SINGAPORE – Whenever one of these singers announces a concert in Singapore, be prepared for some frenzied ticket-grabbing.
Before sales open, fans will have secured spots in the online queue. At SingPost outlets, there will be snaking lines of ardent supporters, some of whom have camped overnight. Trying to call the ticketing hotline? Good luck getting through.
After all, Taiwan’s Jay Chou, Singapore’s JJ Lin, Hong Kong’s Jacky Cheung and Hong Kong-born Jackson Wang are known to sell out their stadium shows here, be it at the National Stadium or Singapore Indoor Stadium, and sometimes within a couple of hours.
Call them the “Jewels” of Mandopop, as their names all begin with the letter J.
And Chinese singer Joker Xue recently joined the echelons of this elite group of entertainers, after selling out all three nights of his Extraterrestrial World Tour concerts here on Jan 5, 6 and 7 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Within hours of their release in October and November, all 24,000 tickets were snapped up.
The Straits Times sizes up the sought-after quintet’s shining achievements.
Joker Xue, 40
Show time: In 2018, he filled every one of the 8,000 seats at the Singapore Indoor Stadium at his first concert here as part of his Skyscraper World Tour, in support of his eighth studio album The Crossing (2017). He has since released another four studio albums – Joker (2018), Dust (2019), Extraterrestrial (2020) and Countless (2022).
His three gigs from Jan 5 to 7 are organised by local concert promoter and event organiser iMe Singapore.
Its spokeswoman said in an e-mail that the company was quite confident Xue would sell out at least one show, given the strong response to his 2018 performance. “But this time, it was a pleasant surprise that all three shows sold well.”
On Oct 12, 8,000 tickets were released for his Jan 6 show, and these were all gone in about two hours. On Oct 13, another 8,000 tickets became available for the Jan 7 show. These were snapped up more quickly, in an hour.
iMe Singapore then explored the possibility of an additional show, and this came to fruition on Nov 24, when the final batch of 8,000 tickets for Jan 5 were released. They were gone in four hours.
The spokeswoman attributed the demand to Xue’s “jokester” nature. She said: “His show is not just about good music, but it is also about him showing his funny side to fans. He is a very sincere person, and this attracts more people to like and follow his music.”
She added that his fans are mostly working adults aged 18 to 45. They include millennials, a large portion of Gen Z and a sliver of younger Gen Xers.
Xue’s Extraterrestrial World Tour kicked off in 2021 and has stopped at Chinese cities such as Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shanghai. During the three-hour show, he is expected to transform into an interstellar executive who descends from an alien planet and is ordered to destroy Earth. However, on the eve of Earth’s destruction, he is inspired by the beauty of mankind and sacrifices himself to save the planet instead.
Born and raised in Shanghai, Xue was primarily brought up by his father, as his mother died of heart disease when he was four. In his early years, he studied fine art, painting and later, hotel management at the Glion Institute of Higher Education in Switzerland.
In 2005, he participated in the Chinese singing competition My Show, made it to the top four and was signed by a record company. In 2006, he released his self-titled debut album as Jacky Xue, and won a most popular new artist prize at the 6th Global Chinese Music Awards.
A decade later, he changed his English name to “Joker” as he got the name “Jacky” through a guessing game at the time of his show business debut, and it “bothered” him for half his life. His new name Joker refers to someone who loves telling jokes, and at the time, he had gained attention online for sharing jokes on Weibo.
Among the songs he is best known for are Serious Snow (2006) and Ugly (2013). His most recent album, Countless (2022), also features Turn Waste Into Treasure (2022) and You Are Not Alone (2022), a duet with Taiwanese crooner Jeff Chang.
In 2015, Xue appeared on many variety shows and dabbled in acting. He took on a main role in the Chinese comedy-drama Mother Like Flowers (2015), in which he played a talkative man involved in all sorts of romantic entanglements. In July 2023, he was a celebrity coach on the popular Chinese singing competition Sing! China.
In a 2018 interview, he revealed that he has not written one song he is completely satisfied with, and some of the music which he made in the past was “not good”. He said: “I am not gifted like Jay Chou. Compared with him, I am very weak. I am someone who works hard and slowly gets better.”
Signature song: Actor (2015)
Linking the idea of acting and performance to a relationship, this well-crafted ballad is about a relationship past its expiry, with the lovers just going through the motions and lyrics such as “How should I play my role to delay the tedious ending?”.
Actor is his most popular song on Spotify, having been played more than 94 million times. At 2022’s U1000 Music Countdown, an annual event by local radio station UFM100.3, the track was listed at No. 55.
Up next: He spent Christmas in 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and performed three concerts on Dec 23 to 25 at the Axiata Arena. He was suffering from a cold, and said during the shows that he regretted being able to give only 80 per cent to the performances. The tour is also scheduled to make stops in cities such as Vancouver and Toronto in Canada and Las Vegas in the United States.
Jay Chou, 44
Show time: When the Taiwanese superstar’s The Invincible World Tour stopped at the National Stadium in 2016, fans grabbed all the 40,000 tickets. On the tour’s second leg in 2018 at the same venue, another 40,000 tickets were snapped up in a few hours. He also played at Singapore’s largest concert venue for the second leg of his Opus World Tour in 2014, and his Carnival World Tour in 2020 and 2022.
