Williams ready to pop
HE IS COOL! He is hot! He is one of the biggest pop sensations to come out of the United Kingdom in recent years, selling millions of records worldwide. He is also in Hong Kong for a one-night concert today.
We are, of course, talking about Robbie Williams, the British king of pop - and tantrums.
You can be forgiven for not knowing that the former member of boy band Take That has been in town, reportedly, since Monday. Even his concert organiser and record company said they did not have the faintest idea where the star was staying - which is rather strange.
Young Post has been trying, on behalf of his many local fans, to track him down for a quick celebrity-style (five-minute) interview - but to no avail.
In fact, since last month, all we have received from his record company is a frosty reception.
We did get one message loud and clear though: Williams is definitely not going to talk to the local media or attend public events.
One cannot help but wonder: what exactly is he doing here?
And if you have tickets to his show tonight, you have reason to worry that he may not even turn up. Last year, he almost failed to do a gig in Ireland because he was, according to reports, on the verge of a nervous breakdown just before the show began.
'Frankly, we don't know anything about what he is going to do here, nor do we know exactly when he is going to arrive or leave. All we can say is that he is not going to see anybody until his concert on Thursday. Period,' a spokesman for his EMI record label reiterated.
Asked whether it was Williams himself or his management's idea to duck the press, the record label refused to comment.
The 27-year-old entertainer is kicking off his Asian Tour in Hong Kong to promote his forthcoming album. His next stop is said to be Singapore, Thailand and then lastly, Taiwan - but no one is certain of that either.
The one-time drug-addict and alcoholic has always been on bad terms with the media - especially the British press. In 'rare' interviews, Williams has expressed his loathing for being followed by fans and reporters.
'I have a lot of problems with people outside my house,' he told a British magazine in June.
'They think I owe them something? these are people who leave their own countries to get on a plane to stand outside my house, someone they don't know, then expect me to be happy to see them.'
Feeling deeply annoyed, he also spoke of how his holiday in the United States earlier this year was ruined by fans.
'You don't notice how nice it has been until someone asks for your autograph at the airport and then you remember who you are,' he told the magazine.
In his biography, Somebody Someday, by Mark McCrum, he complains about how his fans and the media make his life a misery.
Williams said he found it 'absolutely annoying' to have someone that he did not know waiting outside his house every day. 'If you are being followed 24 hours a day, you have no life. You are being watched.
'And it takes your masculinity away, because you want to go and break legs and you can't do that. When everybody knows where you live, it is a trauma to leave the house and to come back.'
It comes with being a celebrity - deal with it, Robbie!
