Digital apparitions of deceased pop superstars are now haunting stages worldwide.
Last year, a hologram of Tupac Shakur joined Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on stage at the Coachella music festival to perform his hits “Hail Mary” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted.” This weekend, beloved Taiwanese pop icon Teresa Teng – who died 18 years ago – emerged from beneath the stage to perform three songs with Taiwanese singer Jay Chou, at his sold out concerts in Taipei.
VIDEO: Bill Murray Announces Hologram Plans on ‘Late Show’
The effects in Taiwan came courtesy of Digital Domain 3.0, the same California-based effects house responsible for “Hologram Tupac,” whose Coachella “performance” stormed Twitter at the time — many then noted that the digital resurrection stunt was especially savvy given the conspiracy theories that continue to swirl around the rapper’s 1996 death.
A Elvis hologram and Marilyn Monroe hologram are said to be in the works for future concerts.
The digitized Teng in Taipei, dressed in her characteristic white Chinese gown, sang her hit single, “What You Have to Say,” along with two of Chou’s songs, “Red Tavern” and “Thousand Miles Away.” Chou sang along in duet.
“Our goal was to honor Teresa Teng, as a singer and as a person,” Steve Preeg, Digital Domain’s visual effects supervisor and animation director, said in a statement. “If her family and friends feel that her personality came through in the performance, then we did our jobs.”
