I am writing a review on the album/DVD of “Sammi Love Mi concert”, which was released on February, 2010. “Sammi Love Mi concert” is not recent album, but I really want to share to you guys. It is because the concert is really great and everything is perfect. Sammi Cheng is my favorite singer in Hong Kong. Her CDs is the only singer that I would buy. No doubt for watching her concert.Before commenting on her album, I would like to talk about Sammi first. She has been one of the most successful female Cantopop singer since the 1990s. I would say she is a unique star in Hong Kong. She is quite different from other traditional female singer. Dancing Queen is her “selling-point”. In 2006, she had taken a long break after finished the film Everlasting Regret 長恨歌. During the long break, she reflected upon her life, and became a born-again Christian. I think the break is reconstructing Sammi. Some media describe sammi (鄭臭四) has transformed into鄭四萬. On the other hand, there is good news about Sammi recently that she was in a relationship again with Andy Hui.
From the latest concert “Sammi Love Mi concert”, it comes as the final piece of her Faith / Hope / Love project. Making gospel music album is one of her dream or direction in her music life. It is really successful. I found that “Sammi Love Mi” concert to be highly enjoyable. Also, Sammi Love Mi was much better in all aspect of the pervious concert “Show Mi”. Sammi's singing was much better, the choice of songs and the rundown which covers fans of all ages.
The show is captured in 3-disc karaoke DVD. Disc 1 and 2 carry a full of Sammi's perfect performances, and the bonus Disc 3 contains a number of exclusive performances from the last concert, and the making-of with Sammi's interview. There are 28 tracks in this concert album. Most of them from pervious album, there are 4 tracks from her latest gospel album, Faith. In general, Gospel music/song is characterized by dominant vocals referencing lyrics of a religious nature. The 4 tracks from Faith are different, these songs are very “Sammi”. (Sammi style: trendy) She combined pop music with gospel music. She attempt to “Sammi” style music to bring out some message of Faith/Hope/Love. About the production team, she had invited several famous lyricists and composers, such as 黃偉文, 林夕,陳奐仁and王菀之. Here I will introduce some my favorite tracks.
The song, 上帝早已預備 is very touching. I like the lyric from this song, it is really meaningful.
別為因此而煩惱 在絕望裡投訴
只要仰望主哪怕會迷路
上帝早已預備 我不相信運氣
即使風光明媚 但卻不是你預期
上帝早已預備 至少我不被遺棄
難得你為我死
The song told us that “Don’t care how your life is, the god has well managed our destiny.” People always not satisfied what they “have”, always complain what they “have-not”. In fact, the god have already plan for us. God is always here.
感謝你 你會為我打氣
感謝你 從谷底將我救起
I think this part of lyric is heartfelt feeling from Sammi. She thanks god saved her life when she had depression in 2006.
罪與罰 is also the great song from Faith. The song is featuring by 24 Herbs.The first few sentences, (誰懲罰過你想想從頭到尾誰迫你認罪炮轟你 衪這麼愛你但你覺得衪討厭你因此給你那罪惡感拖垮起重機 衪只想教你磨練更謙卑一個你多反省你對人對己易犯禁忌) bring out some common value from those people who are not follower. Some people believe that God hate them. They believe that god always challenge them in their life. Actually, Love is all around. Those unlucky are the challenges from god. God always loves you.
我無得救我嘅路係咪走到盡頭只靠毒品讓我有一剎自由
望住塊鏡見到自己越嚟越瘦喺呢個社會我只感到越退越後
望天打卦感覺可怕可唔可以將我軀體立刻火化
現實社會我再無能力招架我放棄自己神會寬恕我嗎
人生為乜生存好迷失為金錢卑躬屈膝為名利改變本質
再唔記得自己有乜原則見一日過一日直至我嘅末日
我繼續沉溺漫無目的負面嘅思想永遠腦裡充斥
系抑鬱定壓抑我唔識呢張紙可能會系我最後嘅筆跡
This part is the Rap lyric from 24 Herbs. It brings out some feeling from those who are lost in this society. Some people would taking drug, and attempt suicide to escape from horrible society.
信者得愛, I truly enjoy the concert with her dance and stage performance. The message of this song is clear--信者得愛. If you follow God, you will be surviving. (別怨新聞這麼假 天色這麼差 相信愛可統領天下 別怪煙花這麼花 可修補傷疤 將那黑色世代轉化)
(無論寸步難行 仍舊張開雙眼 用你心感應天父衪 有愛武器會軟化 掌握手中的十架 用力量感染著世人吧) These few sentences encourage people “infect” others through their faith. Love can save everything.
