Jay Chou invites her to dinner; Judy Chiang touched: "very compassionate"

source: Apple
translated by: http://www.jaychoustudio.com

After news broke of Taiwanese heavenly queen Judy Chiang having to pay the debts of her older sister, reducing her years of hard earned money back to zero, yesterday night she wrote a blog titled "I'm the richest person in the world", she thanked her friends and fans who tried to make her laugh, she expressed her gratitude and contentment. Yesterday night Jay Chou held his 30th birthday party, he especially phoned her to invite her to dinner, even though she didn't go because she wasn't feeling well but she constantly said: "Jay really is very compassionate".

Because Judy Chiang appreciated the first song Jay Chou and Vincent Fang did together, they always have her in their hearts, last year Judy Chiang held a concert, Jay Chou went to support her onstage, after hearing Judy has to start from zero again, yesterday he said at his birthday party: "Going to have to give her some caring." On the night he asked a colleague to invite her for him to dinner.

Jay Chou will be going to mainland China tomorrow, besides holding the press conference for "Ci Ling", according to reports he will have a chance to perform at the Beijing Spring Festival Gala for a third time, yesterday Sina reported that the director of the Gala Kun Lang has already revealed that Jay Chou and Song Zhu Ying will be doing a duet on "A Herbalist's Manual", towards this news his company JVR Music was as usual low key, they stressed all that is accurate will be announced officially.

Jay Chou celebrates his 30th birthday; takes a fancy to $88million sports car

source: UDN
translated by: Sarah @ http://asianfanatics.net

Jay Chou yesterday celebrated his 30th birthday. Although he is still single, and ex-girlfriend Patty Hou and rumoured girlfriend Jessie Chiang has not yet sent text messages to wish him happy birthday, he did not feel lonely at all, as he was accompanied by over 800 fans. Right now, all he can think about is that he wants a new car, especially because recently, he’s taken a fancy to the 20 limited edition - Lamborghini Reventon. Importing plus tariff, the total cost is estimated to be 2,000,000euros (88,590,000NT). He says that this car has moved his heart, however his mother Ye Hui Mei was the first to shake her head, using her index finger to make a ‘No!’ gesture, crushing Jay’s birthday wish on the spot.

Ever since Jay entered the industry, his rumours have never seemed to stop. He revealed: “Now that I’m 30, I can properly choose, find someone to be my wife. That way I can get married at 35!” Being an Asian superstar, he says that it’s very hard to get to know girls in private. Only through his directed films, MV auditions does he get the chance to make new friends, but he stressed: “This is not Princess election!” He rushed to clarify: “Casting is very important, even the guest roles, I willl hand-pick them myself, you guys have to write that I am very precise as a director!” Jay revealed that he actually has quite a few movie and dinner dates but he does not dare to one-on-one, even when he goes out with his assistant, he has to be very careful.

Yesterday, staff members prepared a tower of 30 red eggs, and a ‘2009 Flush’ poker birthday cake. As Jay blew out the candles, he made his birthday wish: “I hope my supporters will be in good health, like my grandma is almost 90 years old, but she won’t be out of breath when she climbs stairs, very healthy.” Afterwards, his grandma went onstage to kiss him, and he was very shy.

Mentally, Jay is like a big naughty boy and he wishes to ‘continue to be childish/naïve,’ and can play around with creative ideas. Jay has a strong sense of competitiveness, and he wants to lead in both music and films. In the entertainment industry, there is fierce competition and he says: “Don’t know how long I can still sing for, but when it becomes unsuitable, I’ll retire to backstage.”

This year, besides his new film ‘Ci Ling’, he will also enter the idol drama field and will direct ‘Panda Hero.’ Jay smiled saying that this idea is very humourous, he really hopes to create a Chinese-style hero. If he wants to play, then he’s gotta play big; each episode is estimated to cost millions of NT, and the special effects will be like in ‘Hot Shot’ and ‘Symphonic Valentine's Dream.’

Yesterday, his $5.5million MV of ‘Dragon Knight’ also premiered and Jay did not forget to add: “Other people have the money to buy charts, we have the money to film MV.” Lately, Jiang Hui has hit a financial crisis, and Jay caringly said that he will take his ‘2nd sister’ out to relieve her stress.

Yesterday, Patty Hou and Tian Xin attended a fashion event, and when asked whether she has bought a birthday gift for her friend, she replied: “Birthday? Oh is Mr Jay right? He has everything he wants, I wish him happy brithday and good health. A friend’s birthday, I will text him to wish him happy birthday la.”

Jay Chou puts effort into filming MV; bruises ass

source: UDN
translated by: http://www.jaychoustudio.com

Jay Chou spent 5.5 million and 4 months of filming to finish the MV for his new song "Dragon Knight", the mysterious veil will be revealed at his birthday party this week, during the filming Jay Chou put a lot of effort into it, the explosion scenes were very powerful, he only found out his ass was "bruised" after going home!

Jay Chou is being very generous on his birthday as he books the movie theatre in Xi Men Ding, he's also letting his fans be the first ones to see his fantasy MV "Dragon Knight". The MV is anime movie production styled full of a fantasy world in the future, just a short 5 minutes of scenes took 4 days of filming, the post production was as along as 4 months, it has also broken the record for the most times Jay Chou has done martial arts, special effects and wiring in an MV.

Under the perfection seeking of "Director Chou", during filming he had it rough going, besides martial arts scenes and flips, there were many scenes where he had to match explosions, Jay Chou was hurt when he did the scene where he saved the female lead, he joked saying: "The sacrifice for this time's explosion is quite big, I want to tell everyone, if you don't have such a tough ass please don't film explosion scenes, I only found out my ass was bruised when I went home, it felt like I had that cupping treatment, I wanted to say when I looked in the mirror, I have such a dark birthmark?"

During filming, Jay Chou's back problem flared up, father Chou personally came to the set to give him antibiotics, Jay Chou said: "My dad's funny, when he saw me the first thing he did wasn't to give me the medicine, but was to ask "Are there any roles I can play", you can tell he really wants to make it big." When mother Chou came to visit, Jay Chou was afraid she would worry so he ordered the staff not to mention his back problem.

Genie Zhuo feels like a "soft porn actress"!

Genie Zhuo feels like a "soft porn actress"!
Yahoo News

Taiwanese singer Genie Zhuo breaks away from her usual sweet-girl image to take on a sexy vibe for her new album. Zhuo says she is still getting used to her new image with lesser to wear now; striking alluring poses has got her feeling like an AV Girl!

In order to strike out convincing poses, a self-proclaimed conservative-minded Zhuo had to overcome her psychological barrier and study sexy pictures of women as homework. To get the hearts of her male fans throbbing, Zhuo even bares her shoulders and parades her slender legs; a bold move considering her usual wardrobe which is lacking in mini shorts and sleeveless T-shirts.

