Jacky, in very good voice, had just finished singing a sensitive and nuanced version of the Fish Leong classic, Ye, Ye, Ye, Ye, when he was joined in the spotlight by the show’s genial hosts, Chen Kai Lun and Lin Yan Jun, the latter better known as Xaio He Niu. He told them he was feeling a kind of excitement.

Lin: Excitement? Why do you say that?

Jacky: Regardless of whatever song I’m singing or when I’m singing on whatever occasion, I always want to allow myself to have that fresh, that spontaneous feeling.

Chen: I see.

Jacky: That ability to allow yourself, when you’re singing…To me, only with that nervousness can I squeeze out a beautiful sound.

Chen: Ok. Why would I say that Zhu Fan Gang is nervous? It’s not often that like today when I shook his hand there was so much perspiration. But the thing is, looking at you on the surface, do you think sometimes, if in the past you hadn’t been an idol in 183 Club, your performance now [as a solo singer] would be better?

Jacky: Right now I would certainly say…because I think now I’m more like myself.

Chen: Right.

Jacky: When you’re an idol, you’re an idol. You have to bear a lot of burdens: the burden of the company, the burden you have towards society and the public, the burden you have towards young people who like you. I think these things are all important to being an idol.

Chen: Let me say that because today I’m standing in the position of the audience like this, the first time hearing you sing, it’s much, much better than what I’d imagined.

Jacky: Thank you.

Chen: I’d like to say it’s possible that when I knew about him [Jacky?] before…Of course Sun De Rong [the manager of Jungiery Stars] is very outstanding, creating so many idols…But during that period, isn’t it true that you didn’t have an environment like this that allowed you to perform songs properly? And today when you sang […] ‘Ye, Ye, Ye, Ye’, you surprised me a bit…It was breathtaking.

Jacky: Really?

Lin: Why did you choose this song?

Jacky: I feel that all the songs we’re singing today are all so-called old songs.

Chen: Yes.

Jacky: And then of course some of these songs I’m familiar with, and some are unfamiliar But this song I consider to be unfamiliar.

Lin: How come?

Jacky: Because this song …I don’t know under what conditions I heard this song. But this song’s lyrics and meaning… what meaning it’s conveying I find quite understandable. Just like when I was an idol before, to tell the truth, I wouldn’t go and listen to this type of song. Because this type of song wouldn’t be in the domain of my work. Either listening to it or performing it. Moreover, listening to this song in that period would possibly have made me think that it’s the type of song the older generation would sing. [But] it’s a good song.

 *****

Then ensued a lively discussion between Jacky and the hosts about whether songs from the 80s and 90s were really old songs or not. Jacky’s performance that day was apparently very well received by the daytime television audience and he and his elder brother, James Zhu Qiang Bo, were invited back on the show several times to sing older, romantic songs.

These appearances gave their fans a tantalizing sample of the kind of mature singing at the more serious end of the pop music spectrum that Jacky is so clearly capable of, should he, either individually or with his brother, ever bring out the long awaited album.

Image credits: screen caps from TTV’s 金曲百老匯 2011/10/13

V and I chose a table at the very front, just to the right of centre stage, but we sat in the two back seats so as not to be too conspicuous. Ere long the front two seats were taken up by two fierce looking groupies, dressed to kill in black outfits and with enough mascara on to shellack a chest of drawers, or whatever else you can do with mascara. I said hello in English, but these girls chose to ignore us totally. A few tables over to our left was a younger, sweeter looking group. One girl held up a giant cardboard cutout of a love heart, picked out in different coloured sparkles. Cute.

The backup act opened right on the dot of 8.30. They did two upbeat rock numbers, very hard hitting and very loud. The lead singer’s artful attire included a bohemian scarf and fatigued jeans with a white belt. He had bee stung lips, a lot of dynamism and a good voice. (Only later did V and I piece togther that this was Neo Li Yang, of KOne). When Neo and the boys packed up expeditiously after only two items, I thought that James had chosen the proverbial hard act to follow.

There was no backstage as such and as his backing band set up, we caught sight of James waiting to come on in the penumbra at the side of the stage. Then he leaped up the stairs and emerged into the light wearing a wonderful sparkling striped jacket and sporting an attractive new hairstlyle with a streaked fringe. Without demur, he launched into a version of a song made famous by Yang Pei An: My Future is Not a Dream. I had expressed doubts before on Neveridol about James’s light voice, but he was convincing in this, charging the melody with energy and adopting a rough edge to the vocal line. Then he spoke briefly to the audience before taking up Wang Lee Hom’s A Kiss Goodbye. The country flavour of this song suited his easy going style and he communicated the lyrics very sensitively. James made a lot of eye contact with members of the audience and I hoped he would look over our way–I wanted to feel he was singing to us personally. When he finally did look in our direction, I smiled and tried to return a positive vibe. After that point, James was communicating the meaning of the lyrics of the songs so well that he could have sung anything and I would have gone along with it.

