Singers come and go in the Chinese entertainment world, but not that many who are with Chengtian (Orange Sky) Entertainment, the Chinese third of the Asian triumvirate composed of Korea’s SM, and Japan’s Avex. So far they have a few measly singers, Kimi Qiao Renliang, and Zha Xi Dun Zhu, and none of them really do the kind of music SM or Avex is known for, and since it’s really rare for any Chinese entertainment company to train a singer from the ground up without them having gotten fame I took notice here to see if Chinese companies were turning a new leaf about that.
On November 19th, Vicky Liu Yanwei held her first press conference in Beijing for her new album, “Tian Fu”, or “Talent”. Having seen potential in her, Chengtian did not hesitate to use a large sum of money to recruit both Chinese and foreign teachers for her singing and dancing. She had gone under one year of intense training. Her first EP consists mainly of Pop/RnB with one ballad to round it out, and she performed all four songs at the press conference. Included in her performance was a “shadow dance” behind a curtain.
Despite what her company told her about Kimi possibly being too busy with work to show up, he did in fact come to wish her well at the press conference, causing her to exclaim, “Hey weren’t you busy filming?” before he presented her with a bouquet (Yes, this is the real reason why I took notice of her in the first place, but it’s not the reason I made a post). When teased about his ulterior motives for giving her flowers, Qiao Renliang answered that the yellow roses’s color were the symbol of pure friendship, and were to wish her well on her EP release.
While I can’t say her dancing or singing is anything dramatic, and the music kind of resembles your average pop, it also seems slightly promising if only for the reason that cpop is actually training their people to dance now. *sigh* When did dancing become necessary for singers? Maybe I’m reading too much into this. Anyway she seems really nice and sweet from the clips I saw.
Check out her first MV, Tian Fu. You can also check out her performing her second song on the EP, which is Mao Xian, here which I like a lot better than Tian Fu and shows off her vocals better. Although if you want a Chinese singer with great vocals that recently released something, you should check out Ai Mengmeng’s My Way.
Yeah, mainly because of Supergirls, etc.
…but this girl is interesting because she was actively scouted which means Chinese companies are taking more notice of their music stars now, and trying to actively create stars rather than just waiting for them to fall into her lap. One year is not a lot of time training compared to Korean stars, but then again, China’s probably got more talent since she’s a bigger country, and stars probably had more to begin with, just like with the Supergirls. They are so amazing at lives.
Anyway, yes, I think this is a step forward for mainland’s music industry. I’m especially intrigued by this one, as she from Chengtian, one of the biggest companies in China and Hua Yi’s rival. I expect big things from them, and so I expect big things from her. This debut was kind of lackluster though. I’m not even sure if she would have been in the news had it not been for Qiao Renliang.
shes good. ive realized how so many mainland stars are coming out now. prob because of super boy/ super girl. i guess this is really good for mainlands music industry.
Yeah, it sounds actually better in the full song, without the beginning cut off. Her vocals are okay, but she can’t really compete with all the powerhouses that came out of Supergirls. Those girls are amazing in vocals, but she’s probably going for a more hip-hop, all-around appeal. The song in her MV is probably either my least or second least favorite of her songs on her EP but I guess they chose it because it was better suited for a dance MV.
Dancing I feel kind of takes away focus from the vocal aspect of singing, which is obviously the most important part, but I guess in this day and age where media is so easily obtained, it probably is nice to watch performances where singers dance. Wow, I can’t believe I said in this day and age. Before you know it I’ll be saying back in my day.
Wow, I really liked the song you posted in that link. She has a pretty decent voice, and it is definitely a plus that she can dance. I don’t think dancing is necessary, but it certainly makes performances so much more interesting to watch :). That’s just my opinion though.