Holy & Dangerous

So it’s been taking me a while to watch my Yeah Show 2007 DVDs because Cantonese comprehension really isn’t my strong suit (absurdity and cynicism are). However, there was one performance that was easy for me to digest: Marsha Yuan’s. This was because it was short (two songs) and in English.

The first song Marsha sang was Amazing Grace, and I enjoyed it. She really belted it out and threw in some bluesy twists. Supposedly, when she’s not reaching for the big notes, her “normal” singing voice is kind of breathy. Perhaps her voice box was built for power vocals…kind of like Ethel Merman.

If I had to describe Marsha Yuan’s singing voice, I’d say it was a cross between Ethel Merman, Ruthie Henshall, Etta James, and Tone Loc.

For her second song, Ms. Yuan sang Heavenly Father, which she wrote herself. It had a very catchy tune, though I found it a little puzzling lyrically, possibly because it didn’t exactly rhyme (another thing she has in common with Tone Loc). Frankly, when it comes to songs and poetry, I’m a big believer in rhyming…

Anyway, I thought Marsha Yuan gave a good performance. I would have loved to have heard her testimony, however, because I’m curious as to how she became a Christian. It’s probably not the influence of her immediate family because her siblings are probably not Christian if their F-bomb-riddled online ravings are any indication. Maybe her mother, Cheng Pei-pei? After all, Pei appeared in the 2004 Media Evangelism film The Miracle Box, which starred Ada Choi (it always comes back to Ada Choi).

But probably not.

I’m guessing it was Marsha’s manager, Helen Chan, who may have led her to Christ. Helen Chan has converted virtually every single Hong Kong entertainer she’s ever managed. Except for Chin Kar-lok…and Lee San-san…and Francis Ng…and Kenny Wong…

But everyone else? Christian.

Not sure if Chan is still Yuan’s manager, though. According to Marsha’s blog, she relocated to Shanghai for some indecipherable reason: to pursue a career in musical theater…or jazz vocals…or something like that.

BTW, I highly recommend reading Marsha’s blog. Possibly the most raw blog by a Hong Kong entertainer out there. The same themes keep popping up over and over again: (1) she’s a Broadway theater geek; (2) she’s a klutz; and (3) she may have some serious self-confidence/self-esteem/self-criticism issues.

All in all, highly recommended, if only because it provides insight into the soul of an American-born musical theater geek trying to make her way in the Asian arts and entertainment circles.

Just got my DVD copy of Yeah Show 2007, Rev. Enoch Lam’s annual evangelistic stand-up comedy show. It’s a two-discer! Must be a lot of comedy…

I believe the DVD is of the Hong Kong shows. The guest stars are DJ Sammy, someone who I don’t recognize and whose gender I cannot decipher, Leanne Li, and Marsha Yuan (so it was Marsha Yuan). I’ll let you know how it is once I view it.

Oh, I gave our Research Department the Sammi Cheng assignment (”Is Sammi Cheng a Christian?”), and they came back with an answer - “probably.” She became one - really became one - about ten years ago, and then recently re-committed herself during her hiatus last year. Or something like that.

So yeah, Sammi Cheng is probably a Christian.

Just to follow up on the last post on Vegas…

So apparently the latest hot cable television show is Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel. Man vs. Wild features survivalist Bear Grylls (Christian…at least according to Wikipedia) being dropped into some remote location (the Australian Outback, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Alps, a glacier, etc.) and showing people how to survive while making their way back to some semblance of civilization where they can get help (a road, a town, a house, etc.). Survival entails drinking what you can (moisture from elephant dung, your own urine, etc.), eating what you can (snakes, frogs, maggots, rotting sheep, etc.), and escaping various pitfalls…literally. For example, Grylls has jumped into freezing water to demonstrate how to survive falling through ice (he’s also done the same with quicksand).

Anyway, I’d like to pitch a show to the Discovery Channel: Man vs. Vegas. The premise of the show is that an urban survivalist (me) will be dropped into some not-so-remote location on or near the Strip and must make his way out of town alive, all the while surviving/dodging various Vegas pitfalls. For example, alcohol poisoning; taxis driven by blind cabbies; near-fatal buffet binges; maxing out your credit/debit cards after a bad streak at the craps tables; those guys who hand out flyers for escort services/prostitutes on the Strip, etc. I’ll also demonstrate how to survive a random strip club shooting (and the ensuing riot) after a patron “makes it rain”; an attack by Siberian white tigers going berserk during a magic show; and having your kidney pilfered by an Asian masseuse/call girl/pre-op transvestite.

Come on, you know you’d watch it!

P.S. Last week The Media Evangelism Ltd. posted a behind-the-scenes video on the Love Is… website. Spotted briefly was ubiquitous character actor Hui Siu-Hung, who’s pretty much been in every single Hong Kong movie since the Handover. Now I guess he’s making a cameo in Love Is…

Can’t wait.

Last night, I went to Sammi Cheng’s Las Vegas concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Pretty good. Compared to Aaron Kwok and his “Dancing Nation Live” concert at The Orleans Arena in late May, Sammi definitely has a much better voice, but her show wasn’t quite as theatrical as Kwok’s. For the better live concert experience, I’d have to give the edge to Kwok.

Apparently, the modus operandi for every male HK pop star performing live is to act as flamingly gay as possible. At least that was Kwok’s M.O. (Jacky Cheung was also very adept at it when he played Caesars in February.)

The M.O. of female HK pop stars is to emulate a stripper bumping and grinding her heart out or Tina Turner on speed. Perhaps some combination of the two.