However, hard work is required to present the matching body that drapes the sexy clothing. Zhuo revealed, "I have to control my diet and refrain from starchy food. I will start abstaining from food four hours before going to bed."

For the sexy look, Zhuo paid special attention to her legs. In fact, she has always been unsatisfied with her own figure and is resolved to be a "paper-man" (as thin as paper). "I'm now at my slimmest state in recent years but I hope to reduce my weight to 30kg."

Zhuo admitted though that there was a time when her slimming diet caused gastric problems. Claiming to be an easy weight-gainer, she even tried "starvation" to lose weight, but ended up eating more and growing fatter due to the hunger.

She admitted to her mistake courageously and hopes to remind her fans she was a negative role model; people seeking to lose weight should not push their limits or do the extremes as they may end up hurting themselves.

Jay Chou king of industry with "Capricorn" sales, Mayday resides next with Jolin Tsai falling out of the charts

Source: Apple

Recently the various record publishers have been tallying up the sales of the Mandarin albums in Taiwan, even though the different companies have varying numbers, but all the companies have shown that Jay Chou's "Capricorn" sold about 150,000 copies, Mayday assaulted the campus market with "Poetry of the Day After", their sales were also good, but the prices were fluctuating, estimates have ranged from 150,000 to 200,000. This article is translated by http://www.jaychoustudio.com

S.H.E.'s "My Radio" and the OST to "Cape No. 7" battled for 3rd and 4th, first time album releases from Jam Xiao and Aska Yang were about equal so were 5th place. According to statisticians you can get into the top 10 if you sold 47,000 copies, Jolin Tsai dropped out of the charts as she only released an English book album, she didn't match it up with promotion, her agent Jiang Cheng Jin said they sold 30,000 copies.

Jay Chou's parent company JVR Music's promotion supervisor Zhang Lan Yun said: "In each of the sales chart from the different companies, Capricorn has sold 150,000 copies, there isn't any exaggeration, it shows the sales number we announce are honest."

SONY BMG Starts This "No-Buying-Charts" Wave Just So Lee Hom Wang's "Sales Record" Would Beat Show Luo's?

SONY BMG Starts This "No-Buying-Charts" Wave Just So Lee Hom Wang's "Sales Record" Would Beat Show Luo's?

01/14/2009

Lee Hom Wang claims himself a music man, but when his album was released, his sales record seemed to be trudging a bit. Reportedly, SONY BMG's "No Buying Charts Press Conference" was only to help Lee Hom Wang defeat his "rival" Show "Xiao Zhu [Little Pig]" Luo !? Perhaps because this album "Heart Beat" is Lee Hom's deciding key of his contract renewal with SONY BMG ; And since SONY BMG has no other pop king on hand, they can only think of any way possible to keep their last ace.

To secure this pop king, even before the album was released, SONY BMG had already called Show Luo and Fahrenheit's promoters/companies, who were planning to release albums at the same time, hoping that they would release their albums one week later, so Lee Hom Wang would have a chance to sit upon the #1 ranking, but they were rejected. Thus SONY BMG could only turn around to accuse Show Luo of buying out the charts, and then started the "No Buying Charts Press Conference." But the companies efforts was not appreciated by Lee Hom. With the thoughts of only presenting good music, he doesn't even care about album sales championing, so he had already clearly stated the day before that he would not be attending the press conference.

Lee Hom isn't attending! What could they do for the event then? Good thing they had Jay Chou coming to help, reportedly, Jay Chou was only coming to "support," but right before he arrived at the venue, he was suddenly told that Lee Hom wasn't attending due to illness. Jay Chou, who was originally the supporting role, became the main attraction at the event. Besides this, "Yi Zhou Kan" [weekly paper] also went and checked the charts that stood part of the sales charts, 5-Music and G-music, and Show's album sales record was clearly greater than that of Lee Hom Wang's, almost twice as much! Thus SONY BMG's incentive of Show Luo buying out the charts has people doubting them.

Source: NOW News
Translated by o_ost1nao_o @ Show Lo's International English Forum

A-mei hoping to take relationship with Sam Ho to another level

A-mei hoping to take relationship with Sam Ho to another level
Yahoo News

Taiwanese diva A-mei made an exception and spoke of her relationship with basketball player Sam Ho on an interview with Phoenix TV, expressing wishes for a good outcome in this relationship. She also assured the audience that she will not withdraw from showbiz even after marriage.

Relationships and scandals used to be taboo for the diva, until Ho came along. She revealed in a China TV interview that she is currently basking in love and that she feels much more at ease with herself now than before. Despite having doubts in everlasting love, she hopes for this relationship to bear its fruits.

"However, this is not the right time to talk about marriage. I've not thought about it," she said.

A-mei also admits that her singing career is an interest which she will not give up even if she were to get married.

Leehom Wang and S.H.E encounter an "explosives panic" while flying back to Taiwan from Beijing

Source: http://ent.163.com
Translated by catalie @ http://asianfanatics.net

According to Taiwan's ETTV online news report, at 2:30pm on the 13th, an EVA Air plane travelling from Beijing directly to Taoyuan Airport was rumoured to have suspected explosives causing security staff to be considerably nervous. Artists S.H.E, Leehom Wang, Mayday, Zhang Yu Yan (张玉嬿) and others were also on the plane. Security immediately asked the plane's 230 passengers and also one infant to get off the plane for inspection. Luckily in the end it was confirmed to be a false alarm.

As soon as they saw that the problematic plane flew down to the ground, security staff were all very nervous. They sent a car of explosion prevention people to be alert beside the plane and even the explosion prevention workers were not allowed to be unoccupied in the departure lounge area because it had been rumoured that this EVA Air plane from Beijing might have explosives, causing many artists to wait painstakingly for a long time.

Leehom Wang expressed, "I don't know, I don't know. Originally we thought that taking a direct flight would allow us to arrive very early. Now coming back, everything has been delayed." S.H.E then said, "The plane was about to take flight and was already speeding along the tarmac when suddenly we were told that there were problems with operations on the ground. So everyone was to get off the plane and have a full body safety check." The plane suddenly had to stop just before taking flight, making S.H.E very impatient and nervous because this time returning to Taiwan, they were supposed to attend a company cocktail and now all their hopes have been dashed

Besides Leehom Wang, S.H.E, Mayday's Ashin and also actress Zhang Yu Yan, the plane had approximately 230 passengers and an infant - all were asked to enter a small room for safety checks. In the end it was confirmed to be a lie and all passengers were asked to board the plane once again. The 2:30pm flight finaly left Beijing airport at 5:18pm for Taiyuan Airport. Even though there was a 3.5 hour delay, at least it was a false alarm. What's most important is that everyone returned home safely.

