banner

Indie Duo Milk@Coffee Tops Charts with New Song “No Time”

August 31, 2010 | Posted in Mainland China,Music, Tagged ,

U1819P28T3D3066266F329DT20100827103438

Popular indie duo Milk@Coffee recently released a new single with simple lyrics, but ones that everyone can  relate to. The begins with a minute of various celebrities saying what they lack time for.  “I am __” they say, “I have no time for ____”.  These neglected activities include listening to music, dating, losing weight, studying abroad, visiting relatives,  having kids, and so many other commonplace ones that every listener should hear one they too pushed back at one point. The spoken introduction ends abruptly with Laure Shang, indeed busy composing and releasing her own singles saying: “My name is Shang Wenjie. I have no time to record whatever this is for you”.

The actual song’s  catchy chorus sums up the sentiment behind the song: “I have no time. I have no time. I really have no time”. But  it also offers optimistically in the end “I have to ask myself, shouldn’t I be stronger/ persevere?”

The MV:

An anthem for this era, the single reached the top 3 of famous music site SoSo after only a week o frelease, just behind Wang Leehom.*  Kiki, the singer in the duo said she was very glad, and appreciative that people were paying attention to their return to music.

Since their new single was released by Hua Yi,  features many Hua Yi artists in the intro, and has a green flavoured MV (Hua Yi is known for its environmentalism), it’s possible that the duo is in fact, no longer indie, but has been signed by this major label. Milk@Coffe’s album will be out in September.

Source

*Congrats Leehom! Love in Disguise became the highest-grossing Chinese-language film by a first-time director.

Ladies of Dream of the Red Chamber Cover the September Issue of Esquire

August 31, 2010 | Posted in Mainland China,Photoshoot,Television, Tagged , , , , , ,

703_151350_686767

Poor GQ. While it does have the likes of Chang Chen, Ethan Ruan and Han Han, it has to compete with Esquire‘s September issue, featuring the female cast of Li Shaohong’s Dream of the Red Chamber, pillow fighting. The girls in the photoshoot are Jiang Mengjie, Li Qin, Gao Yang, Li Yan, and Ma Xiaocan. After a 3 years in production, Dream of the Red Chamber finally will air this September. Whether it will be successful remains to be seen, but it’s likely that it will give the majority of its large cast, including these girls, an unparalleled boost in stardom, ushering a new wave of young actors.

Source

GQ Chooses Men of the Year

August 31, 2010 | Posted in Mainland China,Photoshoot,Taiwan, Tagged , , ,

704_150424_316394Four reasons to love GQ: Chang Chen. Wearing a  bowtie! On Bicycle! With a little bell!

Although just an inauspicious, unannounced guest at “shi mei” Huang Ling‘s fanmeet,  Han Han has been receiving  much recognition elsewhere lately. Earlier this year, he was included in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential List. Now he’s featured in GQ’s issue of Men of the Year. The difference between the two magazines? GQ has nicer pictures. He’s joined in the featured spread by the ranks the likes of Taiwanese film actors, Chang Chen (Parking),  newbie but promising film actor Ethan Ruan (Monga), esteemed director Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly), Lin Dan, badminton star, and others. Together they represent model men of this generation. Selected pictures below the cut.

Source (Go here for full list)

(more…)

Isabelle Huang Ling Congratulated By “Shi Xiong” Author Han Han

August 31, 2010 | Posted in Mainland China,Music, Tagged , , ,

U3904P28T3D3069676F326DT20100830142136

We first posted on Isabelle Huang Ling last year, a rising young singer from Shanghai, due to the strength of her vocals and the unique quality of her songs from her first album Itch/Yang. Back then the buzz around her was just beginning, and she had just done a CM with BOBO, and had announced a second album. She made good on that promise a month ago with “Special”, an album continuing her unique style of music. This time she released to a much larger audience than before, her popularity having steadily increased in the past year, even promoting in Taiwan. Yesterday, in her fanmeet in Beijing she was congratulated by her “Shi Xiong” (her company senior in SMG), famous author and blogger Han Han. Back when he had dabbled for better or worse in in music, she appeared in one of his MVs, then a complete unknown, and just starting her musical training with the company.

