Birthday party for David!

David will be returning to Taipei to celebrate his birthday nxt mth! Admin @ DT forum posted invite to celebrate with him. Must listen to Hit FM 91.7 or log on to kkbox for the chance to win tickets to the party. It seemed David will reveal his 'new look' & discuss his new album. Actually I get nervous everytime there is mention of new look for David cos his management is fond of squeezing him into the most awful outfits like the one above >"< David looks best in simple, natural colored clothes. Honestly he dun need a new look, just let his music speaks for him. Also plse no more hair dye in the most awful, artificial shade. I really prefer him with his beautiful, naturally dark brown hair next to his lovely, natural golden tan *soulful sigh* Anyway our Dave will be 37 gosh ---- but older men can be so suave & sexy ^__^

Waiting

So peaceful & quiet heehee hope it stays that way. Was that really fireworks coming out of his guitar? Watched the Love Can dvd again & he really put his heart & soul into his singing. Also although, to be honest, it was not quite as entertaining as Soul Power dvd, I felt that this was one concert where you had to be in the live audience to really enjoy and experience the music of David Tao. At times David looked like a music messiah as he sang with such passion & verve. So ppl in Msia, get ready for Love Can in Oct!
Anyway our hardworking David is toiling away at his new album. Hope his record co will give him the necessary time & space. He took his time with The Great Leap & look what happened. The album got him nominated & more awards than singers who released 2 or 3 albums. I am not trying to say he is better or anything but that is the honest truth. Actually I am surprised myself how much the chinese music industry seems to like & respect The Great Leap cos it really didn't have that great reviews when it came out. I thought it would become the kind of album that only fans & music-lovers would valued. But I have learned always to expect the unexpected from David ^__^

A regular guy = DT

Instead of the usual pix of David singing or pointing ^__^ used one of him eating. Kinda reflect that David is vry down-to-earth & his music abt the realities of life not fantasies. I feel its better if we can stop living in fantasy. The earth is growing sicker by the minute & hopefully we can work together to make it better. Here's a clip I keep forgetting to post - his visit to KL during Love Can concert promo. His face looked chubby but still adorable. He talked abt the concert, his injured hand & the new album.

Thank you for your patience

Thank guys very much for all your msgs of encouragement *tear* I am very, very touched. I am sorry that you were all inadvertently caught in the middle of the crossfire. I also want to apologise to those whom posts I had deleted but I needed the conflict to end quickly. As in any kind of war, usually the innocents are the worst affected & I know for a few, this is one of their few english sources for DT news.
But not very good news I am afraid. Admin has posted clarification @ davidtao.com that the dates posted for David's album release in Sep & presales in Aug are not true >"< Also David will not be appearing for any kinda promotion at present as he is extremely busy with the production of his album. So at the moment there are no dates given for the release of his album which is just abt what you would expect of David I guess ^__* As he always said: It will be done when its done. Hope he will spare a few minutes to post another msg. Even a hello is enough to make us feel happy.
In need of a David fit ^__^ I dl a short clip from DTFC, as ever the source for all things David, & it was probably 1 of his last Sprite activities last yr. He was so sweet when a girl rushed on stage to give him a pink scarf. He was extremely reluctantly to wear it but the girl insisted on putting it round his neck & his expression was priceless heehee He is really vry good to his fans but nvr indulgent. I don't think I ever want to hear him say that he is producing the album just for his fans. Of cos it will make us feel good & loved but ultimately David will make the album he himself wants to make. At end of this clip he said, as it was also a singing competition, that if new artistes are more realistic abt the entertainment world, they will be more happy than those who want to become rich & famous. This is the sort of cliched saying heard usually in idol series, how often do you find a famous celebrity saying it in real life? But David just has this ability to make the banal sounds wise again.

An olive branch

As a concession to those fans who are still uncomfortable that a blog in David's name contains criticisim of other singers, I have amended the description of the blog to reflect once and for all that they are not his.