James Zhu (Chu) live on January 13

I had imagined that James would have brought on younger brother Jacky–a tremendously good singer– only in the second half, as an ace up his sleeve, so to speak. Early on, I`d caught sight of Jacky, looking sepulchral in black, creeping up the stairs on our right to a balcony, and then leaning over the rail to watch his brother perform. I thought he would stay up there awhile. But no, before very long, the keyboardist struck up the opening chords of Jacky`s signature power ballad. James then seemed to have to give his brother some time to come down from upstairs. He asked the audience what the name of the song was. ‘Gao Jie,’ they obediently chorused.

James took up the opening phrases of the song again. By then Jacky must have come back down, because suddenly he was onstage. In real life, he looked fiercer and more villanous then ever, with his hook nose, famous underbite and intense, glittering eyes. Soon the brothers were taking turns with the phrases and supplying new harmonies. Somehow they brought new life to an old song that I’d heard over and over again, perhaps too many times. Next they sang another laid back love song, Tian Tian, that Jacky used to sing at 183 Club concerts and that he had sung more recently as part of a medley on Jin Qu Chao Ji Xing, Season 1. They livened that one up, too. They sang at least one more duet, including the old fashioned ballad that Jacky once sang on Kang Xi Lai Le. James, with his secure and penetrating upper register, took the high phrases and the entire song came out very pleasingly.

James Zhu (left) and brother Jacky

The brothers’ non-stop banter was genuinely amusing. As James leafed through music on a music stand, as if deciding what to sing next, Jacky pantomimed that we should all call for him to sing the next song as a solo. ‘Jacky! Jacky!’ many fans obligingly shouted. I held back a bit because I didn’t want to hurt James‘s feelings. It was his night after all. ‘I saw what you did,’ said James as he turned around, in mocking accusation.

But Jacky got his solo. I don’t know the name of the song, but it was beautiful. Jacky fell into into that trance of intense concentration that he adopts when singing, often with his eyes closed. He whispered through the verses, while occasionally allowing a slightly louder note through that hinted at the warm quality of his of his full voice.  Performing live, he has a strong voice: he was appreciably louder than James.  He rammed home the high notes of the chorus very clear and true (but not too loud), then drifted off into a quiet ending. It was a kind of Mandopop bel canto. I suffering from travel fatigue, but I would have happily listened to him sing all night.

Jacky Zhu was a guest performer at his brother's concert.

I think Jacky sang a second solo later in the concert, but I became so wrapped up in the drama of it all that I let good reportage fly out the window. I stopped taking notes and I lost all sense of chronology. Was it when he was about to sing one of the solos, or soon after he first came on that he scanned the front rows and seemed to recognise some of his loyal fans? When he spotted V and me, he started with surprise and said, ‘Hi!’  in English in a kind of singsong voice. I confess to being too embarrassed to reply.

The concert had other highlights: two excellent songs by Eliza Lin Yi Lin, playing acoustic guitar and performing her own material. ‘She looks so sweet,’ said V, ‘but at heart I think she is a real rocker.’ Then James came back on and explained that he was going to sing a song he had only finished a day and a half before–while on the loo. This confession provoked some very earthy comments from the audience, but it proved to be a wonderful song and he sang it in a very satisfying way. James also raided the Rod Stewart and Lionel Richie songbooks to good effect. I sang along with those numbers, just to get up the noses of the groupies who had been singing along with the Chinese songs. James sings very convincingly in English.

It was past 11 pm when James finally left the stage. Tired as I was I joined the rest in calling for an encore. Soon he was back on, introducing a songwriter who had written some of the megahits for KOne, 5566 and 183 Club. Of course it was Victor Lau, the other member of their former duo, VJ. Victor came on, a calm and amusing presence. They sang their famous hit that had so enlivened the OST of The Prince Who Turned into a Frog: Bu Gou Yong Gan–Not Brave Enough. Victor had some fun with it, theatrically holding onto a high note for an extremely long time, causing James to burst out laughing before he took up the next phrase.

