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ABOUT THE CONCERT |
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 'My
Story in Concert' was Fann's very first ticketing concert held
in Singapore on 24 June 2000. She was also the first local
Singer to stage a concert at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
"I really consider for a long time. Besides my stamina, I also
have to face the pressure arising from other areas. I keep
asking myself whether I can cope with all the good and bad
critics... Finally, I tell myself that I shouldn't think too
much. I only hope to share this special night with my good
friends as well as to experience the process of preparing a
concert. I'm not trying to prove anything with this concert."
"Staging a concert is a dream for me. It's not to show others
that I can sing live, or to be a 'true' singer. No, I'm not that
ambitious. I only hope to share what I've learnt or experienced
throughout these few years. It's more like a party where I can
share my music and joy with all my friends and supporters." |
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FANNTASTIC AUDIENCES |
 Fann's
smitten fans came in full force, all decked-out to give their
favourite star their support. Bouquets, banners, gifts, cheers,
whistles and even specially-bought outfits for the concert - no
effort was spared by in making their presence felt.
Showing support
"We have been here since 6 pm (concert starts at 8 pm). At this
concert, we want to have our presence felt. To do that, about
140 of our members bought the $100 seat tickets and we will be
sitting together to cheer and give Fann our greatest support in
spirit. You will get to see a sea of fans in yellow T-shirts."
 Gigantic
bouquet
"We bought this bouquet for $100…(cost revealed after much
probing) If other fans want to buy other gifts for Fann, they
are welcome to do so and the organisers will arrange for a
specific time for us to present the gifts to her. As for other
gifts, our presence and support is the greatest gift!"
Practising
their cheers
"We haven't trained for very long. About 1-2 hours! (laughs) At
the last Fann's promotion at Eastpoint, we had a very short
members gathering and we practised a bit. As for today, there
were some new additions and changes to the cheers and so we came
here at 6 pm to practise."
Fann's relatives: cousins Melissa Fann,
Adrian Fann and Gerald Leow.
Who is the greatest fan here?
"All of us are. She's our niece." said Mr Fann who was there
with sister Madam Fann.
Other Artistes who attended the concert:
Tay Ping Hui, Huang Wenyong, Xie Shaoguang, Jeff Wang, Nick Shen,
Zheng Geping, Raymond Tan, Christopher Lee, Vincent Ng, Ix Shen,
Evelyn Tan, Phyllis Quek, Cynthia Koh, Ivy Lee, Hong Huifang,
Fang Hui, May Phua, Deborah Sim, Florence Tan, Kym Ng, Carol
Tham, Jaslyn Tay, Priscillia Chan, Chen Huihui and Lina Ng. (Source:
Mediacorp Website) |
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CONCERT REVIEWS |
 Christopher
Lee
"For a singer to have a first concert like Fann's, I think she
did very well. She fulfilled a very crucial factor on stage:
spontaneity. Oh, her costumes were very nice; I like her
costumes. About dancing, well, her background is not in that
area, but she's done quite all right tonight. But it still boils
down to her singing and her stage presence. She had a good
chemistry going with the audience, too. For this first solo
concert, I give her 80 marks."
Jeff Wang
"I can tell she worked very hard on the preparations. The
costumes were of a considerably high standard; she did well in
terms of the dance choreography, too."
Chen Hui
Hui
"Fann was better than what I expected, after all this is her
first. Furthermore, she is the first local artiste to stage a
2-hour concert. Previously, I hosted some of her mini concerts
and autograph sessions, and I do feel she sings better 'live'
than on her CDs. I feel happy for her." Hui Hui has this to say
about Fann's showmanship and dance, "I was focusing on her
throughout the entire concert tonight. Fann did not engage in
dazzling lighting effects or snazzy dance steps; it was a very
earnest show. It's really based on her strengths. I give her 85
marks for this inaugural performance."
Vincent Ng
"I think she did very well tonight; the styling and singing was
good. I enjoyed myself. She gets full marks from me since this
is a first."
Nick Shen
"I have been very excited about this concert, because
compared to overseas artistes, this is the first time a local
artiste has done it. Her vocals have improved and it's obvious
she has devoted a lot of time and effort. My favourite part is
the one with all the period swordplay, the dancers suspended on
cables and all. Actually, I think if Fann gets hoisted up too,
it would be even better.
"It's quite spectacular, the beginning does not have impact, but
I thought it was pretty good once the period drama part came on,
the way Fann emerged from the centre is great. The songs were
rather impressive, I thought the part where (Ng) King Kang sang
My Friend, My Classmate with her, was very meaningful. The
treatment of the whole concert was quite touching, having the
other artistes narrate her stories, but I feel if she had asked
some friends or family members to tell 'her story', that would
have been good. I give her 70 marks; that's an 'A' isn't it?"
 Cynthia
Koh
"I feel that Fann's performance is good, given the fact that
this is her first concert. I think Fann has demonstrated herself
as a multi-talented artiste in so many ways. It's tough to sing
and dance at the same time, so I think she managed that quite
well; she has a good handle over the slower songs, too. The
unplugged version is excellent and she was very emotional toward
the end. I rate the concert 8 over 10, hoping she'll grab the
other 2 marks in her next performance, making it a perfect 10."
