Favorite Song Award for the past 10 years of the Golden Melody Awards with 家后.

Clips:
Eason Accepts Best Mandarin Album Award
Eason & Stefanie Sun present Best Mandarin Female Artist

Source: golden melody 06.27.2009
Photos: cqnews 05.14.2009 sina 06.27.2009

Critics Analyze "20th Golden Melody Awards" - Part 2

(Like any other year, Sina comes up with a panel of critics who analyze the likely winners, or who, in their opinions, should be the winners at the Golden Melody Awards. This year's analysis for Best Mandarin Male Artist as follows.)

name/nickname/pen name of critic: choice and/or analysis

Li Wan (李皖): Eason Chan

Ai Di Ren (愛地人): Khalil Fong. The Golden Melody Awards won't neglect him, right? Whether it is word-of-mouth or his melodies, they are of good regards. Not to mention that he isn't as high profile as Jay Chou which makes it easier for judges who want a balance of both mainstream and non-mainstream music.

Amiee Han (韓晶): Khalil Fong. Looking at this year's situation, can it not be him? Can [it not being Khalil] be possible?

Xiong Zi Ang (熊子昂): Eason Chan. Khalil has returned from singing technique back to emotions of a song; however, when compared to Eason, whose technique can no longer be heard in his performances, Khalil's skills are still lacking. If Eason wins, the line that should be said is, "Natural equals beauty."

Lay: Two Hong Kong singers form the top contenders. Khalil and Eason's both use reserved, accepted singing techniques in their albums. It is these high degree of difficulty techniques that truly tests an artist's singing abilities. Taking into account the Golden Melody judging panel's conservative nature, Eason appears to have the edge. However, if Khalil wins everyone will also be happy for him.

Du Hang Lang (獨行狼): Xiao Huang Chi. Leehom Wang and Jay Chou are not attending, so they are "eliminated" from the picture. Khalil did not make it to the second round [of voting] last year, while he barely makes it into the second round this year, so his chance of winning isn't high. Eason and Xiao Huang Chi are possible winners, but I really hope Xiao Huang Chi wins because Eason has already won it once.

Final Assessment:
Eason could win for the second time. After losing out with Admit It (認了吧) last year, Don't Want To Let Go (不想放手) gets him back on track. Not only did he sing his material, he showcased his natural singing quality (不但作品唱之有物，演唱上也突出了陳奕迅收放自如的特質). Making it back to the nominations, it's as if it is a must win.

Source: sina 06.23.2009

Critics Analyze "20th Golden Melody Awards" - Part 1

The 20th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards will be held this coming Saturday, June 27, 2009. Before the ceremony takes place this paper invites 10 individuals, including Taiwan record company employees, music critics, radio DJs, etc. to predict the results of the most talked about awards -- Best Mandarin Male Artist, Best Mandarin Female Artist, Best Mandarin Newcomer and Best Mandarin Group. The Best Mandarin Male Artist finds Eason Chan leading the pack with 5 votes, while the Best Mandarin Female Artist finds a tight battle with Sandee Chan barely holding on to the lead with 3 votes and Tsai Chin, Tanya Chua & A-Lin with 2 votes apiece.

The voting panel consists of singer & producer Sky Wu (伍思凱), Chen Guo Hua (陳國華), manager Yao Chien (姚謙), Jiang Cheng Jin (蔣承縉), Chen Zhen Chuan (陳鎮川), Linfair Records executive Wu Yi Fen (吳怡芬), Seed Music general manager Tian Ding Feng (田定豐), DJ and music critic Yuan Yong Xing (袁永興), Dan Ni Si (丹尼斯), Xiao Shu (小樹).

In the Best Mandarin Male Artist category, 5 judges give Eason Chan their votes. Jiang Cheng Jin and Chen Zhen Chuan agree that Eason's singing skills are at a high caliber of technical proficiency where few are able to match. Chen Guo Hua praises that Eason has returned to the origins by creating minimalist music and although Xiao Huang Chi's music runs a similar path, Eason's emotional interpretations are a bit more adept and natural. Dan Ni Si and Sky Wu don't question Eason's singing skills, however, they feel it is a pity that his album didn't have a "super hit" song.