James Zhu (left) and songwriter, Victor Lau

Despite fond hopes on my part, Jacky did not come back during the final numbers and encores. He sat quietly among friends or perhaps management people in the back of the audience. When James thanked him from the stage for his participation, he applauded himself enthusiastically, drawing chuckles from fans. The best outcome of the entire night, however, was the announcement that the brothers plan to bring out an album together. I think this is a splendid idea. James and Jacky tend to bring out the best in each other in musical performances, and maybe in their personalities, too. Singing together on Jin Qu Chao Ji Xing, they found great traction with audiences. It’s high time for them to be brave enough to record something. This small gem of a concert sung convincingly to their true believers had the feeling of a genesis about it. Let’s wait and see.

****

Production credits: William Morris Entertainment and Music Production Company and Rock Anthem

Translation and photo credits: V

And check out some wonderful black and white dramatic photos by Heaven Only.

It was not that Hong Ju Zi Fans was unsuccessful in attracting viewers. Our thread on Season 1 of popular singing competition Jin Qu Chao Ji Xing, for example, has to date attracted 3, 334 views. Perhaps we weren’t alone in being pleased to follow ex-183 Club frontman, Jacky Zhu, as he used the show to sing his way back onto the A-list. Newcomers such as Sophie Zhou Ming Jing also attracted our notice and growing devotion. Part of the appeal of the Jin Qu topic was certainly the stunning screen caps of the contestants provided by forum VIP Moderator, DTLCT.  Meanwhile, we seemed to be one of the few forums covering the new drama Rookie’s Diary, a runaway summer hit in Taiwan. So one night in August, in addition to forum regulars DTCT, Vanadia, Shadow of the Night, Tiantang and Callistamon, 46 viewers came on at the same time.

Jacky (left) and James Zhu sing on the 10 January 2010 episode of JQCJX.

However, not all viewers registered as members. And for those who did sign up, many seemed reluctant to post. So we embarked on the expansion project in the hope of providing more topics and even more opportunities for discussion. Let readers be assured that our forum has the kindest, most helpful Moderators around. There are no tiffs on T.I.F.F. We are only too eager to help newbies negotiate password recovery and navigation issues. And you can double post. And you can post in Chinese without translating it. Conversely, it doesn’t matter if you can’t speak or read Chinese. Someone always gets around to translating.

Eccentricity is no barrier to joining in, either.

**Sadly, T.I.F.F. is now closed to the public. We had many thousands of viewers, but no one was posting.

And for anyone interested in Ehlo Huang Yu Rong as a romantic lead (at last!) in the 2008 Hakka drama Romance in Summertime, I have just posted three more screen caps from episode 2 on Hong Ju Zi Fans.** In fact, there is a lot going on on our humble fan forum at the moment. Check out the in depth coverage and vast array of screen caps from Season 1 of singing contest Jin Qu Chao Ji Xing. And, having virtually adopted James Zhu Qiang Bo as an honorary Hong Ju Zi artist (he is still signed with Jungiery Stars), we are also following all the drama of Season 2.

I realise I’ve lapsed into writing a post about how I’m not posting this week, so I’ll sign off. See you next week, or maybe the week after. Diis volentibus, as they say in the Classics.

**Sadly, Hong Ju Zi Fans (T.I.F.F.) is now closed to the public. We received many thousands of viewers, but no one but us was posting.

His first appearance in the much vaunted new phase of his career was on 10 January as a PK or challenge singer on CTV’s popular singing competition, Jin Qu Chao Ji Xing (金曲超級星), in which he was pitted against talented newcomer, Chen Jia Wei (陳嘉唯). Wearing a grey and white scarf, perhaps as an emblem of his aspirations as a serious artist, Zhu was well launched into the Andy Hui ballad, Wo Hai Neng Ai Shui (我還能愛誰), singing with his usual feeling and grace, when he went blank on the lyrics. For several long and embarrassing seconds, the backing track trundled on without him, before he eventually recovered his composure and sang on. Later on, his demeanour before the panel of judges, caught in a series of screen caps on Hong Ju Zi Fans,** was abashed and grimly penitent. Inevitably, however, the panel awarded the honours to Chen and eliminated Jacky from the round. (The judges contribute 70% to the score, and the audience, 30%.)

