Mandopop diva Faye Wong wowed fans last Friday with a reprise of The Cranberries’ “Dreams” in the debut of 《幻乐之城》 PhantaCity, an ambitious new variety show sponsored by dating app Momo on Hunan TV.
The show aims to celebrate creativity in original songs, all performed live by singers backstage in a ginormous 3,000 square-meter studio with the help of a cast of supporting actors and dancers. There is no editing, no retake, and singers need to get their act right in just one take to produce a music video-worthy performance.
Faye Wong’s Cantonese cover of the song by the late Irish pop singer Dolores O’Riordan was titled 《夢中人》Mung Zung Yan (“Dreamer”). It quickly became a runaway hit single in her 1994 Cantopop albumRandom Thoughts and was also immortalized in the Wong Kar-Wai filmChungking Express, released the same year.
Wong withdrew from the media spotlight after her second marriage in 2005, but returned to the stage with a Comeback Tour from October 2010 to June 2012 with performances in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Her last most notable concert was a one-night performance on 30 December 2016 at Shanghai’s Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Catch the full episode of the PhantaCity show here.
