Former television actor Ekin Cheng Yee-kin enjoyed meteoric success during the 90s after venturing into pop music and film. He became identified with cool, heroic characters in hit movies such as The Storm Riders and the Young and Dangerous series. He won the best actor award at the 2008 Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival for his role as a drunkard detective in Kelvin Tong's Rule Number One.
A protege of the late singer Roman Tam, Cheng faded as a singer after signing to Emperor Entertainment in 2000, but revived after switching to a management company co-founded with his long-time agent, Sandy Lamb, in 2007. Two years later he staged a couple of comeback concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum, his first solo shows in more than a decade. Cheng, 43, hopes to repeat his success at the venue with a new concert series, Beautiful Day, in March.
When you staged the comeback concerts at the Coliseum, the feedback was very good. Was it beyond what you expected?
We didn't have any expectations at all. It was something I and a group of friends really wanted to do. I'm the singer on stage, but behind me there is a big group of people such as Joel Chu, Sandy Lamb, Chan Kwong-wing and people from my record company supporting me. We regarded the concerts as more of a party for ourselves.
Based on past record sales, I figured there would be support for the concerts but the response and passion of my fans surprised me. It made me perform better. I used to feel immense pressure performing in Hong Kong, especially when sharing the stage with other singers. It was because the audience wouldn't respond to the singing at all - unless they were your followers. But the Hong Kong audience has changed. Now they support a performer no matter what.
How will the new concerts differ from those gigs ?
