Do you remember the 1980s and 90s? A soar away Chinese singer named Sally Yeh? Her sounds were the soundtrack of a generation – and I was one of them. Sally Yeh stepped onto the CotaiArena stage on the weekend for her Sally Yeh Intimately Yours 2013 concert at Venetian Macao for the first time last Saturday. I took the opportunity to see her live performance and spoke with her about her music as well.
Sally Yeh’s range of wonderful songs is undoubted and I must admit to liking them even though I wouldn’t identify myself as a fan. With a 30-album-strong discography spanning three decades, the Taiwanese-born singer delighted the audience with classic hits such as “Burn Heart with Fire”, “Blessing”, “Believe in Myself” and “Lover and Friend”, as well as covers of some Western songs. For someone now 51 years of age, the appeal of her songs continues unabated.
“I couldn’t totally understand the essence of the lyrics when I was young but with the growth of life experience, it’s easy to get the emotion involved,” she said.
Yeh’s face is always wearing a smile whether she is on the stage performing or off stage in conversation. She told me “Music has no sub-region or language. It’s good stuff for transmitting thoughts and feelings. In the concert, the song named ‘Blue Sky’ – the lyrics teach people to be positive and optimistic and I hope everyone holds this attitude to confront their life.”
Yeh worked hard to mingle with her fans during the show. She went to the audience from the stage, shaking hands and hugging, then returned and walked to the back-end console until she couldn’t go any further.
To be honest, I was a little bit disappointed by the stage design and dressing which was quite common and she obviously practiced Latin dance especially for this show, although that’s no surprise. Fortunately, she is a skilled and fantastic singer and unlike many other singers nowadays she didn’t feel the need to invite another singer onstage as a guest, to wear “sexy” clothing, engage in “dirty dancing” or tell jokes to engage the audience. It was just Sally Yeh singing and the fact that the concert sold out tells us all we need to know.