Jay Chou and Khalil Fong each received two votes apiece. Yao Chien and Tian Ding Feng feel that Khalil's album ushers in a new generation of music, leading former non-mainstream music towards mainstream with a superior performance. Sky Wu and Wu Yi Fen feel Jay's music is whole and he has always had a "music attitude."

Source: chinatimes 06.23.2009

20th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards - Nominations

The 20th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards Ceremony will be held on June 27, 2009 at Taipei Arena in Taipei, Taiwan. The nominees were announced on May 15, 2009 and Eason Chan's work was nominated in two categories, as follows.

Best Mandarin Album
If There is One Thing That is Important - Sandee Chen
如果有一件事是重要的 - 陳珊妮

Don't Want To Let Go - Eason Chan
不想放手 - 陳奕迅

100 Ways For Living - Crowd Lu
100種生活 - 盧廣仲

We All Lay Down In The End - Stanley Huang
最後只好躺下來 - 黃立行

Capricorn - Jay Chou
魔杰座 - 周杰倫


Best Mandarin Male Artist
Eason Chan - Don't Want To Let Go
陳奕迅 - 不想放手

Xiao Huang Chi - I'm Xiao Huang Chi
蕭煌奇 - 我是蕭煌奇

Leehom Wang - Heartbeat
王力宏 - 心.跳

Khalil Fong - Orange Moon
方大同 - 橙月

Jay Chou - Capricorn
周杰倫 - 魔杰座

Source: golden melody (official site) 05.18.2009

Music Workers in Taiwan Top 10 Albums & Songs of 2008

Organized by The Association of Music Workers in Taiwan (中華音樂人交流協會) and seen as an early indicator for the Taiwan Golden Melody Awards, Taiwan's Annual Ten Best Albums and Ten Best Songs (for 2008) were announced May 11, 2009.

As pictured above, Eason Chan was awarded in both categories, also as follows:

Ten Best Albums
Don't Want To Let Go (不想放手) - Produced by Jim Lee

Ten Best Songs
不要說話 - Composed by Xiao Ke (小柯), Lyrics by Xiao Ke
倒帶人生 - Composed by Khalil Fong (方大同), Lyrics by Ge Dai Wei (葛大為)

Official Site: musicman.org

Source: 21cn 05.11.2009

New Mandarin Album(s) Expected in August

Eason Chan was doing a round of promotions for his upcoming Eason's Moving On Stage 21 - Taipei (Part II) concerts where he said, aside from the songs he performed the first time, he also wants to incorporate songs from his last album Don't Want To Let Go and his upcoming album Eason and the H Cube M Band into the two upcoming shows, and joked that he might have to sing for 48 hours.

It is estimated that Eason's new Mandarin album(s) will be released in August of this year. He is currently gathering songs and already has a concept in mind. He wants to invite Taiwan's Will Lin 林暐哲 and Beijing's Zhang Ya Dong 張亞東 (two different styles from two different shores) as producers. He hopes that they can produce two different sounding, but equally great, EPs.

Source: udn 02.25.2009

Lyricist Wu Xiang Fei Bakes a Cake to Congratulate Eason

At Hong Kong's TVB8 Mandarin Music Awards Presentation, Eason Chan's song 路...一直都在 received a Top 10 Mandarin Songs honor and notched the Favorite Male Singer award for Eason. In celebration of his own birthday and to celebrate Eason's wins, 路...一直都在 lyricist Wu Xiang Fei 吳向飛 baked a cake and inserted the title 路...一直都在 onto it.

In the 2008 Chinese music industry, Eason and producer Jim Lee teamed up to create the album Don't Want To Let Go. Upon release, the album immediately received praise, recommendation and high marks from the media. The album is also labeled one of the best Chinese albums of 2008 by netizens.

