DT & debuts

Xazz is a new singer/songwriter from Singapore who released her debut album last December. The self-titled album included an acoustic version of DT's Rain. Listen to her album here & its a really nice, simple cover, just the guitar & her soothing voice. Read a long, rambling kinda review on sina.com which basically praised the album, her voice & her bravery in releasing an album that do not cater to the current market. The reviewer compared her to Yanzi, Tanya & Penny, 3 local girls who made it in Taiwan, but felt that she has released her album too late to make any kinda impression. Her album is not that original & there is no outstanding track. If you like Deserts Xuan's 1st album then you are more than likely to like this album. Anyway good luck & best wishes to her & hope she can be successful like Yanzi, Tanya & Penny. Still I think its nice that 2 talented singer/composers chose to cover a song written by David in their debut albums. Both female *girl power* & both albums chose David's simple style of honest production. Its obvious that David's music has influenced them in some way & singing a song written by him in their debut albums is kinda tribute I guess. Also a testament to the lasting power of his songs & the master songwriter he is. Btw thanks guys for all yr updates regarding his Sin concert in April. Unless he has plans for a KL concert, Singapore may well be his last stop this yr.

More concert news

Short writeup of DT concert in Beijing:
David Tao Back to Beijing in March
Taiwan R&B singer-songwriter David Tao has announced his Beijing concert scheduled for March 1. The show will be held in the Capital Gymnasium, where fans last saw him in his solo concert over two years ago. Tickets went on sale on Monday on Emma.cn, selling from 200 to 1,200 yuan (US$28 - 166). Couples can purchase two 600-yuan tickets for 1,000 yuan.
More info of the Beijing concert here. Also apparently DT will spend CNY with Sin fans according to following msg left by Cookie Monster:
Hi Zhaodi,
I didn't know where to put this, so I placed it here. I heard that TCS Channel 8 will be showing on the 1st day of CNY at 10.30pm, a variety show (singing & dancing ...) with DAVID TAO appearing. Not sure how long or even when DT is appearing. Tot I let u know.
Cookie Monster
1/29/2008 10:13 PM
Thanks so much Cookie ^__^ Although it could be pre-recorded as he was in Singapore last week, not sure if he is still around though. Anyway any footage of DT on tv during CNY is a good thing rite? Dear DT, hope u r feeling alrite. Got this nagging feeling that he is still depressed & unable to focus on his work *sigh* Oh yeah, his concert in Singapore is also confirmed on 4/19 yah!

2008 DT concerts

Confirmed DT concerts this year are:
Beijing
Date - March 1
Venue - Capital Indoor Stadium
Hong Kong
Date - March 22/23/24
Venue - Hong Kong Coliseum
Dun understand why he kept announcing last concert all the time when he is still holding them. So annoying & such false advertising. If anything the recent spate of bad press may give him time to reflect. There's nothing wrong with a singer who holds sporadic concerts when there is time & opportunity. Isn't that what a real singer is supposed to do? Bring his music & let ppl enjoy his live singing to as many places as he can manage. So plse DT dun make such a big deal of it cos its really feel vry fake. I honestly hope he will try his best to film his movie this yr cos like a lot of ppl, I too feel that if he doesn't do it this yr, then he will never do it. Dun know why he likes to procrastinate so much, well maybe I do cos a lot of artists are like that. Its hard to be creative under pressure. I hope he manage to find peace & a way out to finish his projects on time.

DT & musical

Once again I must stress that everything on this blog is personal preference. If u like a certain singer, buy his album, listen to him, support him but plse dun feel its an injustice when other ppl think he is crap cos its just not possible that everybody will like yr idol. There are many ppl who think David is crap but that doesn't change the way I feel abt him. My personal preference runs more towards John Legend's sophomore album, Once Again. This is an album that most chinese listeners will probably find boring. The music does not has frills & thrills or vocal gymnastics. All it has is John Legend's sincerity on every track. Maybe I can't feel Khalil's sincerity or maybe his funny mandarin enunication puts me off but I honestly cannot listen to him after John Legend. So plse enough of him already. Thanks but no thanks, I think I will just stick to my David Tao for the moment ^__^
Seen some trailers of Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street & was surprised its a musical! Maybe DT is onto something here. Johnny Depp is once again frightfully good at this kinda gothic role. Read a biography of Depp & apparently he was quite the badboy during his younger days drinking & trashing hotel rooms. Of cos he is more settled now that he is 45. Strangely the chinese entertainment media which sometimes suffers from ageism hardly ever called him old. Maybe its ok for western stars to grow old but not chinese stars :P Anyway what I was trying to say is that Depp always impress me with the way he can suppress his strong personality to grow into his role. I remembered randomly watching a movie & getting engrossed in it cos of the superb acting of the lead actor & only realised it was Johnny Depp towards the end. This is something I feel David is able to do in his music. When he is singing a song, he is no longer David Tao but the man in the song singing abt injustice, heartbreak, loneliness, pain, happiness. It could be the reason why so many ppl is able to relate to his music. I often read ppl's comments that DT's song is abt themselves. Btw, confirmation abt his concerts in HK & Beijing, will update when I have the time.

