This is a really big post, so check it out !
Chen Kun and Yuan Quan sponsor a jewelry brand in style at an event, with Yuan Quan in white riding a horse, and Chen Kun giving her a ring, like a modern day prince and princess, except that pretending to marry was really awkward for them. Normally I wouldn’t care, but it’s two actors that I like, both of which whom actually have really nice singing voices and I’ve long wished they would collaborate in something like a musical. They will be working together, but instead will be in a HK film.
Music
Pakho Chau - Follow
Lots of women releasing albums this time, and with many representing a first for these ladies. alan‘s Mandarin debut album under avex, Orient of the Heart, Ariel Lin‘s first album, Blissful Encounter, Bibi Zhou‘s first album under Golden Typhoon, Time, Linfair’s Christine Fan Weiqi ‘s F ONE, her ninth album , Valen Hsu‘s My Love Journey 1Km and finally Janice Wei released an English album Morning.
Representing both the guys side, and cantopop, was HK’s underrated singer-songwriter Pakho Chau, who released a “Best-Of” album, Follow, that had four brand new tracks, including the hit Lovin You that shows off his voice. He did some arranging on this album as well. Dear Jane also released a Cantorock album, XOXO.
Huang Yali‘s second and prettier MV came out. Poor Yali isn’t doing very well in Taiwan, partly I think due to the lack of exceptional songs in her album. Who knew that eeMedia could produce better albums than Linfair? But congrats to Bibi Zhou for kicking the curse where mainland artist don’t do well in Taiwan – she got second on G-Billboard’s weekly chart, even though her album didn’t show off her voice.
Wei Chen + H.Born + Some Girl
On July 4th Wei Chen had a fan meet, to the delight of those who missed his voice because he had been stuck for the past few months filming some dumb drama. The H.Born boys, who are sponsored by My Startown, a Chinese UFO-like site that also sponsored the event, helped with mcing the fanmeet and played games with the fans as well.
CRIEnglish had an interesting article about the way rock influences fashion in China, particularly in Beijing, both the capital of the country, and the rock capital. It gives shoutouts to some of the more well known rock bands in China, and music festivals like the Electronic Music Festival that was held earlier this year and attracted more than 10,000.
^Visual Rep of their new song’s title
Boy and Girl Group released a single, Nan Zou Nv You from their new CD that’s to hit in August. Their last single, the Christmas Meng Huan Qi Yuan, was strangely addicting, and I was hoping for something similar this time. It’s not quite, but like Meng Huan Qi Yuan, Qi Wei is penning the lyrics. She’s getting special tutoring on lyric writing from Vincent Fang.
Also, apparently all my wishes for a boyband/girlband in China to release something quickly is being twisted in a sick sick way. “Idol Girls” 9-member girlgroup released a single. They are excepted to “debut” in August, revealing how they look then.
Cotton Candy won season 2 of Jie Jie Gao Sheng aka Mix-box. Congratulations to them!
Nepheliad subbed Top Combine‘s Behind the Story appearance. Watch it at youtube here. Warning: it’s sad.
Television
Ruby Lin in Three Kingdoms
Three Kindgoms has finally finished its production, and is expected to air in August. They released a whopping new 138 stills from the production, mostly of battle scenes. But Ruby Lin looks good.
A new Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh) TV series has started production. Now officially all of the Four Great Chinese Classics are in production. Good thing is, one of the scriptwriters is Ning Caishen, the guy behind My Own Swordsman, so at least the dialogue should be witty and funny. It will cost around 1 million yuan per episode.
The first trailer for BOBO Jing Boran, Yang Zi and Eva Huang Shengyi’s A Tribute to Stephen Chow came out. Yang Zi is prettier, the drama seems fun, but the over-use of regional dialects and humor probably own’t appeal to most non-Chinese.
Movies
Deng Chao Promo Pic for Di Ren Jie
Deng Chao for Di Ren Jie (one of the four big Hua Yi productions) is getting a lot of attention for his character’s mysteriousness, unlike the known historical figures played by Andy Lau (Di Renjie), Carina Lau (Wu Zetian) and Li Bingbing. He plays an albino with a genius for cracking cases but few other details of his character have been released. For this role, special attention was given to his looks. I’ll be so sad once he stops filming and ditches the blond hair.
For everyone who hated the old teaser posters of Sophie’s Revenge, here’s a new one! *link fixed* The colors are nicer, but I think the first teaser was more interesting.
Cong Haonan‘s theme song for Tracing Shadow is released. The song is ok, the voice is nice, and even though the styles are different, I can’t help but think: Downgrade from Jane Zhang.
Other
And since I began with a fake couple, I’m going to end it with a real one, a very cute real one. Husband and wife, Lu Yi and Bao Lei, went sky-diving for fun. I’m so jealous.
Tags: A Tribute to Stephen Chow, Alan, Ariel Lin, Bao Lei, Bibi Zhoubichang, Boy and Girl, Chen Kun, Chinese Box Office, Christine Fan Weiqi, Cong Haonan, Cotton Candy, Dear Jane, Deng Chao, h.born, Huang Yali, Idol Girls, Janice Wei, jie jie gao sheng, Lu Yi, Pakho Chau, Qi Wei, Ruby Lin, Sophie's Revenge, Three Kingdoms, Top Combine, Tracing Shadow, Valen Hsu, Vincent Fang, Water Margin, Wei Chen, Yuan Quan
July 12, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Why is China following the trend of having large number of people in a group? -.- Sooner or later, someone will be calling China copying.