Source: sina 12.08.2008

"Singapore Hit Awards 2008" - Results

The Singapore Hit Awards 2008 (新加坡金曲獎) was held on Saturday, October 25, 2008 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Organized jointly by Y.E.S. 93.3FM and MediaCorp; the "favorite" awards are awarded based on 60% Y.E.S. 93.3FM Music Charts' charting positions and 40% fan voting, all other awards are awarded by a panel of judges. Eason Chan earned himself a number of awards, as follows.

Album of the Year (年度專輯大獎)
Don't Want To Let Go (不想放手)

Best Male Vocalist (最佳演繹男歌手)
Don't Want To Let Go (不想放手)

Asia Media Award - Male Artist (亞洲傳媒大獎 - 男歌手)

Regional Outstanding Artist - Hong Kong (海外杰出歌手獎 - 香港)

Y.E.S. 93.3FM Music Charts Top 10 Songs of the Year
(Y.E.S. 93.3FM 醉心龍虎榜年度十大金曲獎)
路...一直都在

Source: singapore hit awards (official site) 10.25.2008

"Green" Bags Released; Fans Sit on Eason's Leg

With Don't Want To Let Go doing well, a competition was held and fans designed their version of a "green" bag. On September 10, 2008, Eason Chan appeared at The Star Live, in Beijing, for a party with media and fans to celebrate the revealing of the winning "green" bag. Lucky members of the media were also given a signed copy of Don't Want To Let Go and tickets to his upcoming Moving On Stage 14.

Since the release of Don't Want To Let Go, Eason's record company along with yoho Magazine and kappa got together to create a "green" bag design competition. The competition was held for over a month and the winner's design was printed onto a bag. The winning design featured the cover design of Don't Want To Let Go on one side and a Leo (Eason's zodiac sign) on the other side.

At the event, fans were organized to present Eason with gifts on stage. One of the gifts was a Jinghu (京胡), Eason played the Jinghu and sounds of an ambulance came out and the audience had a good laugh. The host invited a fan, who plays the Erhu (二胡), onto the stage. Eason, seeing how hard it was for the fan, got on one knee and allowed his fan to sit on his leg while playing the Jinghu.

Source: enorth (photos courtesy of baidu) 09.11.2008

"Don't Want To Let Go" Tee & Song Title Correction

As mentioned earlier, the second special edition of Don't Want To Let Go will come with a free t-shirt. It is unknown if the t-shirt is available overseas or only in Hong Kong. Eason wears his special edition of the t-shirt, in black and pink, during his Don't Want To Let Go Mini Concert on August 26, 2008.


Eason then wears the another version of the same t-shirt, in black and white, during his Don't Want To Let Go album promo on August 29,2008. This is the version that comes with the second special edition of the album.


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Correction:

As seen earlier, the translation to Eason's newest song 歌.頌 was slightly incorrect. Earlier translated as Eulogy (歌頌), the correct translation (歌.頌 with the dot in between) is Song.Eulogy or Song.Praise. Overall, the meaning is the same, a song that praises songs.

Photos: takungpao 08.28.2008 & ifensi 08.30.2008

Eason's "Don't Want To Let Go" Concert; Tickets Being Auctioned for $1,000 HKD

Eason Chan will be holding a concert, Eason Chan Don't Want To Let Go, with his company "Si Dai's" and "Si Mui's" (Mr., Jin AuYeung (MC Jin), Keeva Mak & Eva Chan) next week, August 26, 2008, in Hong Kong. As the new generation "God of Songs," tickets to his concerts are expected to be an 'hot item' and there is no exception this time. Tickets to this show is exchanged for credit card points; therefore, not everyone can get tickets to the show. Due to this fact, people are taking advantage of the situation and auctioning tickets for up to $1,000 HKD per. Although this shows Eason's likability, Eason sighs and hopes that fans will find a legal way to get tickets in order to enjoy the show.

