Paving the way for scores of other Asian pop stars, Fei Xiang (費翔) was the first Taiwanese idol to perform at the annual Spring Festival Variety Show in China, nearly 20 years ago. The 1987 appearance on national television brought pop to the masses and stardom to Fei.
"Old Fei," as he refers to himself now, is back in town this weekend for two concerts at the Taipei International Convention Center.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ARTIST
Born Kris Philips, the 44-year-old Taiwanese-American divides his time between touring in Asia and living in New York City.
His career began in film when he returned to Taiwan after graduating from the American Dramatic Arts Academy in 1980. After three moderately successful films, he got into music and released 13 albums within eight years. Full stardom followed his Spring Festival performance in China after which he dominated the contemporary music charts for three years.
He made the move to stage acting in the early 1990s and returned to the US where he joined Andrew Lloyd Webber's touring company to perform in Miss Saigon and other shows.
His career now bounces between Broadway in the US and recording music in Asia. Whether performing for poised theatergoers, screaming middle-aged fans or a room full of journalists, Fei, like most pop idols, is adored by many.
"My audience changes depending on what I'm doing -- Broadway, pop or film. But my emotional bond is with the ones that I grew up with [fans from the mid-1980s]," he said at a press conference in Taipei last Wednesday.
His most recent performance in Taiwan was at the movie premier of Webber's Phantom of the Opera, which was screened at CKS National Concert Hall last month. The performance coincided with his latest music release, Broadway Album, in which he does a remarkable Mandarin version of the title track from Phantom.
The two-and-a-half-hour concert this weekend will span 20 years of Fei's music and will include both new and old material. To suit the different musical styles, there will be plenty of backup dancers and more than one hundred costume changes, each of which was designed by Tony Award- winning designer Roger Kirk.
In a Shanghai Star review of his current Asia tour, a reporter cited a lukewarm reception in China. "He [Fei Xiang] has adopted new music styles, which were not well received among the audience -- the younger generations don't know him well, while the older generations loved his oldies, but didn't embrace electro-music," the reporter wrote.
Commenting on the less-than-enthusiastic response to his newer pop material, Fei said, "Most of the audience is filled with fans from my past and they want to hear the old music from before [the late 1980s]. But I'm a performer and therefore I'm always changing. My audience has expanded because my music style changes, but not everything I do is going to appeal to everyone."
Reviews aside, he is receiving a warm homecoming. As of press time, 90 percent of the tickets for both shows had been sold.
The only thing missing at the show will be a strand of Fei's chest hair. It was removed recently on a popular evening television program and later auctioned on eBay.
The admirable yet strange contribution raised NT$155,000 to be donated to tsunami victims in Southeast Asia. The winner was a no-show, however, and if the second highest bidder does not pay up, the hair will back on the market.
Performance notes:
What: Fei Xiang Concert (費翔 -- 呼風喚雨).
Where: Taipei International Convention Center at 1, Xinyi Road, Sec 5, Taipei (台北市信義路5段1號).
When: Friday Jan. 21 and Saturday Jan. 22. Both show begin at 7:30 pm.
Tickets: NT$1200 to NT$3,600 available online at www.kham.com.tw or by calling Kham ticket service at (07) 740 1526.
If you are a Western and especially a white foreign resident of Taiwan, you’ve undoubtedly had the experience of Taiwanese assuming you to be an English teacher. There are cultural and economic reasons for this, but one of the greatest determinants is the narrow range of work permit categories that exist for Taiwan’s foreign residents, which has in turn created an unofficial caste system for foreigners. Until recently, laowai (老外) — the Mandarin term for “foreigners,” which also implies citizenship in a rich, Western country and distinguishable from brown-skinned, southeast Asian migrant laborers, or wailao (外勞) — could only ever
Sept. 23 to Sept. 29 The construction of the Babao Irrigation Canal (八堡圳) was not going well. Large-scale irrigation structures were almost unheard of in Taiwan in 1709, but Shih Shih-pang (施世榜) was determined to divert water from the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪) to the Changhua plain, where he owned land, to promote wet rice cultivation. According to legend, a mysterious old man only known as Mr. Lin (林先生) appeared and taught Shih how to use woven conical baskets filled with rocks called shigou (石笱) to control water diversion, as well as other techniques such as surveying terrain by observing shadows during
In recent weeks news outlets have been reporting on rising rents. Last year they hit a 27 year high. It seems only a matter of time before they become a serious political issue. Fortunately, there is a whole political party that is laser focused on this issue, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP). They could have had a seat or two in the legislature, or at least, be large enough to attract media attention to the rent issue from time to time. Unfortunately, in the last election, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) acted as a vote sink for
This is a film about two “fools,” according to the official synopsis. But admirable ones. In his late thirties, A-jen quits his high-paying tech job and buys a plot of land in the countryside, hoping to use municipal trash to revitalize the soil that has been contaminated by decades of pesticide and chemical fertilizer use. Brother An-ho, in his 60s, on the other hand, began using organic methods to revive the dead soil on his land 30 years ago despite the ridicule of his peers, methodically picking each pest off his produce by hand without killing them out of respect