An Inconvenient Truth

There's a documentary called An Inconvenient Truth which everybody should really go and see. In a nutshell, it tells the truth about global warming that unless we change our ways, the damage we have inflicted on Mother Earth will be IRREVOCABLE in ten or more years. I always thought David's The Art of War is talking about this, but he seemed to have a different interpretation but still the lyrics fit. Anyway there is this guy on CNN radio who played a clip off the docu where it mentioned that global warming will eventually put Shanghai under water & his comments were:
This is what would happen to Shanghai. Does anybody really care? I mean, come on. Shanghai is under water. Oh, no! Who's gonna make those little umbrellas for those tropical drinks?
That is why free speech is so important, its when people start criticising & giving opinions that you get the real truth. Humans are not tolerant, liberal & open-minded by nature, we have to learn to be so. I started this blog because I knew about global warming, about the injustice of the world & sometimes I get really depressed about it. Then I got to know about David & I felt that he is someone who also knew about such things but instead of feeling depressed, he is trying to do something about it. That is the main reason why this blog is in his name. It did not start out as a fanblog but it kinda evolved that way. So on free speech, there can be no negotiation on this blog. I will now criticise David ^__^ I feel its time he trade in his 7 cars for a solar-powered one. I mean he won't want his beloved Shanghai to be buried under water, rite?

Here's trailer of An Inconvenient Truth on youtube:

Bouquets & dreams

A very charming David unfazed by any kind of criticism ^__*
Here @ chinaportal can dl this program where David went on with his dad. However need to register as paying mbr. He played the piano & his dad strummed guitar while they sang Dreams. They also played games with his fans. He looked really cute & dreamy & his dad looked great too. Happy Father Day to him soon. Wonder if David will come back to celebrate with him, hope so.
Congratulation to Rain for realising his dream to work with US star. He will be singing Pepsi cm song with Christina Aguilera. Even though I like Se7en more, but Rain is definitely an inspiration to those who want to follow their dreams. His fans too should get mention for their exemplary behavior. I cannot say for his Korean fans but certainly his english-speaking fans are fantastic. They understand their idol is not beyond criticism & seldom get into a fight when fans of other idols criticise him or compare him unfavorably with their own idols.
Worth a millions bouquets is Jerry Yan of F4 who, together with his fans, helped establish 2 schools in Chongqing & Mongolia. Schools are desperately needed in mainland China. It's tragic that many Chinese kids are not able to get an education. So Jerry is a real hero in my eyes. I always like Jerry for his gentle, quiet dignity. A great guy who obviously believed that action speak louder than words. Kudos to his fans who bring glory to their idol by always doing charitable & useful projects instead of trying to prevent ppl from daring *gasp* to criticise him (sorry can't resist that ^__~) Finally bouquets & much thanks to Suk Yee, Tangerina & loveissimple for your support ^__^

The Irreplaceable David Tao :)

First Jay fans, now Leehom fans *sigh* I really do not understand what it is they want from a David Tao fansite? Anyway if you wanna give up on David cos of my comments or what Hu Defu said, plse do go ahead I urge you & have a nice life. Just leave us alone to admire & appreciate our idol. Even if my comments are useless, they are still mine to made. Life's too short. Go & listen to some Leehom songs instead. Meanwhile, I just want to go back to admiring my gorgeous, wonderful, amazing, absolutely perfect, irreplaceable DAVID TAO ^__^
Mmmmmm ... stray hair on face ... tight torso ... yummy ... the only one for me!

