Jackie Chan Sings??

At first we thought it was a late April Fool’s joke from Associated Press when the news organization reported that Jackie Chan, star of such martial arts flicks as “Shanghai Noon,” “The Medallion” and “The Tuxedo,” as well as the “Rush Hour” movie series, will sing at Beijing’s National Stadium, which is often referred to as Bird’s Nest.

Turns out Chan has quite the recording career in Asia. Along with recordings that appeared in several of his movies, the movie-stuntman-turned-movie-actor has at least 20 albums to his credit, and has sung songs in several languages, including Cantonese, Japanese, Mandarin and English.

Chan is starring in an event at the stadium called “Descendents Of The Dragon: Jackie Chan and Friends,” which is scheduled to take place during the first three days in May. Needless to say, we were quite surprised when we saw it was a musical engagement.

However, as we dug deeper into the mystique that is Jackie Chan, we learned the star was a student at Peking Opera School when he was just a kid. If you’re thinking Chan’s first recording was “Kung Fu Fighting,” then think again. His first record was “Kung Fu Fighting Man.”

So far, no one knows which “friends” will appear with Chan at the stadium, but Chan himself said he expected singer-songwriters Jonathan Lee and Emil Chau to perform. Furthermore, not even Chan knows anything about which of the first three days in May he’ll actually perform. But then, he has a month to figure that one out.

Why is this event even happening? Bird’s Nest, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Olympic Games as well as the competition’s track and field events, hasn’t been used since last year’s Summer Games. The paint is peeling and the only people who go there are the ones with 50 yuan (about $7.00) for the admission fee to walk on the stadium’s floors and visit its souvenir shop. Furthermore, it costs about 60 million yaun (about $8.8 million) annually to keep the stadium open.

So it’s Jackie Chan to the rescue. Asked if he was nervous about appearing at the mammoth venue, Chan said he’s only tense when making movies.

“I only feel the pressure when I make films. I believe the audiences will forgive me if I forget the lyrics or I can’t keep the tempo,” said Chan, adding the concert won’t be a “lavish affair” like the Olympic ceremonies.

Nor is Chan confining most of his singing in China. He recently told Time magazine he wants to try something a bit more Bollywood-related. He said he almost got that project off the ground last year, but it stalled due to problems. Now he hopes to develop his Bollywood project sometime next year.

In case you’re still not convinced we’re talking about THE Jackie Chan, here’s a clip of him singing “Believe In Yourself.”

Read the Associated Press item here.