Credits: Serena @ http://asian-gossip.blogspot.com



Movie King Seeks Help From God of Songs; Leslie Cheung Memorial Concert Starts Tonight

Tomorrow will be the five year death anniversary of Leslie Cheung. Leslie’s group of good friends will be supporting the memorial event. They will sing some classic Leslie songs as a tribute to his memory. There will be “God of Songs” Jacky Cheung, “Movie King” Tony Leung, Karen Mok, Joyce Cheng, Grasshopper, Deanie Ip, Anita Yuen, Chilam Cheung, Priscilla Chan, Anthony Wong and others.

Out of the entire group of guest performer, Tony announced his fear to sing in public. He admitted that is willing to sacrifice a lot of cells to sing “風繼續吹”. The Grasshopper is painstaking preparing a list of classic Leslie fast songs. They will be bringing back Leslie’s classic dance moves on stage. Jacky will sing “追”, “春夏秋冬” and other songs. He sighed that a lot of good friends have passed away these few years. He feels lonely and starting to avoid seeing people.

“Miss you Much Leslie 繼續寵愛音樂會” will feature a group of stars to remember a legendary idol – Leslie. Florence Chan expressed that another concert date was added because of the overwhelming response. There are some problems with Tony and Anita’s schedule so they will only perform on April 1st. Anthony Wong will perform at tonight’s concert only. Florence is especially thankful of Tony and said: “He said that he feels a lot of pressure when he sings and he is nervous. But I heard Tony sing three years ago at a Leslie memorial concert. Tony sang “當年情” and it was very touching. I tried very hard to invite him and am grateful because he is putting pressure on himself.”

There will be three stages and a bridge. Deanie Ip will kick off the concert and she will sing “明星” and “最愛” at the two concerts. After she finishes singing, the bridge will break. It will symbolize the separation of people. Florence said: “The performances will be about the same for both nights. Footage directed by different directors will be shown on the stage. A 7 x 7 feet red kite will be placed in the Hong Kong Coliseum. This way the fans can write down their messages to Leslie. It would be burnt as an offering to Leslie.” Yesterday afternoon, several singers made their way to the Hong Kong Coliseum to rehearse. Florence, Grasshopper, Joyce and Karen went to the blessing ceremony around 3:30 PM.

Yesterday afternoon at 4:50 PM, Tony rushed into the Hong Kong Coliseum to rehearse. He stayed for one hour before he left. Tony said: “It is more nerve wrecking then filming a movie. But it is a meaningful memorial to a friend so it is worth it.” Tony joked that each time he sang he will lose a lot of cells. He doesn’t sing karaoke often and the last time he sang was three years ago. He said: “A couple of days ago, I was in Shanghai for a function and I practiced singing when I had time off. I felt my singing was bad but I will try my best to convey my feeling.” He chose to sing “風繼續吹” because it’s a good song to listen and it would be easy for him. Tony said: “It’s a chance to remember Leslie. We are good friends and I remember how we spent our days in Argentina filming a movie. I also remember the gatherings and parties we had with a group of friends. Leslie loves a lively and cheerful atmosphere. I prefer to be quiet.” Would you ask your girlfriend Carina Lau to sing a duet with you? Tony said: “I don’t do the inviting. Carina doesn’t often sing. I would enjoy it.” A magazine reports that Carina is pregnant. Tony expressed that he doesn’t need to give a response to a gossip magazine article and it wasn’t true.

Jacky will sing “誰令妳心痴” besides “追” and “春夏秋冬”. He will sing “誰令妳心痴” with Priscilla. He admitted that he doesn’t feel pressured but he knows that Tony is nervous. Lately Tony has been calling him and Jacky said: “I feel that Tony sings well. There is no problem.” Do you miss Leslie? Jacky said: “Jim Wong once said that Leslie was an art piece. You don’t miss a part of him but him. Leslie is a very good person. It’s very unfortunate that he passed away.” The reporter asked about Florence’s other friends like Lydia Shum who also passed away. There is a lot of stress. Jacky feels that the world has changed when his friends passed away. It is a strange feeling. He feels very lonely. He doesn’t have a driving force anymore and he doesn’t want to see people. But he isn’t avoiding reality but needs time to adjust. Jacky said: “I don’t need to see a doctor. I will solve the problems and adjust slowly by myself. My home is my refuge. I take care of my children so I am busy 24 hours a day. I don’t think about other things. In comparison, Mrs. Chan is very frustrated and I act like a psychologist to her.”

