Stars in mega concert for Expo countdown

Around 40 stars and celebrities sang their hearts out on October 13 to fuel Expo fever and mark the 200-day countdown to the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

The concert at Shanghai Grand Theater was live broadcast worldwide through Dragon TV.

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Stars and celebrities included Andy Lau, one of Cantopop's "Four Heavenly Kings" from Hong Kong; Coco Lee, the first Chinese to perform for the Academy Awards; Tsai Chin, an "evergreen" ballad singer from Taiwan; pop singers Sky Wu, Vivian Hsu and Peter Ho; celebrities Li Bingbing and Huang Xiaoming; Super Girls Zhang Liangying and Shang Wenjie; as well as New Age singer and songwriter Sa Dingding, BBC World Music Awards winner in 2008.

They all sang Expo songs -- and some of their hits -- to stoke enthusiasm for the six-month event that opens on May 1, 2010.

"Better City, Better Life! Let's cheer for the Shanghai Expo. Best wishes for the countdown concert," said a message from NBA star Yao Ming, a Shanghai native who is one of the three ambassadors for World Expo 2010.

The other two envoys are Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan and internationally known pianist Lang Lang.

Over the past three years, 34 top Expo songs have been chosen from among 4,000 entries from China and overseas. Half of them were performed in the concert.

Taiwanese singer Ho and Hsu collaborated in "Say Hello With Smile," which features a fresh melody and rap style, to remind people to mind their manners.

The song "The Wing of Dreams" with a peaceful melody tells of China's dream of putting on a successful Expo. It was performed by Taiwan-based Singaporean singers JJ Lam and A-Do; By2, a Singapore-based twin girl band; and Chinese mainland singer Jin Sha.

Folk singer Sa combined world music and Chinese folk tunes in the song "Our Expo."

Taiwanese singer Chris Yu and mainland singer Qi Wei, a winner of the "My Show" singing competition, collaborated in "Shining City" written by a high school student.

"Smile Shanghai," written especially for the 200-day countdown, made its debut in the concert, performed by eight heavyweight pop singers -- Lau, Lee, Lam, the duo Yu Quan, Super Girl Zhang, Jam Hsiao and Cheer Chen.

Other songs performed included "Charming Shanghai" (sung by Guan Zhe), "Painted Heart" (by Zhang Liangying), "Better City, Better Life" (by Sky Wu), "Colorful World" (by the band Blue Garden) and "2010 Waiting for You" (by Gigi Leung).