The secrets of Jane Zhang: the Beijing concert

[read italian version]

Just a month ago the news of the breakdown of the marriage between Jane Zhang and Michael Feng bounces on all social networks not confirmed but not even denied by the couple. A month later, Jane provides a great test of character with a formidable opening concert of the new “Jane’s Secret” tour.

The mood in the Beijing concert

The event location was the Wukesong Indoor Stadium (北京 五棵松) in Beijing where on May 5th the Dolphin Princess entertained more than 10,000 people who sang along with her, they got excited, they cried, they were amazed and they rejoiced. All in one night.

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

The mood in the concert was initially saturated with curiosity for the first big live of Jane after the news of her marriage breakdown. But after a while the audience was pervaded by the excitement and a strong emotion mix.

The concert rolled away in a jiffy. The fans didn’t realized the time was spending ’cause they were so much caught up by the music, Jane’s voice and the emotions she convey from that stage.

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

The night began with a dark-gothic style segment that, somehow, fans expected after seeing the posters and the promotional video of the event. Maybe what they didn’t expect was to see Jane get on stage lying in a coffin and inside of it start singing. The effect was overwhelming!

Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert: Jane entra sul palco distesa in una bara

Then the other segments of the concert followed, one choreographed and set to stage the city life and its urban fashions, another in which Jane appeared as a simple and carefree teenage girl and also a segment for the hot-songs of the singer who in fact are so many.

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

Jane’s Secret: songs from the classical repertoire

Among the pieces chosen during the night many “classical” titles of Jane’s repertoire, such as “Chasing Love” (追爱), the ever touching “Dream It Possible” (我的梦), the timeless “Mulan Star“, (木兰星), the overwhelming “I Am Mine” (我是我的) from the 2014 album “The Seventh Sense” (第七感) and the romantic “Sadness in G major” (G大调的悲伤) included in the 2007 “Update” album, during the performing of which Jane was moved listening to the improvised choirs by audience.

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

Jane’s Secret: the covers

Alongside these timeless pearls of her classic repertoire have been included many covers that she loves to perform it and which the fans likes to hear from her voice. So evergreen titles like “Can’t Help Fall in Love With You” by Elvis Presley and the most recent and carefree “Only Love Strangers” (只爱陌生人) by Faye Wong (王菲) were the backdrop to what was the cover “unexpected” of the evening: the legendary “GoldenEye“, theme-song of the homonymous 007 James Bond movie originally sung by Tina Turner, one of Jane’s American myths. Long bell-shaped white dress and a symphony orchestra behind her, Jane Zhang gave her audience one of the strongest emotions of the night.

Jane “Dark Lady” of her gothic world

During what we called the “dark segment” of the concert, the fans were able to enjoy a spectacular version of “The Diva Dance“, the impossible song to sing for a human being that represented the highlight of the successful science fiction movie “The Fifth Element” “by Luc Besson. The previous interpretation of this song took place during a concert in 2015 in Chengdu, in which Jane has wanted on stage, among the many artists, also the mythical John Legend, Chris Botti, one of the best jazz trumpets in the world and also the world renowned composer and orchestra director Tan Dun. Jane had recently announced a re-edition of “The Diva Dance” promising an even better execution of the previous ones, and the promise was kept.

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

Another song with immense difficulty of execution was in the show opening when Jane sang while she was transported on stage lying in a coffin surrounded by an eerie gothic scene. The piece was “Down the River” (順流而下), the theme-song of “Candle in the Tomb”, lucky Chinese web series aka “Ghost Blows Out the Light”.

Feat. Migos and Colplay influence for Jane’s hot songs

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

The segment dedicated to hot-songs was characterized by variations and musical influences by proposing a remix version of “Work For It“, which Jane sang on the stage of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and which she played here with Migos, the US hip-hop band that this summer will be on tour with Drake in the States and in Canada.

In this part of the concert couldn’t miss the most “dance” piece by Jane Zhang, “808” whose version presented on this occasion was particularly “atypical”: live symphony orchestra (which for a song by EDM isn’t a trivial matter), musical introduction “mixed” with the notes of “Viva La Vida” by Colplay and long and pompous classic dress for the goddess Jane. In short, a mix of pop, rock, EDM with a strong contrast to make the tones particularly dramatic. But if it’s Jane Zhang who cooks a recipe with ingredients that are so “different” from each other, the resulting dish is always delicious.

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

The new English song: Pull Me Up !

Finally, the musical surprise of the night was the unexpected and completely unprecedented “Pull Me Up“, new song to be added to the English album that Jane is preparing. The audience didn’t expect this piece, but at the end of the execution spiced it up by poignant violin Wei Wen (文 薇), they had the feeling of knowing it from whole life. “Pull Me Up” is one of those “musical cases” where you listen to a song just once to feel it like yours.

