http://eyeball.asia1.com.sg/Eyeball/Eardrum/Music/Story/0,3089,18074,00.html Lose the Kit-sch By Tan Dawn Wei 11 June 2001 04:00AM photo/It was a real pity that Chan's costumes were more garish than outrageous and the sets more crude than well designed. Pictures: Chen Yue Che photo/Chan should have just have relied on what works - her voice and her songs, which would have carried the concert well enough. It would've been even better, if it weren't for the outrageous costumes, antics and pyrotechnics, says our reporter, who was at Kit Chan's maiden solo concert on Saturday night. SO WHAT if Fann Wong was the first Singaporean to stage a concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium? When it comes to packing a stadium with some serious vocals, Kit Chan will out-power Fann ''Mickey Mouse'' Wong any day. Her 2 1/2-hour maiden concert on Saturday night had her belting out a good 20 songs or so from her eight-year repertoire with hardly a break in between, except when guest star, Hong Kong crooner William So, came on for one song. Despite being new to solo concerts, Chan's voice was in tip-top form and pitch-perfect mode, sounding even better than her recordings, some may argue. So, it was a real pity that the entire production - an obvious attempt to replicate Hong Kong's snazzy concerts - turned out tacky, because, quite simply, it just wasn't up to par. For one, the costumes weren't so much outrageous as they were garish. And Chan's punk-rock inspired - or skunk-inspired - hairdo, the dated 1980s dance choreography and the crude sets which looked like they had been sitting in a warehouse in Ubi for the past 30 years, just didn't gel. Sure, the show tried to add variety by introducing thematic segments: A little Indian mysticism complete with accompanying tabla and sitar, a little ballroom dancing, a little a-go-go and even a few competent Broadway musical renditions by Chan. But the half-hearted pyrotechnics and over-the-top antics not only fell flat, they're way past their prime - Hong Kong concerts these days are going back to basics, opting for minimalism and simplicity. And really, Chan's costumes - a combination of red leather, black and purple sequins, pink and white overcoats plus black and white boots - might as well have stayed lost in that cab (her designer unwittingly left a bag of her costumes in the boot of a taxi two weeks ago). Instead, a concert without the frills, anchored simply with Chan's marvellous vocals and highly popular songs, would've worked so much better. At a late-night press conference after the concert, she told reporters that the night was filled with pleasant surprises for her. Friends like Hong Kong singer Remus Choy and songwriter Pan Xieqing came with bouquets. So did Hong Kong TV star Bowie Lam, who appeared on stage masked. Said Chan: ''I thought it was William So, because I remembered him wearing a similar suit backstage.'' But when the media started asking about her special someone, who received a special dedication from her at the concert when she sang Sandy Lam's At Least I Still Have You, she turned coy, only letting out that they've been going out for less than a year, and he's not in the business. So, she's done the Singapore stint. Where next? Hopefully, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China, she said. We wish her the best. But here's a note of advice: Lose the kitsch. --

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