Upclose view of Deng Chao *O* I still can’t get over the fact that he’s super good looking with this new hair.
That girl in the same picture with H.Born + WeiChen is quite pretty. I wonder who she is..
Ariel Lin’s acting never really appealed to me. Her roles are pretty much the adorable/cute girl. The first time I watched ISAWK, her role was super annoying and I had to stop in episode 3. I had to force myself to watch it for the second time. Well good luck to her since she’s trying to break into the Korean market.
I’m really excited for Fan Wei Qi’s new album<3 I saw her new MV, and she never fails to amaze me.
Who is this Boy and Girl Group? For a second there, I thought the girl in the pink outfit was Xie Na.
July 12, 2009 at 3:39 pm
okay never mind. I know who Boy and Girl Group are and I actually heard of their song 外滩18号.
July 12, 2009 at 3:42 pm
@yelei – Why is it that when China does something it means China’s copying? China developed later in the entertainment field, and thus, of course it’s going to come out with things later.
NEWS had nine members when they started too. Morning Musume has nine members. The Hey girls did too. And then most recently SNSD had nine. Hell, Twelve girls band was the original 13 member group in Asia. But it’s not like these girls are from a big company anyway and who knows if they’ll make it.
Boy and Girl Group is 男才女貌, but I had no idea how to translate their name so we went with that name. They have this sort of fun, colorful infectious style going on now that I like, better than their Bund 18 album. Qi Wei does kind of remind me of Xie Na too.
I like Ariel, but I wish she hadn’t released an album.
July 12, 2009 at 5:55 pm
There was actually a big controversy that The Hey Girls copied SNSD. Sometimes people at soompi can be so ignorant. Although, people proved that Hey Girls debuted earlier, they started comparing which is better. It was really funny reading those comments.
Anyways, I’m not against the fact that China is coming out with a 9 member group, but I am pretty sure that there will be a comparison (SNSD to be exact since it’s a 9 members group). I’m not a big fan of big number groups especially News and Morning Musume.. okay plus Super Junior (The 12 girls band is a different case since they played instruments). I realize sometimes I tend to refer to Soompi too often. Maybe I should start visiting AF more, but I’m not really into HK media excluding the series&movies.
As for Xie Na, is she going out with Zhang Jie.. or is that just a rumor? I know in Happy Camp, she gets teased alot, but I’m still confuse with her relation with Zhang Jie. Well I remember in one of the previous post, you mentioned that Zhang Jie and Xie Na are good friends and featured in his MV(?).
Ariel should stick to acting, though I wish she should be given different type of roles besides the cute ones.
July 12, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Nine members? Dammit, cue the cries of copying SNSD – before they even debut, I’ll wager. But I definitely agree that just because other bands have had a certain number of people in it shouldn’t make that number off-limits – that’d be ludicrous, after all, considering the effect it would have. However, admittedly, they could’ve chosen a number that would not have put them in direct comparison to one of the two biggest Korean girl groups out there right now, considering the volatile atmosphere the target demographics have.
NEWS has six members right now, though – hardly big, like the others I think their smaller lineup definitely works well for them, though I’m kinda biased since I liked “Color” quite a bit. Super Junior, admittedly, is starting to grate on my nerves for its increasing imbalance between its members roles – I keep wondering why they still put music together when only a handful sing the large majority of the parts, these days. I don’t dislike large groups because they’re large – I dislike them because there tends to be a lot of dead weight, musically. Morning Musume is just annoying because it kicks out its older members for being old. Bad on principle, and makes me not want to follow them for fear of really liking one, only to have that one forced to leave.
The new Three Kingdoms looks so flashy… but then again, the one from the 90s did too, for its time. I just hope they cut down on the random explosions I remembered seeing; the stills gave me hope for that. Happy to hear about the new Water Margins, too, ’cause I liked the book more than that for Three Kingdoms.
Congrats to Cotton Candy – I’m thinking of trying to follow them some, and see if they live up the potential I’ve heard.
Ariel really, really should stick to acting. I like her in the cutesy role well enough, though she can be a bit hammy in them, but I do wonder how she’d do in a more serious role.
July 12, 2009 at 6:46 pm
They bashed on Hey Girls even though they came before SNSD? Ugh. But I don’t think China’s group will make even a blip on the radar because they’re with a new company.
I know Twelve Girls band plays instruments, and thus actually has a purpose for 13 members, but it’s actually funny how similar SJ is to them. Both first they had 12 members, got 1 more, but after they had 13, still only 12 show up in performances. ;P
Xie Na I think is living with Zhang Jie actually. They’re so cute.
Ariel’s recent moves…coming out with an album, trying to break into Korean market (is this even true?) have baffled me, and I am no longer as sure as I was about her decision-making.
Yeah, no one remembers the ninth member of NEWS anyway, but they did start with 9. I loved Weeeek. Greeeen is awesome.
July 12, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Actors turned singers who really don’t deserve it always makes me mad…it’s such a waste of their time, and also of the songs that could’ve been given to better singers.
