Posts Tagged ‘Chinese pop’

Vivian Hsu + Daniel Wu for Harper’s Bazaar China

This is a stunning photoshoot, not in terms of photographic technique or fashion styling, but just the atmosphere. The two look like they have so much chemistry together! I don’t really like Daniel Wu, and I’ve avoided much of Vivian Hsu’s work for some reason, but the two are starring in an upcoming movie together, and my interest is piqued.

Zhou Xun @ Elle Style Awards in Shanghai

水调歌头

明月几时有,把酒问青天。
不知天上宫阙,今夕是何年?
我欲乘风归去,又恐琼楼玉宇,
高处不胜寒。
起舞弄清影,何似在人间!
转朱阁,低绮户,照无眠。
不应有恨,何事长向别时圆?
人有悲欢离合,月有阴晴圆缺,
此事古难全。
但愿人长久,千里共婵娟。

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For old time’s sake: Zhang Li Yin

Timeless (part 1)

Timeless (part 2)

I Will (part 1)

Left Shore of Happiness (part 2)

I never really thought about it in depth, but how great is the storyline in the “Timeless” videos? When I first got into Kpop, I was astounded that all music videos were like dramas. No really, you should’ve seen me, “WHOA. THAT’S LIKE A WHOLE STORY.” (My first Kpop videos were the AnyCall videos, so yeah…)

I love the continuity in ZLY’s videos and I guess that can be good and bad. On the one hand, it’s great how many stories can be spun around the same three actors, and how it’s just like a pan-Asia, all-time spanning epic saga, lol. On the other hand, “Hi, let’s get some new faces in here, yeah?”

And now that I’ve given it some thought, I think ZLY has the best videos in SM Town. The stories are cliched in a way, yes, but they’re intricate and interesting. Siwon and Hangeng are surprisingly good actors for being performers and Lee Yeon Hee is good in her own right even though she’s not the spotlight of the videos. I love it when music videos have that ability to make you wish that there was more left for you to watch even after it’s over.

The quality of ZLY’s music video kind of overshadows how non-existent her career is with SM, but all in all I can’t wait for her new single next month. And I hear she’s actually starring in her own video(s) this time (with Donghae!) so I’m excited :D

(There are Korean and Chinese versions to all the songs above, but imo the Korean version of “Timeless” was the better one, and the Chinese versions of the latter two are way better than the Korean ones so I chose the MVs to match the language.)

Song of the day

As if I don’t shamelessly whore out this song enough, in honor of SJ-M coming back soon (woohoo!), here’s my fave from them:

Super Junior M — 我抱著我 (In My Arms)

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This is one of those SM songs where I’m still surprised I haven’t found any loopholes to — meaning it’s not a cover, it wasn’t first produced by someone and then sold to SM, and yet it’s still so good . . . I’m weary only because SM has a history of making a ton of shitty music. :D