In the name of David

Attended a Malay wedding today which could be why I got all hot & bothered on the shoutbox, sry heehee but they have rather amateur singers & terrible sound system which echoed horrendously & still ringing in my ears. But I did enjoyed it tremendously - the food was fabulous & the bride gorgeous altho she did floored me cos she had many changes of costumes & one was a red chinese wedding gown.
So I apologise to geha & thank you so much cookiemonster & loveissimple for coming to my defence - you are both so sweet *muak* so Voltaire ^__^ Yes I was quoting him on free speech of cos: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Altho it was attributed to him but he never actually wrote it. What he did write was: I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write. Think I will have that engraved on my tombstone *__*
But geha is right in that along with free speech also comes responsibility but I think I am pretty responsible in my blog. Yes, I criticised a few celebrities but it's what known as constructive criticism. I do it because it does belong in a blog all about David Tao Zhe. Voltaire also wrote: Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. I admire & appreciate David because of who he is. His music reflects that. He is not afraid to come out & say it when he felt something is not right. That is why in his thank you speech he said we are the ones who can change the world.
But how can we change the world if we don't even have an opinion, or having one but still dare not voice it out loud, or want to prevent others from voicing their opinions? I think if you are a reasonable person then you will find the criticisms on my blog fairly responsible. However if you are Jay or Leehom fan, then you might think otherwise. I wanted to highlight Hu Defu's comments because I admire him & felt that his years of wisdom add weight to them. I also urged Leehom fans to go & celebrate with him on his blog so they can feel happy but unfortunately that blog turned out to be bogus >"<
I have read many, many, many criticisms abt David, some slanderous, on other sites but I am not too bothered abt them. If you are his fan, you will believe in him. If you are not, then nothing can be done to change your mind. I do admit of cos being such an uber fan that I used to worry abt his reputation sometimes but never to the extent of getting into a virtual fight. But now I know that David's reputation cannot be tarnished by such postings cos as Rachel said in Comments - "Every small little action tells a lot about a person."
I know this blog is in David's name but it does not mean that I have to do as David or like what he likes. I cannot suppress my own personality not even for love of David. I hope you guys understand that if you are to continue reading my blog. I truly believe that if David ever reads my blog and disapprove of what I write about him, he will never stop me from continuing to write it.

Hu Defu on David

So excited David is coming back to Asia soon. Maybe his fractured finger could be a blessing in disguise so he could retreat to LA for some good rest & push back the release of his album to Sept. Then he will be vry busy with promotions & of cos Msia concert in Oct. Here's a really, really nice review of The Great Leap. Of cos fans tend to go all crazy abt their idols whether or not they deserve it so I am overjoyed to read Hu Defu's opinions abt David. He felt David is a very serious musician who use R&B to reflect the realities of life in his music. This is what music making should be about & its even more admirable for one so young as David. Thank you thank you Hu Defu, you won't ever know how proud & happy you made me ^__^ to receive such praises from one so venerable & respected.
He also made some comments abt Leehom which I think is quite valid but still fans should understand not everyone thinks the world of yr idol but so long as he is the best in yr heart it should be enough. Anyway this article ended quite sweetly that Hu Defu's achievements cannot be summed up with just one song, Pacific Wind, & The Great Leap has already been the best album of 2005 in many ppl's hearts. So also must thank the writer for being so biased towards David ^__^

Sept new album release

2 nice pixs of Papa Tao receiving David's award from Jacky & A-Mei. David has send email to thank all those who have helped in the production & release of The Great Leap 2005. He is vry happy but said his dad messed up his speech ^__^ He will be flying to TW in a few days *JOY* to hand in his tape. His album is set to be released in mid-Sept & pre-ordering mid-Aug but for sure there will be further confirmation of dates once he is back.
Sina has the entire transcript of GMA ceremony and loved the part where Jacky told Tao Dawei he was curious cos he saw him holding many pages so he wanted to know how many? Tao Dawei said there were 6 pages of speeches. David had separately written 6 acceptance speeches for all the awards he was nominated for. I am so astounded! How can you not love & respect this guy? Maybe ppl think he did not respect GMA by not attending. But he really did had a deadline to fulfil for his new album. Besides there are many ways to show respect & one of them I feel is to prepare a thank you speech so you will not be at a loss for words or be misunderstood. I feel it shows sincerity & thoughtfulness & that the winner treat the ceremony & his fellow nominees with dignity & respect. But David is such a rare breed I guess ^__^

