A beautiful message from DT

David's new diary entry makes me cry, just Tai Mei Li. Reposted here since a few fans has been disappointed by this album. All I wanna say is just have to believe in David. He will never betray his music or his fans.

8/19/06 Guangzhou 6:27pm
I’m in my hotel room writing this while waiting for a few upcoming interviews in Guangzhou. It’s been a little over two weeks since the release of the new album and I’ve been doing quite a lot of traveling and promotions. It’s been a bit tiring although it’s been fun and satisfying especially meeting all of you again in various cities.
The outpour of fans has been overwhelming and I’m truly touched by all your support. It’s such a wonderful surprise to see so many of you coming from different cities to the airport and events to support me. I know many of you traveled far, skipped school or work to come see me and I do want you all to know that I am grateful for your love and kindness.
As for the album, I’m very glad to say that it’s doing very well thanks to all your support. Of course, I’ve also been hearing some feedback that this album doesn’t have the “edge” of the two previous albums and that some feel it isn’t as musical. I agree that this album is different from Black Tangerine and The Great Leap; however, I don’t think this album is less musical or genuine as previous albums. On the contrary, I feel Tai Mei Li is my most musically cohesive and unified album. Perhaps because of the larger percentage of ballads and down tempo songs, some people feel this album isn’t as ambitious but I tend to disagree. The lack of aggressive, socially critically and rock genre songs should NOT be confused with the lack of direction, inspiration and creativity. I think one of the blind spots with our entertainment scene right now is that we are trying too hard to make loud, bold and excessive creative statements rather than delivering a heartfelt message or story. This album is not an experimental or extreme album in terms of sound but one about the subtleties and emotions in life.
I’ve been heavily influenced by the classic Soul sounds of the 60’s and so I tried to bring that flavor to this album with use of string and horn arrangements along with an acoustic yet grooving rhythm section. With the Mandarin music scene congested with hip hop, rap, pop and everything in between, I thought a bit of classic old Soul flavor would give myself a new musical playground to explore.
Conceptually, this album deals a lot with sentimentality, the inevitable passing of time and youth leading to, finally, the importance of cherishing life in its entirety. These are things that have been in my subconscious and conscious mind throughout this past year and I wanted to share it all with you in this album. Again, this album is a musical diary of my life just like the previous albums have been. I hope it brings you all joy, strength and warmth while at the same time inspiring answers, questions and revelations about life.
DT

Some nice clips

Some nice screencaps of Marry me today mv. Really like the mv, has feel of romantic comedy. Thanks pk for noticing that I mispelt Olia so many times ^__^ sry abt that & yeah u r rite, its more fun than work. Not much news, think David had a autograph session in HK & he will be on Jade Solid Gold. Then he has to get back to TW for Karen Mok's concert. I dearly hoped he is not gonna sit on a sofa while Karen lapdance on him >"< or have Karen rip off his shirt. So vry tacky. I nvr really understood this side of Karen as to me she dun come across as vry sexy.

Someone posted news clip @ youtube of David as Disney ambassador to present gifts to underprvileged children so they could go to school well-equipped. During HK radio interview when he was praised for always being aware of where & how he should develop in his career, David replied that he had many friends who helped him in the past but now he is at the stage where he is not concerned abt sales, awards or criticism. He just do what he wants to do. I guess he is vry fortunate that he is able to choose the path of his career. Not many in the entertainment world are that fortunate. They still have to conform to market taste & if they dun, the critics will be twice as harsh on them.
I too felt he should not have made those comments abt the critics as, after all, they are doing their jobs. But I can also understand his frustration. Let me put it this way: say if JK Rowling said her nxt book will not be a children's book but one about her own feelings as a woman writer in today's fastpaced world. Then when the book came out, the critics complained that it is not as creative as Harry Potter, there are no outstanding characters, the story is dull as dishwater, JK Rowling has reached a bottleneck & is no longer as inventive. Ridiculous rite? Surely the job of a critic is to judge an artist's work based on what the artist hoped to achieve & the ideas the artist wanted to bring across. David has already said his new album is going to be softer & has NO social msgs. It is based on his feelings on love, marriage, romance & life. So criticise him on that not what album he should be doing. Besides what exactly were they expecting -- Black Tangerine 2, The Greater Leap or I Am Still OK? :P

Here's another nice little clip @ youtube of David in Solar Project, much too short but he does look good in the Solar tee.

