圖說
The new Singapore dream, (from left) Tanya Chua, Celest Chong and Kit Chan
are talented, beautiful and have a sense of humour. -- JAMES CROUCHER
TALENTED TRIO
Forget the 5Cs, meet the 3Cs
You might expect airs and cattiness to reign when Kit Chan, Celest Chong
and Tanya Chua get together, but these three are too busy having fun for
pretensions
By Samuel Lee
YOU would expect a trio of Singapore songbirds to wax lyrical about their
albums, or at the very least, about music.
But no, Kit Chan, Tanya Chua and Celest Chong preferred to discuss frivolous
things, during a one-on-three interview which was supposed to be about their
first concert together at the Temasek Polytechnic this Friday.
What not to order from the menu at One Fullerton's Gloria Jeans Coffee came
up. Chan's atrocious parallel parking was another topic.
They also touched on eating zhu you fan (literally, rice with liquid pork
lard) in Taiwan and posing as a female version of fu lu shou (the three
bearded men in traditional long-robed regalia who are Chinese symbols for
luck, prosperity and longevity).
'I'm usually a serious interviewee, but today I'm ditsy because she's a
ditz,' Chan said in English, apologising and pointing at Chua, who fielded
the potshot with an outraged 'What? Me?' expression.
Chong uttered: 'I'm still learning to be one.'
Added Chan: 'If all you want to know about a singer is her music, just
go buy the album.'
The friendly cattiness came naturally as they tucked into a late lunch.
It required no catalyst.
Neither did it reek of fake air-kissing and those 'How wonderful, darling'
exchanges between celebrities when they meet in public.
All three singers are signed to Universal Music. Their recent releases -
Chong's debut album, Belong To Myself and Chan and Chua's greatest hits
compilations, Like Kit and Chemistry - have sold more than 5,000 each here.
An exhausted Chan, 29, is taking it easy after finishing 'five straight
months of filming' for Channel U's contemporary serial Cash Is King. She
plays a scriptwriter who has a thing with her middle-aged boss played by
1970s screen Romeo Chin Han.
She will be taking a break before deciding what's next.
Also finished with filming for now, is Chong - who spent the winter in
China acting in All's Well, Ends Well, an upcoming Channel U period drama.
The 27-year-old is slated to appear opposite Ix Shen in Ice Fire, a new
$4 million Channel U drama about mountaineers that will be shot in locations
such as Tibet and the Himalayas.
Just as busy is Chua, also 27, who composes for other artistes, too. In
fact, she contributed two tracks to Chong's album.
'Matilda Tao just rang and asked 'Where's my song?' and I still owe Andy
Hui one,' said the singer-songwriter,who hopes to write for Na Ying and
Chan sometime this year.
During their unplugged concert, Chan, Chua and Chong, will each perform
three numbers of their own, then they will team up.
Said Chua: 'Just doing our individual segments would be so boring. I thought
maybe we could do songs together and somehow find a connection between the
three of us.'
Besides a duet between Chan and Chua on the Carpenters' For All We Know, the
trio will belt out You've Got A Friend in the finale.
The concert will also feature two guitarists, Chua and her collaborator,
Adam Lee.
Chan also spoke about sharing the stage with newer entrants to the Chinese
music scene such as Chua and Chong, and on the bitchy nature of the industry.
She said: 'The competition is always within yourself. If I'm always looking
over my shoulder at the next new act, I'd get really paranoid because there's
one every other week.'
She says as much as homegrown singers want to carve out their own niche, they
also want to work together.
That is the message she wants to get across. 'It's not a nisi wohuo situation,'
meaning it is not an every man-for-himself scenario.
Kit Chan, Tanya Chua and Celest Chong perform at the Temasek Polytechnic on
Friday at 8 pm. Admission is limited to those with student identification
passes.
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