That’s why Meteor Shower is really annoying me. I was expecting it, but still…I don’t see why ZHang Han singing a song is better than Lu Hu or Wei Chen singing the same song. The former singing the song will help him and him only. The latter will help the drama, which helps all of them.
I like Ariel, too. She’s one of the better actresses for the cutesy role.
Ruby Lin and Deng Chao look really good.
I’m still waiting for Xie Na and Zhang Jie to get married…
July 12, 2009 at 10:02 pm
LOL! Only twelve show up at performances…
Ariel’s ambitious, I guess. I’m wondering why she’s choosing to branch out now before establishing her acting career a bit more seriously (that is, branching out within acting so as to dodge typecasting), but eh. I think it’s very tempting for stars of some repute to do try to branch out into being double or triple threats in order to solidify their stardom.
Weeeek was my favorite song on the album, and it’s why I started liking NEWS to begin with. When I realized that GReeeeN wrote it, I pretty much gushed over the song. Dentist-rockers for the win.
July 12, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Oh God, Ariel Lin… She makes me cringe. I don’t like idols and TV dramas in general, but I sat down and watched about 2-3 episodes of It Started With a Kiss when it was on TV and it was HORRIBLE. The acting, the lines, the characters…everything. I guess that’s why I don’t follow that kind of stuff.
Good news roundup, though. Chen Kun is hot.
July 12, 2009 at 10:54 pm
@Nepheliad
That’s why I love people like Jane so much. She knows what she can do and won’t waste her time on something she can’t. It’s okay to try new things, but not devote your time to something you know you don’t love and arent’ good at.
I wouldn’t really mind if Ariel kept her old roles. Some artists try to hard to become “manlier” or more “mature” and take on roles they really can’t pull off, and it’s quite annoying.
Kibum should’ve went solo. He was the first one that caught my attention. With his smile and looks, he would’ve done well in idol dramas.
July 12, 2009 at 11:16 pm
IA w/everyone who said Ariel should stick to acting. It’s true, her singing’s sub-par and leaves much to be desired. However, I don’t think she’s trying to break into the korean market, the Suju guys were just for publicity in Taiwan. I heard she has a 3-album contract with her current company.
July 12, 2009 at 11:19 pm
idarklight: Not only Kibum, but Siwon as well. How many lines do each of the Super Junior members even get?
July 12, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Marie: there are news stating that she’s shooting for the korean market. She did major Korean in college..
July 13, 2009 at 12:42 am
question: if deng chao is supposedly albino, shouldn’t his eyebrows be blond too? Not complaining though, he looks great
July 13, 2009 at 1:30 am
由北京爱朵文化历尽一年时间打造，中国第一支九人少女偶像组合定于今年暑假期间推向市场，首支单曲《海盗》将于7月面试，组合名称暂定为“Idol girls”。
“Idol girls”成员总共为九人，刷新了中国娱乐圈组合成员人数的历史。国外只有日本早安少女组或者韩国super junior等多人偶像组合，在国内多人偶像组合还处于空白。据爱朵文化有关人士介绍，“Idol girls”在成立之初的定位就已经明确，“青春活力”的歌舞可以为繁忙沉闷的都市生活带来一股清凉的气息，“清纯脱俗”的外形可以让人们暂时忘记身边的烦恼，换来片刻的宁静，唤醒人们对于美好事物的憧憬。
“Idol girls”的首支单曲定名为《海盗》将于7月7日上线，稍后《海盗》MV将以漫画故事版形式推向市场，随即会公开各个成员的漫画形象，并在发布会公布九位成员的详细资料。
“Idol girls”成员平均年龄为17岁，是从几百名应征者中精心挑选，经过一年封闭培训之后最终确定出九名出道成员。成员们不仅可以唱歌跳舞，而且可以完全胜任主持人，模特，演员，词曲作者等各种工作，从培训开始，公司就根据每个人的特点进行定位和专项培训，力求将“Idol girls”打造成为涵盖影，视，歌，主持，模特等多栖的偶像艺人。
据爱朵文化有关人士介绍，“Idol girls”将打破以往组合的模式，在吸取中国，韩国，日本，以及欧美组合成功经验之上建立起一种全新组合模式。国外只有日本早安少女组或者韩国super junior等多人偶像组合，在国内多人偶像组合还处于空白。“Idol girls”组合作为孵化器，实行优胜劣汰制，今后成熟的成员将另组成新的偶像组合或单独发展，并由练习生中的优秀者补充其位置，排名在后的成员将淘汰出组合继续训练，最终成为链式组合模型，向中国娱乐圈不断输送新鲜血液。
在“Idol girls”出道后，爱朵文化将于2009年底推出公司第一支男子偶像团体。
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_488cc1340100e1ob.html
Apparently the 9 girls are under Idol Entertainment and also another boy group will be debuting at the end 2009
July 13, 2009 at 1:36 am
More information on this company:
音樂產業面臨從未遇到過的嚴冬，在奧運期間很多唱片公司都紛紛放假。但是，在現代城D座的3112，愛朵文化的新辦公地點，公司團隊們在自己31層的新的辦公室中忙碌著，全然顧不上喝下午茶，也顧不上望一眼窗外視野開闊的建築美景。
北京愛朵文化傳播有限公司(Idol Entertainment)是由包括：中國最大的音樂網站一聽音樂網(www.1ting.com)，中國最大的音樂軟體酷狗音樂(www.kugou.com)等音樂產業巨頭聯合投資。
愛朵文化公司團隊由國內著名音樂經紀和了解日韓偶像模式的精英組成。致力於偶像團體製作的公司，並擁有超強製作團隊，熟悉日韓偶像的製作模式以及內地市場的操作方式，有著良好的日韓、港臺經紀公司的合作關係。凡是被選中的新人均會成為簽約練習生接受專業封閉性培訓(免費培訓，公司提供住宿)，培訓內容包括舞蹈、唱歌、演戲、模特、音樂製作等多個領域。在所有的練習生中，會每年挑選部分優秀的練習生作為正式簽約藝人出道，併發行專輯。
