La creme de la Kim

Good-humoured diva Jennifer Kim made a comeback to the stage last weekend with a fun-filled and memorable concert.

The three hours of “45 Years of Jennifer Kim: the Last Concert before Menopause” at the Royal Paragon Hall were full of beautiful music, colourful dance performances and laughter.

Different stage sets made the concert feel like a musical play and kicked off in the singer’s childhood days in Chinatown before segueing into the later stages of her singing career.

Kim sang many Thai, Chinese and English songs, most of them covers. Despite a career that spans more than two decades, much of it entertaining in the city’s night spots, she has released only two albums.

She told an audience of about 5,000 on Sunday night that surviving as a singer at these venues required an ability to cover several different genres, from luk thung (Thai country folk) and songs-for-life to pop and Western ballads. It was an experience she valued, Kim added, as the skills assimilated during those years were now her biggest strength.

While Kim often joked about her looks, to her fans, they are unimportant. Her voice has long been her most valuable asset, in addition to a sense of humour and the temperament of a good entertainer. She covered the songs in her style and with her rhythm. Her vocals were powerful and  her renditions both sweet and melodious.

The songs performed during the concert underlined Kim’s talent for multiple genres. They included the Western pop classics “I Who Have Nothing” “Right Here Waiting”, and “Can’t Fight the Moonlight”.

She also sang a number of Chinese songs, including “Mei Hua” (“Plum Blossom”) by the late Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng, who she described as her idol and the theme songs of two popular Hong Kong TV series from the 1980s – “The Shell Game” and “Reincarnated”, known in Thailand as “Kom Chuean Kom” and “Krabi Rai Thiem Than”, respectively.

She mesmerised the audience with her renditions of Thai classics “Chua Fah Din Salai” (“For Eternity”), “Pieng Kham Diew” (“Just One Word”), and “Rak Kham Khob Fah” (“Love Beyond the Horizon”).

Among the newer pop songs performed were “Kuen Sud Thai” (“Last Night”), which she devoted to her former love, “Yak Yud Wela” (“I Want to Stop the Time”), the theme song from the blockbuster “Pee Mak Phra Khanong”, as well as songs-for-life singer Pongsit Kampee’s “Talod Wela” (“All the Time”).

Kim also covered some hits that her fans could sing along with, including “Klaii Kae Nai Kue Klai” (“No Matter How Far, It’s Near”), “Kham Athitthan Duay Namta” (“Making a Wish with Tears”), and “Khon Thook Thing” (“The Abandoned One”).

She duetted with her guests, including Ben Chalatit on “If I Ain’t Got You”, veteran actress and model Penpak Sirikul in “Chan Loey Okay” and singer/actor Porsche Saran in “Yak Pen Khon Nan” (“I Want to Be That Person”).

Her favourite saxophonist and close friend Koh Mr Saxman, who she jokingly described as “not my husband but better than one”, helped spice up the show an impressive performance. Kim was backed throughout the show by the Takeshi Band and three chorus singers, in addition to a group of dancers.

The final section of the concert was perhaps the most memorable, with Kim joined on stage by Koh Mr Saxman and composer Nim Seefah for “Kid Thueng Ther Thuk Thee Thi Yoo Khon Diew” (“Missing You Every Time I Am Alone”)..

She closed out the show with “Mai Yom Mod Wang” (“I Do Not Give Up Hope”), the theme song from TV’s “Muang Maya: The Series 2” and tearfully waved farewell as fans burst into loud and long applause.