Pop diva Teresa Teng might not have exactly returned from the dead to perform in a widely hyped concert in her native Taiwan, but a computer-generated likeness of the legendary singer has left that impression among her many fans.
Teng "appeared" onstage on Friday night with local crooner and movie actor Jay Chou to perform three duets that enraptured the 15,000-strong Taipei crowd.
Her virtual presence was the result of a detailed recreation of Teng's mannerisms and expressions, painstakingly put together by Digital Domain 3.0, a California company specialising in digital imagery for the entertainment industry.
Dressed in an ethereal looking white gown, the virtual Teng joined Chou in her own wildly popular What Have You to Say and two Chou standards, Red Tavern and Thousand Miles Away.
The crispness of the renditions and stunning reality of Teng's appearance had many in the crowd shaking their heads.
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Teng, best known for folk songs and romantic ballads, had legions of fans throughout Asia and beyond when she died aged 42 of a respiratory attack in 1995.
Selected by Time Magazine as one of the world's top seven female vocalists in 1986, she was celebrated for a sincere and simple style that made her voice instantly recognisable not only in her native Mandarin Chinese but also Japanese and English.
Her songs were used in the soundtrack of Wayne Wang's acclaimed film, The Joy Luck Club, which came out just two years before her death.
