Canadian pop star Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, surprised fans at a recent concert in Hong Kong when he premiered his new song Hong Kong – written specifically for the territory – along with its music video.
The track sparked a buzz in the Chinese territory as it features a sample of Mandopop singer Faye Wong’s classic song Monsoon (1993). The Cantonese ballad, whose Chinese title translates to Seasonal Wind, was from her studio album No Regrets (1993).
The Weeknd kicked off his four-night run in Hong Kong on Oct 24, attracting over 40,000 fans at the Kai Tak Stadium.
The concert was part of his massive After Hours Til Dawn world tour, which also took him to Singapore, where he performed two back-to-back sold-out nights at the National Stadium on Oct 2 and 3.
The 36-year-old singer took to the stage in Hong Kong on Oct 24 in a sparkling mask with green laser eyes.
The two-hour performance saw him delivering over 30 songs almost non-stop. They included hits such as The Hills (2015), Starboy (2016), Die For You (2016) and Blinding Lights (2019), according to Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao Daily News.
The music video for the song was filmed in Hong Kong, with scenes shot in places such as Central, The Peak and Tsim Sha Tsui’s waterfront. The style of the scenery evokes the visual aesthetics of acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai’s films such as Chungking Express (1994) and Fallen Angels (1995).
The song was well received by fans in Hong Kong and other parts of the world, becoming a trending topic on social media. The Weeknd shared a video of the performance on Instagram on Oct 25, with the post racking up over 16.6 million views as of noon on Oct 28.
The song led to nostalgia among Mandopop fans, with Monsoon’s original video seeing a spike in views and comments on Faye Wong’s official YouTube channel.
Besides Hong Kong, The Weeknd has written new tracks for Brazil and Japan, also part of his world tour.
The singer, who also performed at Kai Tak Stadium on Oct 25, has two more shows scheduled in Hong Kong on Oct 30 and 31.
The Weeknd has previously shown an interest in Hong Kong culture, including sharing Wong’s album Fuzao (1996) on social media in late September.
He arrived in Hong Kong more than a week before the opening night of his concert on Oct 24, meeting up with Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai and his actress-wife Carina Lau for dinner.
The Weekend shared on Instagram Stories a photo of him in conversation with Leung, and the post was set to the music of Wong’s song Dream Lover (1994).
Dream Lover was featured in Chungking Express, which starred Leung, Wong and Taiwanese-Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