Admiring DT

David with a young newcomer from China who admires him. He has more singers who admire him in China than anywhere it seems. I really think its inevitable that David will be replaced if not by Khalil than another newcomer who can croon r&b songs. He is older & dun think he wanna continue writing addictive music for teens anymore. If Free is any indication, then hopefully his new album will be more matured, masculine & unrestrained by musical trends. Listening to Free, I can hear the loneliness, pain, yearning & fear of an artist. Probably he wrote it while working on his movie script or album. There is nothing more lonely than an artist working on his creation cos there is nobody he can ask if he is doing it rite. Especially the last few notes on his guitar as if he didn't know how or when to end the song. It speaks of the pain of indecision in one's life. To be or not to be? But the thing abt David is his self-preservation cos I think, like most artists, he can be prone to depression. Black Tangerine could be his ode to depression. Yet he has the strength of character to carry on. I respect him for that. Perhaps I am bit down reading abt the sudden death of Health Ledger. What a sad way to go - alone, surrounded by sleeping pills. RIP Health.

Racing DT

Bringing you this adorable clip of David living up to his name of Taiwan's badboy singer by racing fast cars ^__^ No, not really but so nice to see him enjoying himself at the racing tracks. He did say he was thinking of building a car racing track with his friend in Taipei. No matter what others say, I am beginning to feel more & more happy to see this carefree side of him. To me, he represents a very attractive image of an Asian man whose interests can also be wild & exciting. (Pix & clip link courtesy & thanks to DTFC)

Replacing DT

David in yet another largescale concert this time in Shenzhen on 1/19 where he sang Susan said & So Beautiful. Some blogger put up vid of the duet with Chao Yeon for download if anyone wants it. Joanna Wang has released her debut album, Start From Here, containing the english version of I Love You. Its really brave of her to release her debut album in english & it seems to be selling quite well. She has a very mellow voice & for once I can enjoy a real voice singing not the overly produced, studio enhanced canned music featured in most of today's chinese albums. Good luck to her & best wishes for her success!
Khalil Fong's Love Song has been on constant mtv replay & I find it extremely irritable. It has a chorus similar to Petula Clark's Downtown. They both sound like commerical jingle & the repetitive melody stick in your head all day long *vry painful*. Mentioned Khalil cos he has always been touted as the r&b replacement for David but he is on his 3rd album & he hasn't really has a big hit song. This Love is probably his most well-known & he even put a 'acoustic' version into his new album although I dun know what 'acoustic' abt it cos its just as overproduced as his other songs. Perhaps he might wanna listen to Joanna's album before starting on his 4th *__*

DT vids

Here it is! Vid of David singing Marry me today with Chae Yeon ^__^ Vry nice performance & even though Chae Yeon was not familiar with the lyrics but she does has a great husky voice. It was cute when she openly peeped at the paper in her hand when she probably didn't know how to pronouce the chinese words. David sang a more r&b version of the song to match her husky voice. Also I noticed he has been singing a bit lower than usual & his voice is rougher, more matured. Its a bit less soothing but I like it a lot - a bit reminiscent of Sting. Anyway really enjoy it a lot & David was so gentlemanly as usual. They look great together but a pity no pixs so far.
Here's another nice vid, a lengthy one of the Big John catwalk show. He sang Love Can & they show most of the interview afterwards. He was just a bit hesitant but still took care to answer all the questions as best as he can. Yesterday was listening to Runaway & suddenly remembered the mv where it showed him throwing up in the toilet after drinking. This is as close as one can get to his real life. So then I found another reason why I love his music so much. It cuts so close to real life sometimes it hurts. Although I am not one to drink myself to oblivion but his music can sometimes take me to that edge but then it draws me back again cos everybody needs to let it all hang out at least once. We can't keep bottling emotions & pretend to be perfect little paragons. (All vid links credit & thanks to DTFC)