愛朵文化負責人說：“偶像藝人模式代表著一個完善的娛樂體系，這個模式一下子解決了音樂產業幾乎所有的問題，比如藝人培訓、定位，唱片公司盈利模式，以及適應新一代消費者需求。
現在國內音樂產業已經開始由初級階段做產品(歌曲)升級為高級階段做品牌(明星)。這就對藝人有著更高的要求，但是因為國內造星機制落後，使整體國內藝人跟日韓藝人的實力差距很大，他們都有一套成熟的造星機制，藝人們從十幾歲開始就被挑選進入公司，每天花大量的時間對他們進行漫長和嚴苛的培訓，每年只有幾個人經過嚴格篩選才出道。
我們期待，愛朵文化的結合中國國情的偶像模式即將顛覆內地現有的偶像產業，也會將中國偶像帶到世界各地。
http://big5.ce.cn/gate/big5/ent.ce.cn/main/yy/yyxw/200808/27/t20080827_16624722.shtml
Well apparently it’s following the footsteps of Korean & Japanese companies by scouting kids. This company really reminds me of SM entertainment.
July 13, 2009 at 2:04 am
Half of Super Junior are useless and don’t contribute anything to the group. = _ =
Make a group with Kyuhyun and Yesung for their voices, Siwon for his handsomeness, Donghae for his charm and overall hotness and you’re good. Ah, that’s pretty much Super Junior-M, anyway.
Breaking out into the Korean market? That seems pretty pointless; especially when Japan has a muuuch larger market and isn’t so restrictive on foreign artists.
Who is to say if this new nine-girl group would do well, though? A new company generally means less experience, less capital, less connections. But at the same time, it does bring in new ideas and new ways of doing things. Hopefully, at least. China needs to bring something fresh in the pop music scene.
July 13, 2009 at 2:26 am
@Nepheliad
Weeeek is one of those quintessential Greeeen songs – you don’t need incredible vocals, but you need to have fun while singing it. Perfect for NewS.
@1233
Good question, I wonder why others didn’t ask it! Actually in the article I read (where I guess I forgot to link to…gimme time to go find it), they said they went all out, dying his hair, eyebrows, and even tried to make his skin look paler with makeup. And it said something about his weapons, and that he gets to fight Li Bingbing! I’m looking forward to that! But everything was so long I didn’t type it all.
This picture which accompanied the article I think is him mid-way through getting ready for the role.
@yelei
I guess you got your wish. ;P But I mean, other companies have scouted…kinda. HIT-5′s company and A-One’s company both found and trained them, but I haven’t heard anything about them preparing any other groups. The revealing their faces at a press conference thing is kinda interesting. I wonder how well this company promotes. I mean, “Idol Girls” as a name doesn’t give me much confidence.
July 13, 2009 at 2:28 am
Benji: I managed to find their website and apparently the girls only been trained for a year. The company also have professional pictures of some trainees. One of well known trainee goes by the name Jason and Yampi+Alan Luo lookalike.
July 13, 2009 at 2:56 am
He’s not in the girlgroup, is he? ;b
I hate to judge by photos, though, because plenty of people look beautiful with PS and not so much in life (and vice versa)
Do you have the website? I want to check it out.
well, eeMedia also scouted. They found Zhang Han and Zheng Shuang. and that part German guy. and they had training through Top Combine. I’m fairly excited for the Super Girl girlband, even if it’ll take forever.
July 13, 2009 at 3:33 am
nice news round up. cant wait for the 9 member girl group. and supergirls group. who knows maybe this idol entertainment company will be the SM of china.
there seems to always be movies about the three kingdoms. (red cliff, etc)
July 13, 2009 at 3:34 am
@idarklight: LOL, i don’t think he’s in the group.
http://www.idolent.com/
the website still needs be fixed because I couldn’t load some pictures.
@cfensi: I guess my wish did come true, haha.
July 13, 2009 at 3:53 am
i found member idol group song.
you can listen to it
link:
http://www.1ting.com/player/18/player_339114.html
July 13, 2009 at 3:58 am
I think that is their debut song, which isn’t very well done.
The website seemed nice, though.
July 13, 2009 at 4:11 am
@yelei
i think you were the one who said they(idol entertainment) was also going to come out with a 9 member? boyband
well, i was searching the site darklight posted above (idolent.com) and i found these 10 girls and 9 guys on one page … i know the members identities arnt going to be revealed until august, but are these the pictures of the possible members of both groups?
http://www.idolent.com/picture.html
if they are, they seem to all look real attractive.
