Tokyo – Former pop idol Noriko Sakai, who fell spectacularly from grace after being arrested on drugs charges, is a rare breed in Japan: a female celebrity who has suffered public humiliation and survived.

The swift demise of mixed-race sweetheart Becky over an alleged affair with a married man recently highlighted Japan’s harsh treatment of women in the entertainment business, but Sakai insisted that redemption is possible – for those with thick skin.

“I don’t like losing,” the 45-year-old told AFP in an interview.

“I used to play softball at school. It was very tough pulling tyres around the schoolyard in winter (for training). If you made a mistake you would get a slap across the face, it was different to how it is today.

“It was very spartan,” added Sakai, who is set to embark on an Asian tour to mark a new mini album and celebrate 30 years in pop. “It toughened me up for later life, gave me that tenacity.”

Sakai, who two decades ago cultivated a sweet, girl-next-door image similar to Becky’s brand, was given a suspended jail sentence in 2009 for using illegal stimulants.

Her comeback, following a three-year hiatus, was little short of remarkable in a country which wants its female entertainers not only to entertain, but to be squeaky clean – not elegantly wasted.

A native of Fukuoka in western Japan, Sakai has just returned from Taiwan, where the singer-actress was greeted at the airport by hundreds of fans and around 50 television crews and media.

“I got a taste of what it feels like to be Lady Gaga,” she laughed. “I didn’t expect an amazing welcome like that. I’m very grateful my fans have stayed with me and I’ve been able to have such a long career.”

Becky, a half-British singer in the Katy Perry mould, regularly appeared on several television shows, in multiple commercials and was adored by millions – until a leaked text message from the star to her alleged lover found its way into the Japanese tabloids and a 15-year career ended in tears.

Her plight is not a first in Japan, where a female performer’s stock can quickly plummet if she suddenly becomes “unavailable” to male fans.

Teeny-bopper Minami Minegishi, a former member of Japan’s most popular girl band AKB48, famously shaved her hair off – a traditional act of contrition in Japan – after being photographed leaving her boyfriend’s home in 2013.

“In some respects it’s tougher for a woman,” said Sakai.

“But if you make a mistake in Japan, and not necessarily just women, people judge you to the bitter end.

“They will dig up a mixture of fact and fiction. It’s like a kind of group bullying, it’s quite spiteful,” she added.

“It’s contagious, like when a pupil makes a mistake at school – that pupil is made to feel totally alone and they parade them around until they break down completely. I wonder if it’s really necessary to go that far.”

The media vitriol ended Becky’s career, but her alleged boyfriend, a married male pop singer, suffered no such backlash.

“What disgusts Japanese people about what Becky did was how she continued to lie about the affair,” said celebrity psychologist Yoko Haruka.

“She carried on pretending to be a sweet girl. But when her lying was exposed, she became persona non grata,” Haruka added.

Sakai shot to fame in 1986, when she went by the nickname ‘Nori-P’ and sang songs with lyrics such as “sweet couple, pee-pee! Woo be popple, pee-pee!”

Less sugar-puff and more street-wise thirty years on, Sakai believes that Japan has turned a corner with regard to the thorny issue of sexual equality.

“I think it has improved,” she said. “Although I’ve never worked in an office so I can’t speak for women working alongside men in companies.

“But every family has a strong woman running it. And if you look at Japan as a metaphor for the family, things can only improve the stronger women become.”

Madonna fan Diane Chan paid $388 for her ticket to the singer’s first concert in Singapore on Sunday at the National Stadium. But she could not make out what the star was saying most of the time and could barely see her either.

“From where I sat, the sound was horrible,” says the 43-year-old marketing director, who was seated up in the stands. “There was too much echo and a lot of the time, I could not make out what Madonna was saying. I knew before going to the show that my seat was not near the stage, but I didn’t expect the video screens that zoomed in on her to be so small either.

“The fans in the standing section near the stage seem to be only ones enjoying themselves.”

Indeed, while many of her fans were happy that Madonna finally put on a show in Singapore, there were plenty more like Ms Chan who felt like the concert left much to be desired.

Apart from the complaints about the venue’s bad sound quality, which also plagued other concerts there, fans also said they could barely see their idol – because the jumbo video screens on stage were not jumbo enough for the large venue and also because of ticketing and seating issues.

The tickets to the concert were among the most expensive for a concert held in Singapore, ranging from $108 to $1,288.

Dental surgeon Calvin Chin, who had flown to Taiwan to catch Madonna’s show there earlier this month, says the singer’s set there was much better than the Singapore stop, and not just because the Taiwan show was “unadulterated”, featuring songs and segments banned here.

