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3月30日 Chinese Music Part 8: 1999-Y2KJolin Cai
Chinese Name: 蔡依林
Mandarin Name: Cai Yi Lin
(b. 1980 in Taibei, Taiwan)
Jolin Cai can probably be considered the most popular female pop star in China at the moment. Though she started out doing R&B, she has shifted to dance music and is currently one of the few big Chinese pop stars doing this genre of music. As such, she is being called the Kylie Minogue of Asia. Getting to the top was not so straightforward, however, and involved changing record companies a couple of times. In recent years she has won a host of "Best / Most Popular Female Singer" awards. Her most successful album to date was 2006's Dancing Diva with sales of over 2 million copies in Asia.
Jolin is said to have been shy as a child and a mathematical scholar. She excelled in studying English and majored in English Literature at the famous Taiwanese Fu Zhen Catholic University. She loved to sing and dreamed of releasing an album of English songs but was told that such a venture would be unprofitable. When Jolin was 18, she participated in an MTV singing competition and won top honours. She signed on with Universal Music and released her first album, Jolin 1019, and the single, "Living with the World" in 1999. She was an instant success and her album sold 400,000 copies in Asia. Her second album did even better. But sales of her third and fourth albums did poorly which prompted her to change record companies. She signed on with Sony and shifted to a more dance-oriented style. It worked: her next three albums, Magic, Castle, and J-Game sold over a million copies apiece in Asia. Magic remained on top of the Taiwan album charts for three months. Castle included a Chinese cover ("Love, Love, Love") of the Nu Virgos song "Stop, Stop, Stop". In 2005, Jolin released her seventh album J-Game. Not only did it become the longest running album on the Taiwanese album charts that year, but it sold over a million copies in just a little over a month.
In 2006, it was announced that Jolin would be leaving Sony. She joined EMI Capitol. During the changeover, she worked on perfecting her dancing skills. Her first release with EMI Capitol was Dancing Diva. It became her biggest album, selling over 2 million copies in Asia. In 2007, she cleaned up at most of the awards ceremonies in Asia. Later that year, she released Agent J.
Listen to Jolin Cai's "Say 'Love You'" (说爱你)
"The Sun Won't Set" (日不落)
Elva Xiao
Chinese Name: 萧亚轩
Mandarin Name: Xiao Ya Xuan
(b. 1979 in Taibei, Taiwan)
This R&B diva attended high school for a couple of years in Vancouver. While there she entered a singing competition. She was a member of the female trio Phenomenon, but when the other two members dropped out, she began a solo career. She signed onto Virgin Records and released her debut solo album in 1999. It sold over a million copies in Asia. She released six more albums. In 2005, she got a new contract with Warner Music. Warner music was undergoing difficulties at this time, however, resulting in the resignation of many executives. It affected other artists, like Stefanie Sun and Sherry Zhang who saw little promotion that year. Elva’s first album with Warner was delayed for well over a year. Angry fans spammed the company’s online forums causing their website to crash for a week.
Listen to Elva Xiao’s "Love's Main Hit Song" (爱的主打歌)
"Most Well-Informed Stranger" (最熟悉的陌生人)
"Suddenly Think of You" (突然想起你)
Joey Yung
Chinese Name: 容祖儿
Cantonese Name: Yung Jo Yee
Mandarin Name: Rong Zu Er
(b. 1980 in Hong Kong)
Joey is currently one of the hottest Cantonese singers in the world. She won the Jade Solid Gold Award for Most Popular Female Singer every year from 2003 to 2006. The same age as Taiwan's Jolin Cai, who's won a host of "Most Popular Mandarin Female Singer" awards, Joey can be regarded as Jolin's counterpart in Hong Kong.
Joey began entering singing contests from the age of 15. She had a rough ride with her first two record companies (local labels). The godfather of Cantopop, Roman Tam took her under his wing, providing her with singing lessons. She joined the Emperor Entertainment Group in 1998 and released her debut album in 1999. At 23 weeks, the album broke the record for consecutive weeks on the album charts in Hong Kong. It sold 130,000 copies in the city. In January 2000, Joey's apartment was set on fire. Her 2001 compilation album Love Joey was the best-selling album of the year in Hong Kong. After a couple more album releases that year, she released her first Mandarin album, Honestly.
