Kit Chan’s 25th anniversary showcase: a sassy walk down memory lane

There was a time for spouting witty remarks, a time for some major #throwback tales, as well as a time for blowing the audience out of the water with smooth-as-silk, pitch-perfect vocals at Kit Chan’s 25 Years On: A Time for Everything concert last night. And we enjoyed them all.

“I’m determined to relax today,” the 46-year-old singer declared near the start of the two-hour showcase held at the Esplanade Theatre. We’d say she succeeded, and we’re not just talking about the two - yes, just two - outfits she donned on stage: loose-fitting and utterly comfortable-looking (yet still stylish) getups that were a far cry from the elaborate gowns at her  Spellbound Homecoming gigs two years ago.

For starters, there were all those lengthy, entertaining chit-chat sessions she would go into every few songs, which ranged from sincere (“25 years is a long time, and I’m grateful for those who have been with me no matter when you joined me on my journey”) to sassy, like when when she commented on a slideshow of old pictures from her childhood to her various concerts, acting and musical gigs, and other activities.

“There is a time for everything, like those photos: there was a time when they looked good,” she deadpanned. “Some of those photos were not supposed to see the light of day, but you enjoyed it right? That’s okay. You bought tickets to this show so you should be happy, even though it’s at my expense, so I’m cool with that.”

Her light-hearted roasting of the crowd continued to pop up now and then all the way until it was nearly the end of the show. “Now I have to read out the list of people to thank, do you know what that means?” she asked. Feigning ignorance and refusing to accept reality, some audience members said no, to which Kit drily responded, “You guys don’t go to concerts.”

Kit Chan: 1. Kit Chan’s concertgoers: 0.

The showcase, being held in conjunction with her 25th anniversary in showbiz, was also a time for Kit to reminisce about the past and tell all kinds of “grandmother stories” (her words, not ours), including one about her going to Taiwan to develop her career at a time when it was not the “SOP” (standard operating procedure) to do so.

“I was that kid who was bent on wanting to move away from home so I was like, ‘Yay! I’m going to Taipei!’ but reality was different; it wasn’t so smooth-sailing,” she shared. “My parents worried that I would become bad, but instead, I became good - I learned to be independent and to appreciate my family more.”

She then spoke fondly of her foray into acting. “I loved Hong Kong shows, so I couldn’t believe I got to be in a TVB drama as a medical officer!” she gushed, referring to 2000’s Healing Hands II. “I speak Cantonese as home but it wasn’t so good, but it improved when I took on [musical] Snow.Wolf.Lake.”

About halfway through the programme, Kit took some time to graciously express her gratitude towards some of the multitude of people she has worked with, including songwriters Dr. Liang Wern Fook and Jimmy Ye, her team of stylists, managers and a group of “very important figures”: her personal assistants.

“Be nice to someone’s PA because they have a lot of power,” she quipped, before proceeding to list all the aides she’s ever had by name, in chronological order. “There aren’t that many because I’m a good boss.” We don’t doubt that claim for a second.

​Besides being cheeky, Kit also candidly addressed a couple of claims we didn’t think she’d touch, namely, her divorce from her husband of five years, as well as her six-year hiatus from showbiz.

“Some of you might know that I just ended a very long relationship last year,” she said, admitting that while it was difficult at first, she eventually learned to accept it, and it became the inspiration for one of the tracks on her newest album A Time For Everything, titled ‘Enjoy Loneliness’, which she proceeded to perform as a slideshow of photos from her recent European vacation played in the background.

For the latter topic, she harked back to the year 2004, when she decided to put her entertainment career on hold to pursue other interests (she went back to school and worked at a public relations company). “I said I was going on an indefinite break, but the media said I was retiring,” she said. “I don’t think I will ever retire because I love performing too much.”

Well, that’s certainly great news for fans. Guess we can already start looking forward to her 50th anniversary concert.