All these recent rock festivals must have given the beautiful people of Mando-pop worry lines. Not long ago, they shared the limelight with no one. Now festivals that were once considered "alternative" are drawing mainstream-sized audiences. Time, then, for the pantheon of pop stars to get off the gossip pages and get on stage to do their thing.
Jointly sponsored by MTV and the Taipei City Government, the Taipei Music Festival will let local pop stars shine their brightest alongside entertainers from Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong. Jay Chou (
PHOTO COURTESY OF MTV
Just 19 years-old, the Napanee, Ontario native has enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame since the release of her debut album, Let Go in 2002. On the back of two singles from that release, Complicated and Sk8r Boi, the album has sold 14 million copies worldwide to date. It's sales have slowed only because of the recent release of her second album, Under My Skin, which debuted in the No. 1 slot on a host of charts in the US, Canada and the UK. It's hardly a sophomore effort and displays a song-writing ability not just beyond her years, but improved upon from her debut release.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MTV
Contrast her success to that of many stars in the Mando-pop pantheon, who sing lyrics written for them that are put to recycled Christmas jingles, and you realize why so many Mandarin-language album covers picture the artist staring sorrowfully at their shoes.
Lavigne, by contrast, has gained popularity as much for her unaffected, in-your-face attitude as for her catchy tunes. Her appearance at the Taipei Music Festival is a special treat for local audiences, as it's a sneak-preview of her upcoming tour to promote Under My Skin. Keen not to suffer their own "Michael Jordan moment," the folks at MTV have said up front that Lavigne will play only a 30-minute set.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MTV
Another special treat is the reappearance of Sun Yanzi (
PHOTO COURTESY OF MTV
Other Asian acts to watch for will be Naohito Fujiki (
South Korean boy-toy Rain will also make an appearance, as will Hong Kong boy-toy Dylan Kwok (
PHOTO COURTESY OF MTV
Filling out the roster of local acts are the pop-rock combo F.I.R., K One, Landy (
Stanley Huang (
The only other star likely to take the stage will be Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
The catch involved with going to the Taipei Music Festival is that, while it' s a free concert, you have to have a ticket to get in. MTV publicist Bess Lin says not to worry if you don't have a ticket, though, as "audiences can watch the concert outside the central zone." In other words, bring something to stand on.
Should you opt against wading into the estimated 60,000-strong crowd, you can instead enjoy it from your living room. The concert will be broadcast on MTV tomorrow night starting at 10pm and rebroadcast again on Sunday at 2pm.
The Taipei Music Festival will take place at Taipei City Square, adjacent Taipei City Hall at 7pm tomorrow night.
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