Faye Wong scores full marks for making it through an awkward encounter with the

RARELY does one see Faye Wong caught by surprise on stage. Outside her Beijing home, the stage is her most natural habitat, somewhere she seems completely at ease.

But there the cool chanteuse stands - in the limelight on a Tokyo stage in front of more than a hundred journalists and music industry people - wearing an expression of rare helplessness, and a flashy black outfit dripping with sake.

Even the army of press photographers - who would never let such an opportunity escape their lenses - are left in awe as Wong stands there for minutes, waving her liquor-soaked limbs in an unsuccessful attempt to dry herself.

Only after repeated whispers for help do her management personnel fumble on stage to hand her a towel.

The undisputed queen diva of Cantopop has a reputation for being one of the most difficult and uncompromising artists on the scene and taking part in mundane publicity gimmicks is not usually part of her schedule.

But there she was, hammering open a sake casket to mark her first appearance in Japan when she inadvertently covered herself with the lukewarm alcohol.

But surprise, surprise: she took it all in good grace and humour, and laughed off the blundering attempts at crisis control by her fretting management team.