At times of crisis in the singer’s career, however, he has had two resources to fall back upon in his attempts to redeem the situation. The first is that even after the most public of humiliations, he has had the courage to regroup and go on to scale previously unattempted heights, and the other is that as often as not he has had a hand up from his respectable and responsible elder brother, James Zhu Qiang Bo (祝鏘博). If early interviews with the singer are to be believed, his resilience as a performer first became apparent when as a skinny and hesitant 16-year-old he was ousted from the Vancouver round of the international New Singers’ competition after less than a minute on stage. He later went on to win two or three youth singing contests that year, and at 19 he was first runner-up in the prestigious New Singers’ final in Hong Kong. More recently, of course, he drew upon his brother’s tremendous moral support while he was in rehab for marijuana use and then, after his release, in his campaign to rebuild his shattered career.

Thus, it was not unexpected that when Jacky was ‘resurrected’ by the judges, his next appearance on Jin Qu Chao Ji Xing on January 17 was to sing a duet with James. The song they chose, Ni Yi Zhi Dou Zai (你一直都在), however, was a very challenging one in which to try to appear to advantage because it had been made famous by two singers with the most powerful voices in the industry: Yang Pei An (楊培安), former front man for heavy metal group TNT, famous for his penetrating and thrilling high register, and Xiao Huang Qi (蕭煌奇), whose resonant but mellow baritone can be heard to advantage in the sentimental ballad, Ni Shi Wo De Yan (You Are My Eyes). Moreover, the MV for the Yang/Xiao version of the duet is charming, set in a seaside location and given a country flavour by way of a harmonica backing.

Xiao Huang Qi (left) and Yang Pei An in the MV of Ni Yi Zhi Dou Zai

Neveridol feared that the brothers’ live performance of the song was bound to be inferior. Many observers believe that although James Zhu is a clever songwriter and an experienced and exacting music producer for Jungiery Stars, his voice in mid-range is very light and he has a tendency to waver off pitch when reaching for high notes or big effects. His attempt to sing his brother’s power ballad, Gao Jie, on SuperIdol in late 2007 brought both these shortcomings into bold relief.

Jacky Zhu (left) and James Zhu sing Ni Yi Zhi Dou Zai

But the shows’ producers knew their craft and so did the brothers: James is an immensely likeable performer and his sometimes tearful renditions are popular with audiences. James received a hearty round of applause the moment he appeared on stage to join Jacky as a guest. So how did the brothers fare? The MV of the their performance on YouTube unfortunately has an annoying voice-over in the early bars of the song, but when that finishes and their voices emerge, it is really clear how carefully they had rehearsed the song. They sang very sensitively with attention to the meaning of the words and to the nuances of each other’s delivery. And with what neveridol suspects is a legacy of their classical training, they employed really good phrasing, soaring up to the key moment in each musical idea.

Jacky and James demonstrate fraternal solidarity on Jin Qu Chao Ji Xing

But perhaps above all, the brothers exhibited some qualities that were missing from the recorded version sung by those stolid songsters, Yang and Xaio: they were funny and sentimental. When at the end of the song Jacky  looked as if he were about to wipe a tear (of relief?) from his eyes, James immediately took this as a cue to hug him and pat him on the back. The audience loved it, and the judges awarded the brothers a very high 91% for their singing. Jacky has since then been called back again and again, usually to score the highest mark in each round. (His cover of a Jacky Cheung R & B song in Cantonese in a Fei Nan Du-esque costume, with a very physical dance routine devoid of lip sync-ing, was a highlight for many fans).

Jacky Zhu reprises the Fei Nan Du look in a Jacky Cheung cover.

What is the next stage of the comeback, then? Neveridol has it on good authority that last week the sports-minded brothers both repaired to their native Vancouver in time for the Winter Olympics. Meanwhile, fans have renewed their calls for Jacky to bring out a long awaited second solo album—and to be sure to include some duets with brother James.

Screen cap credits: DTLCT of Hong Ju Zi Fans

**Sadly Hong Ju Zi Fans has now closed to the public. We received many thousands of views, but no one was posting except for us.

James Zhu (right) and Victor Lau

While following their respective careers since 2006, I had enjoyed the brothers’ collaboration in front of the cameras in a few memorable J-stars New Year extravaganzas. Moreover, behind the scenes, James and his songwriting partner Victor Lau had written at least one of 183 Club’s hit singles, and James had also served an exacting producer of several of their MVs. I was disappointed to think that James and Jacky might never work together again–not that artists from different agencies do not work together, of course they do, but I feared J-Star manager Sun De Rong might oppose the idea.

James, however, by reputation always fiercely protective of his uber talented but volatile younger sibling, soon found ways to try to assist him in his recovery from drug abuse and months later, with his comeback as a singer. As reported previously on Neveridol, in November 2007 James went on Taipei Superidol as a contestant, and progressed quite a long way. In one  memorable episode he sang his brother’s signature ballad, Gao Jie, and afterwards reduced some of the judges and most of the audience to tears with a heartfelt personal message to Jacky, then in still in compulsory rehab.