Terri Kwan curses Jerry Yan saying he is stupid, mutually retaliates during love scenes

source: chinatimes
translated by: Sarah @ http://asianfanatics.net

Jerry Yan & Terri Kwan have very different personalities. Jerry thinks too much, while Terri doesn’t like to think. However, the 2 are pushed together to film PTS’s new idol drama ‘Starlit’, and creates some explosive conflict. Terri revealed that the 2 would often bicker with each other, but now looking back, the whole filming process was very memorable, because “the gunpowder outside filming, turned into sparks during filming.”

Main cause of conflict; likes to snatch lines

‘Starlit’ filmed in Shanghai for one month and a half. Terri challenges the role of a patient with a rare disease - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and has the most scenes with Jerry. Initially, there were rumours saying that Jerry had got angry at Terri’s assistant, and this lead to their relationship deteriorating to the highest point. However, Terri said: “Salt (her nickname for Jerry) didn’t la! The real reason for us bickering was because he kept snatching lines, and wouldn’t let me finish talking.” Their most serious argument was once when Terri even cursed Jerry saying he is ‘stupid’ and ‘excessive’.
　
Not hard to please; just has high standards

Terri & Jerry would constantly fight and then make-up, during their cold wars, the 2 would take advantage of the love scenes in the drama to mutually retaliate eg, Jerry would be especially rough when grabbing her collar, and Terri would use a lot of strength when having to beat his chest. Everytime they argue, Jerry’s reactions are not the same, sometimes he will argue back, sometimes he will apologise. Terri said: “I don’t think his reactions are called ‘hard to please’, it’s just that he has high standards for himself.”

Throws slipper; director is even more fierce

There was once, when Jerry wasn’t happy with his own performance, and he roared at the sky, like an orangutan, and when asked Terri whether she got a big fright, she replied: “No la, because Director Lin was even more fierce! The director would throw blue-and-white slippers at me, and he has very good technique, it’ll just graze past my face, it won’t hit me.”
　
Terri has collaborated with many male stars; she was worked with Jerry and Ken Zhu, both from F4. She analysed: “Male idols are too polite, there was a great sense of distance between me and Ken, but collaborating with Jerry gave me a sense of big challenge.” After the drama finished filming, she especially thanked Jerry: “If it wasn’t for you, I would never have stayed in a 5-star hotel!”

Wu Chun's Chinese is poor, drags Calvin Chen down with him

Source: http://marukoisme.blog17.fc2.com/ , UDN Late News
Translated by catalie @ http://asianfanatics.net

Fahrenheit recently accepted an interview by "Azio Channel" and on the show they played a language game. After ten questions, Jiro Wang with his achievement of six questions, became Fahrenheit's king of literature and language knowledge; Aaron Yan came second with five questions; coming from Brunei, Wu Chun usually has an accent when he speaks and only answered three correctly. He who was told that his achievements in the national language were not good, dragged Calvin who also only answered three correctly, down with him, stating that he was on the same level as Calvin Chen who graduated from the Senior High School of National Taiwan University so Calvin had no choice but to apologise to his senior high Chinese teacher in front of everyone.

During the Azio Channel show, questions included "delicate smoke from kitchen chimneys" and "to yearn day and night"* where Fahrenheit members were required to complete the expressions, one character each. Wu Chun unexpectedly wrote the "delicate" in "delicate smoke from kitchen chimneys" as "bird", and the character meaning "wind around" in the phrase "to yearn day and night" as "win". He even explained to the host that he hadn't written the wrong word, it's just that he couldn't even understand the phrase so he just wrote words that he knew.

* The phrase "to yearn day and night" (魂牽夢縈) literally means "soul and dreams winding around hand in hand".

More Taiwanese singers drawn in dispute on payola

More Taiwanese singers drawn in dispute on payola
Yahoo News

Dispute between Taiwanese singers Lee-hom Wang and Show Luo on the issue of payola is taken to the next level as singers Jay Chou, A-mei and boy band Fahrenheit backs up Wang. Rainie Yang, who has close ties with both Wang and Luo, found herself in an awkward predicament; Jacky Wu found the dispute a senseless debate.

Wang hinted (fran's correction : it was SONY that hinted) that Luo's record company spent money on getting his songs up the music charts after the latter announced that his new album topped the charts; thus sparking the dispute on payola. As more new singers join the industry, the issue of payola heightened.

The recent dispute began when HIM International Music sent out a release, claiming that Luo's record company used underhand methods to get his songs on the top of the chart for two consecutive weeks.

Chou also led singers Alan Kuo and Rachel Liang, and representatives from Sony Music, JVR Music, etc, in a press conference in Taipei on Jan 8 to campaign against payola. Though Wang was absent from the press conference, he was represented by his company in showing support for the cause. Queen of Mandopop, A-mei, also expressed her support by saying, "Competition should be fair in all arenas."

Yang, who is under the same record company as Wang and artiste management as Luo, is caught in a spot. She expressed her stand that she believed Wang is absolutely honest in his music career, and that Luo's albums are selling very well. To avoid embarrassment, she was quick to mention that she had been in Hong Kong recently promoting her own album, and have little knowledge about the campaign against payola. She emphasized that good and bad music can be easily differentiated by ears, and need not be determined by sales or charts.

King of variety, Wu, on the other hand, described the campaign to be senseless and pointless. He said the unhealthy trend of payola began 15 years ago and also admitted to have resort to this method when promoting Kang Jing Rong's (or commonly known as Kang Kang) album. He added that only Chou's albums truly received support and sold well. In his opinion, the music charts are merely promotional tools and do not matter as long as singers are unaffected.

Gold Typhoon Entertainment, Luo's record company, has also sent out a battle invite to Wang to hold a music showcase at the same time and place as the former on Feb 14, to compete their album sales figure during the period of the showcase.

Jay Chou wins awards at Chinese Music Awards, boasts about birthing great children

Source: Chinatimes

Jackie Chan, Jay Chou, S.H.E. and others attended the Beijing Chinese Pop Music Awards ceremony on the 11th, on the red carpet Jackie Chan was complaining that he never won any music related awards even though he's sung so many songs, this was until he received the Special Contribution award, only then did he happily say: "I've finally won a music award." Jay Chou won the Best Producer with "Capricorn", he ridiculed himself saying he hadn't won a producer award for a while, at the end he was a smooth talker, praising the judges for their excellent taste.
This article is translated by http://www.jaychoustudio.com
In order to make fans understand the composition and arrangement, Jay Chou compared composing to birthing a child, arrangement is the make stylist helping him put on clothes, even if the child isn't born good looking, if beautiful clothes are worn awards can still be won. After winning the producer award, he said with a proud look, he's birthed a very beautiful child (reference to his album).

