In a noodle shop in Tokyo, a karaoke bar in Hong Kong, or a bustling pub in Beijing, more than once I’ve mistakenly asked if a new friend has heard of a particular American pop star—Eminem, The Backstreet Boys or Shania Twain, etc., and my questions have been met with irritated looks of ‘are you an idiot?’ In every place I’ve traveled, from dusty roadside bus stops in rural Cambodia to the tops of mega-skyscrapers in Tokyo’s ritzy Ginza district, American pop culture is everywhere. (My newly acquired friends always say I look like various western pop cultural icons. I’ve been told I look like Tom Cruise, Nicholas Cage, and Mr. Bean among others…..hmmmm…..).

In the same noodle shops, karaoke bars, pubs, bus stops and skyscrapers, embarrassment arises when I can not name a single pop star from my new friend(s) country. Here…you try…name a Japanese movie star a la Tom Cruise, a Chinese singer a la Madonna, or a Hong Kong socialite a la Paris Hilton?

Right, me neither.

With the possible exception of Jackie Chan (who most Hong Kong people have a sort of love-hate relationship with) and Yo Yo Ma (who is actually French-born Chinese, I think) most Americans can not name a famous Chinese movie star or musician.
I decided I needed to fix this, at least for myself. So, I joined a few Hong Kong friends to see ‘Sammi’ live in concert.

While I understood exactly one song, You’ve Got A Friend In Me—the only song in English—I was treated to a concert that was more akin to a Broadway musical than any concert I’ve ever seen in the US. Sure there was music, audience sing-alongs, and guest appearances (including MC Yan, the guy attributed with bringing hip hop to Hong Kong….Hey Snoop Dogg, you think rhyming English is hard, try rhyming a language that has 9 tones that, if pronounced incorrectly, distinctly change the meaning of the word), but the crazy costumes (”crazy” does not quite capture the essence of her costumes), flying staging, pyrotechnics, and lighting put even a U2 show to shame.

I’ve included some photos for you to check this stuff out, keep in mind on the other side of the camera there were about 12,000 screaming, singing, and fainting Hong Kong fans.

Next time you’re in China, I’d put a Sammi concert on your to do list, fo’ shizzle.