After Jacky’s release from rehab in November after forty-seven days, he opted to take a full year off before attempting to relaunch his singing career, and it was only in a series of interviews in the tabloids late last year that more details of James’s positive intervention in his brother’s life came to light. Conditions inside the rehab centre (part of a prison complex) are notoriously severe, and in October-November 2008 Jacky told both the Liberty Times and in another interview picked up by Baidu that when he had to sleep on the floor with (an unspecified) backbone infection he had suffered thirty days of severe insomnia. Then there was the shame of constantly being pointed out as a celebrity. The worst torment of all, however, the singer admitted to the Times, was seeing his mother’s distress when she came to visit him. ‘She cried coming in and she cried going out,’ he said. There was a glass or hard plastic partition between the inmates and their visitors and the singer found the lack physical contact between himself and his family devastating.

A Liberty Times article of 20 October  went on to recount under a subheading, ‘Big Brother’s Big Heart Made Jacky Burst into Tears’:

‘After Jacky got out of rehab and went back home, his big brother went to him and gave him a big hug and a pat and said, ‘Finally you’ve come back!” So Jacky felt his family’s warmth. Jacky cried and couldn’t talk. Finally he found the things he had lost.’

Two months after Jacky’s successful comeback appearance as a PK singer on One Million Stars in December, James once again took on a central role in a piece of television theatre seemingly designed to set the seal on Jacky’s reformed character and eligibility for readmission into respectable society and the world of entertainment. This was on a popular variety show called Wang Pai Jian Ding Tuan, on an episode stacked with Tangerine artists as guests. Jacky was the last guest to be featured and he had to guess the identity of a mystery person hidden behind a screen. This person had already revealed two of Jacky’s bad habits (and given his playboy past, they could hardly be more innocent): his tendency to scrunch up handkerchiefs when anxious and his hatred of anyone stepping on his feet. (Apparently, the singer loves running shoes and doesn’t want them ruined by being trodden on).

Jacky Zhu and some of his sneakers: he hates it when people step on his feet.

Invited to guess who this person who knew so much about him was, Jacky first missed the mark by saying Sam Wang Shao Wei of 183 Club, but then correctly concluded the holder of family secrets was his devoted brother. James soon launched into an account of his brother’s privations in rehab, while Jacky looked chastened. Meanwhile, a piano softly played variations on the song, Yuan Liang Wo (Forgive Me) in the background, and in a reprise of SuperIdol, a photo of the brothers as Vancouver schoolboys, this time in winter jackets with a background of snow, was projected at the back of the stage.

James Zhu supported his brother on Wang Pai Jian Ding Tuan

Before long, James could hardly speak, and tears ran down his face. The Tangerine guests on stage and much of the audience were also much affected. Just when it seemed that the scene could not become any more emotional or melodramatic, someone handed Jacky a book, he opened and in a choked and hesitant voice read out a heartfelt letter from his mother. Then the compere asked him to sing Yuan Liang Wo. He quickly got over some initial croakiness and quietly took control of the song.

Jacky read aloud a letter from his mother.

A cycnical viewer might feel that all this teariness was manipulative, but this is decent and respectable James we’re talking about here, and Neveridol is inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. There are a couple of truths about the brothers, underneath their showiness: one is that Jacky is a versatile and expressive singer, and the other is that James has a generous heart.

The brothers and a tall friend after the Rock Anthem concert.

And the brothers have recently appeared as singers on the same live show after all: a Rock Anthem concert last month in Taipei. Meanwhile there is a lively subtopic on Jacky & James on the vibrant new fan forum Hong Ju Zi Fans. Check it out!

Translation credits: Liberty Times article: Emily Wang; Baidu: James Tian; Wang Pai Jian Ding Tuan: Tammiest

Image credits: 1 and 2 and 3-4 and 5.

Jacky Zhu's comeback as a PK singer on One Million Stars on 5 December 2008

December 5 marked the return to the entertainment circle of Canadian/Taiwanese singer and actor, Jacky Zhu (Chu) Fan Gang. Against his agent’s advice he appeared as a PK or challenge singer on a popular television singing competition, One Million Stars. Meanwhile, in response to a comment on his blog, and presumably as part of an attempt to revamp his image as a serious artist, he has asked his English-speaking fans to call him Jake. Having followed the jagged ups and downs of his recent career path as Jacky, however, few fans so far have warmed to this new stage name.

