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Stranger in the North – Namewee ft Wang Leehom
Malaysian singer Namewee adds to the countless songs about the dream chasers lost in the strange allure and fog of the Northern Capital (Beijing). I don’t think Leehom has ever lived in Beijing, but who can complain about him.
Jacky Xue Zhiqian (薛之谦) is preparing for the release of his new album Accident/意外 with the reveal of 3 singles from the upcoming album. This album comes 8 years after Jacky’s debut and barely 6 months after his car accident in Thailand. Watch the MV for the three singles Ugly (丑八怪), Accident (意外), and What Else Do You Want From Me (你还要我怎样) below. The MV for the first single Ugly was filmed in the San Francisco Bay Area.
August 25th was Crystal Liu Yifei‘s birthday (she’s 26!), so Weibo was filled with costars, friends, and fans wishing her the best. Here she is with an adorable birthday cake with ducks on it. Why her fans didn’t pick kittens is beyond me, but ducks are cute too.
Thank you friends, family, and all of those who love me, my fans, for all of these blessings and love, and also thank my Thai fans, I’ve watched the birthday video,lots of love in it! Thank u guys
Celebrities flocked to Weibo this week in order to call followers’ attention to the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Ya’an on April 20th. Whether it was sharing ways to help, urging fans to donate their money or time, or simply posting words of comfort, a bunch of stars made noteworthy Weibo posts. We unfortunately can’t reproduce all of them, but hopefully we’ve gotten some of the more memorable ones.
Please keep the people of Ya’an in your thoughts!
Not sure who first came up with the idea for this photo, but He Jiong posted it on his Weibo, along with a message of support:
I just saw this picture, and want to share it with everyone. Let’s jiayou for the beautiful Sichuan!
“My love for you has nothing to do with you.”
This doesn’t seem to make any sense, at least not until you watch Jacky Xue‘s new MV and mini-movie. In his first single after signing with a new company, Jacky writes about a love that doesn’t ask for reciprocation. The related mini-movie, titled Right Beside You (最熟悉的陌生人, literally “The Most Familiar Stranger”), tells of a man named Yang Xi, who falls in love with a girl with face blindness. When her boyfriend leaves her and she gets sent to the hospital, Yang Xi decides to pretend to be her boyfriend and protect her until her illness can be cured. Although she must depend on a photograph to remember his face, he nevertheless remains devoted to her.
In order to ensure that his song aligned with the mini-movie’s plot, Jacky secluded himself for half a month to find inspiration. At one point, he refused to board the plane to Beijing, where filming for the mini-movie would take place, because he hadn’t yet found the melody that would generate the most feeling. After all, “if this song can’t emotionally move me, how can it touch viewers and listeners?” Although he had to start over many times, he hopes that everyone will approve of and like the result.
The MV for “Within Your Circumference” (方圆几里), composed and written by Jacky, and English-subbed at Cfensi’s subbing channel.
Xue Zhiqian just released his My Athena MV for his compilation album, NOT Completed Song. When I started this site, I thought he was just another pretty boy with minimal talent. Then I found out he composed almost all of his songs. Then I realized how everyone else under his record label Universal has essentially failed because Universal barely gives him promotion opportunities. He deserves so much credit for getting where he is today, by being so hard-working, whether it be composing hit songs that get him on the charts, or taking the initiative to learn to dance to vary his style.
My Athena (Co-composed and Written by Xue Zhiqian)
Xue Zhiqian sang his new song, “Chu He Han Jie” (not on his recently released compilation album) , which apparently is the themesong to… the end of the year Chinese Chess tournament in Shanghai. Poor Xue Zhiqian. Why does Universal suck so much at finding promotional opportunities for you? Composed by Xue Zhiqian, and lyrics cowritten by him and the charmain of the chess organization. I really hope Xue Zhiqian goes back and edits the song, because his lyrics are usually better.
The bad news is that Xue Zhiqian‘s upcoming album is actually a compilation album. Which means Incomplete Song and My Athena are the only new tracks, whereas the 12 other tracks are old. But for him it’s probably better that he doesn’t put out all that effort into composing for an actual album.
Because there’s too many new releases and too much competition.
Releases from mainland female Chinese artists were spread out throughout this year, but a considerable portion of the male side seem to have waited until the last minute to release, causing an massive pileup of both albums from the soloists to the boybands, ranging from pop to grunge. Despite the spectrum in musical styles, this still can’t be good for the artists, nor the companies involved which I listed alongside the artists, and as you can see, there’s a lot.
Late November
Yu Haoming – eeMedia
KeNT – ? (EP)
December Releases:
Jacky Xue Zhiqian – Universal/SMG
Anson Hu Yanbin- Gold Typhoon
Kimi Qiao Renliang – Chengtian (Orange Sky Entertainment)
Chen Kun – ?
Peng Tan (four new songs/acoustic album)- Tai Rye Music
Xie Tian Xiao – Thirteen Month Records
Li Jian – ?
Sha Baoliang –
Top Combine – eeMedia
Xue Zhiqian composes almost all the songs on his albums, including his hits singles. But why not all? Because while he likes dance, his compositional forte are pretty ballads, and so he leaves the one or two fast-tempo tracks for others to make. But this time he co-composed one track from his upcoming album along with two others. It could be better, but it’s at least as good as the lackluster Let U Go from his third album, so there is no downside to his trying to diversify and learn how to compose them. If it’s not your thing, you can listen to his ballad Unfinished Song, the first single from his upcoming fourth album.
Xue Zhiqian – My Athena
Performance and lyrics below the cut.