Lots of David's china activities. 8/16 - he had autograph session in Beijing where DTFC mbrs handed out 'buy original' leaflets to passersby making David vry happy for sure. He has such loyal fans in China.
7/17 - He was announced as summer spokesman for Channel In @ Shanghai.
Dun ask what that red beaky thing is cos I dun know ^__^ Seems in China they kinda go for big things where David is concerned - big cake, big can etc. Go
here to watch David's greeting.
They had some fans to perform for him including this sweet little boy who hiphop with our Dave making him wanna get married quick so can have BB like him. Luv the headscarf *__*
Bigger male fan who dressed up like him & ended up looking like JJ Lin.
Lucky girl fan who got hugged.
Another big can! Man, they really have a thing for BIG for sure. Still David looked pleased, must be nice to see his can in supersize. Here he attended a radio station which had choose 10 David's fav songs promo. His fans picked Wang Bu Liao, Susan Said, Melody, Season of Loneliness, Everthing's Gone but I Love You remains the top fav. He also got an award for Most moving singer I think.
Also it seems everywhere he went, he is surrounded by 6 assistants who wipe his sweat, fix his hair, give him water & fan him with a mobile fan. Such a superstar *sigh* Also it seemed EMI made an announcement regarding the song The Moment in the album, making clear the original lyrics was written by the lyrist hired by Honda Civic to write the cm song. Also a special version of Beautiful will be released in China during Sept to clear this misunderstanding. Unlike the other 2 cm songs, the lyrics for Honda Civic song was actually written before David composed the music. In his album, the lyrics was altered by WaWa. See what happened my dear David when you put commercial songs into yr album >"<
But I do forgive you cos I love this album vry much. The negative reviews continue & these are probably the same reviewers who didn't think much of The Great Leap last yr & now it seemed in comparision, they have elevated The Great Leap to almost the same status as Black Tangerine *roll eyes* Also I really don't understand how they can say that David has "reached his creative limit in songwriting". If he has reached his creative limit, then he will have more or less similar style album after album. Beautiful is entirely different from his previous albums, if that is not inventiveness then I don't know what is.
David is vry calm when faced with such criticism & merely advised them to 'use their ears' to listen to the album. He did mildly said that only in Asia do ppl expect to hear different styles in the same album whereas in US or Europe, most songs have more or less the same style in an album. For eg, Usher's Confessions is a bit like Beautiful with only 1 fast dance track. Nobody criticised Usher that he has reached his creative limit & that he should go back to making music like his previous albums. More importantly this album was a bestseller proving that if you make good music, ppl will buy.
Another reviewer said that if this album has been Gary Cao's he would have given more points but cos its David's then his expectations are higher *huh?* Its precisely that there are other younger singers who are doing the same kind of music that David had done previously that its so wonderful, refreshing & challenging of David not to produce a album like that. Yes, he probably will be able to surpass them in this style of album but what is the point. Why have singer/composers come out with similar music? Isn't creativity more abt exploring new grounds. Being creative don't necessary mean that it has to be trendy & has a wow factor. That's just popart. To me, creativity can also mean finding new & different ways to present old ideas. And that is what I feel David has done in Beautiful retelling old-fashioned love stories in brandnew ways. You may not like it or its not your style but you certainly cannot accuse him of not being creative. But at least there is 1 great
review from a true believer ^__^ Btw thanks yellowjacketstudio for yr link.
David should have left Chengdu by then & now in Quangzhou, wow he really is making a whirlwind promo tour. He said he would like to visit Chengdu again as he wants to see a real panda ^__^ Here's a decent interview with him at last. 1st question is abt the change in the new album becoming softer. David explained he did not deliberately change but as he get older, he become more gentle & nostalgic. But he also put a lot of personal questioning & struggle in the album. His cooperation with Jolin is cos he wanted to represent a certain view in his album & not for marketing *must be vry tired of this question by now*
Then how did he manage to complete this album so quickly? Actually more than a yr & half to complete an album in Asia cannot be considered fast, why it is they made David feel like a traitor to his music just cos he did not take 2-3 yrs? Anyway David replied the secret was that last yr he was mostly in fast-paced Asia so he was able to work faster. If he is in the US, he tends to work slower. An interesting question abt how it seemed that ever since The Great Leap, David seemed to be more newsworthy. David replied that he joined a big record company before The Great Leap & so the media paid more attention to him when this album was released. (I think he meant that EMI arranged more PR & media events for him). Also he took part in more commercial activities. Some of his fans have complained that he has become more commercial but David is vry clear that his music will not changed or be affected by the market. He will not make music just for the market.
Then he was asked abt his 'statement to the press' & why such a low-key musican like himself should employ this kinda of idol way to promote his album. I wish I could see David's face then *__* but he did not get angry. He just said that he is happy to get attention so that he has the chance to come out from the restricted role of making music to meet everyone & listen to their response to his album. However he is troubled by some parts of the media who is only interested in gossipy news & change an album launch to a non-music perspective. Then of cos the inevitable question abt Jay Chou. David laughed & said Leehom should also be mentioned. He said the three have always been compared but everybody should know by now that their music is very different. The three of them are already used to it but everytime he gave the same answer to this kinda question, he wondered why the ppl asking it are not bored.
A few critics claimed that chinese r&b is declining judging from the 3 singer/composers' recent albums. Leehom did not show improvement from Shangri-la to Heroes, Jay's Chopin has nothing new & now David's Beautiful did not show creativity. Speaking for himself, David said that he felt that he put a lot of new ideas into Beautiful. The album in which he felt most stressed is his second album, now he is more relaxed abt making music & he is able to put more of his feelings, stories & emotion into his albums. He felt that Beautiful is very lasting to listen. From his very first album, David felt that he doesn't want to become a professor (?) of the music world or use music as a kind of test (I think that's what he meant). So you don't want to be trendsetter? David's answer is kinda long but basically he felt that its hard to forecast a trend & one can't be trendy forever.
Getting tired so I will transcribe the rest tomorrow. I feel very satisfied with David's performance. Maybe ppl will accused him of being arrogant again for being so sure of his music, but if you don't believe in yourself then how can you make music that is sincere. I don't deny that Beautiful is a flawed album, perhaps David knows this himself or planned it that way as the title of the album can be considered ironic. But as one chinese fan wrote that is what so wonderful abt this album that it does reflect life itself - sometimes magical but mostly mundane. Its only when you can find beauty in ordinary things that you know you have lived.