“I feel that the sound and view in Taiwan was better because it was a smaller and closed venue, rather than the National Stadium, which was much bigger,” says the 36-year-old, who paid $188 for his ticket.

Madonna performs first-ever concert in Singapore

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The New Paper, The Straits Times, Zoe Tay’s Instagram, Zhou Chongqing’s Instagram, Jeanette Aw’s Facebook, Twitter

Madonna’s Taiwan show was held at an indoor venue, the Taipei Arena, which has a 15,000 capacity. The National Stadium can hold up to 55,000 but was less than half full for Madonna’s concert.

Music and marketing manager Low Seow Yee’s view of the concert was also less than desirable, but she did not mind it because the occasion was special.

Says the 37-year-old: “I bought $188 tickets in the standing pen and in normal circumstances and for any other artist, perhaps I would have demanded a better view.

“But this is Madonna, and I know how much a show like this can cost so I can understand. Ironically, I got a much better view when I went to the back and outside of the standing pen.”

Besides the sound and view, there were also ticketing kerfuffles that left many in a huff.

Last Friday, fans who had bought early standing tickets at $188 got upset when they found out that a new ticketing category was later added in front of where they were supposed to stand.

While the map on the ticketing page was altered to make it look like their segment has been pushed back, the organisers later explained that the map was “not drawn to scale” and that their position was unchanged.

On show day itself, scores of $288 ticket holders received last- minute text messages, informing them that their seats had been upgraded “due to a technical setup”.

Fans such as lawyer Stephen Ong, 40, who had paid $388 for their tickets, were irked by the move because the upgraded fans got better seats than him.

“I don’t think it’s fair and I’ve written in to the Sports Hub Tix to ask for a $100 refund. Why should I have paid more when those who paid less got upgraded to an even better section?”

The organisers did not respond to The Straits Times’ queries by press time.

Of course, none of those problems about sound, view and seating took away the fun for those who were near the stage, such as home-grown Mandopop star Stefanie Sun. She told The Straits Times that she was “very happy” with the concert.

Having performed her own show at the National Stadium during the 2014 Kepler World Tour, she said: “The sound system was a lot better today compared to my show.”

•Additional reporting by Anjali Raguraman

dinohadi@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 1, 2016.
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Fans at Madonna’s concert here on Sunday could only dream of being in Mr Syed Hamzah Alsagoff’s shoes that night.

The lucky man was the envy of the 25,000-strong crowd when he was pulled on stage midway through the two-hour set at the National Stadium.

Without missing a beat, he flaunted his best moves alongside the US Queen of Pop and her dancers as she belted her song Unapologetic Bitch.

He even got to do his own raunchy dance solo.

Mr Hamzah, 35, was on the receiving end of several naughty spanks to his bum, courtesy of the 57-year-old superstar. And he got a warm embrace from his idol before he returned backstage.

His five minutes of fame at the R18-rated show, in support of her 13th album Rebel Heart, was a “dream come true” and the highlight of his night.

The public relations executive had bought a Category 1 VIP ticket priced at $688 and had gone to the show with a friend.

The duo inched their way towards the VIP area in between songs to get closer to the stage.

Mr Hamzah told The New Paper: “When two people from Madonna’s team approached me, I tried very hard to maintain my composure.”When I cried, I was told: ‘Don’t do that.’ I composed myself and said I was okay.

“As a frequent concertgoer, I don’t think about being picked to go on stage. I was there just to have fun.”

Choreographer Joavien Ng said she had never seen Mr Hamzah as excited as he was that night.

“Sure, he is usually dramatic but that night, it was something else. He looked like he was really crying,” said the 42-year-old. “Both of us were just jumping up and down, and cheering loudly when he was picked.”

Mr Hamzah was taken backstage 15 minutes later.

He was given water and a towel to dry his sweat. He was also led to a fan to cool down before he was briefed on what to do on stage.

“I was told to walk with Madonna and then turn around so she could spank me. I was also told to do a freestyle dance which emphasised on twerking and sexy butt moves,” said the former dance instructor, adding that his list of instructions included “be present on stage”.

Before he joined Madonna on stage, Mr Hamzah took his place at an underground path at the front of the runway stage where he said some Malaysian and Hong Kong celebrities gave him tissue to dab his sweat.

MAN DOWN

When he finally took to the stage, he forgot his nerves and “let the beat of the music control my body”.

“I just pictured myself as Rihanna and channelled the vibe in her Man Down music video,” he said.

“I kept thinking, ‘I better not upstage Madonna’, but I don’t think that was even possible anyway.