July 13, 2009 at 4:18 am
After listening to them, their voice are sort of weird and the rap is.. *no comment*
July 13, 2009 at 10:47 am
I’m a little bit skeptical about the big idol groups debuting later this year. I mean they’re just going to be commercial, Korean-style sellouts, not actually about any talent. But I guess that’s what idol groups are about…profit.
Bibi Zhou’s album is one of the best ever. All the songs are pretty good and overall the album is…mindblowing. I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it to everyone who loves good vocals and acoustic taste. But there should’ve been more songs that really boast her exceptional voice. Anyhow, it’s still a fantastic album. Remind me; Bibi Zhou was from the Supergirls year with Jane and Chris right?
H.born…have they debuted? Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention and missed their official release…
@Nepheliad – Dentist rockers equals LOVE. Dragging NewS and GReeeeN into this discussion equals LOL. And good job on the subs; they were really good translation and appearance wise.
July 13, 2009 at 3:49 pm
@megan
Any song recommendations from Zhou Bichang’s album? Maybe I missed all the good songs. But yes, she’s from 2005. The amazing year….I revisited some old Super Girl/Boy videos yesterday while having insomnia until 3am. I miss He Jie….she was so adorable (the smile in her eyes was contagious); she had a gorgeous voice and was an excellent performer. I miss Bao XIaobo. I miss Wei Chen singing with He Jie. Long Danni should’ve taken over earlier.
I just realized how ridiculous idol bands are…they bury real talent, and replace them with bland averageness that has little substance. …admittedly, I’m just disappointed at my realization that after missing his voice for so long, I’m not ]really looking forward to any of Wei Chen’s upcoming performances because he’ll be singing a fairly boring song in a quartet where he’ll be forced to dull his voice for the others, and I don’t like him because of how good he looks lipsynching. Poor Zhang Yuan’s voice…he sounded so beautiful in “City of Sadness.”
(now I’m just ranting)
On the other hand, maybe it’s because that eeMedia is being not that smart.. A good idol band should bring out the best in each member and use them to enhance each group. (ie. Have the better singers sing more and better dancers dance more). Unfortunately, that doesn’t usually happen in an attempt to appease fans.
I don’t know if I would rather have Wei Chen be famous and an idol, or unknown and a singer. Even if Meteor Shower succeeds, Wei Chen won’t have songs to sings or major performances anytime soon. There’s Yu haoming before him. Who knows, Zheng Shuang may have an album before Wei Chen. I think that’s when Long Danni will be stoned to death by oranges.
Talent is invaluable, but what is more important is the ability to recognize talent and develop and use them for their right functions. It’s so painful to see so many talented artists who waste their lives away because their talent is not recognized or given the opportunity to shine.
July 13, 2009 at 4:17 pm
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTA1MTQwNjQ4.html
Gong Mi will be releasing an album.
July 13, 2009 at 4:37 pm
ew?
I hope she has good lipsynching skills.
the fact that someone with her singing skills and principles (or lack of) gets an album makes me even more depressed at the tons of talented singers who can sing, and who love to sing, who don’t get songs to sing.
July 13, 2009 at 5:00 pm
^Who would buy it? She’ll be like the William Hung of Supergirls. One of those weird pop culture things that people forgets about except when it becomes the punchline of a joke.
idarklight, I feel like you want too much of an ideal that you’ll always be disappointed.
While China is overflowing with talent, the fact is, even in long established music industries like the US and Japan, there will be undeserving people getting to sing good songs. I mean, look at Rihanna. There had to be someone better who could go solo.
So far China actually has it pretty good bc of the fact that competitions bring out the best singers. But in the future, when companies start packaging, and choosing people for personality and what can sell, well, I think there’s only going to be more undeserving people in the future. Although, as China’s market gets bigger, there should be more deserving people as well. But the fact is…bad singers will always exist and always take up a certain percentage of the market.
Another thing is, that it’s hard to cater to people who are talented. To get an album with all good songs that also show off the singer’s skill may be hard to do. I guess when it comes down to it, people may rather hear Jane Zhang sing “Dream Party” than “Impressions of West Lake”.
The ideal…where unique singers can thrive and all get albums that are perfectly suited to their style, is not going to happen. It’s also rare where every single artist under a company becomes successful, no matter how good the company is at marketing.
July 13, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Ugh with the idol groups… still not sure how I feel about them right now. As with most idol groups, the amount of real talent in these idol groups is at most questionable – 50% of the time they will have some real raw talent, but other times, they stick with the “idol” route of relying on faces.
I wish China would go more of a Japanese music industry route. I feel like a lot of the times, talent is much more appreciated in Japan than in Korea. Sure, there are the JE boys that snag all the sales and such, but there is other real talent out there snagging sales – like Utada Hikaru et others. In Korea, there’s a lot more of a commercial approach to things. I realize lately I’ve been downloading a lot more Japanese songs than Korean songs – it’s especially evident that ever since the Big Bang sensation, a lot of other groups are copying the style, going for the same formulaic approach. It’s getting old.
Iono, I just wish there was a lot more freedom in the music industry, like there is in Japan. There’s a lot more variety too – if you want to search for more Indie music in Korea, it’s pretty difficult, because most of the successful music out there is commercialized and pretty much similarly formulaic. But in Japan, it feels more like a free-for-all.