Signature song: Love Confession (2016)
One of Chou’s most charming tracks, the R&B number paints romantic scenes of having coffee beside Paris’ Seine river and leaves falling on the Champs-Elysees avenue. During live shows, the song typically prompts concertgoers to use their smartphone lights to create a sea of stars. It was nominated for Song Of The Year at 2017’s Golden Melody Awards, but lost to Simon Says by Taiwanese rock band No Party For Cao Dong. Love Confession is Chou’s most successful song on Spotify, and has been played more than 108 million times.
Up next: Previously with Alfa Music from 1999 to 2007, he founded his own record label and artist management agency, JVR Music, in 2007. He joined the Universal Music family on Dec 6, 2023, when he entered into a strategic partnership with Universal Music Greater China, a division of Universal Music Group. The agreement secured global distribution rights for Chou’s extensive music catalogue and future projects, and supports rising talent from JVR Music.
In December, luxury fashion house Dior made Chou its new global ambassador, the first time it presented a Mandopop artiste as ambassador for its brand worldwide.
In 2024, his Carnival World Tour is expected to make stops in cities such as London, Sydney and Paris.
JJ Lin, 42
Show time: In 2019, the Singaporean pop star set a record for being the first Asian singer to perform two consecutive sold-out shows at the National Stadium, as part of his Sanctuary 2.0 World Tour. All 30,000 tickets to the first show sold out within 1½ hours. A second show was added and the tickets were snapped up within a day.
Signature song: If Only (2014)
A ballad about missed opportunities, its lyrics were penned by Hong Kong lyricist Albert Leung, and Lin reportedly related to them so much that he cried while reading them. Backed by a piano and strings, it is his most popular track on Spotify, and has been played about 78 million times.
Up next: On Dec 6, Lin was at Marina Bay Sands to celebrate the opening of Miracle Coffee’s flagship outlet, solidifying his food and beverage footprint in Singapore. He founded the cafe brand, which has four other outlets regionally, in 2017.
His ongoing JJ20 World Tour is scheduled to make several stops in Chinese cities such as Hangzhou and Shenzhen.
Jackson Wang, 29
Show time: Although most of his solo repertoire is in English, the Hong Kong-born member of K-pop boy band Got7 has enjoyed massive success in China. In 2020, the rapper-singer was ranked No. 41 on the Forbes China Celebrity List. The following year, he jumped to 10th place.
In April 2022, he became the first Chinese solo artiste to perform at famed American music festival Coachella. And the heart-throb’s first solo concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in December 2022 was a sold-out gig attended by 10,000 fans.
He also headlined the first night of the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix in September before a 50,000-strong crowd, alongside fellow artistes from Asian-American record label 88rising.
Signature song: I Love You 3000 (Chinese Version)
Marvel fans have lapped up this love ballad. Its title comes from a famous line Tony Stark/Iron Man says to his daughter in the superhero film Avengers: Endgame (2019). After Indonesian singer-songwriter Stephanie Poetri turned the quote into an English song in 2019, a remix featuring Wang topped the Billboard China Social Chart in 2019.
A Mandarin version was included in Wang’s album Mirrors (2019), told from a male perspective, and it has been played more than eight million times on Spotify. It was also performed during a 2019 album celebration party, and a video of it has been viewed more than five million times on YouTube.
Up next: Wang’s foray into fashion has culminated in Team Wang Design, a streetwear label he founded in 2020 that is based in Shanghai. In late 2023, it was launched in Singapore at Club21’s boutique at Como Orchard. Among the label’s latest offerings is the Sparkles – Stay For The Night collection, which includes T-shirts, casual jackets, shorts and pants.
Jacky Cheung, 62
Show time: Nicknamed the God of Songs, the Hong Kong Heavenly King’s 60+ Concert Tour was staged at the Singapore Indoor Stadium across a record-breaking 11 nights in July and August 2023, and some 88,000 fans bought tickets to the sold-out shows. Those in their 40s to 60s form the strongest demographic of his audience.
Signature song: Goodbye Kiss (1993)
An evergreen classic, the heartbreaking track centres on a painful farewell to a lover. Honoured at Hong Kong’s 1993 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation, it also won Song Of The Year at Taiwan’s Golden Melody Awards that same year.
It has been covered by countless stars, including fellow Hong Kong singers Andy Lau and Leo Ku. In 2004, Danish group Michael Learns To Rock released an English version of the song, Take Me To Your Heart.
Despite being released three decades ago, Goodbye Kiss’ popularity endures. At 2022’s U1000 Music Countdown, the track came in at No. 87. Cheung also had another 24 songs on the chart.
Up next: Cheung is in the midst of holding a jaw-dropping 24 concerts – from Dec 10, 2023, to Jan 13, 2024 – at the Hong Kong Coliseum as part of his 60+ Concert Tour.
Before one of these shows, he was filmed outside the venue receiving gifts and cards from fans, and one asked if he could speak Mandarin during his show, as she did not understand Cantonese. He replied, “Just learn it”, to loud cheers from the crowd.
The encounter went viral and made headlines as Hong Kongers have grown more protective of Cantonese, the city’s widely spoken dialect, amid China’s efforts to have 85 per cent of its citizens use the national language of Mandarin by 2025.