In 2003, Joey came out with the song "My Pride" (Mandarin Version entitled "Angel Girl") which catapulted her to superstardom all across Asia. She was named "Canto-Pop Queen" of Hong Kong and was the second youngest to receive the title (after Anita Mui). She embarked on a world tour with dates in Canada, Australia, the U.S., Mainland China, Macau, and Malaysia. Sales of all of Joey's CDs surpassed the 5 million mark in 2004. This is significant for a Cantonese singer. In 2004, she earned an estimated 60 million Hong Kong dollars.
Listen to Joey Yung's 2003 mega-hit, "Angel Girl" (挥着翅膀的女孩)
"Weak Heart" (心淡)
Stefanie Sun
Chinese Name: 孙燕姿
Mandarin Name: Sun Yan Zi
(b. 1978 in Singapore)
After mental illness ended the career of their celebrated pop star, Mavis Xu, Singaporeans wondered if they would ever produce another. In Y2K, they did, and Stefanie Sun took the Chinese world by storm. She has, since then, sold over 10 million copies of her albums in Asia, a feat which only Faye Wang achieved before her. Prior to the recent Jolin phenomenon, Stefanie Sun was arguably the most popular Mandarin Female singer in Asia and is easily the most successful singer ever from Singapore.
After completing a degree in marketing, Sun was discovered by her own music teacher and released her first (self-titled) album. Its single, "Cloudy Day", an adaptation of a traditional Taiwanese folk song, turned her into an overnight sensation. Sun's first several albums sold over a million copies in Asia each. Her album To Be Continued included the song "Magic" wherein she used Indian-style music.
Listen to "Cloudy Day" (天黑黑)
"Magic" (神奇)
"Green Light" (绿光)
Jay Zhou
Chinese Name: 周杰伦
Mandarin Name: Zhou Jie Lun
(b.1979 in Taibei, Taiwan)
Since his debut in Y2K, Jay Zhou has been the biggest pop star in China. His talent was discovered in 1998 and he spent two years composing songs for other singers. Though he was trained in classical music, he Americanized Chinese pop music with his hip-hop and R&B style which has made him popular especially among the younger Chinese. What also set him apart from other Chinese singers was his writing songs about social issues like domestic violence and war. He released his first self-titled album in 2000 and, since then, one per year. Each album has sold a few million copies. Of his more recent releases, his biggest-selling album, which includes his mega-hit "Excuse", has been Common Jasmine Orange with sales of 3.5 million. One reason for the big album sales is that he gained popularity in non-Chinese Asian countries, like Japan, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Like Valen Xu, Jay took piano lessons from 4 years of age. He also learned to play the cello. He liked to impersonate actors and perform magic tricks. His parents divorced when he was 14 which made him reclusive. At this time he began to write music. He graduated from high school with grades inadequate to enter university so he prepared for military service (compulsory for all Taiwanese 18 year old men). He was saved from this by the diagnosis of a hereditary spinal inflammatory disease. He became a waiter. His friend entered the two of them in a talent show. Zhou accompanied his friend's singing by playing the piano. The judges described the singing as "lousy" but the host was impressed with the music score which Zhou had composed. Jay was then hired as a composer. He was judged to be too shy and unattractive to become a singer. When the music studio was sold to another music company, the new manager asked Jay to release his own album. He did and became a success story.
Jay Zhou is one of the few artists who maintains creative control over his productions. He writes and produces most of his own albums. He also directs most of his own music videos. He is now enjoying a burgeoning acting career as well.
Listen to Jay Zhou's mega-hit, the gorgeous ballad "Excuse" (借口)
"Hair Like Snow" (发如雪)
"Seven Inner Fragrances" (七里香)
"East Wind Burst" (东风破)
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