Jay Chou wins All Round Artist Award, praises Chinese Music Awards for being fair

The 2008 Beijing Chinese Pop Music Awards ceremony was held today at the Beijing Workers' Stadium, Jackie Chan, Jay Chou, Eason Chan, Xu Wei, S.H.E. and others all attended. At the ceremony, Jay Chou won The All Round Artist Award of the Year in Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as other awards, when he was being interviewed, Jay Chou praised the awards for being fair.

Not too long ago Jay Chou attended an "anti-piracy" press conference, he appealed to give music back some pure space. Winning at the Chinese Music Awards this time, he praised the awards for being fair "To be honest, in fact for some of them beforehand I knew afterwards what awards I would get, this one is completely different, we wait offstage. I don't really mind whether I win an award or not, I think it's quite nice, I won't get nervous."

Jay Chou has already been confirmed for the Spring Festival Gala this year, when asked what performance he would be doing, Jay Chou expressed they still haven't announced it yet. We let him recommend his favourite album, Jay Chou said: "The favourite one is "Fantasy", and also "Capricorn" sold the best." When reporters expressed that they wanted him to recommend other artists' albums, Jay Chou ridiculed himself: "I'm a bit narcissistic."

Jolin Tsai caught secretly meeting up with Show Luo; in talks of collaborating in ad

source: sina
translated by: Sarah @ http://asianfanatics.net

Yesterday, Jolin Tsai was caught secretly meeting up with Show Luo at the Grand Formosa Regent hotel in Taipei for 1 hour. According to sources, the 2 are secretly planning to film an ad together to snatch money. With the 2’s King and Queen status, the pay for their first collaboration together, is at least $2,500,000rmb.

Yesterday, Jolin was caught catching a taxi from her management company to the GFR hotel. When she arrived, she immediately headed to the lounge on the 19th floor. 10 minutes later, Show also appeared at the hotel, and the 2 were together for approximately an hour. Manager revealed that, the 2 are indeed negotiating details for the ad.

Will collaborate to film ad

After a speedy interview yesterday noon, someone witnessed Jolin heading to her management company to get some rest. Afterwards, left and with the freezing wind blowing in her face, to the extent where it made her face turn green, she caught a taxi to the GFR Hotel and headed to the lounge on the 19th floor. Approximately 10 minutes later, Show also appeared at the entrance of the hotel, and when he saw the media had already arrived, he said alarmedly: “How come you guys are here!” The 2 were together for 1 hour, and seemed to know that the media were guarding outside. First, they got the hotel staff to act as bodyguards to walk them out, and then Jolin’s manager sheiled Jolin, and they left quickly.

Manager Jiang Chen Jin yesterday expressed that Show and Jolin were meeting with the manufacturers, to discuss the content of the ad, but he was not willing to reveal what kind of product endorsement it is.

how Luo says he should change his nickname to 'cockroach'

source: chinatimes
translated by: Sarah @ http://asianfanatics.net

Show Luo held a ‘Gao Xiao’ [Comedy] KTV big competition yesterday, and when the topic of ‘buying charts’ was brought up again, he lamented that no matter how hard he tried, in the end, he is still unable to get everyone’s approval. He feels very hurt, but he says that after entering the industry for so long, he understands to use laughter to cover up any heartache. In the end, he states: “I should change my name to ‘cockroach’, the cockroach that can’t be killed.”

As the theme for the event was ‘Comedy’, the 19 participants used every means to achieve this. Afterwards, there was also a bonus question where they had to cry within 10 seconds. Show immediately said a cold joke, and made everyone in the audience laugh. Afterwards, he revealed that in the past, the very first time he filmed a crying scene was in Director Xu Jin Liang’s ‘Young Brothers’ where he was scolded to the extent of crying. After this, whenever he had a crying scene, he would smack his own nose, so that his nose would ache and reduce him to tears.

Jay Chou to celebrate 30th birthday on the 18th, entertaining 300 fans

Source: Liberty Times

"Capricorn" Jay Chou is going to be 30, on the day of his birthday he has booked a movie theatre so he can celebrate it with his fans.

Jay Chou has finished his travels across America and Canada and has returned to Taiwan, on the 18th of this month he is celebrating his 30th birthday, his agent company has booked a whole movie theatre in preparation to premiere the MV for "Dragon Knight" which cost 5.5 million to produce, the quota limit for people taking part is 300.
This article is translated by http://www.jaychoustudio.com
In 2004 Jay Chou went to America to perform, he slipped on the stage, thinking back at it he feels it was embarrassing, at the end of last year he went to hold a concert in America again, this time he was very careful, he didn't fall or embarrass himself, the performance was smooth.

But there was a bit of an incident that happened after he finished his performance in Toronto in Canada and was flying to Connecticut to perform. He came across the biggest snowstorm for 30 years in the region, the plane couldn't take off, so he had to go on the bus with the rest of the crew. They moved forward at a turtle's pace as they endured the storm, it took them 15 hours to get there, Jay Chou said: "I consider it a very hard to come by experience"

Arriving in gambling city of Connecticut, Jay Chou tried his hand at "blackjack", he didn't think he would be so lucky to win. When asked how much he won? He mysteriously said: "I won back the amount I loss back in Macao." Last year he held a concert in Macao and lost TW$80 thousand, this time he must have won at least 80 thousand upwards.

Producing and starring in Pandaman, Jay Chou advances into idol dramas, fully supporting Nan Quan Mama

Jay Chou has once again made a surprising move in the new year, he is going to step into the domain of idol dramas and work with people from Mainland China, he will be producing, directing and starring in it, he will film the fantasy based idol drama "Pandaman", he is going to strongly support Nan Quan Mama, which he helped develop, by making them the main stars.

According to reports, both sides have decided to film a 20 episode idol drama "Pandaman" (temporary name) which combines fantasy and sci fi. In order to support his own people, besides arranging for Nan Quan Mama to play the leading roles, he himself will also be the producer and he will be guest starring in a role, Jerry Yan, S.H.E. and Zhou Xun and others will also make guest appearances.
This article is translated by http://www.jaychoustudio.com
Yesterday Nine Continents Film Production from Beijing confirmed this news, the general manager of Nine Continents Du Da Ning said: "Jay Chou especially likes alternative topics, at the time he suggested a lot of views towards this script, he thinks no one has filmed a sci fi fantasy idol drama, so it should be especially attractive."

As to Jay Chou's fee, Du Da Ning said: "He's the producer, the money is easily negotiable." This drama will be filmed in Mainland China and Taiwan.

Due to the fact the news hasn't been made official yet, JVR Music was very low profile towards Jay Chou's venture into idol dramas, agent Zhang Lan Yun conservatively replied: "Jay has always been thinking about filming an idol drama, it's still in discussions, but the initial time frame hasn't been set yet." Regarding the new drama having Nan Quan Mama as the leading stars, Zhang Lan Yun stressed, Jay Chou has always been very caring to people by his side, this point isn't unexpected.

