The secret behind Jacky Cheung's singing prowess is, erm, an apple. No kidding. For a good hour on Sunday, during the encore segment of the last day of his three-day concert here, he munched on a red apple which he kept hidden in his left palm. It was barely noticeable at first, but this reporter saw his jaws move occasionally, as if he was chewing gum. The Hong Kong Heavenly King then confessed on stage, after delivering a moving rendition of his hit ballad, Xin Ru Dao Ge (Heart Cut By A Knife). Jacky, 46, said in Mandarin with a laugh: 'I'm eating an apple, hope you don't mind. It helps me sing better.' The God Of Songs reportedly loves apples because they help boost immunity and soothe his throat. It was in 2004 that he first took the fruit on stage - during the Jacky Live Concert in Hong Kong. He did it again as part of his world tour at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday, taking many fans by surprise. Marketing executive Ng Shuwen, 21, found Jacky's apple-munching 'very cute'. Accountant Jean Tan, 27, added: 'He's very zai (Hokkien for capable). He can eat and sing and you don't sense any difference. Quite cool.' Apparently, it was not planned. Mr Leslie Ong, director of Unusual Productions, which organized the concert, said Jacky probably grabbed the apple from a fruit basket prepared for him back stage. 'He didn't have dinner, so maybe he was hungry.' Jacky put up a three-and-a-half-hour extravaganza for each of the three full-house crowd of 7,500, belting out familiar old hits mixed with new tunes. The 20-minute dance segment which opened the show was newly choreographed. Obviously, it was a physical challenge for the middle-aged father of two daughters. Jacky even joked that he had to 'squat on the floor for so long' during the finale to catch his breath. He was also howling wildly - at one point getting fans to scream along with him - and he even thrashed a mike stand after twirling around with it. Responding to local media speculation that he was using the stage to vent his frustration about his personal life, he assured fans on Sunday that his 'insanity' was only momentary, for the rock music segment. 'I thought of not howling tonight, since it's already the third day and people keep saying I've gone crazy on stage. But why not? Scream when I feel like it, right?' With a mischievous chuckle, he added: 'Is there a place called Geylang here? I'm not a stripper. I'm still the refined and courteous Jacky Cheung. I only get crazy once in a while.' His long-time fan, waitress Xu Lihua, 30, who was present on all three nights, defended her idol. 'It's only part of the show. He can't be venting his frustration in all the concerts that he's done so far, right?' Of the three shows she watched, Ms Xu said the last was the best, partly because she got front-row tickets. She said he sang a few different songs, but the run-down was almost the same. His second show was memorable because he spoke in Cantonese - 'sounds more affectionate'. Ms Xu also recalled a wardrobe malfunction moment during the second day when Jacky realized his fly was undone. 'A dancer alerted him and he turned around to zip it up. Then he pretended nothing happened, it was so funny.' Ms Xu said the talk segments were roughly the same, except on Sunday. 'He asked those who saw all three shows to thank the fans who attended the first two shows for giving him such good memories.' Also, he saved the special song for his fans, She Came To See My Concert, for the last night, adding one more to his usual 12-song encore. Ms Xu said: 'He rarely sings 13 songs; he must be in a good mood.' May be, he got a sugar rush from the apple. Source: Electric
he's a genuis to be able to munch an apple and sing without being very obvious to most people really really like his signing