2007 was a harrowing year for the singer’s fans who had been allured by his expressive voice and sultry looks as 183 Club’s lead singer, and by his intriguing and often hilarious performances in support roles in idol dramas such as Heaven’s Wedding Gown and the Magicians of Love (below).

The gangster Ying (Jacky Zhu), right, confronts Chen Hai Nuo (Ming Dao) far left, and his motorcycle racing team in HWG, 2004.

 In March, in the wake of a grueling tour of mainland China, the temperamental idol was hospitalised for several days following an operation for a salivary gland cyst. Perhaps this was the beginning of the end–of this phase of his career, at least.

Jacky Zhu as the playboy hairdresser Fei Nan Du in Magicians of Love, 2006

The period May to October brought alarming rumours, all of which eventually firmed up as very bad news. In May, the Chinese language tabloid Liberty Times reported that the the Jungiery Stars’ patriarchal manager, Sun De Rong, had so tired of the singer’s wild lifestyle (‘If he is so interested in nightclubs, why try to be an artist?’ ), that he was thinking of sacking him. A week or two later, it became clear that the authorities had swooped on a number of entertainers rumoured to use illicit substances, and Jacky had tested positive–at very high levels– for marijuana use. SDR then expelled Jacky from glamour singing act 183 Club, in all likelihood forever. Fans were divided over whether the star’s Western values or recent illness in any way excused his behaviour, and many deserted the fan forums. Others, even some of those who condemned his drug use outright, however, believed he deserved a second chance.

Zhu, who is very thin with a long El Greco face and sad eyes, had long been able to evoke protective instincts from his followers. Their anxieties were ramped up significantly in mid-October when Jacky finally had to enter compulsory rehabilitation in Taiwan’s hardboiled prison system. The singer’s loyal elder brother, songwriter James Zhu Qiang Bo, 29, confided in an interview that he had doubts about his sensitive sibling’s ability to endure the rehab centre’s tough regime. James reported that Jacky dreaded having to go through a strip search upon entry. Fastidious by nature and having grown up in Vancouver with middle class Western notions of privacy, hygiene and comfort, the playboy idol was clearly in for an ordeal.

Butter wouldn't melt: Jacky (left) and James as Vancouver schoolboys

The toll on fans’ emotions, however, did not stop there. In November in a move that some observers believe was part filial support and part pursuit of his own career ambitions, Qiang Bo entered as a contestant in Taipei Super Idol. In one round he sang (very badly) the title track of Jacky’s failed 2002 solo album Gao Jie. While he went flat on the high notes, an endearing childhood photo of the brothers came up on a giant screen. Faltering through the last bar in tears, he was prodded by a husky-voiced female compere into sending his brother a personal message. ‘Jacky, I love you very much,’ gasped Qiang Bo, ‘and I wish you were by my side!’ As most of the audience and all but one judge wept openly, he advanced into the next round. (He was later eliminated and not ‘revived’ by the judges).

Music producer and songwriter James Zhu sang his brother's song on Super Idol in November 2007.

On 30 November, the paparazzi caught Jacky as he quietly slipped out of the rehab centre. Clad in a t-shirt emblazoned with the word ‘Hate’ and designer jeans, the singer looked very pale, hollow-eyed and thinner than ever. Observant fans, however, thought something had shifted in his expression: he looked focussed and resolute. His pious mother, usually extremely reclusive, did not hesitate to take him to a local temple, perhaps to petition for a change of fortune. There even the most intrusive journalist could not quite breach the atmosphere of introspection and conviction surrounding their prayers.

Out of rehab into Buddhism

In December, in a handsome apology to his family, friends and fans, Jacky begged for a second chance:

“Inside the rehab centre I thought about so many things. Everyday I thought of repenting. Really, I’m sorry for letting you guys down, sorry for letting you guys worry. Being a celebrity, I should be bringing happiness and good music to everybody, but I wasted all my effort these past few years. It’s really not worth it, and left you guys feeling hurt. I really am sorry. but then again I want to say thank you to all of you who never gave up and supported me all the way. I’m really touched…”

Loyal fans, however, were in for a long and confusing wait before their idol returned to the theme of repentance by singing Jam Hsiao’s Yuan Liang Wo (Forgive Me) on One Millions Stars…

Image credits: 1 and 2 &3 and 3a and  4 and 5.

Translation credit: here.

Interesting and relevant Vietnamese blog. Here’s the link.