Solar & concert guest

David attended Solar Project in HK. He sang I love you and Can't get you outta my mind. Listen here -- drag to 37 if u dun wanna listen to entire concert ^__^ When he mentioned that he wrote song for Solar before, thought he was gonna sing it but he didn't *sigh* Here can watch Sina clip where he was asked to comment abt illegal pixs taken of Gillian & here listen to vry good HK radio interview. (Audio links credit: davidtaohk.com).
Jolin in Shanghai announced that her 2 concert guests on 9/23 are David & Show Luo. Watch here for unveiling of cardboard DT *__* Apparently Marry me today is extremely popular in Shanghai being 1 of the most requested songs on air. The song is also popular in Taiwan & Spore making David's 1st duet in his album a vry successful one. Although some fans not thrilled with his cooperation with Jolin, I thought she did extremely well. She sounds sweet apple-pie which really works in the song.
Watch TVBS weekend show where they put on a mock press interview for David & the female host acted as his publicity manager. Here she got him to demonstrate his supple back heehee He was quite sporting as usual & vry entertaining. But he did berate himself for being stupid cos he almost had to dance. But he cleverly got himself out of it. Then they wanted him to sing his song childishly & he didn't know how, then they wanted him to sing a children's song but he didn't know any. So they suggested London Bridge & he sang r&b version instead which was wonderful. The verse at the back of the album box was asked. I love the verse & I think if you have bought the album & read it, you would probably know what it meant & why David put it there. As u know Zhou Bichang's album featured a song written by David. Bibi said she like this song called Plse don't love me like a friend best in the album, listen below.

Memories ...

Back here talking abt my man David ^__^ Apparently he was on a few programs which I missed *sad* He was on MTV last nite & TVBS today. David is apparently afraid of spiders, he is also afraid of roaches so basically he is afraid of bugs. He said that he wrote I don't wanna know 4 yrs ago & it was based on real incident which led media to speculate it was Melody *sigh* Anyway David said he was afraid the song cannot be used but now he feels great to be able to finally sing it. So this is kinda Bastard song rite? I love this song & the way David emotes in it, his vocals are just outta world. I was thinking ppl are unable to quite understand the musical background of Beautiful cos they are not exposed to the musical styles & influences from the periods David was using. What they could hear was easy listening & melodic with nothing edgy which led to the 'commercial' conclusion. Anyway if ppl wanna think its commercial, nothing can be done to change their minds. I think I was writing the same kinda defence for The Great Leap when it first came out.
I dun think Beautiful will ever be elevated to the same status as The Great Leap as it lacks the social msgs & creative songs like Susan Says. But having strolled thru a mall & enduring the saccharin pop blaring at me, I am glad Beautiful is waiting at home to soothe me. Someone compared this album to a refreshing meal after one full of spicy foods, made me remembered this post where I compared David to the chef in Jewel in the Palace who is willing to risk her life to prepare healthy fare than rich, delicious meals who may kill a sick diner.
David has said more abt the Blade Runner reference in Olio. Apparently he chose that particular phrase cos it was when 1 of the Replicants wanted to recovered his 'precious photos' even though it wasn't even his real memories. Rather poignant that a robot will want to recover his fake 'memories' while most humans want to forget theirs. You don't know what you miss until you lose them. Blade Runner was not a hit when it came out cos ppl could not understand the movie & thought it was too dark. Beautiful things are quite often misunderstood ^__~
Now of cos it has influenced many si-fic movies but none came close to its brooding yet unbearably beautiful look & underlying melancholic sense of Shakespearian tragedy. I was just thinking that there has nvr been a really good Chinese si-fic movie. Perhaps if the current directors can ever get outta their wuxia phase, they may wanna think abt filming one. David has revised his 3 mths sabbatical to 6 mths where he said he will go & learn from a few directors & might even take a few courses in US for his venture into moviemaking. I hope it will be successful & that he is able to take his talents for producing thought-provoking albums into film.