Coincidentally, Chang Shilei, the talented producer responsible for the arrangement of her songs, and the composer of some of her biggest and most unique hits like High Song/High Ge and  Red Eyes, also received a strong boost in popularity this year with his single Ge Ge, and released his second album Myself to much anticipation.

Amidst the commercialism in cpop, both seemed to tap into the public’s simple desire for quality music, regardless of what is trendy at the moment. And it is never more gratifying when that happens. Here’s hoping they will both release a third album next year.

Source

Jing Boran and Fu Xinbo does ad for men’s clothing

August 30, 2010 | Posted in Commercials,Mainland China, Tagged , ,

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

BoBo’s Jing Boran and Fu Xinbo recently filmed a commercial for menswear ZLSJ, who gets thumbs up for allowing fans to take pictures of them looking contemplative and artsy.

More HQ fan pics of them filming the commercial here and here. Official photos here.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
(more…)

Laure Shang finds the crazy in herself

August 28, 2010 | Posted in Uncategorized, Tagged ,

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Ever  wished cpop would control every move of their artists from age 10 to 30 to make their artists all equally polished? I have. Yet then I see an artist flourish with individuality under a  loving but free company, and that wish goes out the window.

The latest example? Laure Shang Wenjie, once packaged “properly” as the sophisicated, Fudan-educated French interpreter and now crazy but awesome chick with catchy songs. The only thing that her old and new songs have in common are the phrases of French that she adores.

Listen to Laure’s new song S.O.S., the second song composed by herself:

This type of flourishing has been in cpop as long as there was pop in Greater China. The classic example is  homeboy Wang Leehom, who started as an idol singer but later took over his entire career by self-composing, writing and producing his songs.

One of mainland’s biggest entertainment companies, eeMedia, which receives a degree of complaints for lack of polish, is perhaps the company that best nourishes self-expressed talent. The Super Boys in 2007 bloomed like no other, with almost all of them composing their own hit songs in less than three years.

Even the more controlled band Top Combine is given plenty of say in their own works, and each member is free to pursue their own interests as long as they don’t interfere with the group. Ma Xueyang and Zhang Yuan were hence able to follow their music love, enabling their first album to be almost all composed by Top Combine members themselves. Li Mao is also beginning his dream career as an actor by taking over Deng Chao’s role in play “cui hua.”

The key in continued strength to an industry is by allowing room for growth for their artists, and many Chinese companies show that also in the way artists develop their own workshops and sub-companies. Actors like Eva Huang and Huang Xiaoming go on to produce their own movies and TV shows, and singers like Yu.Quan and Jane Zhang begin their own music companies, bringing their knowledge and expertise to a new generation of artists.

Ms. Lane Crawford (composer:  Laure Shang, Zhang Yadong) MV:

Cfensi Bookclub reading Tiny Times, Cry me a sad river part 6

August 18, 2010 | Posted in Mainland China,Translations, Tagged , ,

ANNOUNCEMENT

Cfensi is having a bookclub, with Guo Jingming’s Tiny Times as our first book! Practice your Chinese by reading the number one Chinese pop lit (and soon(?) to be movie and TV series) with us. Read more about it here.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Warning: This translation is as abridged as possible and cuts out almost all romance.
Read the original, Part 1, Part 2, Part 2.2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.
Read Disclaimer here first!

Yi Yao looked down, and slowly gave back the crumpled pink bill back to the boy.
She picked up the broomstick, and walked to the classrooms upstairs.
She turned around and looked at the stranger’s face in the sunset. She said, “No matter you believe it or not, I really didn’t.”
Yi Yao turned again and hurried her steps upstairs. Behind came the boy’s low voice, “Hey, my name is Gu Senxin. I really didn’t give you money because …”
Yi Yao didn’t wait for him to finish. She turned, and kicked the trashcan in his direction.
The plastic trash can rolled down the stairs. Countless numbers of papers and plastic bags flew out, covering the entire stairwell. The boy moved to the side and avoided the trash can that was aimed at him.
When he looked back, there was no one left in the stairwell.
The light flooded in from the windows on top of the stairwell.
He stood a bit, then bent over, picked up the waste papers one by one, put back the trash can, and then put the waste back in the can.

