http://www.eastciti.com/001_celebs/2000/features/20000729_3.htm Kit goes from glam to geek Was this Kit Chan? Dressed in a pair of faded jeans with a see-through top, topped off with a jeans jacket and “geek glasses” the ingenue turned poet for a day. Back from a publicity stint overseas, this powerful songstress relaunched her book of poetry, I Write A Page and performed in an hour- long mini-concert. By Peng Wan Joo Moving my fingers Typing out words I say how I feel And suddenly I have A story about Kit Okay, so it isn’t Shakespeare, but I couldn’t help myself. I’ve been infected by the creative poetry bug after attending the soft launch of Kit Chan’s repackaged poetry book, I Write A Page. As a fan (back in school, I attended every single concert, even at the expense of lectures), I was naturally excited at the relaunch. Like the book, the gathering offered an outsider like me a glimpse into her world. “I Like This Press Conference!” When I arrived, I saw Kit mingling with a group of buddies. And surprise, surprise, Danny Yeo was there as well, not a DJ but as a friend. As friends and admirers streamed in over the next 30 minutes, hugs were exchanged and shouts of “congratulations!” filled the air. “I like this press conference!” exclaimed Kit. “The atmosphere here is so different from the other press conferences.” In fact, there were so many people that she had to catch up with that the press conference started a full hour after the stipulated time. That F Word The press conference was a short and sweet affair. After answering the obligatory questions about her books, she recited some poems to enchanting background music (composed by her good friend, Case Woo). Kit also did an a cappella version of Mr Turner, a poem which was turned into a song in one of her albums. Then, she recited that controversial (because of its use of the F word) poem, Smile For The Camera with the help of Alvin and Aaron, her friends from Raffles Junior College and the ones who had inspired her to take up poetry-writing. In an impromptu effort to sabotage her friends, she made the pair come on stage to sing a silly song about “hanging balls” that they had composed back in JC. “We used to chao (skip) classes and there was nothing to do and they would come up with these silly ditties,” explained Kit. Just before the gig ended, Danny requested that the singer’s younger sister, Tri, to go on stage and recite a poem with her (sorry, no pictures allowed for that). You would never believe how alike they look and how alike they sounded! And being the good sister that she was, Kit was immediately concerned about Tri when they finished. “Were you nervous or afraid?” she asked quietly when they got off stage. Kit On Her Book “Why did you change the title of the book from Cork Out Of My Head to I Write A Page?” I asked Kit. “Actually, I Write A Page was the title that I had wanted to use. But they (the Taiwanese publishers) didn’t like the Chinese name. They preferred the Chinese name, Xiang Ru Fei Fei, which translated to Cork Out Of My Head. So, I Write A Page is actually the original title. What is more, it is the first poem on the page.” The title is not the only thing that has changed; Kit herself designed the cover for the relaunched Singaporean version. It showcases the manuscript of some of her poems and some pictures that she took while she was working overseas. It even has a picture of her favourite cat! Why were things so different? “Well, my Taiwanese publishers wanted to keep things simple and so I didn’t get to do whatever I wanted,” Kit explained. That’s not all. The book now comes with a CD containing recitations of the poems against the background of Case’s music. “It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed. “Well, I approached my friend to do the CD for me, he did it at a really cut-throat price, so I have to thank him for it!” For those who already have a copy of the book and are waiting for a sequel, rest assured as Kit will definitely think about it. However, as her poems are based on her experiences and are jotted down whenever she gets inspiration, she sees a sequel in 2 to 3 years’ time. “I am rather busy now and have now less time to write than before,” she said. Those familiar with her songs and her latest album, Lola, may even say she has the potential to be a Chinese poet. “Well, I don’t know about whether I will start writing poetry in Mandarin, but I have started to compose songs. I composed one song for my latest album, so I guess that might be a start,” she smiled. Kit’s Mini Concert She held a mini-concert on Thursday (July 27) that fans may soon get to see on TCS 8. “It was a TV production. So, I had to talk to audiences or it would become very strange before for a concert; you can like pace yourself before you reach a climax, but this one was not possible. After every song, someone yelled ‘Cut!’, so I had to talk to the audience to keep the mood there.” During the concert, she danced and dazzled; not only with her vocal prowess but with her nifty footwork as well. She said, “From zero to going on stage took me 4 nights, but I have been doing this many times during my promotion so now it is like autopilot already. “I think I will try to do more dance songs in future. I quite enjoy it even though it was pretty difficult to pick it up initially, but I would like to shake off that ballad image that I have. But I found that ever since I started performing dance items on stage, it’s easier to move now.” --

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