Junkeer awes Colombo

Having attended the Engelbert Humperdinck and Cliff Richard concerts in Sri Lanka, I thought that Derrick Junkeer’s concert last Saturday at the BMICH was equal or better than those two international acts. The show was introduced by Vijaya Corea and the opening act was Rajitha, the lead singer of the band Misty, the backing band for the night. Then came Australian recording artists Kellie Smythe and Deborah Wilson. Kellie’s rendition of “Saving all my love for you”, the Whitney Houston classic was the closest to the original I have heard by any performer. This was followed by a song made famous by Olivia Newton-John “Hopelessly devoted” performed by Deborah. Again one of the closest renditions I have heard. The two performers kept the vibes high.

Having heard much of Derrick J’s music on radio and TV, I was not at all surprised to see a distinguished handsome man in a white suit storm onto the stage after a roaring introduction singing “Man without Love”, followed by “Release Me”. By the loud applause, one could see that Derrick had so early in the show captured the hearts of the packed audience at BMICH.

Looking relaxed, and friendly, he introduced the next song saying “let the lyrics of this next song do it for you”. It was ‘Unchained Melody’ sung with so much emotion that the audience was in awe. Then came a medley of songs by Engelbert such as “There goes my everything”, “Last Waltz”, and “Les Bicyclettes de Belsize”. Not only is he a great entertainer but his great sense of humour had him joking that Tom Jones manager was calling him on his mobile phone requesting Derrick to sing Tom Jones songs!

He kept the laughter rolling by relating funny experiences he had when he first arrived in Australia 35 years ago. The next song “I’ll never fall in love again” followed by “Love is in the air” brought the house down. As one began to think that the performance and entertainment could not get any better, Derrick performed another fabulous version of “I believe” and I felt he did it better than Tom Jones.

The second half saw Derrick come on stage, this time in a smart black suit singing a beautiful medley of songs by Michael Bouble’s “Sway”, Al Martino’s “Spanish Eyes” and Engelbert’s “Quando Quando”.

Then Derrick J educated many of the audience about the history of the song titled “O Sole Mio” originally written in 1898 and translated to English by Tony Martin in 1949 titled “There’s no tomorrow”. Hearing this recording, Elvis got the lyrics re-written and titled it “It’s now or never”. How about that for some trivia?

This song was combined with the Platters hit song “Only You”. Sharing a few moments with members of the audience, Derrick took a break and it was time for the Australian artistes to take over briefly till he returned to perform his version of “Dream Lover” and Black is Black”. Before his closing song, he thanked his main sponsor St. Joseph’s Sports Council and his promoter DK Promotions who have brought over many artists including Cliff Richard.

The grand finale was Sinatra’s “My Way” and while singing, Derrick walked over to the audience and shook the hands of as many audience members as he could. The appreciative audience applauded and screamed for more and Derrick returned to sing “Venus”. The audience still wanted more but due to time restrictions he could only do one encore. The show over, he was outside the hall to greet and thank the fans for their support, spending time to autograph his CDs and DVDs.

Though so talented and successful, Derrick J has not forgotten his roots and it was a delight to see him return to his motherland to perform for his fans.