A “DUO” Wrap-Up

Several days after his DUO concert series ended, Eason Chan went on the CRHK 903 program Vanila Sky (雲妮鍾情) and discussed the 18 shows with DJ Vani (雲妮). Some interesting, insightful, and special moments discussed are as follows.

(1) What happened to his voice? Steroids?

After the first show, Eason visited a doctor and was told his voice was the way it was because of overuse and not because of a cold (as the media reported). He was given antibiotics and steroid tablets (pills), which is a lot less severe than the steroid injection. He was told to take one steroid tablet per day for 2 days and if he still feels his voice isn’t 70-80%, he can take another tablet. When his voice hits 40% or below, he would then need to go back to the doctor for the steroid injection, but was advised to hold it off until the 16th or 17th show as his body will bloat (a side effect of the injection).

(2) Special thanks to Eric Kwok

Eason knows a lot of people were worried about his voice and he received a lot encouragement from his friends and fans. He wanted to especially thank Eric Kwok for his words of encouragement through an email after he watched 2 shows. Eason says that Eric isn’t someone who will only tell you what’s good (he’ll tell you what isn’t good also), he is extremely insightful and he’ll observe situations and give you his opinion.

The subject: Only if they knew.

A portion of the message: When an artist, athlete, or anyone in general gets hurt, they, themselves, take it the hardest. Yes, on a good day, you are supposed to sing well, but on a bad day, when you are hurt and you are currently last in the race, you continued on and raced to the finish line.

Eason never thought of it in that way, but was deeply touched by Eric’s words.

(3) Fully satisfied with DUO, his voice wasn’t even a factor

Eason knows a lot of people were worried about his voice and he knows some fans were disappointed that his voice was not 100%. However, throughout the 18 shows, Eason was never once disappointed, unhappy or unsatisfied because he was fully satisfied with the production of DUO.

Eason states that because everyone, whether it was the stage crew, the band, the dancers, etc., came together as one, the entire production process was filled with positive energy and happiness. Eason asks Vani, “Do you know how hard it is for a team of people to work together and not have gossip (“si fei”)? If merely one person decided they wanted to be in the center of it all, gossip immediately begins, but there was none of that.” Eason was extremely satisfied that this DUO team worked together for one goal and because everyone was in it together, the state of his voice was never a factor because there was so much positive energy.

Vani analyzes, maybe because one aspect wasn’t going well (Eason’s voice) another came together (the DUO team working well). Eason agreed it might have been just that.

(4) Changing keys to match his voice, not a bad thing at all

In Eric’s email, Eric also praised the switching of keys in each song to match the state of his voice. Eason and Vani go into elaborate discussion about changing keys and moods of songs to match his voice. There were many changes throughout the 18 shows because the state of his voice was different each night.

They further discuss how some people view changing keys as a sign of weakness, but Eason feels that is not the case and he has come out of the 18 shows with much more knowledge. Yes, the original key would probably match the song best, but when you change a key you also change the way you interpret the song, giving it a different mood.

(5) Understands the worries about his voice

Eason understands why people worried about his voice. He recalls when Jacky Cheung did his 100 shows world tour, Eason was in the audience during the HK show where Jacky’s voice wasn’t 100% and when he performed 分手總要在雨天. When Jacky performed the line 但雨點偏偏促使這樣遇見 he gave it his all and you heard his voice almost crack during the two words “peen peen” (偏偏) and as a member as an audience, Eason’s thought was “ouch.” At that point, Eason thought Jacky didn’t need to push it because the audience would love it regardless; Jacky could’ve just brought it back and gave it a subtler sound, but Eason also understood that Jacky wanted to perform at his best and perform it to satisfy fans.

Vani concludes Eason probably isn’t as stubborn when it comes to the aspect of performing it the way fans are used to hearing it. Eason then says it is probably because of the experience watching Jacky’s performance that he learned to hold it back for DUO.

(6) Changes in rundown because he couldn’t remember lyrics

Eason hopes they can do a DUO Tour and it was mentioned that they are considering a Part II of DUO. In either case, especially that latter, there would be changes needed, but it would not be a problem because they had already discussed and practiced a lot of DUO song pairings, but because Eason could not remember the lyrics they were cut them out of the rundown.

It was mentioned that he could’ve used a monitor to display lyrics, but Eason admits that it was never an option due to his stubbornness.

(7) Fans first? No, me first. There is no such thing as absolute fairness.

