Singaporean singer Mavis Hee held a highly anticipated concert in Nanjing, China last Saturday (Apr 20), but it seems things didn’t quite go so well.
According to fans who attended the show, the 49-year-old’s set included less than 10 songs, with some classics such as ‘Moonlight In The City’, Living By Night’ and ‘Regret performed by her backup singers instead of her.
In a video posted to Xiao Hong Shu, fans can be heard shouting “Refund”, “We want the original singer!” and “I dont want to listen [to the backup singer]!”
Another clip also showed Mavis looking listless as she sang a few lyrics before simply swaying to the voice of her fans singing.
Though the concert was supposed to last two-and-a-half hours, Mavis was accused of only spending 30 minutes singing five songs, and an entire hour spent just interacting with the audience.
After the concert, netizens were quick to air their anger, with some saying they felt “cheated” after paying more than 600 yuan (S$113) for a ticket.
“I paid good money to watch you perform. Instead, you got unknowns to sing your most well-known songs,” complained one netizen.
Another blamed Mavis’s team for pushing the singer to perform when “she is obviously not well enough.”
One even wrote, “Is she trying to imitate Wu Bai and get her fans to sing to her instead?”.
Fans of Chinese singer Wu Bai have been known to sing his entire concert with him, prompting some to joke that the rocker doesn’t need to be at his own show.
Mavis’ team has since come out to address the controversy after the online backlash.
They also said they had underestimated the audience’s appetite for Mavis’ singing and wanted to give fans a chance to chat with the singer during the concert,
Her team also added that they did not expect the fan interaction segment to be too lengthy for some who preferred her to sing than to talk.
Umm… who attends a concert to hear a singer speak more than perform?
Mavis first found fame in the 1990s but faded from the limelight in the early 2000s.
In 2006, she was thrust back into the spotlight when she was arrested for harassment while at a hotel before being diagnosed with schizophrenia.
2023 saw her bounce back professionally, even performing in Haikou, China last August with fellow singers Stefanie Sun, Tanya Chua, Fish Leong, Joey Yung and, Vivian Chow.