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March 25, 2016

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Prince of love and heartache performs in Shanghai

KNOWN as the “Prince of Love Ballads” in the Chinese pop world, Taiwan pop singer Jeff Chang Shin-Che is a seasoned singer of love and heartache in Mandarin. Since 1989, he has released a string of highly successful albums.

Almost all of his 2,000 songs are about love, and hits like “Faith,” “Intuition” and “Generosity” have become classic love ballads in the Chinese pop world.

Next month, the prince of love ballads will perform at Shanghai Hongkou Football Stadium. It’ll be the second stop of his 2016 concert tour “Love Light Year” which kicked off in Taipei. Tickets are already sold out. Shanghai Daily has spoken to Chang about success, inspiration and his upcoming album.

Q: How many concerts have you held in Shanghai? And what’s new in the upcoming one?

A: This will be my 11th concert held in this city which will also be an important return show at Shanghai Hongkou Football Stadium. I held my first individual concert in Shanghai almost 20 years ago in 1998 at this venue. There were over 20,000 people there and their passion and screams really impressed me. I always dreamed of returning to this stage and this time my dream comes true.

In this show, I will continue the concept of my concert tour “Love Light Year” which started in 2014. The show will definitely be a collection of my classic sentimental songs, and combine them with the elements of drama, musical and mini-animation in the French Sempe style. The light on the stage will be reflected by water — the idea is inspired by the work of Tan Dun, the famous Chinese musician who created “Water Heavens.” The costumes of the show will break my traditional style, be very mix-and-match and fashionable. My fans will have a chance to see a different A-Che (Chang’s nickname).

Q: Your most songs are about love, and you have your own music style which is called “Che-Style.” What’s your own understanding of love and where does your inspiration come from?

A: In my music, love is always the theme. It’s what I am best at. My inspiration comes from life.

To me, love is not limited between men and women, but it is a big concept including family love, friendship, as well as the love to this world and the whole human race. In my upcoming show in Shanghai, the audience will see the image of the Eiffel Tower in background animations. This is to remind people of the disaster of the terror attacks in Paris last year; to remind people that we need to understand others. In my works, for example in the song “Shoulder” and the drama “Lulu, Listen to Me,” this concept can also be found.

I hope my songs can encourage people to be brave, and help them overcome difficulties in their life.

Q: You are now participating in the music reality show “I Am Singer” at Hunan TV. What made you decide to join this TV show?

A: I participated in this reality show due to a negotiation with the organizer — for the purpose of charity. This is the fourth episode of this show. In their previous episodes, the organizer had invited me several times but I rejected. This time the organizer promised to sponsor 20 schools in poor areas of Taiwan to help them build music classrooms. I was a volunteer teacher in one of those poor schools when I was in college. Talking about the show itself, the competition or the final result is not what I care about.

Q: Your new album will be released tomorrow. Could you talk more about this new album?

A: I release this album as an LP as I have the responsibility as a singer to bring the best to listeners. In this digital era, listening to music online is a trend, but real music fans also hope to listen to some works of high-qualified acoustic fidelity.




 

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