Category: Celebrity

  • Best Wishes from Beijing

    Dudes, so they finally released a finished version of the music video [1] xD which has atrocious rainbow-colored English lyrics xD But you can check some funny remarks and a quickie English translations from Beijing Cream.

    You can also check a slightly better quality version of the video on YinYueTai — but still not crisp enough to be able to read the tiny English caption xD

    I’m rather surprised I only know a little over +30 names xD and a little more of the faces, including a brief apperance by Ajia [1] and Li Yu Gang (李玉刚) whom… you know, you can’t totally tell from just the audio. I’m also rather SHOCKED that I didn’t get Song Zuying from early on the song but her later bit xD

    Judging from the song alone (okay, and a bit of the video), Sa Dingding did great. This was her Beijing Welcomes You   [MV] 5-sec Bibi moment for me. xD The song is no Beijing Welcomes You, though. And I love some of Chang Shilei’s stuff. His 2008 Niu China album was my favorite that year, and he does produce some great songs like I Would Say to Them (对他说我愿意) [1] or HIGH歌 — OMG, are you watching The Voice of China [clip] [1]? xD

    Also, the video is pretty cheap. Walking down a shelves of book of… what I supposed is the Beijing library or something. xD And also the people that weren’t in Beijing and obviously couldn’t be flown to shoot for the video because of budget. I’m looking at you guys, Eason and Aaron~~~ and Kelly Chen xD

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  • The Voice of China May Be Pawning The Voice

    Liu Huan, Na Ying, Harlem Yu, and Yang Kun. I mean, dude- Liu Huan alone would trump Christina Aguilera. LOL And I have a soft spot for Christina Aguilera [1], but imagine participating and singing in front of Liu Huan, and having HIM picking YOU to be on HIS team.

    His pitch-perfect and perfect-toned-singing-Mandarin.

    I would maybe… MAYBE… change Harlem Yu over someone like Wang Feng. But that’s just me. These are all seasoned singers and vocalists (I can’t label Liu Huan as just a singer, sorry).

    So the Chinese version of The Voice, aptly titled The Voice of China (中国好声音, Zhong Guo Hao Sheng Yin), has made its debut about two weeks ago. I’ve only seen the first episode, but I already like the judges selection better because you’re being judged by people already in their 40s or 50s who have been working in the industry for years — not a bunch of people in their 30s who have been barely working for 10 years.

    And Liu Huan has been working as a music teacher for the past 10 years, besides still being a music icon, so he’s perfect. Plus, I’ve already taken a strong dislike to Adam Levine, whom I used to find so attractive. LOL I can’t stand him EVER again. xD How people change.

    My dad is going to be crazy about this one.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaCJVgGtLbA

  • The Beijing Blesses You Guessing Game

    Another four years, another Olympic ceremony [1].

    After the Mandarin-class-favorite song of Beijing Welcomes You [1], Jackie Chan — ever the eager kid in class — has managed to gather even more artists willing to lend their voices than for the Beijing Welcomes You song, which boasted an impressive number of music stars.

    No music video of Beijing Blesses You (北京祝福你) has been released… yet. But there are clips of the making of the MV [1] doing their rounds on YouTube and Sina Video, so we’re all up and guessing who’s singing which line in the massive 8min. song. It wasn’t enough for Jackie to get more names than the Olympic committee… no, he needed a song that’s even a bit longer.

    I think it’s pretty fact that Han Hong is at 1.11. The rest are up for grabs from the likes of Leehom, Chris Lee, Sa Dingding, and BiBi~ going through the voices of Li Bingbing and Fan Bingbing. So there you go. xD

    Video is here, if you’re interested. xD

  • Yu Aoi – Kyou, Konogoro.

    Yup. I finally bought Kyou, Konogoro (今日、このごろ。) — roughly translated to Nowadays, Lately. — which I had put off getting for years AND YEARS because… there’s a lot of text. But, damn. I was seriously missing out. There’s not many photos for the book, but there’s TONS of goodies for Yu-chan fans. A LOT of information (movie facts about Yu’s shooting projects, dates, movie suggestions, books she’s given or received, a sorta detailed work around to some of the magazine work she’s done, etc.) — In short, loads of great information for her Wikipedia page. xD

    Having to tell you that my Chinese Mandarin classes are paying off for the Japanese reading. Ha! I’m just gonna have to go through all the text bit by bit. Coz seriously, there’s a lot.

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  • The Nubeluz Throwback: Twenty Years Later

    YouTube had been conspiring against me showing me a series of videos of my childhood over the weekend, making me feel older than I should. One of these videos had to do with one of Nubeluz‘ host — aka. a Dalina — her name, Monica Santa Maria.