DT style

Cosily wrapped up DT! It was vry cold during one of the bigscale concerts he attended this weekend. He looked heartmelting with black scarf & leather gloves, vry stylish ^__^ Interestingly he sang Marry Me Today with a Korean singer called 蔡妍 Chae Yeon. Not familiar with her but she is vry beautiful & sexy, it was hard to find a pix of her without her erm assets *__*
David also sang Marry Me Today with Jolin @ another bigscale concerts.
Marry Me Today also won an online award: Year's Most Downloaded Duet: 今天你要嫁給我 David Tao & Jolin Tsai (7,202,414). Jolin accepted the strangely shaped award for David in the same outfit heehee also the guy behind her, is he the Olympian gold medalist that I mistaken for an actor? How come he popping up at all these award shows *scratch head* Such a strange, strange world we live in.
Anyway its good to read news abt David & his music again. Was watching MTV & saw a rendition of Beyonce's Irreplaceable countrystyle & it was so good. Makes me appreciate even more David's efforts to rearrange his songs in his concerts. I have seen quite a few Quangchou clips & it was really such a huge pleasure to listen to his old songs in new & interesting arrangements. Like the others, I am really looking forward to whatever new stuff he will be bringing us in 2008. Be it movie, soundtrack, new album or all three, I can hardly wait ^__^

Catwalk DT

David doing catwalk for Big John. He made an excellent model for jeans. More pixs here & vid here but vry slow loading. He was in a good mood & even joked with the media abt the concidence of the show name which contained the chinese word for 'drunk'. He said he is a 'social drinker' & only drinks in the company of friends. He will not stop drinking but will be more careful abt how much he drinks. His father has already written to him abt this but his mother has not called him so he assumed that she was not aware of this incident. He was nervous abt being a catwalk model for the first time & the hardest was trying not to smile.
Eason who was in Taipei to promote his upcoming concert told the media that David kissed him even when he was not drunk & he kissed him back. It was all 'brotherly love' quipped Eason but later he did explained that it depends on which country whether or not public kissing is considered controversial. David on being told this said that he didn't mind as Eason is his friend & he was just being humorous. He also said he did considered being Eason's concert guest but since the concert is selling so well, he was sure that Eason will not need any guests. If he is in Taipei, he will surely attend the concert. Eason is such a great pal so DT do have some good friends in the industry.
So far so good & the media is less gossipy probably cos its a commercial event & they dared not offend the big company. David said he was concerned the controversial news would affect his sponsorship. After this, he will concentrate on his new album & movie script.

Prodigal DT

Nice pix of DT smiling at last ^__^
He wore a black shirt & dark blue jeans as usual vry charming & just abt broke my heart. Quite lengthy vid of his press conference here where he mostly explained his alleged altercation with a woman in a lift. He also admitted that he did embraced & kissed his female assistant at the police station but not 'french kiss' infront in his house as published in the tabloid. As he cutely explained could be cos he stayed at the police station for too long & he was so happy that someone came to save him *__*
Anyway at least the being 'sued for assualt' can be put to rest & soon the whole incident as well. Hopefully he will not be affected too much & can go on with his 2008 schedule as planned. Just happy to see him still in control of himself & not that depressed. Dear David, smile & the whole smile with you ^__^

Love your enemies

David holding a press conference in response to a news item that claimed a woman wanted to sue him for assault. David said that it was a misunderstanding & he has already apologised to the woman. He said it was extremely rude & wrong of him but he did not assault the woman. Apparently the woman has accepted his apology & David asked to let the matter end. Anyway I hope the matter do end because the whole thing is getting vry contrived. Even some reporters are thinking the whole incident is vry odd. David did not offer much explanation except to apologise & said the whole thing occurred cos he drank too much.
I have nvr been able to accept that being such a sensible man, David would attempt to go home by himself when he had too much to drink. During the news conference, he said that he entered the lift with a friend whom he asked to drive him home so how come he took a cab home? What became of this friend who was supposed to take him home? Also the woman is apparently a friend's sister? Who are these friends of his? Are they really his friends?
David, David, as usual you keep your mouth shut even when you are being maligned. I dearly admire & love him for keeping a lid on things to let them simmer down. We probably will never know what really happened that night or maybe he will let us know if he ever writes his autobiography. He really espouse the scripture: Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. (Matthew 5:38-44)

