Chan a kick in vocal performance

Monday, April 12, 2004 | 8:18 a.m.

English subtitles would have been nice.

"I apologize," Jackie Chan spoke briefly to the few non-Chinese-speaking members of the audience at his weekend concert, "but tonight we perform only in Chinese and Cantonese."

But one doesn't necessarily have to speak Chinese to appreciate the vocal prowess of Chan, an international superstar who rose from a life of poverty to untold wealth while risking life and limb in spectacularly choreographed martial arts films.

The "Jackie Chan & Friends Charity Concert" Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena was all but sold out. There were only a few empty seats in the 12,000-seat venue.

The proceeds from the weekend concert will go to the Jackie Chan Foundation. During the event, Chan received a donation from the MGM Grand of $100,000.

In 1988 the action-star established the foundation in his native Hong Kong. The organization supports a wide variety of causes, including such things as cancer research, help for children and elderly and the environment.

Chan left his martial arts at home for the event, focusing instead on his skills as a vocalist and on the talented cast of co-stars who shared the spotlight.

Among the popular Asian performers joining Chan were Johnny Sham, Nat Chan, Johnathan Lee, Jeff Change, Sky Wu, Bobby Chen, Winnie Hsin, Tarcy Su, Pin-Yuan Huang and Kenny Bee.

The concert began 20 minutes late, but no one seemed to mind after Chan began walking down an aisle of the auditorium, singing (in Chinese), waving and brandishing his ever-present smile.

There is a charisma about Chan that transcends language barriers.

His demeanor is so positive, his personality so likeable that whether you understand his every word is irrelevant.

Chan was backed by a 12-piece band that included the usual guitars, drums and keyboards, as well as an "er-hu," a traditional Chinese two-stringed violin.

He sang two songs as he casually walked around the circular stage, like a strolling minstrel, and then brought out guest artists.

Chan sang a duet with each vocalist, and then left the stage to leave the guest performer to entertain the audience on his own.

His fans loved him, even though he is more of a screen actor than a stage performer. His lack of finesse while singing did not matter. He was having a good time, and his enjoyment crossed the footlights and carried to the audience.

Those in the attendance included hundreds of members of the Jackie Chan Fan Club, who traveled from all over the country to see their hero perform.

Most of those fans may be familiar with the breadth of Chan's talent, but those who know him only for his remarkable stunts in movies might not know that he not only acts, writes, does death defying stunts, produces and directs -- but he is also an accomplished singer with a dozen or so albums under his belt.

Chan, who turned 50 on Wednesday, entered the China Drama Academy at the age of 7. For 10 years he studied mime, dance, acrobatics, martial arts and voice.

Chan's first public performance while attending the academy was at the age of 17 in an opera, "Seven Little Fortunes." The seven leads in the production were loaned by the academy to a Chinese film company to appear in a film.

From that film, Chan developed a reputation as an incredible stuntman.

In 1971 he performed stunts in two of the legendary Bruce Lee's films, "Fist of Fury" and "Enter the Dragon."

Since then Chan has made dozens of films. He first came to the attention of audiences in the United States in 1995's "Rumble in the Bronx."

Because of the spectacular nature of most of Chan's films, one would have thought he would have had a production filled with awesome stunts and special effects. But fans of his exciting films had to be content with a few pyrotechnics -- flames shooting straight up from some pipes; a shower of sparks; some fog.

While Chan may not have performed his signature martial arts stunts, he kicked butt as a singer.