Elsewhere, earlier in the year, Eason continued to perform in concert despite a level 8 typhoon warning and recently having performed in the rain during an autograph session, Eason has been given the nickname "Rain God" (雨神). He hopes that this time around everything will go smoothly and the show will not be affected by wind or rain.

Also, due to good sales of his album, Don't Want To Let Go, it is expected that Eason's company will go with the momentum and release another special edition of the album, which will come with a free t-shirt.

Having been nervous [the first time around], Keeva Mak says she will be fully prepared and will not embarrass "Si Hing." Whereas Mr. says they will use a Band Sound style to interpret Eason's hits, which will give the audience a new and fresh listen.

Source: on.cc 08.23.2008

Notes:
- The nickname "Rain God" is very fitting because:
a. February 2, 2008 - Moving On Stage 2 - Taipei - weather: rain
b. April 19, 2008 - Moving On Stage 7 - Guangzhou - weather: rain & typhoon warning
c. June 24, 2008 - Take It EC - weather: level 8 typhoon warning
d. August 2, 2008 - Moving On Stage 12 - Kunming - weather: rain
e. August 17, 2008 - Don't Want To Let Go autograph-concert session in Taiwan - weather: pouring rain

- The first special edition of Don't Want To Let Go is the A4 sized handmade illustrations + CD version (20,000 copies in Taiwan). The normal version is the regular sized CD case illustration + CD.

Eason is "Rain God" as Rain Pours During Promotion

Yesterday, August 17, 2008, Eason Chan was in Taiwan for an autograph-concert session to promote his newest release Don't Want To Let Go. After this event, the Taiwan media gave Eason a new nickname: "Rain God." During the autograph-concert session, rain started to fall during noon and only poured heavier as the day progressed, with the worst being when the rain was so deep it came up to his legs. Nobody and nothing was spared as crew, reporters and equipment were all wet from the sudden downpour. Fortunately, fans were not discouraged and hundreds were willing to be "wet chickens" ("lok tong gai" 落湯雞) while waiting on line to support Eason. To show his appreciation, Eason stepped out from under the covered stage during his performance to soak in the rain with his fans.

Sources: on.cc & sina (photos courtesy of tungstar) 08.18.2008

Eason Cleared of Infidelity Accusations

l-r: Raymond (Eason's assistant), Eason, 'unknown female'

Eason Chan has recently been busy in Taiwan promoting his newest album, Don't Want To Let Go, when unexpectedly, yesterday, reports surfaced that he was cheating on his wife.

Just two days ago, despite the rain, Eason performed for his fans during an autograph session and ended up wet from head to toe. The 'thanks' he got in return was a magazine publishing photos and a story accusing him of infidelity. The story alleged he had dinner with an 'unknown female' and afterwards went back to his room. Universal Music clarified that the 'unknown female' was a Universal Music Taiwan employee and stated that the reports are made up. Eason issued a response through a Universal Music promotions employee, who said, "[The pictured female] is a Taiwan co-worker, after work they went out for a meal and afterwards the female employee brought Eason back to the hotel, but did not go to his room. They went their separate way to rest."

Not being affected by the reports Eason returned to Hong Kong and continued work as usual filming a MV for his newest Cantonese song 歌.頌, which ended up taking 8 hours. Afterwards, Eason was friendly and polite, saying, "Sorry for making you wait." As for the reported infidelity accusations, Eason says, "I'm not going to respond."

Through a telephone interview, wife Hilary Tsui expressed that she fully trusts her husband, saying, "Of course I trust him! I won't mention it [to him] and I don't care [about the reports]. I knew there was something. Once I got to the street there were reporters following me, I just didn't know what he did. I even told him [about the reporters following.]" When asked if she immediately asked Eason about the accusations when she first heard of them, Hilary responds, "I don't need to ask him. If I ask, it means I don't trust him. We don't need to express our trust in each other thru words." Hilary has been busy taking care of their daughter Constance Chan and is busy with the upcoming school year opening; therefore, she doesn't have time to deal with non-relevant things.

