Ex Energy Member Toro Says He Once Made A Driver Drop Him Off At A 5-Star Hotel So He Could Pretend He Was Staying There Instead Of A Nearby Budget Motel

You know you’re getting old when your favourite boy bands from the noughties are all taking turns to commemorate their decade-long anniversaries. 

Just like now-defunct Taiwanese group Energy, who recently celebrated the 20th year since their formation.

Energy has five original members, Chang Shuwei, Kunda Hsieh, Edy Hsiao, Milk Yeh and Toro Kuo. Toro and Milk left the band in 2003 and 2005 respectively and were replaced by Xiao Gang who joined the band in mid-2007.

Though the band never officially disbanded, in 2009, Energy announced that its members would go solo.

On Tuesday (Jul 12), Toro, 40, who has since left showbiz to start his own media company, posted a nine-minute-long black and white video, where he is seen walking along a beach. He also raps, or what we think sounds like rapping, about what he went through over the past two decades.

Recalling how the group propelled to fame and held their first concert just 40 days after making their showbiz debut, Toro said: “Kids don’t understand adults, so we started revolting. The adults don’t understand kids too, and decided to split the group up.” 

He also took the chance to diss his former competitors: “5566, F4, 183[club], Lollipop, Mayday, Fahrenheit, saying those lines that they haven’t even digested themselves, and think they’re donning a crown. They can’t act yet dominated the TV stations, yet many people still watch those dramas.” 

Toro then went on to talk about how he moved behind-the-scenes and started investing in other bands, only to get told off by a junior. 

“You think you’re accomplishing things, but actually you’re just playing,” he reiterated what the junior said to him.

And it seems like Toro wasn't able to shake off his Energy 'past' after leaving the group.

“When I went to Hongkong to follow some big bosses, I started those days of networking and drinking till I puked. When I go to KTVs to socialise, I had to play Fang Shou [Energy’s hit song] to ridicule myself.”

Toro said he later learnt that having powerful backers is more important than creativity, and that he realised he "isn’t the only genius around”.

"I once pretended that I was living in a five-star hotel in Beijing and asked someone's chauffeur to send [me and my team] there. We wandered about in the lobby and made sure that the chauffeur had left before secretly walking to the budget motel next door," he added.

He also spoke about his love life, confessing: “In the past 10 years I’ve changed partners one after another. But I’ve also once questioned whether I love guys or girls."

In the video, Toro also addressed the possibilities of an Energy reunion.

“There’s an image, one that you’d wish to see, I want to fulfil it more than you guys do, but in 2022 I've also become more open-minded,” he said

The last time the band met up was during Kunda's wedding with actress Alice Ko in 2018. Toro, however, was MIA that day.

Photos: Shi Tou/Facebook

But in case you're wondering how Toro has been keeping up, this was him when he was spotted at a bar in Taipei’s Eastern District by Hongkong media Apple Daily two years ago.

Yeah we know, he doesn't look quite the same...

Photos: Shi Tou/Facebook, 8world, Appledaily