Sammi 2007 Show Mi World Tour
Singapore Indoor Stadium

Sammi Cheng is ready for her close-up again.
The Hong Kong entertainer had taken a two-year hiatus from showbiz and in that time rumours raged that she was ill. In front of a capacity crowd of 7,500 last Saturday, the 35-year-old proved that she was more than well. She showed her mettle with an energetic concert that lasted a little over two hours, including two fast-paced medleys that saw her dancing her heart out.
She declared to her adoring fans who were mostly in their 20s and 30s: “I’ve crossed the road, and from tonight, I’m going to make a fresh comeback.”
She was clearly in her element.
The flair for the dramatic was there, particularly in the opening Cantonese number Only You Cannot Be Replaced, her version of on-again-off-again beau Andy Hui’s hit.
She crooned it blindfolded and clad in an elaborate concoction of black and silver, and whipped off the short bob wig and the blindfold at the end of the number.
In between songs, she shared the importance of her family to her and revealed that they have a habit of writing letters to one another. It was her father she wrote to when she came to a crossroads in her life and who first learnt of her decision to take a break when she “didn’t know what to do”.
It was her way of connecting with the audience though it sometimes came across as choreographed patter, complete with accompanying music.
Unscripted, she was playful and funny and had the crowd eating out of her hand. She invited two fans to go up on stage to sing along to her songs and joked that she would pick only the plump girls so as to make herself look thinner.
Her special guest, Singaporean singer Stefanie Sun, was also teased for being “bamboo- stick” thin. Cheng had made a rare appearance at Sun’s concert in Hong Kong last year.
Apart from singing two duets with Sun on Mandarin songs Meeting and Green Light, Cheng kept largely to a repertoire of Cantonese songs, with crowd-pleasing hits such as Can’t Let Go, Beware Of Women and Beautiful For Life.
She also went through several hair and costume changes, including blonde-streaked red long hair and a cropped metallic harlequin jacket.
But it was the simple elegant numbers, a black dress and an all-white pantsuit, which made the greatest impression.
While her voice was a little ragged on some of the faster numbers, her smooth alto shone on the ballads.
She fed off the crowd’s energy and owned the stage as if she had never been away. No wonder the audience was impressed and cheered her on with their screams and enthusiastic waving of light sticks.
This was one worthy comeback.
(ST)