On Super Junior, they as a group are popular I think for more than just their looks – they’re good “talents” – by that I mean they’re good personalities and they appear on a lot of variety shows and receive good vibes from that. Though it’s annoying that half of them don’t actually sing and are deadweight for the group as a whole musically-talented wise. The same is true for JE boys – Arashi & others might not be the best singers, but they’re good personalities for hosting shows and being on variety shows in general. And that’s how they generate popularity.
@ megan
Iono, I felt like Bibi’s last album wasn’t exceptionally spectacular. There a few acoustic songs that I liked, like Season & 青睐. But others were a bit formulaic… And the album didn’t do justice to her voice either, I felt. On the other hand, I felt like Huang Yali’s album was really really fun & pop-rocky and I liked that spunky feel of the entire album. Valen Hsu’s album too. Some songs were really really good, but the rest of the album dragged down the quality of the entire album, at least that’s how I felt.
They’re remaking all of the four classics? Hmm – plan on revisiting those [except I remember that it wasn't easy to read them in their original text, but that was a while ago, so don't know how it'll be now]. Who’s Ruby Lin playing in Three Kingdoms? How do they plan on remaking Journey to the West? Will it be like the old version and have someone dress up as Sun Wukong? And especially with today’s much more complex CG, they can definitely make the new Journey to the West more… interesting? Iono. LOL.
July 13, 2009 at 5:07 pm
That is not to say, though, btw, that Japan is not commercialized. I just feel like there’s a wider spectrum there.
July 13, 2009 at 5:15 pm
@A. That’s because Japan’s music industry has been around longer, and because its market is really big. So it allows for more variety.
Although I don’t really feel China’s music industry is commercialized quite so much, and rock’s treated pretty decently, much more so than in Korea.
Xu Wei’s concerts in China can sell out, and he’s very low-key. Yu Quan and Age of Water and Wood are all very famous and top charts as well. Zhang Yadong, one of the most successful producers in China has a wide range of artists…from britpop influenced SuperVC, to Tian Yuan, to Ma Tianyu.
Actually, an injection of more commercialization in China wouldn’t hurt. So far, pop groups still aren’t that many, and that’s what yelei was talking about earlier. She wants some more packaged people. I guess it couldn’t hurt if there was one or two just for diversity. A percentage of the market really wants that. But if it turns into anything like Korea’s music industry, then I will be seriously pissed.
@idarklight – Nah…actually you’re right…why not strive for the ideal? It’ll always piss me off when untalented people get record deals, even if I set myself up for such disappointment.
July 13, 2009 at 5:30 pm
@ cfensi
True about how Japan’s industry has been around for longer, so it allows more development toward variety.
What I’m afraid of is a chain reaction of idol groups popping up all around – sort of like what’s going on in Korea right now.
July 13, 2009 at 5:51 pm
@A.
Well, with Korea, those groups seem to stay in the spotlight, but the only idol group in China that I would call a success story, would be Top Combine. And since a lot of Top Combine’s success (maybe the majority) is due to their self-composed song, I really have no qualms about them getting some fame.
The other groups are struggling pretty hard to get a decent amount of popularity. So even if there’s a weird chain reaction in China, it seems low-key, not stifling any other type of artists.
And is it just me, or does Asia go for personality more? I mean America doesn’t have variety shows. I have no idea what my favorite American musician are like, personality-wise, just a vague idea at best. I don’t even know what some of them look like, nor do I care.
July 13, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I’m happy that Alan has released a new Mandarin album. Even though it’s not as nice as her Japanese album, which had more tracks and some different songs from this one, it sure beats her original Mandarin debut from before she was with Avex. I’m thinking of buying this new album, but I’ve already bought “Kuon no Kawa,” which has the “Red Cliff” songs and they’re also on this album, and I have a long wish list right now. I’ll have to think on it. But I hope this gets her more popularity in the Chinese-speaking audience.
July 13, 2009 at 9:17 pm
@ cfensi
> And is it just me, or does Asia go for personality more?
> I mean America doesn’t have variety shows. I have no
> idea what my favorite American musician are like,
> personality-wise, just a vague idea at best. I don’t even
> know what some of them look like, nor do I care.
I get that feeling too.
When I look at my music collection of American artists it seems like I only have one or two songs from them. And that’s it. Many of them are one hit wonders so I often only remember the song name.
Whereas for Chinese artists, I’ll often have all the CDs they’ve released.
I’m not exactly sure why but like you mentioned, perhaps by seeing them on variety shows I can relate to them better and so I feel more inclined to support them…
July 14, 2009 at 12:07 am
Regarding Gong Mi – who knows? I remember hearing William Hung’s version of She Bangs being in Billboard’s Hot Digital Tracks top 50 for three weeks after debut, and apparently, he’d sold nearly 40,000 copies of his first album. I don’t think Gong Mi had quite the same memetic effect that he did, though.
@idarklight, Cfensi – I dunno, different strokes for different folks. Rihanna had a good voice, IMO (what happened to it is a good question, though), and frankly, what seems talented to you may not to others (like how I don’t particularly consider Jay Chou or Utada Hikaru talented). It’s not so much that undeserving singers or whatever get accolades over others because of any one thing or the failings of an industry – it’s that they either have the personality to stand out (which is a talent itself), or that others like them better. Music, like any art, is subjective, hence the many genres, subgenres, scenes, etc, etc. As such, I’d just rather the Chinese music industry develop more diversely, but I’m willing to wager that it’s developing in that direction, anyways.
