18 years after death, Taiwan singer wows audience at concert

Eighteen years after her death, Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng appeared at a live concert in Taipei Friday, a tech site reported Saturday.

Teng did not exactly come back from the dead to wow 15,000 fans at Taipei Arena—rather, it was a virtual likeness of her, Computer Graphics World reported.

Production house Digital Domain 3.0 created the computer-generated likeness of Teng, a popular singer who died in 1995, to perform at pop star Jay Chou’s “Opus 12” shows.

CGW said the virtual Teresa Teng was slated to appear again at Chou's shows this weekend.

It noted Digital Domain, founded in 1993, has been credited for delivered innovative visuals movies including "Iron Man 3," the "Transformers" trilogy, and "Titanic."

"Digital Domain's work is a wonderful tribute to Teresa. It gives her long-time fans a chance to see her perform again and it brings Teresa's music to a whole new generation, through Jay Chou's show and songs," said Teresa Teng Foundation Chairman Frank Teng, the late singer's brother.

CGW said the Teresa Teng Foundation worked on the CG project as a tribute to her.

Also, Hong Kong company Sun Innovation suggested having Digital Domain 3.0 create the virtual Teresa Teng for the Foundation.

Chairman Teng spent weeks with the artists at Digital Domain, "guiding them on expressions, physicality and mannerisms to get the digital likeness to look and perform just like his sister," CGW said.

"Chairman Teng's guidance was invaluable. When friends and relatives get involved it's no longer a project, it's family. Our goal was to honor Teresa Teng—as a singer and as a person. If her family and fans feel that her personality came through in the performance then we did our jobs," said Digital Domain Visual Effects Supervisor and Animation Director Steve Preeg.

Huge response

For his part, Virtual Teresa Teng and Jay Chou Digital Domain 3.0 CEO Daniel Seah said, the "huge, positive response to 'Virtual Teresa Teng' in Taiwan demonstrates the global appeal of this type of entertainment."

"We are honored to have had the opportunity to apply Digital Domain's creative leadership to honor an artist as beloved as Teresa Teng and look forward to bringing new experiences of iconic performers to fans all over the world," he said. — VC, GMA News