Vani mentioned that the rundown of DUO consists of a lot of songs Eason likes, Eason says that is true. He elaborates and says a lot of people feel that a concert should be created with “what fans want” being the priority, but for Eason, “what I want” is priority. He feels that if he enjoys his performance, the audience will, in turn, enjoy it.

There was also mention that fans would always complain about something, such as fans that paid good money for good seats didn’t get to see how beautiful the stage was and fans that paid less for seats further away got a better view of the stage, or that different nights had longer or shorter encores. Eason says there is no such thing as absolute fairness. One thing that is never fair to him is that he can never watch himself live.

Eason says the people who got the best view of the stage were the 2 member team who were in charge of recording the making of… (for the DVD) because they were recording from all angles and when Eason saw the pictures afterwards, he even thought the stage was beautiful. There was one shot of the stage where Eason risen up on a small stage and it appears Eason was floating in the middle of air because the black structure that lifted the small stage was on was hidden among the black background.

(8) Live versions of new songs better than recorded versions

Vani mentioned Eason performed two of his new songs (無人之境 and 陀飛輪) off his new EP Time Flies. She and Eason then spoke of the fact that his live performances of those two songs were better than the recorded versions. Vani says it was so emotional that even members of the band were crying after his performances. Eason then says even he cried.

Note: Vani brings up that Eason had said in the past (about two year ago) that he continues to release albums so he can continue to perform live in concert. Vani’s mentioning of Eason’s words references that his goal has been achieved because those live performances are what Eason strives for and not merely the recordings.

(9) Enjoyed DUO much more than Moving On Stage 1

Despite his voice not being in good condition for DUO, Eason says he enjoyed the 18 nights of DUO more than the 16 nights of Moving On Stage, mainly because there was a lot less dancing in DUO so he had more energy. He says that about the 8th show of Moving On Stage 1, he had already changed his mindset entirely because he was exhausted. He fully enjoyed all 18 nights of DUO because he had retained energy through each show, which was also why his voice got better as each night went on.

(10) Special thanks to industry insiders who watched

Eason gives a special thanks to Peter Lam (owner of East Asia Music) because it is said that he does not watch productions of other artists aside from those from his own company. Not only did he watch Eason (who isn’t an artist of his company), he had just gotten off a flight and brought with him coconut and almond bird’s nest for Eason.

He also thanks Sau Gor (Wu Fung), who drove to Hong Kong Coliseum to give Eason words of encouragement those days he did not watch.

Jacky Cheung, who watched every show and had not done such for any artist since he did so for Roman Tam in 1996.

He also thanks other industry insiders who attended, some of which he especially invited and he thanks them for taking their time out: George Lam and his son, Teresa Carpio, Poon Yuen Leung, Terence Hui, among others. Luo Da You who sent a flower basket even though he did not attend. Eddie Ng attended but left after a couple of songs, which Eason attributes to as, “the show wasn’t rock enough.”

(11) The rest of 2010

Eason mentioned there are plans to release 2 EPs this summer and a Mandarin album at the end of the year. Also mentioned was IF they were to tour, there would be changes to the rundown for casino venues since they limit the shows to about 1.5 hours (mentioning the US in reference to those casinos) and there would probably not be much change for a Taiwan show because Taiwan fans want to hear his Cantonese songs. (Is this a hint that the US and Taiwan are stops in the DUO Tour?)

Source: crhk 903 04.12.2010 - 04.15.2010

Rumors: "DUO" Part II and 2 New EPs for 2010

Rumors have it that Eason Chan will release another 2 brand new EPs within this year and there are talks for a DUO Part II.

It is said that during a radio interview Eason mentioned that they are thinking about a DUO Part II. However, knowing Eason, he's probably just saying because they were talking amongst themselves about this topic. Also, it appears that Eason's schedule is full so there is no room for a part II and because they need to "register" with Hong Kong Coliseum first, it does not appear that there will be room.

It is circulating around the net that Eason will release another 2 brand new EPs this year, one to be produced by veteran Joseph Ip (葉廣權) and the other by Schumann Lee (舒文).

It was also rumored (earlier in the year) that Eason will release another Cantonese album this year which Kubert Leung will take part in.

Sources: 耳东 02.02.2010, easyjoint forum 04.14.2010, 3cmusic 04.17.2010

"DUO" Recap Through the First 7 NIghts

Apologies. As you may have noticed, the updates have been short and simple and there is an abundant lack of news. Not that there hasn't been news, but the schedule of this blog owner has been packed and therefore, the lack of time to translate any sort of mid-length to long article. Maybe a transformation is needed; quick summaries instead of actual word-for-word translations? In the mean time, as requested, here's the up to date news on Eason's DUO.