So, how was her duet with Fann?
She laughs. "I trembled. I used to sing in the past, but work
has caught up and besides, songs these days are not easy to
sing." On whether she would love to have a solo concert, Cynthia
said, "Hmm… I don't think I will want a solo concert, perhaps
one featuring 6 to 10 artistes. So, there'll be a variety of
fans. And as a consumer, a ticket for a show featuring many
artistes is value for money. It is also a valuable opportunity
to develop the varying talents of our artistes."
Ken Lim,
Director of Hype Records
"Her performance was very good! Because she has to sing and
dance and so it's very difficult. What she has done is that she
has achieved what no other local artiste has achieved. It's not
just about singing but it is also about being a personality and
she manage to pull it off very well."
Tay Ping
Hui
"For a local artiste having her virgin gig, I think it's
been very encouraging. I saw the support that she's got, the
attendance of the fellow colleagues and I think it's very, very
good. The chemistry with the crowd was excellent, I feel. The
fans are as professional as they come and I think Fann held her
own. And I hope there'll be more support given to local acts.
There tend to be this mentality that local acts are inferior,
even in English music; I think that is not true. There are a lot
of very talented people. I think Fann's My Story concept is
good. Well, considering the fact that it's her first time and
the first local act, I give her 7 out of 10."
David Gan,
Fashion Stylist
"She's the first artiste to have her own concert. Of course we
won't say it's perfect. Can improve. But for a local to hold her
concert for the first time, we should feel proud for her as
Singaporeans. In fact we bought a lot that she did not wear
tonight because there's only this much time for costume
changes."
"My favourite outfit? Tonight, I liked the last costume, the
Gaultier and I liked the blue dress and the Martin Machella. I
especially liked the Burberry. I also liked the designs by the 2
local designers, one of whom is Francis who designed the red cap
with the dress. All are specially designed. We bought so many
clothes but not enough time to put in everything."
 Vivian
Lai
"I feel that with her short singing experience, her performance
tonight was very good. I think fast songs suit her and this is
the first time I've seen her dance, She seldom dances on stage.
This is a very brave effort! My own concert? I would like to but
I feel that this is a big gamble because many elements make up a
concert. I think she's very brave to put up the concert. I
haven't prepared myself mentally for that yet!"
Hong Hui
Fang
"For a new artiste, her performance tonight was very
commendable. It exceeded my expectations, judging from the fact
that she's not from a singing background but from an acting
background. I feel that she's got a lot of stage presence. She
was nervous at the start but maybe it was because of the
microphone problems. But after warming up, she was smooth. She
was very good. Ten years ago, I would never have thought that
our local stars could hold their own concert. Ten years later,
this has become a reality and I feel very proud of her."
Zheng
Geping
"Fann is the next wave after our batch of stars. Behind her are
other rising stars. My wish for Fann is that she resembles the
middle wave - a never-receding one. Hopefully next year, she
will have another chance to hold another concert and sing for
us. What she has achieved tonight is not easy. Fann, very good!"
(Source:
Mediacorp Website) |
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AFTER THE CONCERT |
 Her
Performance
Would you call it a fantastic performance?
"I think I made the grade. I believe that with more experience
and with time, I can improve."
You were quite calm on stage.
"Actually I was very scared and I couldn't get to sleep last
night. Our rehearsal lasted till 1 am plus in the morning. They
told me to get some rest but by 3 am, I still had not gone to
sleep. It was until 4 plus then I managed to sleep."
 What
was the best part of it?
"The unplugged version, because it's closer to my heart. I also
get to sing songs that I kind of like on stage. These songs were
sung by other artistes and I can invite my friends (fellow
MediaCorp artiste Cynthia Koh and reporter Wu Jing Kang went up
on stage to duet with her) up to sing with me. Yes, the
unplugged part was most enjoyable."
Fann's concert wardrobe
She spent $30,000 on a concert wardrobe made up mainly of
clothes bought in Japan (the first 2 costumes were designed by
local designers David Wang and Francis Cheong) and had 7
costumes changes during the 2-hour concert.
What's your favourite outfit?
"I like every one of them. But if I really had to choose, it
would be the 2-piece puffy skirt (a Burberry spaghetti-strap top
and puffy skirt) that I wore while I was playing the piano."
 Fashion
guru and good friend, David Gan apparently snipped off the skirt
below the knee and made a top with the extra material. On
hearing that, a reporter made a joking remark about Fann's bosom
being, umm, rather small. To this, Fann merely played along by
smiling and pouting while saying, "This cannot be helped… I also
want my bust to be bigger!"
What will you do with your costumes?
She will donate the first or second outfit to charity and keep
the rest for future events and functions. On top of that outfit,
a red gemstone ring worth about $1,000 will also be auctioned
off for charity. UNICEF, a non-profit organisation for children,
is the charity organisation that they have in mind. (Source:
Mediacorp Website) |
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