Best means simple

Still vry happy & satisfied that David got the Best album award for The Great Leap. Think abt it, he can always be nominated for best singer in GMA again but there is only 1 chance to get a GMA award for The Great Leap & he got it! Glad its The Great Leap cos I really like it a lot. A lot of ppl said its not his best album & Black Tangerine is better. I love Black Tangerine too but you can't really compare. Also although Black Tangerine is the more complex album, its actually more difficult to make a simpler album like The Great Leap sounds good. Tao Dawei's acceptance of his son's award already up @ youtube ^__^ Nice writeup below with more info abt Hu Defu.
David Tao Wins Golden Melody Award for Year's Best Mandarin Chinese Pop Record
2006-06-11 12:27:03 Associated Press
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP): Taiwan's David Tao won the Golden Melody Award for best Mandarin Chinese pop record of the year at the 17th edition of the music prizes in Taiwan's capital, Taipei.
The annual awards are regarded as some of the Chinese-language music industry's top honors.
Tao, known for exploring serious topics, won for his album "The Great Leap 2005.'' In one track on the album, "Ghost,'' he examines the oppressiveness of city living.
The singer was in the United States but sent his father, Tao Da-wei, to accept the award and read a statement on his behalf. "Music can be entertainment, but the ones who can change the world are we,'' the statement said.
"My son, I'm proud of you,'' his father shouted in English as he left the stage at Saturday night's award ceremony.
Fellow Taiwan singer Leehom Wang won the award for best male Mandarin Chinese singer of the year for "Heroes of Earth.''
Singapore's Tanya Chua won the award for best female Mandarin Chinese singer of the year for "Amphibian.'' She beat strong competition from her fellow Singaporean pop idol Stefanie Sun, Malaysia's Fish Leong and Penny Tai, and Taiwan's Cheer Chen. Taiwanese aboriginal singer Hu Defu marked his return to the music scene after three decades of absence by winning the prize for best song of the year with "Pacific Wind.''
Hu, also known as Kimbo, earned the nickname of the "Taiwanese Bob Dylan'' for his protest songs in the 1960s and 70s.
Later he left the music scene and turned to social activism, especially on behalf of Taiwan's minority aboriginal peoples, who number about 400,000 out of a total population of 23 million mostly ethnic Chinese.
Earlier Saturday, Hu also won the award for best lyricist for the song "Pacific Wind'' from his comeback album "Rush.''
The evening had its share of surprises.
Taiwanese rocker Wu Bai had been one of the favorites to win awards for song of the year and best lyricist. Instead, he defeated six more conventional-sounding rivals to take the prize for best male singer in the Taiwanese dialect of Chinese, for the title cut of his album "Double-faced Man.''
Singapore's Sun failed to extend last year's title of best Mandarin Chinese female singer, but she sang a duet with Hong Kong pop star Eason Chan.
The most upbeat moment of the night came when Taiwan rock star Chang Chen-yueh and rapper MC Hot Dog tried to fire up the crowd with a hip-hop ode to Taiwanese women, obviously drawing their inspiration from Will Smith's happy riffs.
What's GMA without controversy? Yeah the milk spurting episode was in rather bad taste. Apparently Stefanie forgot lyrics but I muted her after her shrill voice got too much for my nerves. She made it up with a nice duet with Eason. Leehom got ticked off for saying that local singers should work harder together to compete with overseas singers. I understood his sentiment but he worded it clumsily maybe cos he was so overwhelmed.
Also think he should perhaps has more respect & understanding for his elders like Hu Defu & Jacky Cheung. Not every local singer wants to compete with overseas singers & gain international fame. They have less ambitious, far simpler motives. Hu Defu wrote & sang his song Pacific Wind to express his feelings of peace with the environment & also to thank his wife. Jacky staged his acclaimed musical Snow Wolf Lake to move audience in HK, TW, Sin, Msia & all over China. While his contemporary, David Tao only wants to gently remind us to try & make the world a better place.