Wei Wen (文薇)

The music according to Jane

Summing up the pure “musical” part of the concert, the figure of Jane Zhang, in spite of recent personal vicissitudes, it’s like that of a “solid” woman, with great musical experience and with an artistic character imprint distinctly “visionary” but at the same time a woman with her feet firmly in the ground and destined to go much further than where she is today.

Jane Zhang is an artist who pays great attention to music, singing, arrangements and even staging (scenery, lights and direction) of her concerts. Jane continues in the years to invest time, money and energy in the music, the real one !

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

Why “Jane’s Secret” ?

The tour that Jane offers us in this 2018 is called “Jane’s Secret” and, apart from a fairly obvious paraphrase game on the “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” (Jane likes so much puns when she has to choose the names for her concerts), there’s a reason behind this name, and that’s the will of Jane to open up to her audience, to her fans, confessing personal secrets, even important ones.

This thing has had and will continue to have the effect of cementing even further the relationship established in 13-year career with her fans from which, the Dolphin Princess is perceived, for a long time, such as a loved one for whom you feel love unconditionally, as if she was part of one’s own family. A superstar hardly bares her heart in public confiding secrets, worries and fears. This behavior it can only be found in a family member, a brother or sister, or perhaps a dear friend.

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

Jane: “I suffer from intermittent deafness in my right ear”

And this is precisely what Jane started doing on the stage in Beijing when she revealed that she suffered from a form of intermittent deafness in her right ear, which in the early days terrified her, but with which she learned to live together. Jane told her audience that after a while she understood how to compensate for those temporary deafness in one ear but that she’s afraid that it could get worse and that she’s aware that one day she might not be able to sing any more while hoping to be able to continue for a long time. During his speech the emotion pervaded the stadium in a transversal way: the fans cried and Jane cried with them.

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

Jane: “Mine isn’t a princess life !”

The Dolphin Princess, commenting on this nickname that was attributed to her at the beginning of her career, said she didn’t feel like a princess and didn’t want to be, much less a heroine, and said that her life isn’t like a princess life.

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

Fan love wins over Jane’s sadness

Then there was the story of one of her moments of despair and it’s undeniable that listening to the Jane’s words is justified to think of a period of depression for the singer:

Last night I was thinking … it was early in the morning, 3 or maybe 4 … I was in the same position as before (she refers to when a few minutes before she was lying in a coffin for his entrance on stage – ed ) and I thought … “This might be the best end to my life.” But when I was lying here a while ago, I listened to your voices … and now I feel very, very honored to continue! “

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

And at that moment the whole stadium was overwhelmed by emotion indulging in tears and shouts of encouragement for the sweet Jane.

A letter to the “real” Jane Zhang

Jane therefore reveals her fears and she cries on stage as happened even at the beginning of her career during the participation in Super Girl.

Dear Jane, in these 13 years you grew up, you became a solid and well-established artist, you built a musical empire, today you’re the most famous singer of Asia and your fame also expands beyond the ocean, but despite all, dear Jane, deep in your heart you’re still the young and frightened girl of 13 years ago. All this has an extremely romantic flavor and it’s strong the desire of your fans to be close to you to hold you and protect you, but it’s obvious that the love of all the fans of the world cannot be enough to make you happy.

Jane Zhang 张靓颖: Jane’s Secret Tour 2018.05.05 Beijing concert

An artist is a person before being an artist, and people need certainties, they need a solid anchor to hold on and this anchor is the family that each one builds. We’d love to know you are happy, as well as for your music and for the love of your fans, even for your private life. You’ll see that this time will come for you and your fans will all rejoice for it !

The 2nd stage of Jane’s Secret: Shenzhen, May 19th

Will there be other secrets or confessions in the next stage of the tour? We’ll find out together on Saturday May 19th for the second date with Jane’s Secret. The concert will be held in Shenzhen at the “Shenzhen Bay Sports Center” (深圳春茧体育馆).

Jane has anticipated on her Weibo profile the inclusion in the lineup of 2 songs, both re-arranged and performed by her in the last edition of “Sound of My Dream 2” (梦想的声音2),  “Eighteen Bending Mountain” (山路十八弯) and “Sad People Shouldn’t Listen To Slow Songs” (伤心的人别听慢歌).

Shenzhen Bay Sports Center 深圳春茧体育馆

Here the brief official MV, released waiting for the Shenzhen concert, which cover the highlights, including stage and backstage, the Beijing concert. The May 19, the day of the second stage of the tour, is also the anniversary of 13 years of his artistic debut.

So dear Dolphin Princess, Happy anniversary by Jane Zhang Italy!

But for all you dear fans of Jane, here’s a little ‘videos from Beijing concert. In the order the tracks are:

Work For It remix feat. Migos
The Diva Dance
Sadness in G major (G大调的悲伤)
Only Love Strangers (只爱陌生人)
Mulan Star (木兰星)
I Am Mine (我是我的)
Dream It Possible (我的梦)
Chasing Love (追爱)
Can’t Help Fall in Love With You

Enjoy !

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