1. Eason suffered a throat infection prior to DUO and it is reported Eason is taking steroid injections (類固醇) to open up his voice. Katie Chan insists Eason recovered from the infection before the first show and he is not taking injections, he took steroid pills and has since stopped taking them.

2. There has been a lot of criticism regarding Eason's inability to perform due to his voice sounding hoarse and raspy and being unable to reach notes.

3. Denise Ho issues a statement to support Eason:
"[I am] worried about Eason's condition. This happened to me before, losing your voice before concerts is painful, taking steroids can only help at the moment. A regular individual can take a sick day if they are not feeling well, but singers cannot, we can only do all we can to pull through and Eason has 10+ nights to pull through. I cannot imagine the side effects he will have to go through (because of the steroids). As a friend, I am extremely worried. I want to ask ticket holders who will feel disappointed or worried about his performance during the night you will attend, to switch sides for a moment and understand his position, please? Singers are only people."

4. Jan Lamb praises Eason during a "round-table" discussion on the radio program 在清朗的一天出發. The topic was: "Knowing you are going to lose, but you end up winning," otherwise known as, "Losing pretty". Jan Lamb chose Eason and his DUO concerts as an example to illustrate his point. With one newspaper headline saying, "Eason affected by the air quality, causing his voice to become raspy and affected his performance. Will force himself to do 14 additional shows." Jan explains he was present night 2 and he did hear Eason's voice being affected and the news wasn't made up because Eason admits it himself when you saw him shaking his head whenever he couldn't reach a note. Jan explains, "Eason gave me this highly impacting feeling because even though he had a raspy voice, he sang with everything. He really gave it everything he had and that was impressive. It gives the audience a feeling of 'Wow, you are really something Eason Chan!' Other singers who might experience a raspy voice or forgetting lyrics or going off key, you can tell their [performance] attitude changes." (A lady from the round-table discussion chimes in), "They start holding back." Jan agrees, "Yes, for example, back in the day when artists held 20+ shows, they will "save" their voices and hold back during the first half of the scheduled shows (for example, singing lightly during the intro of a song and relying on the heavy sounds and the background singers during the chorus to create atmosphere) and the audience understood the need for that because of the 20+ days of shows. That doesn't happen anywhere around the world. Eason really risks it all, even though he knows his voice is raspy he doesn't care and he gives every single performance everything he has inside of him." (Another man from the round-table discussion chimes in) "Power." Jan continues, "Yes, it feels like Eason is giving you all his power and giving you (sacrificing) his throat. IF (touch wood) Eason needs to cancel a couple of shows to rest (because this has happened to other singers in the past) and he didn't give his performances everything he had, ticket holders would probably blame him and say, 'He held back during his performances and now he's stopping entirely! Give me back my money!' But right now, even IF (touch wood) Eason has to cancel a couple of shows, the ticket holders will accept it because Eason gave it everything he had despite his leg cramping up (figuratively speaking, as an example). This is an example of, 'Knowing you will lose, but you end up winning.'"

5. Nicholas Tse makes a surprise appearance during Night 5 (March 24th)'s encore. Apparently, Carl Wong (band leader) asked Eason, "We're going to start playing a song at random, just sing to the song you hear, okay?" Eason answered, "Okay." Once the band started playing, Nicholas started singing 改造人, a song Eason wrote for Nicholas 10 years ago. The rest of the story:


6. Miriam Yeung makes an appearance Night 6 (March 25th). Apparently, Miriam was there to present Eason with flowers and was about to leave, but seeing Miriam with earplugs, Eason asked her to sing a song. She sang 少女的祈禱:


7. Edmond Leung makes an appearance Night 7 and performs PG家長指引 together, a song Eason wrote for Edmond:


8. Outfits designed by Johanna Ho (何志恩). Upon Eason's request for less exaggeration, Johanna toned it down while maintaining the DUO theme for his wardrobe.

9. Unfortunately, Jan Lamb isn't 100% correct. Despite Eason giving it his all, not all ticket holders are satisfied as they continue to criticize due to expectations not met. Fortunately, Jan isn't 100% incorrect, as fans and ticket holders continue to support Eason through this ordeal and understand that while his vocal isn't 100%, this performance and emotions are.

