Like many Chinese girls her age, Qi Ji enjoys singing and dancing and dreams of becoming a star, but rather than trying to make a start in vast and crowded China, she is pinning her hopes on Taiwan.
The 18-year-old is the first of many Chinese contestants expected to enter a Taiwanese reality show aimed at creating a girl band that producers hope can rival supergroups such as Japan’s AKB48 or South Korea’s Girls’ Generation.
With such televised contests now a major part of the global music industry, in Asia they are spurring a migration of talent between countries as performers and producers look to crack domestic, regional and global markets. For Qi, who grew up in northeastern China and attended a performing arts school in Beijing, this could offer a once-in-a-lifetime chance for a fast track to stardom in China’s market of 1.3 billion people — and perhaps beyond.
Photo: Mandy Cheng, AFP
“Many young Chinese people like me dream of becoming a star,” Qi said prior to a recording session for Asian Idol Group Competition (亞洲天團爭霸戰), which aired in the middle of last month. “I hope to start in Taiwan and eventually have a career both here and in China.”
Growing numbers of young Chinese performers are coming to Taiwan in search of a big break, reversing a trend that saw famous Taiwanese performers such as A-mei (張惠妹) and Jay Chou (周杰倫) focus on China. The show’s producer, Lee Fang-ju, the mastermind behind reality shows both in his native Taiwan and in China, is holding auditions in several major Chinese cities this summer to select more contestants to come to Taipei.
“Taiwan has a special allure as many young Chinese idolize Taiwanese singers. They think that making a mark here could turn them into pop divas such as Taiwan’s Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) and Elva Hsiao (蕭亞軒),” Lee said. “We hope to combine Taiwan and China’s strength to create a pop idol group so that our idols won’t be replaced by the Japanese or South Koreans.”
The most successful case so far is arguably Hu Xia (胡夏), a 22-year-old from Guangxi Province, China, who was signed by Sony Music Taiwan after winning the One Million Star singing contest in 2010. His latest record Flame of Love hit No. 1 on Taiwan’s G-Music chart in March.
“Winning a title in Taiwan is a big boost for a young Chinese performer since it has a leading role in Mandarin pop music,” said Hsieh Tsung-han, a music producer and lecturer at China University of Technology in Taipei.
A-List Entertainment, which is based in Taipei and offers courses for those aspiring to become singers, models and show hosts, is, meanwhile, getting plenty of interest from China.
Last year, it recruited about 100 Chinese nationals aged between 14 and 35 from as far as Mongolia to take performing lessons in Taiwan for an eight-day program at a cost of 15,000 Chinese yuan (US$2,380).
“Many Chinese youth follow Taiwan’s TV programs closely and they are attracted by Taiwan’s colorful, diverse and free entertainment scene,” A-List publicity officer Stella Teng said. “China is huge and so you are less likely to get discovered.”
While many Chinese acts look to get noticed in smaller markets first, one English-speaking Asian act has looked to use their ethnicity to do the reverse and crack the US — despite a history of such attempts falling flat.
“Blush” is made up of five women from the Philippines, India, China, Japan and South Korea who beat hundreds of other pop star wannabes during a talent search across Asia in 2010 called Project Lotus. Based in both Hong Kong and the US, Blush have opened for Justin Bieber on the Hong Kong leg of his tour last year, recorded with US hip hop star Snoop Dogg and are supported by an A-list of Los Angeles-based producers who have worked with the likes of Lady Gaga and Beyonce.
“Asian singers have not crossed over, although many attempts have been made,” Project Lotus producer and Blush manager Jon Niermann said in Los Angeles. “What we’ve tried to do is take artists from the region, but develop them in a very Western style with Western producers, Western songs and a Western way of sound, and that’s what is helping give Blush the recognition and some initial success.”
In February, the band’s single Dance On hit No. 1 on the Billboard dance club chart, above Rihanna and Kelly Clarkson. The band’s debut EP The Undivided was released last month.
“We’re in it for the long run and we are serious about our music,” said Blush’s Victoria Chan (陳皓恩), who is the band’s Chinese member. “We have been waiting for this for a long time.”
“You lead with the music and the rest of it becomes a public relations angle as to who this group is to set them apart, which is important,” Niermann said. “But it ultimately comes down to talent.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$10.26 billion to finance the construction of its second fab in Kumamoto, Japan, and a second fab in Arizona, using advanced process technologies. The Department of Investment Review approved TSMC’s investment applications on the basis that Taiwan remains a major technology and manufacturing hub for the chipmaker, which makes its most advanced chips at home, the company operates its research-and-development center here and the majority of its capacity remains in Taiwan. The latest capital injections — US$5.26 billion for its Japanese venture Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing
Packed into a small room, a drone, bipedal robot, supermarket checkout and other devices showcase a vision of China’s software future — one where an operating system developed by national champion Huawei (華為) has replaced Windows and Android. The collection is at the Harmony Ecosystem Innovation Center in the southern city of Shenzhen, a local government-owned entity that encourages authorities, companies and hardware makers to develop software using OpenHarmony (鴻蒙), an open-source version of the operating system Huawei launched five years ago after US sanctions cut off support for Google’s Android. While Huawei’s recent strong-selling smartphone launches have been closely watched for
The waves of the Aegean Sea lap gently at the tables and chairs of two beach restaurants on Greece’s Halkidiki peninsula. It is an idyllic scene, but one that is totally illegal. Like many others in Greece, the two establishments on Pefkochori Beach do not have a license to set up shop so close to the water. After a wave of protests last summer by locals about bars and restaurants illegally covering beaches with sunbeds and tables, the Greek state is taking action. It is cracking down on rogue tourist practices with surveillance drones, satellite imagery and a special app
South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc, the world’s No. 2 memorychip maker, is to invest 103 trillion won (US$74.6 billion) through 2028 to strengthen its chips business, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), its parent SK Group said yesterday. SK Group also said it plans to secure 80 trillion won by 2026 to invest in AI and semiconductors as well as fund shareholder returns, while streamlining its more than 175 subsidiaries. The sprawling conglomerate outlined the plans following a two-day strategy meeting, aiming to revive the group after SK Hynix, its main money maker, and the group’s electric vehicle battery arm suffered heavy losses. SK