別為因此而煩惱 在絕望裡投訴
只要仰望主哪怕會迷路
上帝早已預備 我不相信運氣
即使風光明媚 但卻不是你預期
上帝早已預備 至少我不被遺棄
難得你為我死
The song told us that “Don’t care how your life is, the god has well managed our destiny.” People always not satisfied what they “have”, always complain what they “have-not”. In fact, the god have already plan for us. God is always here.
感謝你 你會為我打氣
感謝你 從谷底將我救起
I think this part of lyric is heartfelt feeling from Sammi. She thanks god saved her life when she had depression in 2006.
罪與罰 is also the great song from Faith. The song is featuring by 24 Herbs.The first few sentences, (誰懲罰過你想想從頭到尾誰迫你認罪炮轟你 衪這麼愛你但你覺得衪討厭你因此給你那罪惡感拖垮起重機 衪只想教你磨練更謙卑一個你多反省你對人對己易犯禁忌) bring out some common value from those people who are not follower. Some people believe that God hate them. They believe that god always challenge them in their life. Actually, Love is all around. Those unlucky are the challenges from god. God always loves you.
我無得救我嘅路係咪走到盡頭只靠毒品讓我有一剎自由
望住塊鏡見到自己越嚟越瘦喺呢個社會我只感到越退越後
望天打卦感覺可怕可唔可以將我軀體立刻火化
現實社會我再無能力招架我放棄自己神會寬恕我嗎
人生為乜生存好迷失為金錢卑躬屈膝為名利改變本質
再唔記得自己有乜原則見一日過一日直至我嘅末日
我繼續沉溺漫無目的負面嘅思想永遠腦裡充斥
系抑鬱定壓抑我唔識呢張紙可能會系我最後嘅筆跡
This part is the Rap lyric from 24 Herbs. It brings out some feeling from those who are lost in this society. Some people would taking drug, and attempt suicide to escape from horrible society.
信者得愛, I truly enjoy the concert with her dance and stage performance. The message of this song is clear--信者得愛. If you follow God, you will be surviving. (別怨新聞這麼假 天色這麼差 相信愛可統領天下 別怪煙花這麼花 可修補傷疤 將那黑色世代轉化)
(無論寸步難行 仍舊張開雙眼 用你心感應天父衪 有愛武器會軟化 掌握手中的十架 用力量感染著世人吧) These few sentences encourage people “infect” others through their faith. Love can save everything.
All these gospel songs are great. The message is obviously shown in each line. The songs are very meaningful. It is an opportunity for us to do some reflection when we listening these songs. I think Sammi did a great job in her show.
Of course, some “old” songs are also highly recommended. “值得” from her first Mandarin album. I do like its new Chinese and classical arrangement in this concert(better than the original version). The rock version of “插曲” is also great. Sammi obviously can handle rock very well but it is not a genre that she has taken on very often.
In my opinion, the music and her image have changed in this concert. The overall performance is great. The gospel songs really suit her and I believe there are no other singers can sing as well as her in these songs. She can bring out the mood of these songs and touch on people’s emotion. I am very appreciate Sammi does not change her music style. (The gospel songs are also very trendy) She really can bring out the message of “Faith/Hope/Love”. That’s why these songs have become very popular.
By Wong Tsz Lun, KATHY
Student ID:10348349
Student ID:10348349
I can sense your strong emotional and personal identification with Sammi by reading your article. To be frank, I grew up in the “Era of Sammi” and love her songs (especially the old ones) very much too! I agree that her performance was outstanding in this show and she looks so “real” to audience like me.
ReplyDeleteYou have made a conclusion that the album promoting “Gospel songs” is “really successful”. I would like to know how did you define “successful”? Judged by its sales figures? How about the objective of delivering God’s message? You may discuss about the content and popularity of those “trendy gospel songs”, to see if they provide alternative pop music to youngsters, or just fall into the trap of “false needs” mentioned by the Frankfurt School.
As a supporter of Sammi, perhaps you can try to identify the forms of “pleasure” derived from consuming her music (in particular, the trendy Gospel songs in this album). What are the implications (e.g., identities formation, meaning making) behind the consumption process?