Imagine being picked to sing with your idol, only to have your mic taken away by another super enthusiastic fan.
That’s what happened to Evelyn Koh, a long-time Jay Chou fan who attended his concert on October 13. It was the last night of his three shows in Singapore.
Evelyn was handpicked by the Mandopop King to request a song and duet with him — a segment that Jay has been doing regularly throughout his Carnival World Tour.
When she got the mic, Evelyn excitedly told Jay that she has been his fan for 24 years, adding that she knows all of his songs by heart.
However, as soon as Evelyn picked her song ‘Shuo Ai Ni’ (说爱你), a tune that was originally written for Jolin Tsai, Jay’s attention was drawn to a louder, even more enthusiastic fan next to Evelyn.
That fan had started screaming the moment Evelyn was asked to pick her song.
Of course Jay noticed her and he asked Evelyn to pass the mic to that fan… and Jay ended up singing the song that fan requested.
While singing the song, Jay asked that fan to give the mic back to Evelyn so she could get her turn to sing with him, but the lady seemed to have forgotten Evelyn’s existence.
And just like that, Evelyn didn’t get the chance to duet with Jay Chou.
Evelyn later took to Instagram to reflect on the experience.
“Most of the time, I couldn’t even understand what [Jay] was saying because I zoned out in disbelief. It may sound silly, but Jay Chou has been my only idol all my life,” she wrote, adding that she has all his albums, attended eight of his shows in Singapore, and even picked his song for her wedding march-in.
“I thought I could confess my love by picking the perfect song, but I froze. My mind raced trying to remember which songs he hadn’t sung yet,” she wrote, adding that her mic was taken away after she made her request.
She then explained that Jay had asked the lady in pink to pass her the mic midway through their song so she could also duet with him, but the lady, who was visibly overwhelmed, “ignored [her] the whole time”.
“I even politely asked if we could share, but she was too emotional, screaming and crying. No blame — we’re all fans, but I think I didn’t express myself as well as her,” wrote Evelyn, adding that she still cherishes the memory of being able to speak with her idol.
We have to say we would not have reacted as calmly as her if someone had taken away our opportunity to sing with Jay.
Some netizens guessed that Jay might have intentionally chosen to sing the lady in pink’s song over Evelyn’s as “he wasn’t prepared” for her request.
Others also felt like he might have skipped over her request as it was a song he had written for his ex (Jay and Jolin reportedly dated from 2003 to 2005). However, Jay did cover ‘Shuo Ai Ni’ during his 2022 concert, and had sung Jolin’s ‘Dao Dai’ the night before, so that argument doesn’t hold as much water.
A handful also praised Evelyn for handling the situation with grace, adding that they “wouldn’t be so nice” to the lady who stole her mic.
Our sentiments exactly.
Photos: evelynkoh/ Instagram, Jay Chou/ Instagram