Grasshopper will perform a series of fast songs like “Monica”, “失眠”, “Stand Up” and others. They have been rehearsing since three weeks ago. They will show off Leslie’s dance move. Remus Choi will do a solo rendition of “為妳鍾情”. All three of them said that Leslie was the perfect person. They will order new clothes to be made and hope that Leslie’s fans will enjoy it.

GiGi Leung will sing “柔情蜜意” and “我願意” which are love songs. She admitted that she doesn’t feel pressured. Leslie was charismatic and had a unique style on stage. People get a special feeling when he was on stage performing. People should learn from his attitude and not feel pressured. GiGi said: “Near the end of the concert, people will feel sad. I will use a positive attitude to commemorate this irreplaceable and legendary singer.”

This post has been edited by mv_288: Mar 31 2008 10 20 PM

Leslie is a legendary artist, it is sad so many great artists had passed away and many are getting older. Makes me remember the good old days.

Can't believe Leslie has been gone for that long already ... the list of guest performers are awesome ... can't wait to see this!

i grew up listening to his songs in the 80s, along with sam hui's....those two were my favorite....i've been listening to HK RADIO 2 via stream at work all afternoon....i'm glad to see media still respects leslie to this date...

I wonder is there recorded DVD for this. I would love to see this concert but I am not in HK. Hope there are DVD out so I could buy it or could see it.

this is great to have a concert dedicated to leslie. the list of artist sounds great. can't wait to see the show. we miss you leslie!!!!!

wow i honestly cant believe its been 5 years since leslie has passed away.. till dis day i still listen to his songs on my ipod and i do still miss him a lot... this is a great concert to be dedicate to him...

Missing LEslie and his songs....all d best ppl.....

Hope I can go and see them sing. Sure got a lot of good friends around to support.

aww i hope jacky's doing better now. its sad to hear that he's down. i know how it is when you've lost a bunch of old friends in such a short amount of time. hold on there jacky, you're a tough guy!

^Jacky's got his family support so I'm sure he will be fine. He is such a great singer & person!! ^O^

Aaaaaww @ Tony getting nervous about singing. I've heard him sing live before, sure he's no Jacky Cheung but he can def hold a tune. And hey, he's gotta remember he is a fwking amazing actor & let's face it, you can't always be faultless at everything you do!

It's hard to grasp the fact that Leslie has been gone from us for so long... but his memory def lives on forever. Not only was he a brilliant singer & lyric interpreter & on-stage performer, he was also an awesome actor <3

Will forever miss Leslie ... don't think we will be able to find another who is so talented as him in the next 50 years ..

I wish that everything would go smoothly ** Leslie was a great singer !!

Cant wait for this....not realising its been 5th years Leslie leave us...lately so many great artist are leaving us...may this show be a memorable moment for us.....

Sigh, it's been five years since he has left. I really miss him and Anita Mui performing on stage. But it's great that his good friends are planning this memorial concert! And Tony should just relax and do his best. I'm sure Leslie will understand. I feel sad for Jacky that he is feeling so discouraged. He needs time to get over his loss so I just hope he will be feel better! Once again, it's nice to see so many of his good friends coming together, to practice and to just give their best.

I wish I could have been there at the concert. Must be awesome!!! Now I have to wait till they bring it out on dvd. Hoopefully that happens soon.

Yea, i also didn't realise that Leslie had left for 5 years.. Time passes extremely fast..
His songs still well-recognised everywhere...
So, 1 thing for sure.. WE STILL MISS HIM MUCH!!

Does anyone know if this is a charity concert and does anyone know if this will be released on DVD ?

I still remember exactly where I was when I heard the news that Leslie passed away. I thought it was cruel April Fool's joke. Cna't believe it has been five years. Hong kong has changed so much in five years.

Was listening to Leslie as I saw this post Hope the concert was good, great that so many stars were part of it.