Las Vegas is a very tough town for HK pop singers because a significant portion of the audience is filled with Chinese gamblers whose tickets are being comped by the casinos. These gamblers probably don’t readily fall into the target demographic of HK pop singers, i.e., over-caffeinated and over-enthused teens and twentysomethings. Usually, the casinos reserve the best seats for these gamblers long before tickets are released to the general public, so the truly crazy fans, those who shell out their own money to attend, are relegated to the fringes. The result is usually a big dead spot of non-enthusiasm right in front of the stage, where a performer would usually expect his/her most enthusiastic fans to be. I’m sure this Zone of Silence is a big shock the first time they perform in Vegas. Also, the comped gamblers are not shy about getting up and simply walking out in the middle of the concert to head for the casinos if they get bored. If you ever go to a HK pop singer’s concert in Vegas, watch for this. It’s hilarious.

And heaven help you if you try to perform Asian hip-hop. Vanness Wu (Christian) went down in flames as a special guest performer at Kelly Chen’s December 2006 concert at the MGM Grand. You could hear a pin drop during his set. It was a total disaster; absolutely horrific. What made it even worse was that Wu brought his sister, Wendy, as his special guest performer, and she tanked worse than he did. At least 10% of the audience had heard of Vanness Wu - or at least the street in San Francisco for which he was named - so he had that going for him if nothing else (and trust me, there was nothing else). Wendy Wu? Nada. If the concept of zero did not exist, they would have had to invent it after her performance. The Wu siblings were simply performing the wrong genre of music for an audience made up of the wrong generation at the wrong time of year (Christmas).

Anyway, the actual point of this entry isn’t to expound on the HK pop concert-going experience in Las Vegas, but to note that Sammi Cheng may be a Christian. I thought I had heard this before, but cursory research didn’t turn up anything. But then she appeared on the cover of the May 2007 issue of Angel’s Heart Monthly, a publication of The Media Evangelism Limited. There was a blurb on the Angel’s Heart Monthly website that may have been a teaser for a more in-depth feature article about her in the actual magazine (but I really have no idea…). Then I found this quote…

Throughout her childhood, Sammi and her family were devout Christians, a religious denomination she holds dear to her heart. “I love the influence by Christianity… and will often go to Bible study,” Sammi says.

Interesting. Even more interesting is the source: AskMen.com. Frankly, I have no idea how much stock I should put into the fact-checking efforts of this website, but it’s the most concrete thing I have so far. So.

Perhaps I’ll go sic the research department on this issue… Stay tuned.

Here are some photos that I stole, er, borrowed, er, am using pursuant to the fair use doctrine of the relevant copyright laws of this jurisdiction.

As you can tell from the watermark on these photos, they are courtesy of The Media Evangelism Limited. I’ve also added some commentary below each picture. Enjoy.

Dressing room. I have no idea who the person in the baseball cap on the very left is, but the rest of the people in this shot are the three main cast members for the “youth love triangle” story in Love Is… That’s Tracy Ip in the center, dressed in white; Selena Li is sitting cross-legged on the stool; and Zac Koo is flashing the peace sign in the lower right-hand corner.

You can tell who’s supposed to be the good-girl protagonist and who’s the villainous “other woman” just by looking at what they’re wearing. Tracy Ip is obviously the “other woman” because she’s dressed like a call girl and her skirt is shorter than her last name. Selena Li, on the other hand, is clearly the good-girl character with whom the audience is supposed to sympathize because she’s wearing leggings that cover her knees and is dressed like a beggar. I don’t know what Zac Koo’s role is, whether unredeemable cad or antihero seeking redemption, but I distrust anyone wearing a dress shirt with pockets on the sleeve. Save it for the outback, mate.

Note that Tracy Ip is breaking out her Mona Lisa smile, again. I guess if you’ve got a good thing going, why change, right? This is also a much better picture of Selena Li…if you’re into beggars, that is. Just kidding! With her hair down, Selena Li looks ten thousand times more attractive here than in the group photo from the last entry.

Selena Li, sitting on a Hong Kong sand dune, possibly toxic, contemplating why Zac Koo left her for a whore.

Note the directional marks in the sand–that’s the craft of movie-making in action, folks.

Selena Li stalks sleazeball boyfriend Zac Koo while he’s two-timing her with Tracy Ip. Note Koo’s wardrobe: neon pink shirt with suit. Very Miami Vice. After his date, I think Koo is going to meet up with Tubbs, buy two keys of coke, then go gun down Calderon.

What ridiculous plot point could have possibly led them to film a scene with actors in full wardrobe standing thigh-high in the waters of Hong Kong at night?

I can’t wait to see this movie!

Again, I must ask: what plot point required a hailstorm of feathers? The avian flu pandemic finally emerges? SARS returns? Plane full of chickens explodes? When it comes to Christian HK movies, feathers-in-water equals looming disaster.

Again, I will declare: I can’t wait!

Love Is…, the latest film from The Media Evangelism Ltd., has just finished production and will be released in August. This is the third film in ME’s Life Movies trilogy, which is inspired by real-life calls to a Christian telephone counseling service in Hong Kong. The first film in the series was The Room starring Yoyo Mung and Sharon Chan and it was about depression. The second film was Fearless starring Roger Kwok and Kenix Kwok and it was about childhood trauma and homosexuality.

And now we have Love Is…, the Chinese title of which can roughly be translated as Real Love?

One of the most interesting things about this movie is… (more…)