Taiwanese American heartthrob Leehom Wang performed “As Time Goes By” on Monday at the star-studded opening ceremony of the 2nd Beijing International Film Festival. (James Cameron and Jeremy Renner were reportedly both there; what will not be there over the six-day festival, however, are films that say anything interesting, as BJIFF was created last year by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television — China’s FCC, only with more power — a fact that the event’s website tries its best to hide.) All in all, Wang did a commendable job with Herman Hupfeld’s song — popularized by Dooley Wilson in Casablanca, of course — but in front of a national audience — the show was televised on CCTV-6 — he flubbed the famous line, “You must remember this, / A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh” (“The fundamental things apply / As time goes by”). He said “a smile is just a sigh.” Oops.
But, again, it was an otherwise impressive performance.
Let’s give it up for violinist Lu Siqing though. His performance was flawless, best that I can tell. Youku video for those in China after the jump.
[swoon~]