Chinese entertainment, from radio love songs to superstars

"Blue Lotus~Ah~"

It was still "Blue Lotus", and it was still a shocking scene of the whole audience singing along, but this time, it had a different flavor.

With its profound lyrics and moving melody, this song is like a silent poem, telling of the unremitting pursuit of freedom, dreams, and eternal beauty. It has become a treasure in the hearts of many overseas fans.

When the last note gradually dissipated in the air, Shen Lang stood on the stage, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, without the slightest hesitation, and said to the audience in a concise and powerful voice: "Thank you, bye!"

As he said goodbye, the lights in the venue lit up one after another, and the audience, who had just been immersed in the chorus, slowly came to their senses. They began to leave in an orderly manner with satisfaction and reluctance in their hearts.

Speaking of epic concerts around the world, everyone must think of "Michael Jackson's 1992 Bucharest Concert". This concert can be said to be a very classic concert, but also a very dangerous concert.

There were a total of 7 spectators in the stadium, and the entire stadium was packed with people. There were more than 2000 fans listening outside the stadium, and the streets closest to the stadium were all controlled by military personnel to maintain order.

There was a 2000-member medical team at this concert, and a total of 5000 people fainted and lost control of their emotions. All the fainted people were lifted up and carried out by the fans themselves, and then handed over to the staff to be sent to the medical team.

Although Shen Lang's concert had only 2 spectators and no one fainted or lost control of their emotions, it can still be called "one of the most successful concerts" because it was the first time a Chinese singer held a concert in Madison Square Garden and the first time a Chinese singer's overseas concert had local audiences make up the majority of the audience.

This breakthrough is of great significance, representing that Chinese singers are no longer confined to the small world of the Chinese-speaking circle to entertain themselves, but have successfully overcome language and cultural barriers with their own talents, unique musical style and unremitting efforts, and have firmly established their foothold in the vast overseas music market.

The next day, many mainstream media around the world reported on the grand occasion of the concert.

"Al Jazeera": Shen Lang, a singer from the East, makes the whole of America crazy about him!
The New York Times: Welcome to New York, Shen Lang, who has overcome language and cultural barriers and won love here with his talent!
"National Daily": This night, a "new world pop star" shines!

"European Times": Due to demand exceeding supply, tickets for Shen Lang's world tour have become the most sought-after item in early 2004!
"Times": From Asia's King to World's King!

"Sina Entertainment": Shen Lang's milestone concert marks that Chinese singers are truly going global!

……

It is precisely these mainstream media's extensive coverage from different angles and levels that has caused Shen Lang, who has just swept the Grammy Awards, to become so popular like a rocket. At this moment, his name and his music have become a hot topic among people all over the world.

In contrast, in China, the Chinese music scene in 2004 was known as the year of "a fight between the gods" in the original time and space.

Shen Lang's overseas expeditions created a year in which the Chinese music scene was filled with talented people and flourishing.

Those singers who once occupied an important position in the music scene, even if they have a glorious past and are well-known, do not dare to easily assert that they can dominate the music scene in this era.

Take the representatives of the middle and old generations such as the Four Heavenly Kings, Richie Jen, Na Ying, etc., they were the mainstays of the music scene in the late 90s, enjoying unlimited glory, their names were household names, and their works were extremely popular. However, with the passage of time, although they still maintain the pace of releasing albums every year, their peak period in the music scene has passed, and it is now difficult for them to create such a huge wave as in the past.

At the beginning, those young people who were just starting out have gradually become the main force in the music scene after several years of development.

Originally, the four little kings selected by the media in 2000 were "Shen Lang, Xie Tingfeng, Tao Ze, and Wang Lihong", but now there have been changes. Shen Lang has surpassed the other three by far, and his position has been taken by Zhou Jie.

However, in this year, the vigorous development of the Internet was like a surging wave, which completely changed the ecological landscape of the Chinese music scene. Internet divine songs emerged frequently like mushrooms after a spring rain, and they quickly conquered the public's audio-visual field in a swift and highly contagious manner.