Jay Chou is stood up at Leehom Wang's 'buying charts' press conference

source: UDN
translated by: Sarah @ http://asianfanatics.net

The ‘buying charts’ storm has become more and more intense! Leehom Wang’s SONY music yesterday had the general manager of the China District to hold a ‘refuse to buy charts’ press conference, calling for a pure space in music, and they expressed that this is not directed at any specific artist or record company.

But the paradox to this is that the night before yesterday, Leehom suddenly developed acute gastroenteritis and had to stay home to get drip, hence he was unable to attend the press conference. Jay Chou was also invited, and he who had a bad cold, ended up having to hold up the scene. He first sung ‘Dao Xiang’ to warm up the awkward atmosphere, and while onstage, he said: “Originally, I’m supposed to have come with Leehom, don’t know why it’s just become me now?”

Jay, who had a sore throat, self-ridiculed saying should take money to buy car and not chart. Jay attended the event because of his good friendship with Leehom and he said: “If even a modest person like Leehom has come out to say something, then this means that it must be very serious.” Jay believes that human nature is good, “but managers are not necessarily good.” When asked whom this is directed at, Jay replied that it’s not directed at anyone. He also said that he had to watch the news to find out the insider information about buying charts.

Leehom yesterday morning was constantly vomiting and diaarhoea, hence had had to stay home to rest and to get drip. Through SONY, he apologized and expressed: “I am an artist, not a businessman, and I am not clear about the behind-the-scenes of the buying charts situation.” He added: “If you ask me which chart has the most credibility, I can only trust the record company’s professional judgements. The entertainment industry has always had healthy competition, this is a good thing, and it will benefit the fans, but we shouldn’t use any dishonest manner such as buying charts.”

Towards this, Show Luo’s ‘Gold Typhoon’ record company expressed their support, and they invited Leehom to attend their new songs concert on the 14th of February. At the event, they will be selling CDs, so to show the credibility of their retail sale figures. However, SONY issued a statement saying: “We are not directing this at any personal case.”

Jay used magic as an example: “Magic is a beautiful lie, because it makes people happy, but putting this on a singer, eg record company buying charts, will let a singer forever live in lies, unable to get grips with reality.”

Jay Chou meets Hebe, revealed to have surprising understanding with Jolin Tsai

Source: QQ

The night before Jay Chou attended "Music, Love" in Beijing with a whole host of other artists, he was at the same venue as his rumoured girlfriend S.H.E. member Hebe, it was revealed that he had a surprising understanding with Jolin Tsai, he was also praised by Jackie Chan so he felt loved and alarmed at the same time.
This article is translated by http://www.jaychoustudio.com
Even though Jolin Tsai didn't attend but she was still linked with Jay Chou's name, because when Jay Chou was interviewed he said he really wanted to film a sci-fi movie, similarly Jolin Tsai recently expressed her interest in trying out new types of movies, but Jay Chou was generous towards having similar tastes with Jolin Tsai, he even pointed out Jolin had a bit more of a "western" look, she's suitable for filming movies with old Shanghai as a backdrop, when asked if he would mind working with her, he said: "If she likes Chinese style too, a collaboration wouldn't be bad!"

S.H.E. member Ella revealed that a guy friend of hers set his ringtone to Jay Chou's greeting, this caused many funny moments, she said: "Every time I call this guy, I would think I've called Jay by mistake!"

Four Princes back at "One Million Star" as co-hosts

According to recent reports, Taiwanese Diva A-mei's guest appearance as co-host on Taiwan variety show, One Million Star Season Four, have been highly well-received. The average TV ratings hit 2.93, which is about 1,953,000 viewer-ships. This is coming down as pressure for the "Four Princes of Superstar Avenue" as they take over the baton as co-hosts.

The episode broadcasted on the second last week of 2008 evoked polarizing comments from viewers. Netizens pointed out that A-mei was not as good a host as compared to Dee Hsu and Momoko Tao; however, her on-stage performance as a singing artiste is simply dazzling. Producers are also considering inviting A-mei back to host future episodes should arrangements permits.

One Million Star Season Four's PK rounds will be shortly followed by the revival round. The "Four Princes of Superstar Avenue" - Yoga Lin, Judy Chou, Peter Pan and Stanly Hsu - most outstanding contestants from season one's competition will be returning to the very stage they competed on, to co-host season four with Kevin Tsai.

As they take over from the much acclaimed A-mei, the four princes expressed their anxiety. They have started memorizing names of contestant, so as to not cause a blooper during the show; they have also suggested wearing the "Trainee Host" tags throughout the show. The four princes have also prepared themselves, mentally, for negative feedbacks from viewers.

The revival round was set for Wu Dehong, Hong Qianhan, Fang Youxin, Xu Yurou and Liang Yizhen, to fight for placement back in the competition. Xia Zhengfeng, who was originally in the revival running, had decided to forfeit the competition as he felt he was not truly prepared for the competition. Liang was thus given the opportunity to take his place instead.

The revival ended with Liang, Fang and Wu earning placements back in the competition.

source:Yahoo!SG

Lee-hom falls prey to Diva

Diva Jolin Tsai has a new love. He is "Music Man" Lee-Hom Wang!? The two were caught on camera, behaving intimately at a snooker club. Well, not really unrehearsed.

The duo was invited to endorse a shampoo and the intimacy was all for the advertisement. In the ad, Tsai is a snooker expert but pretended to be a "noob", scheming for Wang's attention. As Wang held her hands and taught her to hit the balls, they exchanged seductive glances and went on to interlock fingers.

When asked if she will scheme for a man's attention, Tsai said, "Girls do not really need to intentionally charm the guys they like. Tiny movements like exchanging glances, tossing their hair or even just the fragrance from the hair would all work.

"Pretending not to know everything is quite useful in attracting guys; men like to feel that they can protect their girls," she adds.

In response to the plot for the advertisement, Wang said, "Girls these days are very brave; they dare to take initiative and pursue their loves. In fact, boys and girls alike should take more initiative. People in the olden days keep feelings to themselves and lose opportunities for love to blossom."

source: Yahoo!SG

'Double J' onstage together? Jay Chou supports Jerry Yan

source: Liberty Times
translated by: Sarah @ http://asianfanatics.net

Jerry Yan has joined Jay Chou’s management company JVR’s first work ‘Starlit’ and this will air later this month on PTS. Outside rumours suggest that at the press conference, Jay will personally attend, ‘Double J’ making appearance together; indeed is attracting a lot of interest.