Golden Melody recap

Watch the repeat of GMA & it was really interesting. The performances were excellent & everybody seemed in high spirits. The nicest were the nominees for the Best female mandarin singer, they looked like goddesses in their beautiful gowns sitting together. They were having a ball singing along with the various performers. Also you could tell they would be equally happy whoever win. It turned out to be Tanya Chua & vry happy & proud for her. This had to be one award show with more male eye candy than female ^__^ From Leehom & his brother, Vanness Wu, Kangta, Se7en, Wubai, Jacky Cheung, Eason Chan, Harlem, Tao Dawei, Hei Ren to 2 tall basketball players, there was variety for all tastes. They burned up the red carpet I tell ya heehee
My personal award for best dressed female - Gigi Leung. She looked fabulous in this gold gown. Hair & makeup just right, vry subtle. Best dressed male is Hu Defu with his Pacific Wind themed outfit. Just rite for his song Pacific Wind which won awards for Best lyrics & Best song. Cutest couple gotta be Fanfan & bf. I think they are vry brave to be so open abt their relationship cos it would probably get vry icky if they ever break up but still love conquers all I am sure.
Most cool celebrity - Wubai! Nobody else can carry a fan & still look that cool. Wubai is also the most outspoken. He made no secret of his disgust at the constant playing of the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah to prevent the winners from speaking too long. So the 17th GMA also get from me the award for the shortest time alloted to thank you speech for winners. Actually it got really funny as most winners had to rush their speech over the hallejujahs ^__^ Tao Dawei was the funniest as he sang along when he read out David's speech.
My award for best performance is not that hard. Although Leehom, A-Mei, Jacky, Eason, Stefanie, MC Hotdog & my personal fav - Vanness & Kangta - were excellent, Se7en shines the brightest of them all. Just goes to show how lotsa luck, the right producer, influence & being at the right place at the right time can help even when you are not the best. There is no doubt Se7en is much, much more talented than Rain. Of cos his singing is superior to Rain which is not hard but he is an even better performer. They have vry similar styles & both are influenced by Michael Jackson. But the difference is Se7en is the natural dancer, his moves are fluid & never jerky like Rain. Rain likes to dance alone using his dancers as decorations. Se7en dances with his dancers as a unit with tight choregraphy. Just brilliant & a joy to watch.
Best Comeback award to Leehom for winning Best male mandarin singer after last year fiasco which they replayed with hilarious vids. 3 of the best male singers in chinese entertainment are also 3 of the best-looking daddies. Especially love Jacky when he was presenting Best album award & peeking at the envelope, he commented that he has not seen the person (meaning the winner) but his dad.
So my award for the best dad goes to Tao Dawei for attending GMA in David's place & waiting over 3 hours before he could go up stage to receive the award for his son. Of cos also for producing such a wonderful son ^__^

Best Album in 2005 - The Great Leap

Congratulations to David for getting the GMA award for best album in 2005! So proud & happy for him. His wish came true. He did not attend the ceremony as he is in LA & his father David snr went on stage to receive the award from Jacky Cheung & A-Mei. Also he read out a very touching thank you speech from David: The Great Leap is an album to represent today's society and the world which is full of turmoil and struggles. I am very happy that this album is being noticed. I believe the world is something we should be concerned about, only we have the strength to change the world. We must be more united, honest and loving to face the world and the future. David snr also said, "Son, I am proud of you." So happy, proud & contented now.

17th Golden Melody Awards

Missing David so hopefully he will surprise his fans by showing up tonight. Apparently he has been sighted in Taipei a few days ago & he did say that if he is in Taipei he will attend so fingers crossed. It will be nice to see him on the red carpet & know he is happy & healthy, his finger is recovering & album production going well. Heaps of info here on GMA. Both Penny & Tanya nominated for best singer & album. Actually most nominees this yr all deserved to win & its really hard to choose, so this is one award show where I will be happy whoever wins. Just good luck to all of them & remember there is always next year. Also its a fantastic lineup for the performance - Leehom & Jin the MC, Se7en *yeah yeah*, Kangta & Vanness, Stefanie, MC Hotdog, Jacky, A-Mei.

