Faye and Carina Celebrate Their Birthdays in Shanghai

On 6 August 2010, Faye Wong (王菲) and Carina Lau (刘嘉玲) celebrated their brithdays in Shanghai’s Peace Hotel. Faye’s birthday is on Aug. 8, and Carina’s, on Aug. 6. (Source Sohu Entertainment News, et.21cn, ent.cina, 8.7.10)

Correction by Cejan on 8.8.10: Carina’s birthday is on December 8. Thus, the celebration was for Faye!

Katie Confirms Faye’s 2010 Concerts

Katie Chen  (陈家瑛 Chen Jiaying) confirmed yesterday that preparations for Faye Wong’s (王菲) 2010 concerts are progressing. She said that the Shanghai concert is scheduled for November at the Pudong Expo Performing Arts Center, and the plan is for five performances. The Beijing concert will be held at the Wukesong Indoor Stadium. Katie said the concert details will be worked out after the Spring Festival. Re the reputed high cost of tickets, she said that ticket sales haven’t begun and that the price “has nothing to do with us. The price is set by the organizers.” (Source NetEase 2.9.10 and 022net 2.10.10)

Faye in Shanghai 21 Jan 2010

Faye Wong (王菲) arrives at Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airporton on 21 Jan 2010 for friend Yang Lan’s (杨澜) jewelry store opening. (Source Netease, Xinmin, Ent163)[Updated 22 Jan 2010 with info from Sohu 1.23.10.)

Faye’s Concert in Shanghai in November 2010

One of the locations for Faye Wong’s (王菲) comeback concert in November 2010 will be Shanghai’s Pudong Expo Performing Arts Center. Ticket prices are expected to break all previous records, earning Faye more than stars Andy Lau (刘德华), Jacky Cheung (张学友), and Jay Chou (周杰倫). (Source Sina.com 1.21.10)

Rumor – Faye to Perform with Na Ying?

Every so often, we hear rumors that have the ring of truth simply because they seem highly probable. All the parts seem to fit. And this is one. Tianshannet reported today (10.21.08) that Na Ying’s (那英) new album release will be accompanied by concerts in places such as Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai sometime in October, November, or December. The truly intriguing part of this story is the claim that Faye Wong (王菲) will appear at one of the concerts as a guest star. Even if this is pure speculation on an imaginative journalist’s part, it still seems plausible that these two “sisters” would plan to appear together. And just as Na Ying reintroduced Faye to the mainland audience back in 1998, it seems fated that she would again reintroduce Faye to the same audience a decade later. The video below is one of my all-time favorites. It’s a duet of Faye and Na Ying singing “Meet in 1998” at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala show. It would be fantastic to see them perform this song together once more.

“Meet in 1998” – duet with Na Ying

Tianshannet photo 10.21.08

Fayve Concert Photos – 001: Beijing 2004

Here’s a photo of Faye Wong (王菲) that I haven’t seen before. It looks as though it was taken at one of the concerts in her “No Faye, No Live!” tour in 2004. [Added 7/28: According to Leelee2046 (see comment) , this photo may be from Faye’s Beijing concert, held on 28 August 2004, the fifth stop on her tour, following performances in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Xi’an, and Chengdu.] With this photo, I’m beginning a series on “Fayve Concert Photos.”  I’ll be numbering them for reference purposes. The numbers don’t imply any sort of ranking. If you have links to other great concert photos that you’d like to share, please post a comment. I’m also interested in any info that you might have about the concert in which this picture was taken. Please post a comment if you can help. Thanks in advance.

(source: CRI Online)

Added 7/28: According to Leelee2046 (see comment) , this photo may be from Faye’s Beijing concert, held on 28 August 2004, the fifth stop on her tour, following performances in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Xi’an, and Chengdu.

Those Flowers – A Mystery?

Pu Shu (朴树) released “Those Flowers” (那些花儿, Na Xie Hua Er) in September 2003 and since then it’s been one of the most popular modern Chinese ballads ever. It seems everyone, pros and amateurs alike, has performed and recorded it. YouTube is filled with homespun covers. It doesn’t come close to the number of imitators for Faye’s “Eyes on Me,” but the numbers are way up there. Some refer to it as China’s version of the early-1960s American folk classic “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” Musically, I think “Those Flowers” is far, far better. It’s a beautiful ballad — one of the most beautiful I’ve ever heard. And a major reason is its simplicity. This is one song I don’t get tired of listening to.

The audio for Pu Shu’s version is below (D). It was ripped from a YouTube video of his live version, uploaded by Zuoricxzhyf on 14 Oct 2007. There’s also an MV, added to YouTube by Hisashilx on 24 Sep 2007.

A number of Faye’s “Those Flowers” videos are available on YouTube. All are amateurish fan recordings of poor quality, and of the ones that I found and viewed, all but one are from Faye’s 2004 Beijing concert. An example is Adelineshim’s YouTube addition of 11 Mar 2007. The exception is Fayechan’s 5 Dec 2007 YouTube upload, which is from the 21 May 2004 Shanghai concert.

There’s also an audio only version (see A below, “studio” version). I found it on Wubing’s Always There for You blog. A similar audio version is available on Imeem, uploaded by Kai M in Apr 2008. These are similar to the audio-only video, which I found at tv.mofile.com.

Of the three major Faye versions, A is far superior in quality.

Now, for the mystery. I’m not 100% sure that A, the studio version, is sung by Faye. The reason is the difference in quality. If she never entered a studio to record it, then it must’ve been professionally taped during one of her live performances in China. (It has to be China because “Those Flowers” wasn’t included in concerts outside of China.) Yet, as you’ll see when you listen to A, the background is absolutely silent. You don’t hear the audience at all. If this feat can actually be accomplished via sound engineering, then I’d have no doubts. But can it? You’d think some audience noise would seep in. The other alternative is that Faye actually did record this song in a studio but it was never released. However, I haven’t seen or heard any proof of this.

Some fayenatics believe that A is actually a cover by Fan Fan (Fan Wei Chi, 范玮琪). However, if you listen to Fan Fan’s MV (uploaded by Addie5101 on 9 Aug 2006) and live video (uploaded by Hahahehe168 on 23 March 2008), you can hear a huge difference. A is definitely not Fan Fan.

I’ve listened to other female covers of “Those Flowers” on YouTube, and the only videos that come close to A are Faye’s. If you listen to the Beijing version, you may not be totally convinced. But if you listen to the Shanghai version (B), you may be. I’m about 99% convinced that A is sung by Faye, and if it was recorded live, then it was the Shanghai concert.

Listen and see what you think. If you have any information that can help us decide, one way or the other, if A is Faye’s, then please add a comment.

A. This audio-only (“studio”) version is technically the best of the bunch, but is it Faye?

B. Faye’s live Shanghai concert version — sounds very similar to A.

C. Audio of Fan Fan’s MV version — doesn’t sound like A at all.

D. P u Shu’s live version.

Added 8.4.08:

E. Another version of Faye’s live performance submitted by Wubing 8.4.08.

[Added 10.8.08 – Those Flowers – No Longer a Mystery!]