Jackie Chan on Hong Kong

By Jackie Chan

I think my audience's first reaction to my music was, "Jackie Chan has a record?" They just couldn't believe it. But what could I do? I like to sing, so I always sing over the closing credits of my movies. The sound tracks always feature my voice. So people finally realized, "Wow, Jackie has a very good voice," and later on they just accepted that I was both an action star and a singer.

This year I'm working on a record on which I'll duet with a female singer from each Asian country. I've been planning on doing some duets with American singers, and I hope one day to sing with Barbra Streisand.

What matters is your voice. The Taiwanese audience really knows and respects the singer, and I like that. In Hong Kong all the young fans, no matter how talented the singer is, just scream and go crazy.

Right now I quite like Mandarin songs more than Cantonese songs. Mandarin songs are more touching and poetic. Hong Kong pop songs are just too direct and boring. Also, Hong Kong pop audiences are quite wild. In Taiwan they really listen--no matter how fat or pretty or handsome you are. No matter what you look like, it doesn't matter.

In Korea and Japan and the other countries I go to, all the young kids are into hip-hop--even the way they dress, the way they move and the way they shake hands; everybody likes that American style. American music is so powerful now.

--Reported by Alex Smith

With reporting by Alex Smith