Beginning of the year:

Daolang released the album "The First Snow of 2002", whose songs have a strong Western style, simple lyrics and pleasant melodies, and are deeply loved by the audience. In addition to the title song, there are also "Punishment for Impulse" and "Lover". The genuine version sold more than 270 million copies, and the pirated version sold more than 800 million copies.

After the song "Mouse Loves Rice" written, composed and sung by Yang Chengang was uploaded to the Internet, it quickly became popular all over the country. The monthly download volume of the single ringtone reached 600 million times, making it the holder of the Guinness World Record for this title and earning 1.7 million yuan for the record company.

Another hit song of Huang Bo, "Two Butterflies", was released. This song had a strong momentum and set off a wave of listening on the Internet. It also had an absolute advantage in the mobile phone ringtones, bringing 3 million yuan in revenue to the company.

This fully demonstrates that in today's Internet age, competition among singers is becoming increasingly fierce.

Although the success of a singer is often judged by how long he or she is popular, what is more crucial is that in this rapidly changing Internet environment, if a singer does not work hard to improve himself or herself, he or she will eventually be like the dust of history, submerged by the tide of the times, and gradually disappear from the public's sight.

Of course, online songs have indeed caused a huge impact on the traditional record industry like a surging wave, but traditional singers have not stopped because of this. They still rely on their own talents and hard work to show extraordinary achievements in the music scene and bring many wonderful music works to the audience.

Male singers:

Zhou Chuanxiong's "Ocean of Men" is as affectionate and as popular as ever.

Wu Kequn released the album "Wu Kequn", which fully demonstrated his musical talent and diverse styles.

Hu Yanbin, who was only 20 years old, completed a series of complicated tasks including composition, arrangement and production on his own, and his song "Red Beauty" amazed the audience.

Female singer:
Thanks to the popularity of the two TV series "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" and "The Lotus Lantern", Liu Yifei and Shu Chang launched the EP of the same name which was hot-selling, exceeding 100 million copies for the first time, and also became the best-selling album by a female singer so far this year.

SHE released the album "Fantasy Journey". Although the title song "Persian Cat" was pulled away, it still achieved good results.

Jolin Tsai released the album "Castle", in which the song "Rewind" written by Jay Chou quickly became popular after its release.

and also:

Jay Chou is currently preparing for his fifth album "Qilixiang". Each of his previous albums has caused quite a stir in the Chinese music scene, and the preparations for this new album have made his fans look forward to it.

JJ Lin, who debuted last year and won the 15th Golden Melody Award for Best New Artist, is about to release his second album, Second Heaven. In addition to Jiangnan, he will also release Second Heaven, Mermaid, and Soy Milk and Fried Dough Sticks. Wang Lihong has also not fallen behind in the new album preparation boom. The production of his new album, The Sun and Moon in My Heart, has entered the final stage. This time, he will incorporate his unique music concepts and innovative elements, and present a unique Chinese style song to his fans by combining traditional music elements with modern music styles.

After getting two songs "I Remember" and "Honey Honey" from Shen Lang, Stefanie Sun started producing her new album. She has a unique voice and a very contagious singing style. Every album she has is loved by fans, and her collaboration with Shen Lang has long become a good story in the music world.

Fish Leong’s album “Swallowtail Butterfly” is about to be released, and the title songs “Swallowtail Butterfly” and “Ningxia” will become classics.

In addition, many members of Jingtao Music, including Angela Chang, Corey Wang, Fiona Sit, Jane Zhang, Natalie Tong, and Yang Zongwei, also have new albums.

The older generation of singers also showed their dedication and perseverance in music, and did not stagnate despite the changes of the times and the changes in the music scene. Wang Jingfei has "Willing to Love", Zhang Xinzhe has "Next Forever", Zhang Xueyou has "Life Is Like A Dream", Leon Dawn Leon, Sun Nan has "Burning", Luo Dayou has "Formosa Boulevard"...

Among them, Na Ying, who is known as the No. 1 queen in mainland China, has devoted herself to film and television shooting this year and has no plans to release a new album for the time being.

However, her comments on Daolang attracted widespread attention and controversy.

