Society

Lisa Ono: Bossa Nova queen back in Beijing

(Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-03 13:45

BEIJING: Credited with popularizing Bossa Nova in Japan, Brazilian-born Lisa Ono is presenting her Winter Bossa Tour 2009 in China, playing in Beijing Saturday night. The concert is the second in the capital for Ono this year, after a disappointing showing at her January performance.

"I bought the most expensive ticket to see her show, but the attendance was only about one third. I felt so sorry," Yu Yan, a music fan who attended the January concert told. According to CRI online, the poor turn out was due to overpriced tickets and a large and cold venue, the National Olympic Sports Center.

"The best way to listen to Bossa Nova is to sit close to the performer," Ono said. Adding that the smaller Beijing Exhibition Theater for Saturday's performance will recreate the scene of an intimate café.

Born in Sao Paulo, Ono moved to Tokyo when she was 10. She started singing and playing the guitar when she was 15 and debuted as a professional Bossa Nova singer in 1989. She has performed with some of the world's leading Bossa Nova and Samba artists since and has released 24 albums to date.

Coming to fame in Japan after appearing in several TV commercials, Ono's music evokes calm images of a vast blue ocean, dancing shadows of coconut trees and cotton dresses of beautiful girls swaying in the breeze. Her sultry tones have won her international acclaim and helped popularize the genre in Japan.

Many Chinese fans became familiar with Ono after she wrote the score for Wong Kar-wai's In The Mood For Love and her song La Vie En Rose was picked for Feng Xiaogang's No Thief.

Ono's style of Bossa Nova has been labeled "chicken soup for the soul" after a letter sent to the 5th Jazzy Shanghai festival organizers described it as such. A fan said in the letter, "I was depressed after losing my shares on the stock market. Listening to Lisa's songs gave me the power to regenerate my life. Her music is the chicken soup for my soul."

This time around, Ono's China tour sees her head to cities she previously has not been to.

"I'm looking forward to the scenery and feeling the culture of each place. I went to Changsha for the first time the other day and it was a wonderful place, the greenery was beautiful." After Beijing Ono will hit Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Chongqing.