After hearing about the accusations, manager Kaite Chan was not happy, saying, "Son (Eason) has always been a great father and great husband, which is why these accusations should not have appeared with his name in the first place. The 'unknown female' was with Eason because of work reasons. I have a full understand of the situation and she brought Eason and his assistant back to the hotel, but she did not go up to their rooms. I hope that these types of rumors will leave Eason for good because he absolutely is a caring family man."

Elsewhere, during an interview in Taiwan, Eason says he is not a good father especially since he has never read his daughter a bedtime story. Eason thinks into the future as says, "I hope that there will be a normal routine in the future. It's best if I can bring my daughter to school in the morning and afterwards meet up with Jacky Cheung to play some tennis, and end the night by tucking my daughter into bed."

Accusation Magazine & Photos:






Sources: mingpao, oriental daily, the sun & sohu 08.19.2008

Eason Celebrates Katie Chan's Birthday

On August 2, 2008, Eason Chan held his Eason's Moving On Stage 12 in Kunming. Due to recent bus bombings in Kunming, Eason's concert was under heavy security. Audience members were required to have their bags checked and Eason was escorted by 4 armed police officers. Although it was raining it did not stop Eason from performing at his best.

During the post-concert celebration Eason celebrated his manager Katie Chan's birthday, surprising her. She would never have expected that Eason, who was busy flying here and there promoting his latest Mandarin album Don't Want To Let Go and preparing for concerts, would be so thoughtful. Elsewhere, the special edition of Don't Want To Let Go was sold out in 2 weeks.

Source: takungpao 08.07.2008

A Date With Luyu: Eason Chan's Road To Music Has Always Been There

Eason Chan went onto a Mainland China talk show, hosted by Luyu, titled A Date With Luyu: Eason Chan's Road To Music Has Always Been There (魯豫有約 主題：陳奕迅 音樂之路一直都在), where Eason discussed his life from his childhood to now, his career, family, and even performed a couple of songs.

Credits: beebbbee 07.11 & 07.12.2008

Fama Personally Sells Albums for Themselves, Hins & Eason

Yesterday, the rap and hip-hop duo Fama (農夫) appeared as employees in a Mong Kong record store to personally sell their newest album. A male fan bought three copies of their album and asked the duo for their autographs, which was happily given. Afterwards, the duo went outside the record store and took photos with their fans when suddenly rain started pouring, prompting the duo to hope for good album sales. When asked how many albums they hope to sell, C Kwan (C 君) replied, "Hopefully we can sell 5-figures." When asked if they have any techniques to sell their album, C Kwan replied, "It's simple. Just ask if they want to purchase the album or not. One male fan bought three [just by us asking]." The duo also took the opportunity to sell Hins Cheung and Eason Chan's (Don't Want To Let Go) newest albums while they were there.

Source: oriental daily 07.07.2008

Random Links: McDonalds, Kung Fu Panda, Stella So

McDonalds and Kung Fu Panda
McDonalds' Kung Fu Panda Commercial featuring Eason Chan's voice. Click upper right 'Review of TVC' button to view commercial.

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Eason Chan did the voice over Po in the Cantonese version of the animated film Kung Fu Panda, which he, Denise Ho, Josie Ho, and Jaycee Fong promoted. Sam Lee was recommended by Eason to voice the role of Mantis because Eason felt Sam looked like a mantis.

Sources: mingpao 06.18.2008, mingpao & on.cc 06.21.2008

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Eason x Stella So - One Song, One Story
east touch magazine featuring 5 illustrations (for the first 5 tracks) by Stella So in Eason's upcoming album.

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An exhibition was opened on June 29, 2008 in Taiwan to showcase Stella So's illustrations for Eason Chan's upcoming Mandarin album, Don't Want To Let Go. Though Eason took part in the concepts of these illustrations and despite liking Stella So's work, his favorite illustrations are those his daughter, Constance Chan, draws for him.

Sources: tom (photos courtesy of tungstar) & on.cc 06.29.2008