Cai Fenghua - Absolute Emptiness - Music Box
Singer: Tsai Feng-hua Record Label: CBS/SONY
Publication date: 1986
Executive Producers: Leung Siu-keung, Choi Fung-wah
01. Absolute emptiness
02. So what if it is?
03. A sudden burst of light
04. Day and night
05. Cannot be changed
06. Without you
07. No? Oh no!
08. The End of Love
09. What is the price of love?
10. Perhaps
On August 3, 1985, TVB held the awards ceremony for the second quarter of its "Jade Solid Gold" competition. Leslie Cheung's songs "Unruly Wind," "I'm Willing," and "Girl's Heart" all won awards. At the time, Leslie Cheung was holding the second show of his "Summer Hundred Jazz Concert" at the Hong Kong Coliseum. TVB specially arranged for Tang Lai-ying to go to the concert to present the awards and broadcast the event live. After performing his three winning songs, Leslie Cheung also sang Choi Fung-wah's unsuccessful song, "Love Is Not a Game." Choi Fung-wah, who was hosting the Jade Solid Gold Awards ceremony at the time, said with emotion: "I really want to say a few words here, because for a singer, winning or not winning an award doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter that my own song 'Love Is Not a Game' didn't win an award, but I really hope that as a singer, I can appreciate other people's songs and my own songs equally. I just saw Leslie Cheung's concert, and I would also like to sincerely congratulate Leslie Cheung on winning three Top Ten Songs of the Second Season, but momentary glory is not necessarily eternal..." Before he could finish speaking, he was suddenly interrupted by his co-host, Lo Man-yee.
Choi Fung-wah's final statement, "Momentary glory is not necessarily eternal," caused an uproar, widely interpreted as a veiled reference to Leslie Cheung. The media's over-interpretation fueled the "gaffe" incident, nearly bringing Choi Fung-wah to ruin; he was subsequently removed from his position as host of "Jade Solid Gold."
In 1980, Choi Fung-wah released his debut solo album, *How to Tell You*, and co-hosted the music program *Beautiful Notes*. His 1981 album, *Youth Trio*, included his composition "Beautiful Shadow," a song with a beautiful melody and elegant imagery that won the 4th Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award. Two years later, Choi Fung-wah's rendition of "Why Did We Ever Meet?" was selected for the 6th Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award, catapulting him to fame as a rising star on par with Leslie Cheung and Danny Chan.
In 1986, Choi Fung-wah released his eighth album, "Absolute Emptiness," which was co-produced by Leung Siu-keung and Choi Fung-wah. This was Choi Fung-wah's first time serving as a producer.
The title track, "Absolute Emptiness," is an adaptation of "Only You," composed by Kosei Mizutani and originally sung by Yuki Matsumura. This previously unknown Japanese song was transformed by Choi Fung-wah's rendition, becoming a household name and propelling his singing career to new heights. Lam Chun-keung cleverly uses a lounge setting, with the song "the one you used to hum" playing in the nightclub, to evoke a sense of loss and regret.
"Sudden Radiance" was composed by Li Yasang and written by Lu Guozhan. The line "But a moment of brilliance / may not be eternal" in the lyrics continues Cai Fenghua's feelings and encourages him to get out of his troubles as soon as possible.
"The End of Love" and "What is the Price of Love" are two works composed by Cai Fenghua. "What is the Price of Love" was an entry in the "International Youth Year Hong Kong Popular Song Composition Invitational Competition". The song was originally titled "Song of Love" and was included in the compilation album "Peace Shuttle Hong Kong Popular Song Composition Invitational Competition".
Tsai Fung-wah covered "Maybe" from Kenny Ho's 1984 album of the same name. This once-hidden gem, composed by Bobby Da and with lyrics by Lam Chun-keung, was revived by Tsai Fung-wah and rediscovered by music fans.
The "gaffe" incident brought Choi Fung-wah a lot of trouble, but it did not break him. Choi Fung-wah proved himself with his strength. Although he did not succeed in becoming a top-tier superstar, he brought countless classic songs to music fans and became an indispensable representative of the Hong Kong music scene in the 1980s.
From March 12 to 16, 1986, Choi Fung-wah held the “Choi Fung-wah '86 Concert” at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.