'Starlit' press conference to be held on Jay Chou's birthday

Upcoming idol drama ‘Starlit’ starring Jerry Yan, Terri Kwan and Alice Tseng will air on the 24th of January. The press conference will be held approximately one week before that, currently is set as the 18th of January. Coincidentally, that day will be Jay Chou’s birthday, and since this drama is also JVR’s first work, outside rumours suggest that the production crew is persevering to get ‘Double J’ on the same stage, so to ‘bless’ the drama.

Jerry likes to play ‘surprise’; at every promotional event, noone knows whether he will really appear or not, and ‘Starlit’ is not an exception. Jerry’s manager Fenny expressed: “We’ve freed up that day, but is not confirmed.” And will Jay really attend? Fenny laughed saying that they have to wait till the date is confirmed before they do any follow-up arrangements.

Jerry’s 32nd birthday; receives presents from around the world

2009 New Year’s Day is also Jerry 32nd birthday. Jerry says his birthday wish is that he “hopes his family and friends will be in good health.” He, who doesn’t have the habit of celebrating his birthday, this year spent his birthday in the recording studio, doing preparations for his new album. However, at night he will go to eat dinner with his mother. Although there’s no celebration, Jerry’s fans from around the world had long prepared their birthday gifts. Earlier, Jerry mentioned he likes to eat soba noodles, so Japanese fans specially sent a box of soba noodles to JVR. Korean fans like to give ginseng, Chinese fans gave him herbal medicine, Hong Kong fans bought a full-page advertisement in the paper to wish him happy birthday. Fans from all over the world also raised 300,000NT to donate to World Vision, specially for Jerry’s birthday, indeed giving their idol a lot of face!

S.H.E Prepared Snacks for Travelling , Ella Addicted to Hair-Plucking

S.H.E Prepared Snacks for Travelling
Ella Addicted to Hair-Plucking
credit:wyn0602
It had been three years since S.H.E celebrated the New Year in Taiwan. Yesterday, from Taipei to Tainan, they had prepared a full box of snacks, including crackers and instant noodles so that they could replenish their energy at all times. Ella even carried a pincher with her and helped to pluck Selina’s eyebrows on the spot!

Recently Ella got interested in DIY such as plucking hair, picking pimples and even cutting hair. Her make-up artist gave her a pincher with light bulbs which she was showing off to everyone excitedly. She boasted that her handiwork was good and can help pluck unwanted hair for others whenever she had a bit of spare time during travelling. She even spent NTW$ 2000 to purchase a complete set of scissors. Both Selina and Hebe’s dogs became subjects of her experiments. Hebe was quite satisfied with the results but Selina complained: [My Pinky ended up looking like an old soldier with fluffy hair on the body but a crew cut on her head!]

While Hebe was singing [Chinese Words] during the New Year countdown show, the top of her white dress accidentally slipped and was struck on her black belt. Luckily she had a silver T-shirt on the inside and did not expose herself. But it was still quite embarrassing. As soon as she finished the song, she immediately rushed backstage to fix her clothes before going back onstage again.

translated by : wyn0602 of CEFC
credits : CEFC and Chinatimes
original source : http://showbiz.chinatimes.com/Chinatimes/E...0100260,00.html

related clips :

S.H.E @ 2009 New Year Concert in Taipei

Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56zOT6mYMZs
Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGSNp1JYbn0
Part 3 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TliK_SLCDR

S.H.E @ 2009 New Year Concert in Tainan

Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJqwvP8vp84
Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbK5KPnMXSI
Part 3 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5aBzpzwHCA

credits : ellahkfc

Getting geeky with Wang

Getting geeky with Wang
By TASH AW
Source: http://www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.as...4&sec=music
What do you get when you put an erudite author who loves music and an intelligent singer in love with language into a small room together for two hours? An intriguing pop literary analysis!

AND then there are the parallel minor seventh leaps, which I think are the most accessible to Asian ears … yes, absolutely, there’s a universality in aesthetics….”

He goes on eagerly, “Do you know Bernstein’s Norton Lectures? ... Oh, it is a challenge in Chinese because of the lack of the stressed and unstressed … but the eubonics of Mandarin….”

American-Taiwanese singer/songwriter Wang Leehom is really in his element now. After a slightly cautious start to our interview, he begins to open up, and we talk freely about a huge range of subjects about which he seems absolutely passionate: composer Leonard Bernstein’s famous lectures at Harvard in 1973, Chinese vs English linguistics, cultural dichotomies, his early hatred of German composer and music theorist Paul Hindemith.

It’s fascinating stuff, but as he hits his stride and the ideas start to flow thick and fast, I must admit to feeling just a little bit unsettled.

As a professional writer, I’m accustomed to long intellectual discussions – it’s almost as if that is what people expect from writers even if we would rather be talking about football or rom-coms.

But with Wang, it’s different. This guy is, after all, a bona fide pop star, one of the few pan-Asian pop icons around. Frankly, you don’t expect a major pop celebrity to toss Hindemith casually into the conversation (let’s face it, Hindemith isn’t exactly a household name!).

But then again, Wang is not your average celebrity.

Genesis of a conversation

For some time, I have been discussing possible subjects for an article for StarMag. As my entire existence seems in one way or another to be devoted to literature, I wanted to branch out and write about something or someone who was not directly related to books, but was in some way deeply involved in the creative process – a filmmaker, perhaps, or a playwright.

I was interested in people who are representative of contemporary Asian culture, whose work reflects the fascinating mix of cultures in a rapidly globalising world.

Although I had long been a fan of Wang’s music, it was his role as the idealistic young nationalist Kuang Yumin in Ang Lee’s 2007 masterpiece, Lust, Caution, that first made me sit up and think about Wang’s work as a whole – not merely as a singer, but as a creative performing artist.

In a world where artists are, like everyone else, falling victim to the pressures of spin and marketing, Wang’s ability to retain his artistic integrity fascinates me, as does his seemingly effortless capacity to translate his appeal across borders.

So on a recent visit to Taipei, I asked if I could speak to him about these and other things. He very kindly took a couple of hours out of his hectic schedule to chat with me. Here are some extracts from what turned out to be an entirely surprising and illuminating conversation.

It’s such a pleasure to meet you. There’s so much I want to ask you, and I’m not quite sure where to begin. All I know is that I don’t want to ask you questions like, “What’s your favourite colour?”

“Oh, really? (laughs – maybe nervously – and looks a bit worried?). I get asked that a lot!

I was thinking maybe we could just start by talking about your music. There are one or two of your songs that hold particular interest for me, but maybe you’d like to pick one first.

Hmm, okay. How about Kiss Goodbye (from Wang’s 2006 album, Heroes of the Earth)? There’s a symmetry in that song that comes from Leonard Bernstein, who’s one of my favourite composers. Are you familiar with his work?

Yes. I think he’s very under-rated nowadays. Many people tend to think of him as a light-classical composer, not up there with the greats, but in fact he’s a genius.

