"Shuma the Singing Camel" flew into Taipei yesterday and was settled in quarantined luxury at Taipei Zoo in preparation for its show at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Sunday.
The camels in the show and an accompanying delegation from Egypt were greeted on arrival by an enthusiastic group of fans and Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu, who picked up an eye infection on her recent trip to Central America and was wearing sunglasses, said she had first seen the camel show on another diplomatic mission to the United Arab Emirates, where Shuma is a star on state-sponsored TV and appears in commercials.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPIE TIMES
"I was amazed to hear a camel sing and after the initial surprise the performance moved me to tears. I will certainly be attending the show with our visitors from Egypt," Lu said.
Shuma's fans gathered at Sungshan Domestic Airport were mostly from countries in the Middle East, but 100 or so were local supporters, many of whom were carrying Shuma's debut CD, Soul Camel to Cairo. A single from the album, Rock the Taj Mahal is wildly popular in many Muslim areas and in countries where there are camels.
Shuma is able to sing due to a combination of natural talent, intensive or "hot house" training and the aid of a microphone attached around the neck that amplifies sounds made by the vocal chords.
Camelus dromedarius naturally makes a range of sounds that are vaguely like the stylized singing of some Arabic chants.
At a concert Shuma's vocalizations are manipulated and mixed with the sound of a live orchestra. The result is an exotic male alto sounding lead voice that fashions simple lyrics, backed by singers.
Shuma has even mastered some ballroom dance steps, which form part of the choreographed routines for the show.
A new number features some hip-hop moves that were introduced at the suggestion of Battiboi Singh, a popular alternative Indian rap artist.
It is a format that has been successful and profitable. Shuma the Singing Camel performs around 10 international concerts a year, mainly in Asia and the Middle East, but has also appeared at The Sands in Las Vegas, Manley in Australia, and Paris, where Shuma was honored by President Jacques Chirac with the Legion d'Honneur (Knight).
His owners, a consortium of Egyptian and Pakistani businessmen, are estimated to earn over US$12 million a year from the shows. Shuma has appeared before crowds of over 100,000 at festivals in Cairo, near where the camels are stabled and trained.
Shuma, in fact, is one of a group of female Arab racing camels that have been trained to perform parts of each show. They are picked at a young age and trained at a purpose-built academy. The camels are taught deep-throat singing techniques similar to those used by Mongolians.
Their stage life can be from five to 30 or more years and the older the camel is, generally, the more songs and tricks it can perform.
For the upcoming show one camel has been trained for over a year to chant The Grand Old Duke of York, while punctuating the nursery rhyme with flatulent blasts that are said to resemble the sound of a bass drum, or cannon exploding.
The camels perform solos, duets and choral works. One even emcees. A big hit over the 11 years that Shuma the Singing Camel has run is a bluesy rendition of the song Horse With No Name, originally by the band America, in which camel is substituted for horse and the chorus is a capella.
The finale of most shows is a stirring version of Georg Friderich Handel's Messiah.
There is a tradition of singing to camels, in deserts from India to Mongolia and dromedarius mothers often "sing" lullabies to their calves and heifers. Tuareg herders have a saying: "A sad song causes many camel tears."
On a controversial note, Shuma the Singing Camel is backed by a cigarette company that specializes in blends of American and Turkish tobaccos.
One of the show's routines -- in which a camel is dressed in Rastafarian colors, smokes and sings Bob Marley's Babylon by Bus -- was dropped in Australia, where the issue of tobacco sponsorship was contentious for animal campaigners.
A spokesman for the show said the camels were the best-cared-for camels on the planet, with personal trainers, a diet overseen by nutritionists, 24-hour veterinary care and various benefits such as access to males while in season.
Tickets for Shuma the Singing Camel, which ranged from NT$1,000 to NT$5,000, have sold out, but a limited number of stall seats have been made available free to Taipei Times readers from today, through e-mail only at features@taipeitimes.com.
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