Amit Live First World Tour

Singapore Indoor Stadium

Last Friday

What’s in a name? Plenty, it seems, when it comes to Taiwanese diva A-mei. The 37-year-old singer released an album under the moniker of Gulilai Amit last June, and in so doing liberated and energised herself to make music with a more adventurous sound.

In a way, the exercise was about going back to fundamentals since Amit is none other than her Puyuma aboriginal birth name.

The album sold well enough for the singer to launch a world tour in the guise of her new-yet-old persona. At her Singapore stop, she made her entrance in a winged and feathered concoction of black and white, holding court as she performed the Puyuma track, Amit.

From the start it was clear that this was going to be a rock concert. Black and silver outfits were de rigueur and long-haired male guitarists flailed away on stage.

Some of the best moments were her delivery of the thrillingly fast-paced Black Eat Black and the exhilaratingly brash Minnan track Come On If You Dare.

I actually wished for ear plugs at some point, a rare and not altogether unpleasant thought at a Mandopop concert.

Score one for Amit.

Her new identity did not reject the old entirely, as the album also included several slow-burn ballads such as Alter Ego, Falling and After The Sentimental Love Of Animals, harking back to the A-mei that the near-capacity crowd of 7,500 knew and loved.

She acknowledged that, as Amit, she did not have enough material to put on a full concert and so she proceeded to borrow songs from A-mei’s back catalogue.

The power balladeering on Can I Hold You?, Can’t Cry and especially on the lesser-heard gem, Chen Zao (While It’s Still Early) enthralled the crowd.

The obliging singer also proceeded to take requests and sang, a cappella, the classics Listen To The Sea and I Want Happiness. In addition, she crooned Jie Tuo (Release) as it was composed by Singaporean Xu Huaqiang, who had turned up for the show.

Score another for A-mei.

Was it A-mei or Amit, though, who donned a billowing leopard print cape and then wowed the fans with the Turandot aria Nessun Dorma in a drama queen moment? It showcased the vocal prowess of the versatile artist who had performed in a production of that opera in 2008.

And was it Amit or A-mei who drew on her bottomless reserve of strength and kept up the energy level right till the evening’s rousing final number, Kai Men Jian Shan (Straightforward)?

But really, what’s in a name? A-mei, or Amit, by any other name, would be just as entertaining.

(ST)