Wong Jinglun wants to replace Show Luo as the Asian King of Dance

JJ Lin isn’t the only homeboy who’s having his homecoming this year, and Wong Jinglun is finally heading home to headline a big project – Musical TARU. The show is set in a museum in modern-day Singapore and features iconic historical characters resurrected from prehistoric times, including Cleopatra, who will be played by Taiwanese singer Freya Lim.

Jinglun will be starring in all of the 31 shows throughout the show’s run at Resorts World Sentosa, and admitted to Toggle in an interview last week that while it will definitely be a challenge – not just because of the sheer number of shows he has to perform in, but also because he’ll need to sing and dance in all of them – he’s more than ready to get down to work.

“I looked at our schedule and realised that we don’t have performances every day. How can we make it to 31 shows; does that mean that I’ll have to do three shows a day?” the 35-year-old chuckled. “But this isn’t important, because it’s my honour to be able to perform in so many shows.”

Adding that he is confident of being able to complete all the shows successfully, he continued that he will “do the best that I can”.

It’s not just his vocal chords that will be put to the test, as Jinglun let on that he has been hitting the gym more often in order to build up his stamina. Having previously suffered a leg injury, he had to stop all exercise for months, which has caused his dream of having an enviable six-pack to still be a work in progress.

Photos: Wong Jinglun/Facebook

“I’ve recovered now, and I’ve also been going to the gym more regularly as well. I’ve heard that swimming helps with building up your breathing capacity, so I’ll be doing that as well and hopefully my body’s condition will improve,” he explained.

Being on reality survival programme Taiwan NO.1 for the past few months has also helped him greatly in this department, as Jinglun professed to have had an “ineptitude for dance” prior to his intense training on the show.

“My teacher told me that my dancing has improved, and that I’ve been picking up choreography more quickly in recent days,” he shared with a huge smile. “Previously, my limbs couldn’t really coordinate and I couldn’t keep up with the beat, so having training in both dancing and singing at the same time has conditioned my body. I’m more relaxed now and this will definitely come in handy for this musical.”

Naming Jolin Tsai as his inspiration to continue working hard on his dance moves, he explained that she previously shared that she used to be very stiff as well, but slowly trained her way up to become one of the best dancers in the industry, which has taught him one thing: “If you aren’t born with it, you have to rely on hard work to get where you want to go.”

His ultimate goal is to be able to perform as well as Japanese superstar Namie Amuro, whom he gushed is the epitome of professionalism.

L-R: Ling Xiao, Freya Lim, Wong Jinglun

“I’ve watched her concert and she can sing and dance through 30 songs without going out of breath. You can even hear that she isn’t lip-syncing, so I find it really amazing. It’s my goal to be just like her – being able to dance, sing and act at the same time, and yet never get out of breath,” he said.

While being able to pull a Namie Amuro is his life goal, Jinglun let on that he does have an interim goal – unseating Show Luo as the Asian King of Dance.

“I think there should be a new face as Asian King of Dance, right?” he declared, before adding, “Singapore doesn’t have a dancing king, so if nobody is vying for the spot, I think I should give it a shot!”

Related:
Wong Jinglun finds success in Taiwan the hard way with hosting gigs

Musical TARU premieres on December 7, 2018 at the Resorts World Theatre, Resorts World Sentosa. Tickets are priced at S$108, S$88, S$58 and S$38 (excluding booking fees) and are available on SISTIC.