With her eyes closed, Yi Yao can still imagine Tang Xiaomi’s beautiful and touching face in the eyes of her classmates as she blackened Yi Yao’s name under the pretense of a friend.
“She should really be pitied…” “She probably does this for an unspeakable reason. Maybe it’s her family…”
“She definitely doesn’t want to do this, neither …”
In a crowd of boys with smiles of all motives, Tang Xiaomi sketched her tragic story.

The classroom was empty. Everyone had gone home.
Yi Yao walked to her seat, and realized that her backpack was missing.
The empty drawer was open, like a mocking mouth.
Yi Yao lowered her head and silently cried. She raised her sleeves to wipe off the tears, and found her sleeves full of dust.
(more…)

BoBo Fu Xinbo raises water quality awareness in Chengdu

August 16, 2010 | Posted in Mainland China, Tagged , , , ,
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

What's a trip around Chengdu without visiting pandas?

BoBo Fu Xinbo and singer Yu Kewei recently went around Chengdu to promote environmentalism in the city. As a part of Sohu’s Easy Go program, the two looked at water quality in Chengdu’s rivers, and visited the Living Water Park, the world’s first inner city ecological park in the world with water as its. The public park includes a natural water purification system that not only raises awareness, but has also increased the water quality in surrounding areas.

Lots of pretty, fun and HQ photos under the cut, and also watch this cute kissing game BoBo played:

(more…)

Previews for Yi Zhi Mei/Iljimae and Heavenly Weaver

August 14, 2010 | Posted in Mainland China,Television, Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Shanghai Tangren recently released clips for its two newest productions – the action-packed Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei, based on a Chinese legend (later popularized in a Korean comic book and drama, with the comic book author changing his nationality to Korean) starring Wallace Huo, Liu Shishi and Ma Tianyu and the palace intrigue series Heavenly Weaver, about legendary textile master Huang Da Po starring Janine Zhang Juning, Yuan Hong and Liu Shishi.

Strange Hero YiZhiMei:

Heavenly Weaver:

Huang Xiaoming Releases Song About Flood Relief in Southern China

August 13, 2010 | Posted in Interview,Mainland China,Music, Tagged , , ,

An unusually scruffy-looking Huang Xiaoming sings a beautiful song about the flood relief in China

Despite the barrage of rumors that Huang Xiaoming has had to face this year, his attention and his heart are still focused on what really matters: helping those in need of help. A few days ago, he released a song called My South (我的南方), which addresses the recent floods plaguing Southern China. Although not known for being a fabulous singer, Huang Xiaoming insisted that he would “make a great effort to sing this song well, despite not coming from a professional singing background,” and his effort definitely pays off.

MV for My South:

The three days it took for Huang Xiaoming to learn this song and complete the recording were fraught with emotion, to the point where he could not hold back his tears while recording. One of the reasons he responded so emotionally to this song is because when he was younger, he experienced a tsunami in his hometown, Qingdao, and thus has a direct understanding of the destruction caused by a natural disaster. “I remember the largest waves I ever saw when I was kid,” he says. “I was standing at the seaside watching the scenery, and a typhoon suddenly came, a tsunami came. Just seeing those waves… When I went swimming, I used to think the ocean spray was very comfortable. I didn’t expect those waves to be able to reach over three meters and be able to cover a person’s entire body and strike someone down. I thought, my God, so nature can actually be so terrible when she is angry.”

The lyrics (and an attempt at a translation) for My South can be found behind the cut, as well as a bit about the recent rumors surrounding Huang Xiaoming.

(more…)

Older Posts »

XHTML | CSS    © Cfensi. Design: Free CSS Templates | WordPress themes