“At My Age, I Better Cover Up,” Chen Xiuhuan On Not Competing With Younger Stars In Their Mini-Skirts & Crop Tops For Her Blackpink Dance Performance

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Blackpink in your area? More like Chen Xiuhuan in our area. 

On Sunday (Oct 22), the 58-year-old actress took the President's Star Charity stage by storm when she danced to Blackpink's 'Boombayah' with fellow veteran stars Pan Lingling, 53, and Aileen Tan, 57.

The performance also featured Hazelle Teo, 29, Denise Camillia Tan, 30, Kayly Loh, 35, Tay Ying, 27, Bintang Cinta Endang and Dhivyah Raveen.

Netizens have praised Xiuhuan, Aileen and Lingling for their performance and for holding their own against their much younger colleagues.

Xiuhuan was also complimented for having "groove" and for looking absolutely "stunning".

When 8days.sg got on a call with Xiuhuan, she said she was very "surprised" by how well-received their dance was.

Especially considering how unprepared she felt since they only had three rehearsals before the actual performance. 

"Recently I've been on morning call for Sunny Side Up, which means I had to wake up at 5am. When I go for the dance rehearsals, it's about 7pm to 10pm already. By then I'm brain dead already and I cannot remember anything," she recalled.

"When our choreographer Ronnie taught us the moves, I felt like I couldn't do it. I really couldn't remember the steps and I've never danced to K-pop before. I was actually very scared," she added.  

She then asked the coach to record a video of the moves in slow-mo. "I really catch no ball and I didnt know what they were doing so I told him to record something really slow so i could practise at home," laughed Xiuhuan, 

She gave herself three full days to learn the moves.

"Every day I would wake up at 6am and practise for at least an hour. I felt more comfortable after knowing the steps," she said. 

She also managed to get some help from her eldest daughter Shanisse Tsai, 24, who is a doctor but had learnt dance in school. 

"The morning before the show, she watched my videos and I could tell I was uncoordinated," said Xiuhuan.

"She told me: "Mum, you cannot get it wrong" so she taught me." 

Xiuhuan said she was so stressed about the dance, she stopped talking. 

"During the training and the three days of rehearsals, I didn't talk and smile because I thought I wasn't able to do the dance well," said Xiuhuan, adding that she finally could talk again after the performance.

Ling Ling and Aileen, on the other hand, were "more chill".

"They kept telling me not to be nervous. Aileen said: 'It's for charity, it's okay if you got your steps wrong, just relax'."

Xiuhuan also felt a tad insecure about performing with the younger stars.

"When I saw them I thought: "Wow, these young girls, they dance so well and are so pretty. When they wear shorts, they look so good"," she laughed.  

She even asked for an outfit change because she felt that she "couldn't compete with the young girls".

"The first rehearsal I wore a dress with boots. When I saw a playback of it, I knew I couldn't wear something that showed my legs. When you're young and pretty, the amount of collagen you have in your body is different. So I requested for a jumper because I felt that at my age, I better cover up," giggled Xiuhuan.

"I'm so glad I didn't wear the dress. You see the young girls in their mini skirts and crop tops... They look so good! I cannot compete with them (laughs).”

Photos: Chen Xiuhuan/Instagram, meWATCH

Catch Xiuhuan's performance at the President's Star Charity 2023 on meWATCH.