KUALA LUMPUR – Cathryn Lee, dubbed as “Malaysia’s piano goddess” lost her cool during a live performance in an online talk show called FaceTalk hosted by Andy Chan after receiving harsh comments from viewers.
Cathryn, who has 1.82M fans on Instagram, was invited to the show on Monday (March 8) and was asked to play the keyboard for the band’s live performance.
Initially, Cathryn declined the offer, saying that she needed to practice beforehand but eventually relented at the host’s insistence. While she tried her best to blend in, it was apparent that she was having a hard time doing so. Viewers then began to criticise her by saying she looked awkward and uninterested throughout the performance.
After performing the song “等你下课” by Jay Chou, Cathryn could bear it no longer and voiced out her discomfort over those remarks.
“They are criticising me! I didn’t come here to get scolded. They asked me why am I sitting here. Should I go offscreen instead?!”
The host tried reassuring her by advising her to pay no heed to such comments, but that did little to assuage her emotions.
You can watch the full video here and see how it all went down at 2:17:32 onwards.
The aftermath
After the incident, Cathryn posted a lengthy post on her Facebook profile explaining the reason for her meltdown.
“FaceTalk invited me for an interview session and the host told me it would just be a talk show. I committed to it despite having a heavy schedule, problems at home and being invited at such short notice. I only realised it was a live broadcast upon my arrival and was requested to play the keyboard out of a sudden.”
She said she usually does not perform for free and that her forte was classical music and not contemporary music. When she expressed her discomfort to the host, she claimed that they “forced” her to play the keyboard alongside them.
As for the criticisms levied against her, Cathryn felt that it was unfair of netizens to deem her pretentious or untalented.
“I don’t think this is a fair remark as I wasn’t given time to practice, not even 10 minutes. The band plays the song so often, and I found it very hard to blend in.”
Towards the end of the post, Cathryn apologised for her actions and pleaded with organisers to not do the same to other artists. “I tried my best to cooperate, even though I wasn’t given any notice in advance, but I ended up getting attacked. I can’t take it anymore. As an ordinary person, I have emotions too,” she wrote.
Her original post:
FaceTalk’s Facebook page admin posted a poem-like status in response, saying everybody has a right to form their own judgement.
Netizens were split over the incident, with some saying that Cathryn should be more thick-skinned as celebrities are not immune to criticism, while others opined that everyone has a breaking point and that it wasn’t easy for her to play the piece on the spot.
What do you think?
Sources: (FB/ Cathryn Lee, FaceTalk)
Editor: Raymond Chen
Proofreader: Sarah Yeoh