    Her tragic ending in a bizarre high profile case of suicide wasn’t really registered in my subconscious. Maybe I was too little to understand, but I don’t think I realized she killed herself well into my years. Watching the videos of the case, looking back at those times with my grown mind, all one can really infer is that she had a deep troubled mind… one way or the other, it was going to end up bad. It’s terribly ironic that she never did what she preached — to enjoy life, embrace it… whatever small beautiful things you may get because life was short.

    It’s such a sad thing to see.

    ANYWAY. I remember that Nubeluz was celebrating their 20 years — GOSH! — and I ran into this clip of Almendra Gomelsky and the whole cast of the show back together. EVERYONE came back, however big they became… actress Daniela Sarfati, actress Rossana Fernandez Maldonado, twin hosts Anabel and Antuanet Elias, host Maria Pia Copello, and etc. Phew.

    They sound atrocious, but it was damn fun. I don’t think Peru has ever developed as good a show as Nubeluz ever was. It has nothing to do with nostalgia. I don’t particularly think the show translated well into English, but I think they had a really good deal with the concept and songs.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82p_YH-I5TA

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    Part of the Time Machine: Back to the 90′s Blogathon

  • Yu Aoi – A Dream by Yoshihiko Ueda – WANIBOOKS

    I know I have been a very bad Yu Aoi fan. First off, I had only a faint idea she was going to release a new photobook via HMV Japan, but since her website didn’t mention a thing, I didn’t think it was such a big deal. In any case, I ran into some of the photographs in my daily runs through Weibo — and voila!

    I thought I should buy it. xD

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  • The Girl in the Mirror… was her.

    I have a really special and complicated relationship with Britney Spears. Despite my moving on from fandom in the early millennium, I think… deep in my heart (I know it’s only you, xD) – deep in my heart there’s always going to be a soft spot for Britney. The one side of me that’s always going to get happy when something good happens to her, and the side of me that gets preoccupied when something bad happens.

    I think in terms of ‘true’ Britney fans — you can recognize them by how much they love her ballads. Because Britney is not necessarily famous for her powerful vocals, but her long-time fans love Britney and actually miss her ballads — I actually love I Will Be There with those lyrics of… “when you’re feeling low, baby, let me know… and I will be there.”

    Then there\s Girl in the Mirror — she must’ve sung that song when she was 19 or 20 years old… but there’s an unequivocal innocent… almost too naive character to the song. It’s the kind of inner drama that 15 year old girls used to listen to and have ultimately stopped.

    Despite of the technical qualities of this fan video, it’s a very VERY sad and emotional clip. Especially with its beginning with a very young Britney and showing all those clips. It just… it almost breaks my heart… as if I had forsaken her.

    Time will take us apart, but I will still love you. I promise.

  • Congratulations are in order, Yu-chan?

    I generally don’t talk about celebrities’ personal lives — oh, who am I kidding? I love gossip. I used to spend hours reading gossip blogs until I realized how much time I wasted. LOL

    It started over the course of these few days when Yu Aoi searches spiked — once again — so I went on my customary search when that happens. And voila~

    I don’t think I’ve ever stuck to a specific individual fandom long enough to actually see this kind of thing happen before, so since this is a first of a confirmed relationship from Yu-chan [blog] [1] [screencap], I guess I gotta sorta document it for my future Wiki update [1]. LOL

    Yu-chan is in a relationship with actor Suzuki Kosuke. Omedetou! Throw the confetti!

    Sorry for the really bad graphic. But I didn’t wanna put one picture next tot he other coz then I would mistake it for a collaboration graphic. xD

    After a couple of strongly-rumored-but-ultimately-never-bluntly-confirmed guys, Yu-chan and Suzuki-san have both announced it on their blogs. Nah-huh, can’t get more confirmation than that one. It beats the sneaking around, huh? Good for her.

  • Look Who’s Hot in Marathon-wear!

    I had no idea BiBi would be in London (?) — well, in the UK — to do this (Nike Marathon).

    But my biggest, most shocking, realization was — Bibi’s hair looks different colors from the side (blond auburn hair or highlights) while it’s all dark on the head on front shot. How is that even possible???? It baffles me to figure out the dynamics… because, at first, I thought it might have been two different people. But no, it’s BiBi alright.

    It’s fascinating.

    And she looks like she has super SUPER swag. Especially in the snapshot of her with the sunglasses and her touching of her magical hair. Super chill, waiting, while all those white people at the back don’t look at her ‘coz they’re totally oblivious.

  • Look at you, Chris Lee!

    Li Yuchun, you’re doing a world tour? I suspect you’re not including me… but, oh well. Your promo poster is flawless. I mean, nothing out of the design-ordinary, but you look like pure gloss.

    You know when BiBi had her make-over [1], I was flabbergasted? I don’t think it ever happened between you and me. I’ve been more interested in your film career than music, to be honest. You weren’t bad in Bodyguards and Assassins, and you definitely had your scenes in The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. xD