On the evening of June 30, Chinese folk singer Song Zuying held a concert at the Bird’s Nest joined by Spanish tenor Placido Domingo, Chinese pianist Lang Lang and pop star Jay Chou. Over 30 entertainers including Zhao Benshan, Jiang Wen, Zhao Baogang, Tang Guoqiang, Chen Xiaoyi, Zhu Shimao and Wang Xiaoya were present at the concert. During the 2-hour performance, Song Zuying, glamorously dressed in 6 outfits, presented to the audience some of her most popular songs, such as Jasmine Flower, Good Day, Ode to Coral, encouraging the audience to sing along. Jay Chou performed a duet Thousands of Miles Away with Song Zuying. The concert reached its climax when all four performers came back on stage to sing the finale Auld Lang Syne. The concert, an audio-visual feast, attracted a full house of 60,000 audiences at the Bird’s Nest.

Glamorously dressed in 6 outfits, Song moved to tears

The Bird’s Nest became the world’s largest open-air concert hall of 100 meters wide and 26 meters high. Large scale stage of 46 meters in depth was fabulously decorated, with 13 giant LCD screens and 6 column style screens put up to create great visual impact for the audience. At 8 p.m., Song opened her concert with the song Phoenix Returns. Dressed up with phoenix coronet headwear and 100 pieces of accessories on her white dress called “the eye of the east”, Song appeared at the rising lift, accompanied by 100 dancers dressed up like phoenix. Song performed some of her most popular songs such as Jasmine Flower, Good Day and Ode to Coral, which won big applaud from the audience and spiced up the atmosphere on the scene.

To the audience’s surprise, Song in a black dress performed a hip-hop version of her signature piece, Spice Girls, with a band called Cut Time from the United States. When singing the Dragon Boat Tune, a folk music from her hometown Hunan Province, Song greeted the audience in Hunan dialect, which brought a tremendously enthusiastic response from her audience. Song was deeply moved to tears amidst hearty acclamation from the audience.

Song Zuying and Jay Chou, impressive blending of pop and folk music

The most anticipated part for local fans came when Chinese pop singer Jay Chou showed up in a flashy red suit to perform a duet The Folk Song is just like the Spring River with Song. Chou also played Zheng, an ancient Chinese instrument with 25 strings while singing a solo, Chrysanthemum Terrace. The audience screamed out when the music of Thousands of Miles Apart was played. A screen on the stage unfolded itself to show Song dressed in pink princess-like dress with peony headwear, which complemented well with Chou’s pop style outfit with Chinese elements.

Lang Lang joined Song Zuying on the stage

The collaboration of world-class young pianist Lang Lang and Song Zuying is quite a spectacle to the audience. Zhu Jun, the host of the concert hailed the pair by saying that “the two most wonderful kinds of sound blend well with each other to create an even more wonderful acoustic experience”. As the first artist to stage a solo vocal concert at the Bird’s Nest, Song was very excited and emotional. She gave her sincere thanks to her special guests and the audience, and sang a new piece of song Gratitude with tears in her eyes.

When Placido Domingo took the stage, he sang with Song a duet Kangding Love Song, a folk song originates in Kangding of Sichuan Province southwest China. Young pianist Lang Lang accompanied the pair on the piano. Domingo also sang a solo Granada. Despite his 74 years, Domingo still enchanted the audience with his tonal beauty and impeccable voice.

The pair then sang The Flame of Love, the theme song of the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, as a remembrance of their collaboration last summer in the Bird’s Nest and a celebration for their reunion this time.

While performing the last piece of the concert Auld Lang Syne, Chou first played a duet with Lang Lang on a crystal piano, and then sang alongside Song and Domingo. The piano duo and the three different styles of singing, supplemented with the orchestra accompaniment, pushed the concert to the climax and kept the audience spellbound and didn’t want to leave as the curtain dropped. (Source: Sohu Entertainment)