Passion Tour GRAND FINALE
春夏秋冬熱情演唱會-壓軸篇
April 11-16, 2001. Hong Kong Coliseum.
Yes yes.. the final six shows - and AHHHH I missed it again! I couldn't go to Hong Kong. Anyway.. people were all saying that it was the last time Leslie will ever hold a concert/sing on stage - Leslie himself kind of implied it too... hm, whatever decision he has made, just hope he's all happy about it. (But ofcourse.. "LESLIE PLEASE DON'T SAY BYE!!" is what I'm yelling inside my heart). The following are some information collected in the past few weeks about these last six shows. Enjoy.
April 17.2001 - A Success! - Leslie finished all the last of the six shows last night! According to the HK media, everybody was all hyper during the last show - even the pregnant Chingmy Yau stood up and danced, while Leslie himself was excited to the very peak, he kissed the girl dancer hard during a tight dance and he threw his plastic water bottle (after drinking) and the towel he used to wipe his sweat to the audience. ("don't fight for them!" he laughed) When it got closer to the end, the mood became more sad and touching (according to Ming Pao, Leslie cried three times). In tears, Leslie said, "I'm very happy tonight, I know you're happy too...(cut some)..I have to thank Chan Suk-Fan, I'm a lucky artist that crossed over several decades... I'm crying because you all support me - I never said I'd retire, I still got a lot I want to do. Sin-je (Bak Suet-Sin), encouraged me a lot, I know she's having birthday soon - Happy birthday, I love you. I'd continue to work hard as you said - I know luckiness only lasts for a moment (ooh Ken Choi~), you need real ability, and I know I have that - that's why I'll continue to work hard!"
Leslie then sang the farewell song "chin chin kuet goh" (thousand goodbye song) in tears and the audience all stood up and clapped. He ended with the song "The moon represents my heart", dedicating it to "all my artist friends, all the ones I respect, the one I love, the ones who love me". After this the concert ended.
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After the show, some 300 fans ran to the backstage, and when Leslie came out of the stadium after the show he waved - several dozens of fans ran out to the road ignoring the danger of the traffic. Leslie rolled down his window and shook hands with them, then went straight to a restaurant in Jordan called Mak-Tau-Kee.
Leslie booked 3 tables at a private room in this restaurant,
inviting all his friends like Anita Mui, Fei-fei, Bak Suet-Sin, Chan Suk-Fan..etc.
They say this is Leslie's favourite dish
- geese/duck/chicken feet.
They ate and celebrated until around 2am they parted. Leslie then went back home in his Benz along with Mr. Tong.
Surprise they let them take pictures! Leslie must've been really happy.
April 6.2001 - Leslie talks in a very excited mood about why the 6 shows are going to be held in the first place, how he's preparing for it, what he thought about the whole concert tour and what his position is in the society to the media - all in a telephone interview. (cantonese) CLICK HERE.
April 11.2001 Afternoon - FIRST DAY of the Grand Finale!!! Yesterday afternoon Leslie started rehearsalling at the stadium and at around 5:30pm he came out to the front entrance and 'bai-sun' (chinese tradition to 'pray-to-the-gods') which lasted 5 mins. And since 2:30pm in the afternoon there were already many fans infront of the stadium, Leslie waved at them before he went back in, making them all excited!
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They say there were lots of hairclips on his head-
Fans were going crazy!
Also, many of Leslie friends sent in flowers to congradulate him, like Chingmy Yau & husband, Alan Tam, Edison Chan, Nicolas Tse.. etc
April 11.2001 Night - CONCERT BEGINS! According to the media, every audience were given a concert manual and inside, there were some words from Leslie :"It's such a miraculous and exciting thing that I can once again hold a concert at this stadium - honestly speaking, I never thought that the passion of the concert can last until this moment. I have held many concerts in the past and this one is the one I'm most satisfied with; and it is really as my song "Four Seasons" that the concert tour has gone through. During the tour I've stepped on many lands that I love - China, Japan, M'sia, North America...etc, and I really wish that people who like my music will enjoy the harmony with me in this last part of my performance."
Rehearsal in the afternoon.
According to the news, for these six shows he also invited the Japanese ballad dancer who filmed in the new music video. He also sang many of his old songs like "Star"(明星), "Dark mid-night"(黑色午夜), "Most loved"(最愛) and he ended the show with the song "Went through together"(共同渡過).
Cameras, cameras. Despite the announcments "Copy right law.. bla bla bla.. no cameras or video recording bla bla bla.. can cause you a fine of $5000 or 3 months in jail...", there were fans who still sneaked their cameras in and tried to take pictures - but there were strict security guards on every row of seats, they took away their cameras and kicked them out of the show.
April.11 morning - CRHK program DJ's Cha Siu-Yan and Leung Tak-Man talk about why Leslie's concert wouldn't let anyone take pictures.(Cantonese) CLICK HERE.
What do audience think about the first night? Read their responses at the LCIFC Discussion Forum.
March 30.2001- Leslie was interviewed by radio station CR903 yesterday at the show "Music Valley". He talked about the Grand Finale during Easter, he said, "I hope everybody who likes Leslie Cheung would like this concert. This time I'm not going to guarentee anything, because many years ago I've very impulsively said I'd never sing again; but this time it is because I have special feelings - I'm not going to push anything promotion - this time it's a very valuable, very solid concert. The concert tour was very highly recognized by Time magazine and Japanese magazines, I already feel really honored. Very worthy for the audience to see the concert this time - I have no remorse."
Listen to the interviews:
First Part (Mar.29) (The interview is starts at around 37:00)
Second Part (Mar.30) (At around 08:45)
No cameras this time?
According to Mrs. Chan Suk Fan, the audience will not be allowed to bring their cameras into the concert this time - the cameras will all be requested to be stored in a locker. She hopes that the fans can understand - Leslie doesn't want to perform under any pressure, he wants to express all the best this time. During the passion tour in the last several months, the fans have already taken enough pictures - also, Leslie doesn't want any pictures of bad quality getting out into the market. Fans could get the concert manual from the Japan shows - all the pictures inside were picked by Leslie. There are 1,500 of those that are arriving HK and would be sold at the Grand Finale.
Not a fashion show
In the interview Leslie also stated that there wouldn't be much changes in the clothings. "I have asked Jean Paul Gautier, and he thinks it is already perfect -" said Leslie, "I don't want it to turn into a fashion show of Mr. Gautier." Leslie also said firmly that there will be no additional shows to the grand finale definitely, that it is not for him to decide anyway because "it is really impossible to rent the stadium for more days.. It takes 3 days to set up the stage.. we already have to pay a fine to the stadium."
Leslie:"Goodbye to the stage"? - An article stated that Leslie is very unlikely to hold another concert after the six last shows of the Passion Tour this Easter in Hong Kong! (No..!!!) Read the chinese article from Tom.com HERE or read the English translation HERE.
Article "Leslie: Goodbye to the stage?" from Tom.com
Picture from Appledaily
Article Mar.28 and other information from ehknews and CRHK.