The pretty gals sang and danced their way back into the hearts of Malaysians at the Twins Live In Malaysia 2012 concert.

CANTOPOP duo Twins played its comeback show to a packed hall of 5,000 adoring fans at Genting’s Arena Of Stars last Saturday night.

The Hong Kong-based pair performed 30 of its Cantonese and Mandarin hit songs in two hours and even shared cute snapshots from its 10 years in show business.

Formed in the summer of 2001, Twins in made up of Gillian Chung, 31, and Canadian-born Charlene Choi, 29.

It has been more than six years since they last performed in Malaysia as a duo. Thanking Malaysians for their continous support, the girls declared that they were excited to be performing here again.

Boy’z – made up of Steven Cheung (left) and Kenny Kwan – is the masculine counterpart of Twins.

The controversy-plagued pair went on a long hiatus after Chung’s headline-grabbing photo scandal involving Canadian-born “bad boy”, singer-actor Edison Chen, in 2008 and Choi’s divorce from Hong Kong singer-actor Ronald Cheng in 2010 after a secret marriage in 2006 in Los Angeles.

Choi is now dating Hong Kong singer-actor William Chan, former member of Sun Boy’z.

Even the last time Twins played in Genting in 2006 resulted in a photo scandal that rocked Hong Kong. Chung was photographed in a changing room adjusting her bra and the picture appeared on the cover of Hong Kong tabloid magazine, Easy Finder.

The magazine eventually had to stop publication after it lost an appeal to an obscenity ruling following protests by various Hong Kong celebrities, led by Jackie Chan, the big brother of Chinese entertainment.

Perhaps, Chung is still haunted by those unpleasant memories as she appeared uneasy next to a vivacious Choi. Plus, it didn’t help that she slipped and fell while doing cartwheels during an earlier show in Guangzhou, China.

She took the extra precaution of wearing black tights, while her bandmate confidently sashayed about bare-legged under all her wispy skirts.

Diehard fans arrived early to practise fan chants and lent their support by flashing glowing placards and waving colourful glowsticks and clappers. The crowd took time to fill up the concert venue as there was a massive traffic jam due to thick fog caused by the evening showers and temperatures dipping below 15°C.

Overcoming opening jitters, the girls made their entrance wearing dazzling silver capes and super-spiky black crowns. Their fans roared with excitement as they started off with songs like Ngo Mun Dik Gei Nim Caak (Our Souvenir Album), Nei Gong Nei Ngoi Ngo (You Say You Love Me) and Yit Long Ga Kei (Summer Holiday).

The gals of Twins put on a lively and colourful show last Saturday night at Genting’s Arena Of Stars.

As the night progressed, the girls fared better with the up-tempo songs like Sam Ba Wong Hau (Samba Queen) and Yan Yan Dan Hei (Everybody Bounce Up). Accompanied by half a dozen backup dancers, they mesmerised the crowd with their girlish charm and fluorescent sticks.

After 10 songs, the two went backstage for a costume change, leaving the audience to entertain themselves with a singalong as the lyrics for Ha Yat Jam Tin Hau (Next Stop, Diva) scrolled down the screen in large pink characters.

They soon returned playing cheerleaders dressed in sporty costumes, prancing about with their dancers, who even hoisted them up to form a human pyramid.

Luck did not favour Chung as her long hairpiece came loose after a spot of vigorous dancing and Choi had to help her take it off until their stylists came on stage to reattach it.

Choi even joked, “Look at that. She’s been dancing so much that her extensions have come off.”

The guest performers for the night were Kenny Kwan and Steven Cheung of Boy’z. Formed in 2005 as the male counterpart to Twins, the visibly bulked-up duo sang with the girls before giving a rousing account of themselves with their latest dance-pop single Ready To Go.

Then, Twins took to the stage again in black and white gowns with long trains that made them look like bizarre brides right out of a Tim Burton movie.

The screens played messages of support from top Hong Kong celebrities like Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Hacken Lee, Nicholas Tse, Wong Cho Lam, Niki Chow and Pal Sin.

Many expected the duo to sing Si Do Be Lei Ping Gwo Chang (Strawberry, Apple, Orange) – one of their more memorable and catchier hits. Instead, they entertained with their Mandarin songs Xing Guang You Le Yuan (Starlight Amusement Park) and Xiao Jiu Wo (Little Dimples).

With even grown men yelling for an encore, the duo were compelled to roll out double encores, with crowd favourites like Luen Ngoi Dai Go Tin (Love Is Greatest) and Tin Hau (Diva).

Smiling broadly, Choi exclaimed, “It’s the first time we’re doing a second encore. We’ve never done this at any of our previous stops. We usually leave right after singing the last song.”

● The Twins Live In Malaysia 2012 concert was organised by Star Planet and presented by Celcom. The duo’s 10th anniversary World Tour concert began last year with gigs in Hong Kong, followed by Guangzhou and other parts of China, Connecticut (the United States) and Toronto (Canada).

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