Party time with Coco Lee

On Sunday 15th January, I was lucky enough to be one of the 200 or so Taiwan fans invited to celebrate renown Chinese singing legend Coco Lee’s [Wikipedia | Twitter] birthday party. I’ve been to one of Coco’s concerts before, but this was the first time I’d actually gotten to meet her and see her in a more personal environment.

Beyond the desire to actually meet one of my favourite singers of all time, I was actually very intrigued to see how an Asian fan event of this sort was structured.

The event was held at one of the function halls of the Westin Hotel in Taipei, which was more upscale than I was expecting, but in keeping with the lifestyle Coco one might imagine to have. All the guests sat on chairs facing a small stage, which gave it more of a “Show” feel than I had thought it was going to have, but clearly the organisers knew what they were doing.

The entire event was hosted by a relatively well known TV interviewer, who enthused the crowd with a sense of excitement and kept everything running on the approximately 2 hour schedule. After Coco and her family made their entry, there was a series of video clips sent in from fans around the world wishing Coco a happy birthday. This was followed by dance performances from a few fans that had learnt entire routines to Coco’s music videos, much to the delight of everyone present (They were really good, but also humourous).

After was some performances from Coco’s sister and mother, with Coco joining in and a series of Coco song title related party games, including one in which the fans had to explain in English to Coco and her sister what the title of the Chinese language song was (but without saying the exact translation – That was particularly funny for the fans for whom English is not their first language).

Beyond the above and a few renditions of Happy Birthday, videos, and speeches from Coco and her family, and an opportunity to queue for a hug from Coco, that was pretty much it. It was relatively simple, yet well-planned and clearly just what her fans were looking for. I’m not sure if all Asian artists are quite as warm and friendly towards their fans, but I was glad to see that a good balance of distance, friendliness and equality was maintained.

I certainly hope to attend more such events in the future!

[Image Source: CocoLee.Asia]