When a media reporter mentioned Dao Lang, who is very popular on the Internet, she said to the camera: "I think his songs do not meet the mainstream aesthetic standards. Although its sales are impressive, it is indeed difficult for me to comment on it, but art cannot be measured only by sales."

After that, there were rumors on the Internet that Na Ying said that most of the people who requested Dao Lang's songs in KTV were farmers.

Shen Lang recalled that in the original time and space, this incident occurred in 2010 when the "Music Billboard Ten Years Ceremony" was selecting the "Most Influential Singer of the Decade". At that time, Dao Lang was selected, and Na Ying, as one of the judges, cast a veto vote during the voting process.

Surprisingly, it happened ahead of time.

Perhaps it was his appearance that restricted Na Ying in various aspects of her development, and she gradually relaxed her self-discipline and vented her dissatisfaction on online singers. After all, these people came from grassroots backgrounds, and there was a certain gap between them and the influential queens with strong backing.

This incident spread widely, and the situation continued to escalate, with more and more celebrities getting involved.

Wang Feng was the first to say: "The popularity of Daolang's songs is a tragedy for the music industry. Apart from being fresh, there is nothing else to recommend it."

Yang Kun also questioned: "Can Daolang's works be called music? Does he really have musical talent? What kind of music do you think it is?"

Gao Xiaosong said directly: "If someone gave me Daolang's record, I would definitely throw it into the trash can."

At this point, the person involved, Daolang, was pushed to the forefront of public opinion. In view of this situation, organizers of various commercial performances and events dared not invite him again, and the concert he had originally planned could not go on.

At this point, Daolang was no longer the only one being targeted; all online singers were labeled as “low-class”.

With the support of Shen Lang, Huang Bo debuted as China's first online singer as early as last year.

In this way, Huang Bo became one of the main targets of this concentrated fire.

Of course, Shen Lang would not sit idly by and watch his artist being treated so unfairly, so he published an article on his Sina blog.

[In this incident, both Daolang and Huang Bo represent the power of grassroots culture. Their music carries the emotions and life experiences of ordinary people. However, in today's society, commercialization and entertainment have gradually become dominant, and traditional art forms and cultural values ​​have gradually been diluted. This conflict of cultural concepts makes grassroots artists like them appear powerless in the market competition and even excluded.

I don’t deny that the quality of some online songs is poor due to the low threshold for access, which also reflects the diversity and complexity of the music field, but in this diverse music world, everyone who makes music seriously deserves respect.

In the bustling music world, the waves behind always push the waves ahead. No one can always stand at the forefront, and no one can always receive applause. What kind of seeds are planted in what kind of era will produce what kind of fruits. 】

Once these words were spoken, they caused a huge uproar and triggered widespread and heated discussions.

And because of Shen Lang’s current special identity - winner of seven Grammy Awards and a world-class pop superstar, his actions and words will naturally be magnified infinitely.

This blog attracted thousands of replies within just a few minutes of being published, which shows how influential it is.

[Liu Yifei]: Brother Lang is right!
[Shu Chang]: Support Brother Lang, support Brother Bo!
[Tian Zhen]: The replacement of old and new words represents the change of times. Some ideas and concepts that cannot adapt to the trend of the new century have begun to disintegrate.

【Li Wen】: Appreciated by both the elite and the masses!

[Wang Lihong]: Leave it to time, time is the best answer.

[Stefanie Sun]: Music has no good or bad, no hierarchy, no background, only likes and dislikes.

……

The support from many friends not only reflects their recognition of Shen Lang, but also further expands the influence of Shen Lang's remarks.

Netizens are divided into two camps: supporters and opponents. Each side sticks to its own opinion and neither can convince the other.

However, Shen Lang did not stop there. He intercepted Universal Music and signed Daolang to his own Jingtao Music.

Moreover, he facilitated the collaboration between Daolang and Zhang Guorong, who will sing the song "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" composed by Daolang.

When this news came out, the entire Chinese music scene was shocked.

This cross-era and cross-style collaboration is puzzling and exciting. (End of this chapter)