Jiayou! Jolin is back! It seems like ages since Jolin has give us new music (it’s been about a year so not too long). I listened to her last album a lot whilst writing my dissertation for my final year at university. Listening to it whilst working hard in the library. I tend to listen to songs on repeat if I really like them which means certain songs are intrinsically linked to certain periods of my life and hearing that song again will always remind me of that time (Jolin from dissertation writing, Vanesssa Carlton whilst cycling in Germany during one summer and so on).
She returns with an unusual first single. Jolin is called the Taiwanese Britney Spears and if you watched Wu Niang or Agent J you can easily see why she has this monicker. However, she’s released a summery, melodic slice of C-pop, that wouldn’t be out of place on a drive to the beach. I’m so excited for the new album and the PV! I’m imagining a dance number with bright colours and the sun involved!
Check out the lyrics below, I’ll try to translate them and write them in pinyin so you can sing along soon!
Credit for Chinese character lyrics goes to: here.
I have a lot of respect for alan. She seems like a really smart, intelligent artist – much moreso than a lot of singers at the moment (Asian or otherwise). I’m always really impressed when a singer is multilingual. In this respect, alan reminds me a lot of Sa Ding Ding (heralded as the Chinese Bjork). She’s Tibetan, but can sing in numerous languages and has a soaring, beautiful voice (her technique reflective of traditional Tibetan singing). It’s inspiring to think of alan and Sa Ding Ding growing up in Tibet, all the culture, tradition and the scenery.
I’m not a die-hard alan fan, I think her songs can be often very dramatic and deep and not necessarily the best thing to listen to on the journey into work. I really liked the songs she did for Red cliff (both the Chinese and Japanese songs) and see this is a bit of return to form for her. Let’s hope she’s successful for this release – it’s also very encouraging to see a Chinese star do well in Japan.
Koda Kumi is back with a new song. I’ve never been a huge fan of Koda Kumi (I much prefer her ballads to her dance songs. But she always knows how to perform for the limelight. She’s a great performer but I think some of her style choices might not always agree with an audience. Oh well, you can’t be liked by everyone.
The 2PM boys have just released a new MV! And this one is a little different. It’s made up of behind the scenes footage of the band and scenes from their stage performances. I’m in two minds about this video because I never really like videos like this. They’re not original or new or different, and they seem terribly lazy to me. But it’s nice to see them in a more natural environment than their well rehearsed performances ^_^
So, Eurovision has come and gone in a flash – if you’re from the UK you’d be easily forgiven for not realising it was on over the weekend. Normally the annual event is lauded in the tabloids but recent years have seen its popularity diminish amongst the Big Four – at least the UK, for quite some time, has stopped caring. The UK has become one of the poorest performing nations. If we weren’t protected then we wouldn’t make it through the semi-finals with most of the drivel we send, Saturday’s offering case in point. However, let’s not be cruel to the competition.
I genuinely love it and can’t remember the last time I missed a contest. I just find it disparaging how not only does the UK not take it seriously, but also mocks it jealously with secret hopes of winning again. The UK, like the other Big Four nations (Germany, France and Spain also gurantee participation as being the biggest benefactors – without which the competition could not run) have been writen off the past decade. As the EU’s borders expanded, the Big Four’s hopes of winning shrunk. This all changed on Saturday.
Germany became the first Big Four nation to win the competition in more than a decade. Winning with a 76 margin, this is the second highest margin since last year’s winner (Norway won by a huge amount). Lena sang Satelitte with the influence of Kate Nash and Lily Allen being undeniable. It does however mark a slight trend in Eurovision: Lordi, Alexander Ryban and Lena all winning with songs not fitting into the Eurovision stereotype.
I really liked this song, it’s so catchy and cute and Lena is awkwardly endearing. Definitely my favourite song for this year! My other favourites include Iceland’s Hera Bjork with a bit of Eurovision diva disco and Tom Dice for Belgium with an acoustic guitar track – all very different songs. I guess that shows you how much Eurovision has come along.
Dido has had a pretty amazing career. Her singles have never sold millions, but her debut album is one of the highest selling debuts of all time. Growing up, Dido was the first artist whom I truly cherished – the 14-year-old me would have loved to see her in concert. Plus, she’s from Islington which is where I live! I’ve walked past her favourite pub so many times and my friends have seen her out and about. Her last album was met with a tepid commercial response. A lot of critics appreciated the collection though. Safe Trip Home is laced with melancholy and many of the songs directly refer to the sad passing of her father. Unfortunately, mournful introspection rarely converts into commercial success in today’s popsphere.
Dido, however, is striking back. Long before the current wave of electro-pop influnced music Dido embraced the dance world. Her brother, Rollo, is a member of electro, techno, dance group Faithless and his influence on her music can be seen throughout her career. Her latest offering, Everything to Lose is a full on, electronic pop song. It’s lyrics seem some what whimsical as we find her remembering times when her actions had no consequences but now that she’s found love, she has everything to lose. There is one lyric in the song that I find quite haunting: “I loved to live life but I was not afraid to die“. This is accompanied by haunting, soaring vocals that we have come to expect from Britain’s classiest post-modern chanteuse. Overall, the song strikes a fine balance between being a love song, a dirge and just a catchy pop song.
4Minute are not my favourite girl group… in fact they might not even make my top 5. (Top 5 is something like 1 – T-ara, 2 – SNSD, 2 – Wonder Girls, 3 – 2NE1, 4 – Kara). I did however really like Muzik, but they don’t seem to have had a song I liked as much since then. I don’t think song goes anywhere – if you follow? Although I think most K-pop songs don’t have a huge finale to them, it’s just a simple chorus chorus repeat. I’m getting off track. I do like some of the arrangement of this song though – so check it out!
Out of all the music shows K-pop fans can watch, Inkigayo has always been my favourite. Perhaps because it’s the last one of the week (it’s shown on Sundays) or perhaps because I always think the stages are more dramatic which in turn means the performers give it an extra 10%. Wonder Girls’ performance of 2 Different Tears on Inkigayo did nothing to change my mind on which of the music shows is the best.
The audience was amazing and whilst their performance wasn’t as polished as much as other acts (SNSD and 2PM spring to mind in giving absolutely flawless live performances), the Girls really bring something different to the stage. They all have unique personalities and they perform as entertainers – not just singers or dancers. I think the Wonder Girls are something unique in the K-pop industry, a band that aren’t afraid to be themselves and collaborate with their management on their career. May the Wonder Girls forever be together~! hwaiting! Although I’m sad they won’t be performing this in Korea for much longer :(
The Wonder Girls are back! And they’re back with a hip, cool, funky new song! I’m so impressed by it! It’s so catchy and it’s already in my top 25 played playlist on my ipod so you know I’ve been listening to it non-stop ^_^ I’m really surprised by Lim’s vocals though – they’re quite good and she’s not nearly as annoying as people make her out to be. I feel a bit sorry for her, she needs to be given a break :) She’s always really nice on twitter. Anyways! Check out the MV, do you like it? The concept is a bit weird… I think sometimes JYP has ideas and he just runs with them but they don’t always work… you know? Anyways, what I really like about the Wonder Girls is that they all have strong, distinct personalities and they’re never afraid to do something different. They work so hard! Their Chinese skills are also pretty nice ^_~
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