As for the blandness of idols and idol bands… well, what did you expect? Anything mass marketable has to be somewhat generic by definition so as to appeal to the broadest audience possible. It’s an art in and of itself, really. And as for the idol band thing, well, there’s really no point in having a band if you essentially make it that the best singer sings the majority of the songs, and everyone else is essentially a troupe of backup singers and dancers. ZY already sings a disproportionate amount of the lines in Top Combine songs; any more, and you might as well call Top Combine “Zhang Yuan (and chorus)”. And there’s the matter of dancers not being visible when you’re just listening to a track. Super Junior’s Sorry Sorry album has basically what was described – KRY singing with everyone else as backup – and it really made me question why they didn’t just release most of its songs as another SJ-KRY album.
Then there’s the matter of members having different vocal tones. To make Top Combine the example, while ZY’s voice is my favorite, I also like that I can hear the contrast between his voice and JES’s deeper, rougher one. Then there’s LZC’s softer voice and MXY’s more nasal one, all juxtaposed with LM’s rapping. While I definitely could stand to listen to ZY’s voice for full songs by himself, I don’t listen to TC to listen to him; I listen to the vocal blend of the whole group. The only time this falls apart is when there are members that are just not good singers (like Arashi, IMO).
Finally, when it comes to not using their voices well enough, I disagree that that blame ought be laid on the record industry. In fact, I don’t think there’s blame to go there at all. No matter how talented an artist is, there are going to be songs in which his or her voice will be weaker. However, if they did nothing but stick to what shows off their voices best, they’d all be one-trick ponies, and no one wants a repetitive album, much less career. It’s like actors and actresses taking on roles that aren’t all the same; some are going to be weaker than others, but no one, including fans, want typecasting.
I feel like the reason Japan and the US has more of that is simply due to the industries having matured, after waves and waves of different musical styles came into prominence. Both have their slew of copy-cats – just look at the smattering of visual kei artists that came out in the late 90s in Japan, or the mess of rap artists in the US. These fads don’t completely disappear, coming back in cycles of popularity, making for a diverse range. I’m pretty sure that’ll happen in Korea. Also, we’re getting a distorted view of things, because the fanbase for Japanese music is more diverse than that for Korean music. If the fanbase is mostly fangirls, we’re going to see mostly pop-flavored things.
And the personality-driven thing (more cynically, marketing) is a Korean model adapted from Japanese boy bands, from what I can tell. I can’t help finding it a bit ironic that these personas are lauded even though they’re a large factor in propelling “undeserving/less talented” artists towards the top. Part of the reason the J/US markets are more diverse and open to newcomers, IMO, is because there’s less attachment to the artists and more to the music.
July 14, 2009 at 12:51 am
I don’t think each song has to show off the singer’s vocals. I think every good song should have the best singer possible. I’m not too attached to most artists, but I am attached to certain performances and songs.
A singer must put all of themselves in a song, but a song must have not only the singer, but also the instrumentals, the composers, the lyricists, the producers, etc. The song (or performance) produced, thus, is greater than all of them.
One of the reasons why I often prefered mainland dramas was because after watching some of them, I remember the magnificence of the drama, but not the individuals. Whereas idol dramas seemed to be shows used to promote the leads, the works I adored were ones where the actors became a part of the overall show.
That’s why I dislike the way Meteor Shower and eeMedia is run. They do things not to make the series greater, but the people in the series. In their world, the music, the series are not the products, but the people. They’re not selling the drama, they’re not selling the music, they’re selling pieces of people.
July 14, 2009 at 2:55 am
Ah, that clarifies things. Thing is, since a lot of people are attached to the artist more than the songs, especially in Asia… Frankly, it makes me wonder if it wouldn’t benefit the quality of music in China/Korea to have less personality-driven promotion.
BTW, are there any reputable music review sites or magazines in China?
And yes, everything must be put together, but I thought we were talking about the final choice in singer specifically. I still think it’s subjective, and a lot of the rest is attributable to charisma and luck.
That’s an idol-based market for you, haha. Pretty much why I was pretty disdainful of the stuff of the stuff. ^^;
July 14, 2009 at 4:35 am
okay….after bashing Meteor Shower, isn’t this song gorgeous? It would’ve been such a beautiful song were it to be sung with more feelings.
(not that it’s bad now…it’s so much better than the other song)
I feel like that’s one of the reasons why mainland films are being more “successful” now than Taiwan, and arguably Hong Kong. The focus is still very much on the final product instead of the artists. Of course, that may be changing, but for the most part, it’s still true.
July 14, 2009 at 6:45 am
I wish Ariel would stick to dramas like “Love Contract” or something because she did a pretty good job in that drama. It’s much different than her characters in TKA and ISWAK. It sucks most people judge her on only those two dramas without knowing her (as a person, and her personal life) and her previous works.
Still, wish she stuck to acting… D:
July 14, 2009 at 8:54 am
@ idarklight – Good songs from Bibi Zhou’s album, Time: SEASON, 你们的爱,
青睐, 倒叙的光, 唱一半的歌, 学会感受, 醒着梦游. I hope the encoding thing is right; I completely fail at pinyin.
