Fei Xiang

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Fei Xiang as Emcee in the musical Cabaret.

Fei Xiang (born Kris Phillips on December 24, 1960; Traditional Chinese: 費翔, pinyin: Fèi Xiáng) is a Taiwanese-American pop idol and musical singer. Born in Taiwan to an American father and a Chinese mother, Fei Xiang spent his childhood in Taipei. His eight albums produced during early 1980s for EMI and PolyGram launched hit singles in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. His rise to fame on mainland China came almost instantaneously from his performance at the 1987 CCTV New Year's Gala, an action that was met with great protest by the Taiwan government. Eight subsequent albums produced in People's Republic of China from 1986 to 2002 have made him a pop idol of the country.

In 1991, Fei Xiang extended the range of his performances to Broadway, taking a role in the musical Miss Saigon. Under his English name Kris Phillips, he has performed as a soloist in The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. In this concert with full orchestra, he has starred with Sarah Brightman and Elaine Paige, performing highlights from The Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Sunset Boulevard.

In 2006, Fei Xiang starred in the musical Cabaret in Singapore.

[edit] Names

Kris Phillips is the performer's real name. He was named "Kris" as he was born on Christmas Eve. His Chinese name was formulated by translating "Phillips" to Fei and adding Xiang as a given name to result in a pun of "flying" in Chinese (飛翔, pinyin: fēi xiáng). Other variations due to different transliteration practices are Fei Tsiang, Fei Cheung and Fei Hsiang.