Mantous fighting

David endorsing Disney's Back to School campaign. Back in Taiwan, he is already caught up in work, work, work. He went online to talk to fans last nite, then filmed mv for Finally. His love interest is the girl who appeared briefly in Wan Bu Liao mv, vry lovely long-haired girl who wore extremely short dress. Guess there will be some sort of connection between the 2 mvs as the subject of the song is deja vu.
He also revealed that the organiser for his 4 Love Can concerts has disappeared & he stand to lose a substantial amt of money if he dun turned up. Poor David, hope everything will turn up alrite. He also turned the tables on critics of Beautiful saying that ppl who cannot produce an album should go & do so before criticising those who can >"< Oh dear he is going to get crucified again. But still this is the reason we love him so cos he is not afraid to speak his mind.
Caught TVB8 news where he met contestant who sang Wan Bu Liao. It was cute cos the guy only hold his guitar while David kept expecting him to play. He sang off tune too but David praised the quality of his voice. Then David asked if he knew how to play Regular Friends & offered to play when he answered no. First he tuned the guitar *so professional* then started to strum *swoon* & sang backup for the guy. He was so teachy but in a gorgeous way. Then he showed the guy how to sing vibrato to hide his nervousness. I nvr knew David can sing vibrato, it was really good. I really hope he goes on more music programs like this cos it was so enjoyable & really display his musicality. It was so yummy when the camera kept zooming on him while he was playing the guitar.
Some nice screencaps of his appearance on A date with Lan Yu (Pixs credit: davidfans). Not sure when they going to broadcast but looking forward to it. He looked like student in his checked shirt & white shoes. This reminded me of the interview with Hu Ge who did the online parody on Chen Kaige's The Promise. He really is such a modest, charming guy & vry talented. Also he showed lotsa professional critics how to review. Although the parody is very funny, it wasn't disrespectful or with disdain. He Ge just wanted to show the weakness of this movie & demonstrated that no matter how wonderful the effects, the script is the heart of a movie. One should also adopt a similar attitude when reviewing music. It's useless just saying with contempt that an album is dull & with no creativity without showing why. Anyway linked the parody vid cos its really worth a look.