Absolutely. He’s a big influence on me. What he uses a lot, and what I used for Kiss Goodbye, were these parallel minor seventh leaps, which I think are very accessible to the Asian ear.

There are all kinds of subtle leaps – intervallic and tri tone leaps. I used small measures all the time in this song – in the very first phrase and then they continue throughout.

I find that interesting: the borrowing of Western classical composition techniques to construct a modern Chinese pop song.

Yes, but I prefer to see it as something universal. There’s a kind of universality of aesthetics, which Bernstein speaks about in his Norton Lectures. He was very concerned with language and the universality of sounds and gestures ...

... Meaning that certain sounds and words transcend cultural and temporal boundaries?

Absolutely. Some things are the same in any language, any culture. For example, the word for “Mother” is always a variant of “ma” – the sound, if you like, of a baby reaching for its mother’s breast. In terms of ideas, big is always better, small is negative.

It’s interesting that – musically, at least – you think in what seems to be a universal way. Do you think that this is partly an explanation for your success? I mean, you’ve just mentioned the universal concept of “Big is Better”, and certainly, there is a sense that your work is destined for a big audience. The scope and ambition is almost palpable.

Yes, I guess so. My early musical ambitions always involved big-scale music-making. I’ve always wanted to communicate with a large audience. I guess I’ve always believed that there’s something there in society, brewing, waiting to be tapped into. Music can be a very powerful tool – like writing.

Did you ever believe that things would turn out this way? I mean, that you were going to be a pop star?

(Laughs.) At some point I realised that I had to give in to my fate. I guess it was quite early. I thought: “This is what you’re going to be doing for the rest of your life”. And it felt natural.

I’m guessing that your musical education was pretty formal, very rigorous.

Yes, totally. I started conservatory very young – I grew up in Rochester, New York, where there’s one of the most famous music schools in the world, the Eastman School of Music.

Then at college I studied ethnomusicology and took a special interest in composers like (early 20th century classical music composers Bela) Bartok and (Claude) Debussy – people who changed the way we listen to music. By realising that ethnic music could define sound, they changed musical theory itself.

Of course, there’s a direct parallel between Bartok’s investigation of gypsy folk music and your own work. Could you talk a bit about this?

Absolutely! A number of years ago I travelled through Tibet and Mongolia recording the music and songs of ethnic minorities. It was a very rich experience. I wanted to incorporate those sounds into contemporary music to try and change the way we approach the contemporary form.

You used this to stunning effect, I think, in your 2005 album Heroes of the Earth. I remember being completely blown away the first time I heard Hua Tian Cuo (translated roughly – and unsatisfactorily – as Mistake in the Flower Field). To me, it seems to capture the spirit of East Asian pop culture today.

It was so musically innovative – the erhu (Chinese two-string violin) was totally unexpected, as was the vocal line making reference to Beijing opera. It’s really not what you’d expect in a Chinese pop song. It’s a breath of fresh air – even today. Did you set out to be consciously innovative with that album?

Very much so. It’s interesting that you picked up on the vocal line, because there’s a lot of melisma (the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession, as heard in plainsong or the blues) in that song.

I wanted that melismatic line to refer to traditional Beijing opera and kunqu (traditional Chinese theatre) because language is something that’s really important to me. I like to explore the potential of the Chinese language, to see how it can offer a more satisfying experience than English.

With Hua Tian Cuo I asked to study with some of the greatest Beijing opera singers to study their technique, but these guys don’t teach in the formal Western sense. They just imitate their teachers at first, then develop their own style.

It’s very hard training, because it isn’t structured, and by the age of 50 their voices are gone! There’s a lot of pain involved, physical and emotional.

I’m interested to know how the music industry regards such innovation. I’m presuming that your name and reputation buy you quite a lot of leeway, but how do the marketing and PR people react when you go to them and say, “My next album is going to involve a load of traditional instruments”?

(Chuckles.) Yeah, that’s always tricky. I’ve just always had a resistance to marketing, to pigeon-holing. Human beings are eclectic, and music should be too.

I’ve always just wanted to be a pop guy who does what he wants, just like all the artists I admire – Prince, R. Kelly, Outkast, Missy Elliot. They’re people who make the music they want. They leave the marketing to others.

Okay, to be honest, I did feel the pressure when the market was healthy. But with the world’s economy as it is now, I feel very liberated. As long as I can get by, just making the kind of music I want to, I’ll be happy.

Look at R. Kelly. He’s always going to be around – maybe never as present as someone like Kanye West, but he’s always doing interesting stuff. Whether writing or producing or performing, he always just doing his own thing.

I guess there’s always going to be pressure on creative artists, not just from the marketing people but from within. It’s a balance between wanting to communicate with an audience, wanting to be heard or read and understood – and wanting to innovate. Creativity is essentially a personal thing, but we have to recognise that we live in modern times, driven by market forces. It’s hard.

I understand completely. I see myself as a writer too, whatever style I’m working with. When I write and compose, there’s a certain degree of ambiguity. My work is quite metaphoric, which is very common in Chinese culture, I think – but it’s also dangerous and exciting because it’s ambiguous.

Getting literary

Could you talk a little about innovation and language? Because there’s a really strong sense of the importance of language in all your work. You mentioned R. Kelly, who is playful with his lyrics, isn’t he?

Yes! He shows how you can mutate and mutilate words and language, but at the same time, everyone can understand what you’re saying. Think of Bump and Grind (1994), for example.

There used to be an obsession, in Chinese-speaking countries, with correct pronunciation – much less so now, which I find fascinating and exciting. It offers so many possibilities for rhymes and experimenting.

Chinese is evolving faster than we realise – every six months you’ll hear some new expression. Not slang, exactly, just a different way of saying things. In my new album, there’s a song called Ai de De Ti …

… Which, roughly, means The Primness or Correctness of Love? Or Love’s Chastity?

Yes, “de ti” meaning “prim and proper”. But “de ti”, also sounds like “dirty” in English, especially with your British accent! So there’s a play on words, with a more adult subtext. Everyone will know what it’s about. It changes and subverts the meaning of the lyrics. I think of it sometimes as the eubonics of Mandarin – I like the idea of an evolving language.

“Slang” often has negative connotations, but often these off-shoots of conventional language are essential to the vitality of the language itself. You can see this in Malaysia very clearly. Malay and English, and even Chinese have a very strong identity in their everyday spoken form. We identify through our own brand of spoken Malay or English. No one else in the world speaks these languages like we do.

It’s so fascinating. My bass player is British, a Cockney, and he was teaching me that slang … like, what do you call it?

You mean rhyming slang?

Yeah – it’s so weird! But also great. There are words for everything, like feet, what was it?

Plates of meat.

What?

