'I was bumped into the air off its back': Richie Jen shares scary experience when horse got spooked during filming of MV

SINGAPORE – Taiwanese singer-actor Richie Jen had a scary experience on horseback filming the music video for his new song Halftime. 

The 56-year-old crooner had to ride a horse on the beach with the wind in his hair.

“I usually ride motorbikes, which have some similarities to riding a horse,” Jen, who is known for his passion for competitive off-road motorbike racing, tells The Straits Times over the phone in Mandarin.

“But it was still pretty scary because the horse got spooked by the drone we were using to shoot, so it sped up suddenly midway through filming. I was bumped into the air off its back at some points.”

The track, composed by guitarist Monster of Taiwanese rock band Mayday, features lyrics about letting off steam in one’s middle age.

And Jen got a fellow middle-aged star to appear in the video alongside him – Singapore’s Christopher Lee, 51.

The Malaysia-born actor-host happened to be working in Taiwan at the same time filming was due to start on Jen’s music video. 

“Actually, we both played protagonist Yang Guo in (two separate drama adaptations of wuxia novel) The Return Of The Condor Heroes in 1998. We haven’t seen each other in a long time, but we’re about the same age and we have about the same amount of experiences in life. It’s a nice coincidence,” Jen recalls. 

Jen will be staging a concert at the Marina Bay Sands’ Sands Grand Ballroom on Saturday as part of his appropriately titled Miss You concert tour.

He says: “It’s my first time back to Singapore since the pandemic and I miss many things about it. I miss the street food, like kaya toast and satay, and the kind people as well.”

Jen’s first concert tour in three years comes after his long career got a boost via his participation in the second season of popular Chinese competition variety series Call Me By Fire (2022). It features a cast of experienced male celebrities competing to form a boy band.

Jen, who finished 11th, was among the oldest members of the show along with Hong Kong stars Alex To and Deric Wan. The show also starred Taiwanese singers such as Alec Su, Vanness Wu and Will Pan.

Asked if he was afraid of losing face if he did not perform well, he says: “Not at all. I just wanted to do my best. I was very lucky to have the chance, as a veteran, to meet a younger generation of performers, as well as people I haven’t had the chance to work with, and get to sing and dance with them. 

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“Some of the performances that this variety show staged – the budget, scale and concepts are also so good. It’s stuff I might not be able to achieve or try in my concerts, so it was a really good opportunity for me to try new things as well.”

Jen, who is married with two children, will soon be releasing a new album, which will feature Halftime. While he has fresh material in his arsenal, he says fans can still look forward to his signature hits at his upcoming gig. They include The Sad Pacific (1998), Look Over Here, Girl (1998) and Too Softhearted (1996).

“I don’t tire of them. Classics are classics because the songs’ emotions, melody and arrangement can stand the test of time,” Jen says.

“I take care to always sing them so that audiences will be moved by the emotions. That’s what makes a concert stay in the their memories – emotions, not visuals.”

Richie Jen Miss You Concert Live in Singapore

Where: Marina Bay Sands’ Sands Grand Ballroom, Level 5 Sands Expo & Convention Centre, 10 Bayfront Avenue
When: Saturday, 8pm
Admission: $128 to $268 via str.sg/wttN

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.