Friendship

Thank you so much Tangerina, you are such a pal & udonotknowme1 (sry u nvr leave a name). But u got it so rite, dear Tangie, & gave me back some hope for humanity. I guess in a crisis, you will find out who yr real friends are, or whether you have any. Cos I dun really believe in friendship, love & all that jazz which could be why I was so concerned for David. I felt most ppl enjoy watching the downfall & misfortunes of others, probably cos it makes them feel better abt themselves, strange kinda reverse psychology if u ask me. Maybe David is also finding out who his real friends & fans are, the ones like Tangerina who will stick by him no matter what happens. As David always say, & admittedly I am vry cynical abt, that we need more love in this world. One should always try & see the positives in others instead of just the negatives.
I guess I am not such a good DT fan/friend so I have to learn to do better & be more like Tangerina *__* Remember it's all abt the music & his is still the one to touch my heart. I listened to a great deal of John Legend today. He really has such a fine voice & I like it that he doesn't do a lot of falsetto. His vocals are rich, velvety, smooth & manly but for me, it still lacking. Does race or culture matter in music? It shouldn't for music should be univeral. Just for me, David speaks the rite language to me in his music. He can be singing Swahili & I will still be captivated ^__^

Rising from the ashes

Hey guys, thanks for the msgs. Actually didn't expect anyone to be still reading my blog & putting up with my histrionics. In fact I started the blog cos of these problems, it just so happened to be also abt David Tao cos his music helps me a lot. I know I shouldn't be so overdramatic, expecting David to be perfect but I can't help it. I know its not a big deal, getting drunk. Also I know its not an excuse but was actually rather sick when I wrote the previous msg & just got out today.
Once I had a cat who got into a fight with a dog & almost had his right paw bitten off. The vet told me that he might have to amputate his whole leg if he couldn't repair his damaged paw. I spent the whole nite stressing if I could look after a cat with 3 legs. I also got vry sick & by the time I got out, the cat was fine & didn't even had a limp. So call me callous but unfortunately I am this kinda person. Of cos I knew that I would always love that cat come what may but its just the idea of it -- if u know what I mean.
Anyway did you know David still look vry dashing & charming when drunk? ^__^ Honestly dun really have to come & support my blog u know. Just support David. He is really one of a kind. Can even start a butterfly effect just by getting drunk *__*

Requiem

Cannot sleep, the death knell sounding in my ear. I hate to admit it but this could be the beginning of the end of my lovely journey with David. I really cannot see him emerging from this unscathed. The saddest thing is he did it to himself. Not that he did anything bad but he just made the worst judgement of his life. I cannot do this anymore. Updating the blog I mean cos it meant I have to read the entertainment news & I don't want to read any more bad news. I don't think I will be able to cope, I can feel all my phobias coming back. I want to be strong for him but I need some time away from this blog. I feel bad that I cannot support him when he needs it most but I promise I will be back. But you know what my dad used to tell me. He said that Chinese are very lucky cos if we did not have a very good beginning to the new year than we have a second chance at Lunar New Year. So let's make a date on 2008/2/7.

Cheering up DT

Still feeling upset abt David being depressed at the dawn of a new year. So thought of a few things to cheer him up ^__^ First some silly music jokes:
Q: How many lead singers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One. He holds the bulb while the world revolves around him.
Q: How many musicians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Twenty. 1 to do it and the other 19 to stand around and say, "I can do that!"
Q: How many folk musicians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Seven; one to change and the other six to sing about how good the old one was.
For the geek in DT:
Yummies for DT:
Mugging DT *__*

加油DT :)

2008 & hope David is feeling better but I know that when someone is miserable, its hard to cheer up no matter how many comforting words they heard. All I can add is during one's life journey, no matter how hard you fall, you must try to get up to climb higher. I know many of your fans are disappointed but then you have never claimed to be their hero. You never wanted to be anyone's hero.
I still believe in you. You still awed me with your resolution to do only the things you want to do & not buy into hype & market demands. I await your next album with the belief that you will try & make it your best. I await your movie with the belief that you will try & do something fresh & revolutionary. I hope to see you again suave & debonair with that devilish grin. You only did what a normal, red-blooded man would do with a buddy on a nightout. Nothing to be ashamed of. But cos you are David Tao, sometimes the ending can be soap operaish that's all. I still believe you are the BEST THING that ever happened to Chinese music & I will continue to believe that no matter how many negative things I read or heard about you. Add oil, my dearest DT ^__^