DT in the house

When u enter Walkman promo & click watch cm, it plays above in the virtual screen ^__^ Really nice they created a virtual world for David. Apparently all the Walkman phones selling well in China. Altho love David, not going to say its cos of him as really the phones will sell well with or without him. But of all the endorsements this one really works well cos can honestly believe David use a Sony Walkman phone. Its quality vs quality, David & Walkman *_* Taipei Times has this GMA writeup with below mention of David:
Previously ignored by the Golden Melody, ABT R&B musician David Tao finds justice with the album The Great Leap Forward 2005, which earned him six nominations in the Best Male Singer, Best Album and Best Song categories.
Guess ABT means American born taiwanese? which would be wrong as HK is David's birthplace. Also he wasn't ignored by GMA, he had been nominated before & won Best newcomer & producer awards. The correct name of his album is The Great Leap 2005 *sigh* Anyway it will be nice if he get an award but really tired of music critics & their disdain for the nominees calling them 'cold door' meaning they r not popular. Shouldn't they be more concerned such quality music are not being heard & appreciated?
TQ beachgurl for yr info that Discovery featuring A-mei will be aired 6/25 on cable in Indonesia. Will try to find out if it will also aired in Sin & Msia. Also Sun 6/11 the Pok Oi Charity Show will be shown on TVBJ at 8.30pm. David sang 1 or 2 songs I believed & many wellknown HK singers appearing as well so worth watching. Of cos Sat 6/10 GMA will be shown on Azio starting with Walk of Fame @ 5.30pm. Btw might wanna vote Starhub poll for best male singer. Jacky way in the lead but my choice is actually Terry Lin as he is such a fine singer but always overlooked.

David's fans

Some more behind the scene shots, he looked like he had fun making the cm. Apparently his Walkman billboards are springing up all over in HK & over @ taozeehk they are having lotsa fun spotting them ^__^ One report had David saying he will not be attending GMA citing eg of famous director who nvr attend Oscar when nominated cos the ceremony still can go on without him. Not too sure abt validity of this report cos it dun sound like David & as David warned - in pursuit of the truth, trust no one.
Anyway unless he is performing, dun see why David has to stop production of his album just to attend. David's fans are not the sort to get mad at the world just cos he didn't win. We are the sort who just wanna squeal with delight at his cantonese heehee YES YES SukYee I am a giddly fan!!!!!! I can certainly empathised with the fan @ davidtao forum who went all over HK to take pixs of his billboards *_* David just ROCKS my world!
Recommend a great movie - Michael Haneke's Cache starring Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche. Extremely thought-provoking & David may faint with horror but there is absolutely no music in this movie. A strange thing happened during press conference in Cannes for The Banquet, another wuxia movie starring Zhang Ziyi. Apparently reporters asked abt nudity in the trailer & were shut down by the cast who said it had nothing to do with the movie *huh?* If its a French movie, would the reporters have asked abt the nudity? Why were the cast so offended? Also it seemed the nudity in question belonged to Zhang Ziyi who later claimed it was a body double not her *scratch head* Do they still use body double now? Why did Zhang Ziyi bothered with a body double when she had appeared half-naked in most of her movies? Maybe they were all her body doubles? Anyway I dun know, just find this vry bizarre, bewildering & surreal. Maybe just me ^__^

Behind the scene

Now can dl great behind the scene pixs from here & also watch HK cm where David speak cutesy cantonese ^__^ Can this man do anything that is not cute & adorable?????? (Info credit hktaozee)
Discovery screencap @ icefish where can bt A-Mei episode *muak* he looks sweet hm ... wonder if all those awards behind are his? GMA will be on nxt weekend & hope David will get at least 1 award. I think he deserves it for being so conscientious abt his work & music. He kept his promise to his fans that he will not let us down by compromising too much. Even with his endorsements, he still maintains his high level of professionism & quality. Can't really ask for much more except to thank him & support him even more.