The Meteor Shower song is brilliant. It matches the drama well, is very catchy and is sung well.
Asia definitely focuses on personality a lot more than Western society. One big proof of this is the variety TV shows. There is no doubt that in order to make it big in Asia, you have to make people like you for more than just talent or looks.
Oh and I love reading Nepheliad’s mini essays ;p
July 14, 2009 at 2:46 pm
@megan
I do, too. They’re quite interesting.
I don’t think it’s all about personality. Xu Wei is terribly boring. Zhou Xun doesn’t seem that much fun, neither. Personality can give you fans, but talent can still gain you approval.
I hope they ditch the other song, which was the epitome of blandness, and use this as the theme song. This song has epic-potentials… I can almost imagine next Super Boy’s Wei Chen singing it with “Let dreams hibernate” powers.
——-
Randomness: I may stop liking Wei Chen one day, his personality, his looks, but I think I’ll always love that performance. It is performances like that that ultimately stays, not the ever-changing looks and personality of an artist…
@wendy
I wish people would stop it, too. She seems like really intelligent and thoughtful girl outside of her dramas, and it’s quite unfair that’s he’s assumed to be an airhead simply because of her roles.
July 14, 2009 at 2:59 pm
@Nepheliad…
Well, I like Jay for his decision-making not his musical talent. His collabs with Fei Yuqing and Song Zuying made a lot of younger people take note of them, and in turn brought older people to pop. He also tried to inject commercialism in Taiwan movies, which have for the most part, been very indie and artsy. It’s incredible how he can take a step back, look at CN/TW entertainment as a whole, and try to improve it. It’s very admirable. Zhang Ziyi may not be the most beautiful or talented actress, but I feel like she has the same ability, to take a step back and see what Chinese entertainment needs, and try give CN entertainment that (as with Sophie’s Revenge). And in that sense, I like her more than Gong Li, who is awesome, but is more her own career-focused. Okay, that was a big digression. But yeah…people like Jay are rare and if I gush over him…it’s not entirely musical talent that I like.
But I agree very much on your statement: China needs more diversity, I think China has it pretty good so far… Hua Yi/EQ is good at cultivating pop stars/artists, Dong Records is good at bringing indie artists to the mainstream, Modern Sky is a very successful indie label , Thirteen Month Records is pretty decent label for rock. And then there’s eeMedia, who is like the unpredictable one that I love watching because it gives me heartattacks, and then makes me happy, and then gives me heartattacks because it’s just a rollercaoster ride with them. And to be honest it’s fun because there’s always some logic behind the crazy things they do. Even if my fav Wang Yuexin doesn’t get squat with them, who the hell cares? He is young, and he is very dedicated to improving his voice, instrument-playing, composing, etc. If he really loves music, he’ll find a way to make it considering he does have a fan-base. Again I digress.
But there’s always more diversity to be had. And for China, I feel like they don’t really have anything strictly personality driven? I mean like Arashi in Japan or SJ in Korea? Maybe they should. But there’s definitely less opportunity to show it off than in Japan or Korea, where variety shows dominate. And partially, I feel like those variety shows are never going to happen in China because China is just so much bigger than than those two countries and is split into different cities of entertainment focus (Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Chendgu, etc) vs just the capital (Tokyo, Seoul).
And on a related note, as for why KRY doesn’t actually get their own album? – Probably because those three while the best singers, are the hardest to get into personality wise of SJ.
I agree with idarklight, Chinese dramas never seem like a vehicle for idols. (Although that hasn’t stopped me from getting attached to Chuang Guan Dong’s Jing Dong. Jing Dong!!!). Even Ugly Wudi is more of a ensemble piece. But I don’t know, since most of the Chinese dramas are like that, it couldn’t hurt to open up part of the Chinese drama sector to star-driven vehicles.
I always felt Chinese entertainment was very much skills-based, less on personality or looks, considering all the artists that came before. And now I don’t feel like it’s completely going to personality or looks…but rather that it is diversifying. A balance is always nice, because you’re right Nepheliad, art’s subjective, and there should be something for everyone.
July 14, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Li Yuchun’s pretty much personality driven…
According to baidu, I think Meteor Fly is the theme song, not the other song. Is there a more elegant word for “fly” that I can use in the translations?
July 31, 2009 at 2:15 am
idol entertainment, just released all 9 “idol girls” member’s cartoon pictures on their main website and sohu.
if anyone is curious to see how they look:
http://music.yule.sohu.com/20090729/n265578963.shtml
they are going to debut in august
July 31, 2009 at 2:51 am
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTA4NjM4NzIw.html
December 13, 2009 at 12:44 pm
damn it so-called idol girls!! wht kind of shit is ‘idols girls’?
copying snsd’s everything,,
from style,hairstyle, pose,,
u shld see it in allkpop.com,,
n one more thing,,
there’s this chinese folk song,,
they copied the choreography EXATCLY like our dearest snsd’s GEE!!
that’s bullshit!! where r their fuckin’ brains to think of something else rather than copying EVERY DANCE STEPS!!
idol girls n that old woman(who sang the song) sucks bad!!
im officially a hater!! plus, this just makes me hate chinese music industry!!
not being racist,,just hate their music industry,,lame!!