10. His performances of 囍帖街 and 無人之境 causes media frenzy. The media continues to report on 囍帖街 because the song's original performer is Kay Tse, the person who Eason has been accused of having an affair with. During his performances of 無人之境, he kisses a Japanese dancer as the song speaks of a unattainable relationship, the media continues to report on this particular performance as Hilary was present during several of those performances.

Star sightings through the first 7 shows:

Niki Chow (Night 1)
Denise Ho (Night 1, 5)
Josie Ho (Night 1, 5)
Wilfred Lau (Night 1, 5)
Edmond Leung (Night 1, 7)
Wyman Wong (Night 1)
Shawn Yue (Night 1)
Joey Yung (Night 1)

Matthew Ko (Night 2)
Jan Lamb (Night 2)
Cass Phang (Night 2)
Nancy Wu (Night 2)
Myolie Wu (Night 2)
Rainie Yang (Night 2)
Candice Yu (Night 2)
Zhou Xun (Night 2)

Calvin Choy (Night 3)
Pong Nan (Night 3)
HotCha (Night 3)

Tony Leung Ka Fai (Night 4)
Liza Wang (Night 4)
Ursule Wong (Night 4)

Nicholas Tse (Night 5, 6)
Terence Yin (Night 5)

Fen Nei 薰妮 (Night 6)
Eric Kwok (Night 6)
Grace Ip (Night 6)
Lowell Lo 盧冠廷 (Night 6)
Eric Suen (Night 6)
Miriam Yeung (Night 6)

William So (Night 7)
Gigi Leung (Night 7)
Simon Yam (Night 7)

Sources: mingpao & on.cc 03.21.2010 - 03.27.2010, HOCC Facebook 03.23.2010 & crhk 03.24.2010

"DUO" Night 1 - Photos & Rundown

Night 1 - March 20, 2010
Rundown:
01. 今天等我來
02. 好歌獻給你 (Roman Tam)
03. 落花流水
04. 囍帖街 (Kay Tse)
05. 七百年後
06. 約定 (Faye Wong)
07. 寂寞夜晚 (Leslie Cheung)
08. 浮誇
09. Mr. Lonely (Japanese) (Koji Tamaki)
10. 我甚麼都沒有
11. 我的世界末日
12. 禁色 (Anthony Wong)
13. 無人之境
14. 破曉 (Sandy Lam)
15. 夕陽無限好
5 piece set by Wyman:
16. 人車誌
17. 裙下之臣
18. 陀飛輪
19. 沙龍
20. 葡萄成熟時
Medley:
21. 熱辣辣 (Leslie Cheung)
22. 反斗星 (Alan Tam)
23. 頭髮亂了 (Jacky Cheung)
24. 好戲在後頭 (Grasshopper)
25. 芳華絕代 (Leslie Cheung & Anita Mui)
End of Medley
26. 不來也不去
27. 富士山下
28. 與我常在
29. 我的快樂時代
Encore:
30.反高潮
31.天下無雙
32.PG家長指引 (Edmond Leung)
33.那一夜有沒有說

Photos: jordan_lau @ easyjoint forum 03.21.2010
Source: joyce @ easyjoint forum 03.21.2010

Final "DUO" Details Before Concerts Begin

Through a radio interview with CRHK, Eason Chan named the songs he will definitely perform at his DUO concerts.

Song Title - Original Performer if not Eason

浮誇
寂寞夜晚 - Leslie Cheung

我什麼都沒有
Mr. Lonely (Japanese) - Koji Tamaki

無人之境
禁色 - Anthony Wong

夕陽無限好
破曉 - Sandy Lam

落花流水
囍帖街 - Kay Tse

七百年後
約定 - Faye Wong

人車誌
裙下之臣
沙龍
陀飛輪
葡萄成熟時

歌.頌
我的快樂時代

Source: 阿魔 @ easyjoint forum & crhk 03.18.2010

"DUO" Memorabilia Prices

As per the MOOV Shop, the following are the prices of the DUO memorabilia items.

Item - Price in HKD - Price in USD (approximate)
(from picture above: left to right starting from the top)
(1) Eason x Jeremy Scott Tee - $1,300 - $167
(2) DUO Boy with sound - $320 - $41
(3) DUO Flip Flops - $120 - $15
(4) DUO Tee in white - $250 - $32
(5) DUO Tee in black - $250 - $32
(6) DUO Sound Machine - $180 - $23
(7) DUO Notepad - $130 - $17
(8) DUO Mug - $90 - $12
(9) DUO Towel - $100 - $13
(10) DUO Phone Accessory - $80 - $10
(11) DUO A4 sized File Cards (set of 4) - $50 - $6

Note: You could watch Eason promote these items by click on the MOOV link above.

