A TORCH bearer for the Athens and the Beijing Olympics, a popular university teacher of Western music history and a self-taught pop singer, 45-year-old Liu Huan is in the spotlight once more.
This time, he’ll be facing a full house of 91,000 at the Bird’s Nest at the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday evening.
“The BOCOG invited me July 22 to sing the theme song with Sarah Brightman,” said Liu on Wednesday.
“We finished a recording of the song Monday,” he said, without elaborating, noting that the song was still a closely guarded secret.
Unlike most pop singers, most Chinese got to know Liu from TV dramas, as many of his works were created as the theme songs for screen dramas.
A French language major at the Beijing-based Institute of International Relations, the self-taught Liu won a college singing competition in both English and French in 1985.
The first TV theme song he sang was for the popular series “Undercover Police” back in 1986, one year after his graduation.
After that, he distinguished himself with the “Asian Mighty Winds” theme song for the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing performing with Chinese pop diva, Wei Wei.
His song, “Asking Myself a Thousand Times for That,” the theme for the popular drama “A Beijing Native in New York,” was No. 1 for 10 weeks on mainland radio stations in 1993.
In 1994, he performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall and received thunderous applause for his high-pitched voice.
“I’ve been listening to his songs since childhood. Even my parents are his fans,” said 21-year-old Wang Bo, a student at the Institute of International Relations in Beijing.
“His songs are so good. I couldn’t believe he is a self-taught singer,” Wang said. “I am really looking forward to hearing Liu on Friday. Even though I haven’t heard the song yet, I think it’s going to be an awesome song just like ‘Hand in Hand’ for the 1988 Olympics.”
The Beijing Olympics are not Liu’s first involvement with sports.
To support China’s bid for the 2000 Olympics in 1993, Liu and Wei sang “Good Luck Beijing” by Giorgio Moroder, one of the world’s best-known composers and author of theme songs for the 1984 Los Angles Games and 1988 Seoul Games.
Since then, Liu has sung at several National Games in China and at the Asian Games in 1990 and in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1994.
“He is experienced in singing theme songs for sport events. And, if necessary, he can sing in at least three languages — Chinese, English and French. He is one of the most respected and popular singers in the country. I cannot think of any Chinese more suitable to sing the theme song for this year’s Olympics,” Wang said.
Wang’s opinion was shared by many and BOCOG’s choice of Liu was no surprise for many Chinese.(Xinhua)