“She is such a casual person and I was touched by the way she addressed me by name and made me feel comfortable.

“I just kept thinking, ‘Oh God, this is the most powerful person in pop culture.’ It took me some time to absorb what was happening.”

When Madonna poured the content of a banana-shape container onto Mr Hamzah’s face, some of it got into his eyes.

“It was probably vodka and tequila, my eyes stung,” he said.

“I know she told me to close my eyes but I was too excited. Some also dripped onto my hair.

“After the performance was over, I was led backstage and was attended to by medics to make sure I was okay and didn’t feel faint.”

He also handed over his T-shirt, which Madonna had praised during the show, in exchange for an autographed Rebel Heart T-shirt.

Mr Hamzah felt like he was in a daze the rest of the show. When it ended, fans went up to him to take photos with him.

Yesterday, his phone and Facebook inboxes were flooded with messages from friends as well as strangers.

Needless to say, he has no regrets attending his first Madonna concert.

“A friend once told me that you must do three things – see the Northern Lights, skydive and watch Madonna in concert – then you can die peacefully,” he said.

ashikinr@sph.com.sg

Madonna performs first-ever concert in Singapore

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The New Paper, The Straits Times, Zoe Tay’s Instagram, Zhou Chongqing’s Instagram, Jeanette Aw’s Facebook, Twitter

Madonna dances with HK star Eason Chan on stage, “kicks” his butt

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Facebook / Eason Chan, YouTube screengrabs

This article was first published on March 01, 2016.
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Chris Rock’s second stint as the host of 2016 Oscars has been generally well-received, but he has been widely panned for one segment involving children of Asian descent.

The segment saw Rock bring on stage three Asian children as PricewaterhouseCooper accountants, the firm that tallies the Oscars’ votes. Introducing the children, Rock said: “They sent us their most dedicated accurate and hardworking representatives. Please welcome Ming Zhu, Bao Ling and David Moskowitz.”

The joke played on the stereotype of Asian-Americans as a “model minority” who are diligent and excelled at maths, website Quartz reported.

Rock then continued by saying that anyone who was upset at the joke could tweet about it on phones “that was also made by these kids,” a punch line that was a reference to sweatshops and child labour in Asia.

See also: Five top moments of the 88th Oscars

88th Oscars red carpet

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AFP

The segment has met with criticism from various media outlets and online.

The Huffington Post wrote: “Here we have an unfortunate and outrageous case where a black comedian, in the midst of his crusade to skewer Hollywood for being racist and exclusionary towards people of colour, went on stage to millions of American viewers and made fun of three Asian children on the sole basis of their race.”

Actress Constance Wu called the joke the “antithesis of progress”. She tweeted: “To parade little kids on stage with no speaking lines merely to be the butt of a racist joke is reductive & gross.”

Basketball player Jeremy Lin also criticised the joke on Twitter, saying: “Seriously though, when is this going to change?!? Tired of it being “cool” and “ok” to bash Asians smh #Oscars.”

Meanwhile, an editorial in the Washington Post said that the joke highlighted “a lack of diversity in the lack of diversity”.

This year’s Oscars had been dominated by debates about lack of diversity in Hollywood. For the second year in a row, the 20 nominees across the four acting categories had all gone to white actors, giving rise to the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite on social media.

See also: Oscars 2016: Finally! Leonardo DiCaprio wins Oscar for Best Actor

As host, Rock won praise for his opening monologue in which he tackled the issue head on.

He welcomed guests to the “white People’s Choice awards”, and quipped: “You realise if they nominated hosts, I wouldn’t even get this job.”

However, the outspoken comedian also made barbs towards a number of black actors who had decided to boycott the ceremony in protest, namely Will Smith and his wife Jada.

“Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited!” he said. He also mocked her husband, saying: “It’s not fair, I get it. It’s also not fair that Will was paid US$ 20 million for Wild Wild West.”

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AFP, Reuters

The issue of diversity was also highlighted by Best Director winner Alejandro G Inarritu, who said in his speech: “What a great opportunity to our generation, to really liberate yourself from all prejudice and this tribal thinking and make sure for once and forever that the colour of skin becomes as irrelevant as the length of our hair.”

At the awards, actor Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his first Oscar for Best Actor after four previous failed attempts, while first-time nominee Brie Larson was named Best Actress.

Spotlight, the biographical film about the team of journalists who exposed the Catholic Church’s child sex abuse scandal, won Best Picture in a surprise result. It had been an underdog in the category, but beat favourite The Revenant to take home the night’s biggest prize.

See also: Fashion watchers dish on best, worst of Oscars red carpet

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AFP, Reuters

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