Source: moov shop 03.02.2010

"DUO" Memorabilia

A set of memorabilia items are set for release in time for Eason Chan's DUO concerts. Items include "a" theme character named Duo Boy and it's alter ego Ou-D (Duo spelt backwards), a plush of Duo Boy and Ou-D, a mug, t-shirts, flip flops, and more.

MOOV will be the first to sell the items on March 3, 2010 at 10:00 am. Everyone (including non-MOOV members) are able to purchase the memorabilia online. To purchase, check out MOOV's site for DUO Memorabilia.

Source: moov hk 02.21.2010

"DUO" Details

Eason Chan will hold his series of 18 DUO concerts at Hong Kong Coliseum from March 20 to April 6, 2010. The following are the preliminary concepts to the concerts, none yet finalized.

Concept: DUO - two items of the same kind (as opposed to duel*)
- will perform songs in pairs or groups that relate to one another (as much as possible)
- concert concept and design by 朱祖兒
- want to do a 2 hour to 2.5 hour show with no encore where the focus is on a good show. One might not be satisfied with 2 hours, but in retrospect the show was awesome.

Changes:
- no dancing
- will perform more of other artists' songs
- will play instrument(s)
- likely not to perform his popular hits (those at are performed all the time (e.g. K歌之王, 明年今日, 與我常在)) during the show itself (maybe in the encore)

Constant: No planned guest performers.

Rundown (definite):
- 歌.頌 - a personal thank you to all those who have worked with him over the years
- 我的快樂時代 - first performed in 1998, after 10+ years the song will sound different

Band (planned):
- Carl Wong as band leader and on bass
- Jun on drums
- Danny Leung & Ellen (of at17) on guitars
- Anthony Sun & Ho Bing on keyboards
- possibly 6 background vocalists who are students of Jerald's (including Abrahim (of VEGA), Yoyo Shum, etc.)
- Charlie on wind instruments (such as clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, flute)
- a percussionist

Wardrobe: Still in the workings.
- want to have one outfit per day with 18 different outfits for 18 days

Tidbits:
- unintentional, however, Eason's upcoming EP is a duo in itself where Eric Kwok and Alvin Leong are a pair of producers on the album
- most members of the band sing themselves and/or produce, so wanting to incorporate the band (beside just playing music) into the show is being considered
- last show (April 6) will be longer (more songs performed) than the rest of the shows because it is the final show
- focus is on production and visuals

* There might be a bit of confusion, the concept is duo (similar items) not duel (opposite items).

Source: my903 02.01.2010 - 02.05.2010

Final Additional "DUO" Show Announced

The final addition of shows to Eason Chan's DUO concerts to be held in March - April 2010 has been announced. The final addition will be added to the front of the calender on March 20, 2010. No other additional shows will be added.

Source: duo facebook 02.01.2010

More Shows Added to "DUO"

After the addition of 3 shows, from April 2 - April 4, 2010, prior to the opening of ticket sales (on January 21, 2010), another 2 shows, from April 5 - April 6, 2010, has been added due to the high demand for tickets to Eason Chan's upcoming DUO concerts.

Johnnie Walker Keep Walking DUO Promo Commercial


Press Conference for the DUO Concerts

Source: on.cc 01.24.2009

Three Shows Added to "Duo" II

Another three shows has been added to Eason Chan DUO 2010 Live concerts, bringing the total to 12 shows from March 21 to April 1, 2009. Eason expressed his own concern for getting tickets for friends, saying he had two days worth of tickets but they are all gone.

Source: appledaily 12.21.2009

Three Shows Added to "Duo" 2010 HKC Concert

Eason Chan's 2010 Hong Kong Coliseum concerts, titled DUO, has been extended for another 3 shows from March 27 to March 29, 2010 after an overwhelming number of priority bookings emerged on the first day. Eason, who just returned from Canada, was happy with the addition of shows but was worried that he would not be able to get tickets for himself.

Source: wenweipo 12.17.2009

Eason in Concert at Hong Kong Coliseum March 2010

Eason Chan is set to have 6 shows at Hong Kong Coliseum from March 21 to March 26, 2010. Tickets are available for booking with a Manhattan Credit Card beginning December 16 to December 26, 2009.

Source: giuseppe_li & mmm @ easyjoint forum 12.13.2009