Plates of meat: feet.

(Laughs.) That’s so funny.

You were talking about subversion. Well, rhyming slang is a very good example of how rude things can be said in polite company, and how certain words are used by people all the time when, really, they mean something very, very crude.

Oh really? (Sits up attentively.) Such as?

Berk. You sometimes hear people say, “He’s a berk”, meaning he’s stupid. It sounds inoffensive but it’s actually rhyming slang for something rude. And now it has passed into ordinary language without anyone noticing it.

So what does it rhyme with?

Um, maybe we shouldn’t go there….

Well, if you say so ... but I think you should tell me!

(A brief explanation follows. I can’t actually bring myself to say the word to one of Asia’s biggest pop stars, and it wouldn’t be published in a mainstream newspaper anyway, but it’s pretty clear what it is!)

That’s funny! I didn’t know that.

Okay, moving swiftly on! Still on the subject of language, and since you mentioned eubonics, can you talk a bit about writing rap in Chinese? How big a challenge is it for you?

A huge challenge. I can make it work, but I have to try very hard. I have to push and train myself the whole time. I mean, a Mandarin freestyle rapper is not going to have a big career!

In English, the ability to rhyme multi-syllabically is such a huge advantage. Authority-majority-sorority. The rhythm is there. In Mandarin you have to work your ass off to get the same effect! But what I’ve done is to make dense rhyming schemes in Chinese, which is something you can’t do in English.

Away from rap, do these linguistic aspects constrain or affect your songwriting? I’m just curious to know if someone like you, trained essentially in the Western tradition, senses any need for adjustment.

Yes and no. I don’t feel limited by them, but I do have to recognise certain differences. For example, the lack of consonant endings in Mandarin. Every word ends with a vowel – it starts with an attack and ends with openness. In English you have the reverse, clearly seen in exclamations – “What!” or “F…!” (Laughs.)

These sounds are very important in recording. They effect volume and frequencies. The sibilants are much more pronounced in Mandarin, and you pick these up when recording.

Breaking rules

Listening to your music, there’s a sense that you’ve come to grips with your voice over the years. I think you’re more assured on the higher notes now, and more relaxed on the lower. In 2007’s Xing Qi Liu De Shen Ye (rough translation: Saturday Midnight, from the album Change Me), for example, the really intimate style of recording allows us to hear the slight rough edges on certain notes, as if you deliberately left them in to give a sense of familiarity and loneliness.

Absolutely. I started training when I was a child, classically, and I’ve been doing it ever since. It’s fundamental. You’re right in that I think I know this voice very well now. I know what it can do and what it can’t, and I’m more comfortable with it than before.

The song you mentioned was something I just recorded late one night. I just went in the studio, composed, played and sang, just like that. On my own. I didn’t force my voice, I just sang.

In my latest single, however, my style is different. It’s punk rock, like almost screaming. It has divided opinion – some people love it, others really, really hate it. I want to break new territory with my voice – no one sings like that in Chinese, in an almost Kurt Cobain or Sid Vicious style.

(Later, I’m given a copy of the new single, “Yao Gun Zen Me Le?” – “What’s Up, Rock?” – and it’s a marked departure from his previous work. I won’t describe it here, but simply suggest you look up the brilliant video on YouTube at youtube.com/watch?v=bOhtGL_ayZ4.)

I’m fascinated to hear that you think your classical training enabled you to sing punk rock! And I agree entirely. With any creative art form, I believe that you have to know the rules before you can break them.

Exactly! I’m always seeing young guys in Asia who are all attitude and want to do their own thing – and that’s great too – but it often takes them a long time to find out that really suits them.

Lust-ful experience

Speaking of pushing boundaries, was the experience of working with Ang Lee on Lust, Caution something that stretched you?

That was just amazing. It made me more ambitious and more courageous. Definitely. It made me want to experiment and look for new things.

There’s one scene in particular, when a fight ends with you and your compatriots stabbing another character repeatedly, and then you follow the dying man down some stairs and break his neck with your bare hands.

It’s one of the most horrifying scenes in modern cinema because of the starkness of its emotions – the camera never flinches and there’s no music. Incredibly powerful. How on earth do you prepare for a scene like that?

(Sighs and looks down at the table.) You don’t. You can’t. You can’t prepare because it’s not acting any more. I don’t know how he does it, but Ang Lee makes everything seem real. I mean, I was crying for a long time afterwards – a long time. It was incredibly powerful, even for the actors.

I was really taken aback by this loss of control. It was something else that the film taught me – that there were so many things that I didn’t know. Ang Lee changes things. He’s an idealist, and he keeps pushing. That’s what I learnt from making that movie. I’m a lot less scared of failure now.

That’s very interesting to hear, because a lot of people would be tempted to say that you’re someone who’s always been in control, who’s never known failure.

But I have! I experience failure all the time! As a writer, you must know this. Failure is part of the job if you’re an artist. People just don’t see it, that’s all. It doesn’t mean that just because you’re a respected and well-known artist, life becomes easy.

You have to keep on working. That’s the most important lesson you can learn. I’m going to keep on auditioning for films – some I’ll get, others I won’t. It’s not going to stop me.

And it’s the same for my music. People like Ang Lee inspire me. Idealistic, rabble-rousing people, like Stevie Wonder – the sun is brighter when he’s playing in my headphones! It’s this optimism and energy that I hope I can project too.

Living famous

Do you think that talent competitions and reality TV shows are a good thing for young performers?

Well, on the one hand, they allow young people a way in, but the downside is that they make you believe that there is a right way and a wrong way to sing, and that is based solely on the opinions of the judges. They can destroy your confidence, and that’s not a good thing. And they also focus on the celebrity aspect rather than the music.

Recently, in Britain, there was a survey of children aged seven to 14, who were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. A shocking percentage – I can’t remember how many exactly, but at least 50% - said “A Celebrity”. They didn’t say “actor” or “singer” or whatever, because that wasn’t important. The only important thing was to be famous.

(Laughs.) I shouldn’t laugh – that’s scary! And sad, too. If only they knew....

How bad is it, really? Is the celebrity thing just an annoyance, or does it profoundly affect your life?

(Shakes his head.) It’s terrible. I can’t tell you the number of times I wish I had that Harry Potter cloak, you know, the one you can just put over yourself and become invisible. It’s a nightmare.

I have to draw my blinds 24/7, and every time I go in and out of my building there are cameras and paparazzi waiting outside. And the rumours … they’re the worst. People just say stuff about you, as if they know you. They just make it all up.

Thanks very much for your time, Leehom. I look forward to your new album – oh, wait, one more question, please. The readers will want to know this.

Sure.

What’s your favourite colour?

(Giggles, looks confused – too simple a question for this young man, obviously!) Um.…

Only joking! Shall I just make it up?