Taoism 5

Thank you so much guys for yr msgs -- cheer me up no ends ^__^ You know a mbr of the paparazzi wrote that David drew less ppl to his promo in Quangzhou than a HK series star whose name I dun even recognised. I wondered why it is always David who got crowd comparision. Do ppl ever compared the crowd that Twins & SHE draw? Anyway I was thinking to myself, it depends on the quality of the crowd. Some ppl may just turned up to see the current flavor of the day. But David will not draw the curious onlookers, his fans are the real thing. They are there solely because of his music, not his looks, his image, his clothes, his physique or hype. Drawing a big crowd is not such a difficult feat compared to drawing fans who come a long way just to shake his hand & said, "I love your music!"
However I do understand why ppl are so disappointed with this album. An interesting article here where he replied to criticism of Beautiful. Trouble is there really is nobody who can take on the mantle of 'serious Chinese musician writing songs that reflect today society". Lou Dayou came out with BeautIsland & he wasn't criticised for coming up with such a gentle, loving album cos David was around to release The Great Leap. I can sense dismay & disdain that David refused to carry on with the tradition of creating music for the conscience of all Chinese. But why should he alone carry this burden?
As he sang in Olio, the circus has left town but a lot of ppl who don't understand is still waiting. "Eighteen years the generation has changed." Yes, David is no longer in his 20s & the fire of rebellion has died down. Time for a changing of guard, the next generation. Is it his fault that there is no successor? He has said many times & is still saying that new young singers need to be encouraged to write music of substance. But still they kept rewarding & promoting those who only write music for entertainment. Those who dare criticised *including myself* are crucified for daring to speak out. Btw, I wanna laughed out loud at the critic who said Chinese entertainment needs an album like The Doors or Pink Floyd, or at the vry least Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, or even The Great Leap II but not Beautiful. But dear critic, you don't know what you miss till it's gone. So Beautiful could be David's way of saying enough is enough, please don't depend on me to raise the bar in Chinese music. He has his own dreams to chase, his movies to make, his life to live. That's why I love this man. He walks the walk his own way always, singing Walk On, love that song!
While I agreed from certain aspects Beautiful is a flawed album, but its also quite brilliant. I said that it was like a familiar friend cos that's how I felt & from the comments, most felt the same. Then I suddenly remembered that in his forum before the album was released, it was referred to as Taoism 5. Then it all made sense. He did went back to his 1st album but in such an original way. The girl he can't get outta his mind could be the stewardess in Airport in 10.30. In Our Love, he has a girl saying in Malay 'plse return to me my love' I think *plse help Msia fans*, in Chase he says 'where are you, my love?' in Spanish. Too Beautiful is continuation of I Love You. Then of cos who can forget Answering Machine at the end with its intriguing msgs. In Beautiful we got the mysterious phrase from Blade Runner. Btw David quite often inserts unusual noises & msgs in his album esp at the end, like the clearing of his throat & guitar tuning In Black Tangerine. So they can hardly be considered 'gimmicks' just onging part of his imitable style.
It takes an extremely bold musician, not to mention skilful one, to go back to the style of his 1st album & managed to avoid coming out with a carbon copy. Tai Mei Li shows his growth & development between the 2 albums. Actually I was surprised when ppl accused him of pandering to the market with this album, now I understand why. He hasn't changed at all, he has written many songs in what is now considered 'formulaic' style right from his 1st album. In fact he helped popularised this genre, love ballads with a touch of r&b. If his 1st album was released today, it will not galvanised the chinese music world the way it did 9 yrs ago cos it will not be unlike like 50% of the albums released now. They don't called him 'godfather of music' for nothing ^__~
David Tao is still David Tao, he hasn't changed. The market has change, people's taste for music has changed, sometimes they cannot even relate to a song without an mv. Indeed the highlight of an album can be who is invited to film the mv. The music is no longer so important. How sad is that. I like to applaud David's attempt to take it back to music. I remembered he said during The Great Leap for which he filmed the most mvs that in today's market, mvs are required to sell the song. I was actually quite disappointed he said that. With Tai Mei Li, the songs are the ones selling the mvs. He got us all curious to see Marry me today mv with Jolin, now we are anxiously waiting for Olio & eager to see which song he will film mv next. Maybe he will not film any more mv & just let the songs tell stories in our minds. Meanwhile some David on air here & here, the little kid is too just cute.

Poster boy David

Pix credit: DFTC
Once again I must stressed this is only a poor little blog where I write abt my feelings on an artist very important to me. His music helps me enormously & I am not saying that as a rabid fan hellbent on defending her idol. So if you have a problem with his personality & you think his music is crap, maybe you can take it to a Chinese music forum where for sure you find heaps who feel the same way as you abt his latest album.
Tai Mei Li has so far received 90% negative reviews so if you think David is slipping, then you are in good company. Nobody will argue with you & I am not going to try & change yr mind. So if you are mad abt spending good cash on a crap album, maybe you can write to David or EMI to demand a refund ^__^ No use venting yr anger here cos I cannot help you as I honestly love the album to bits.
David's music may mean nothing much to millions out there but I am not really concerned what others think of him & his music. That is why I started writing this blog so I have a voice in the annals of his music-making. I honestly thought I will be mostly writing for myself so I was surprised that there are some who felt the same way. My sincere thanks to the 2 fans who left their comments in Imperfect Rose post. I was actually hesitant abt writing the analogy as not sure if it will make sense, so I am glad the 2 of you understood what I wrote.
It's probably a foregone conclusion that Beautiful will be considered as David's worst album & I am ok with it. Maybe he wrote this one for his hardcore fans, but I think the answer could lie in his last song Olio. He wrote a marvellous song called Circus in his 2nd album where he claimed life is a circus. In Olia, the circus has left town ...
David appeared at Sprite singing competition where once again he is the idol of 1 of the contestants who got so nervous singing Wan Bu Liao, so David took his guitar & helped him sing Regular Friends. Found below clip of David singing Susan says at Chengdu fans gathering. Once again he forgot lyrics but his excellent vocals made up for it. It was so cute when they sang out loud the opera part & rap along with him. My idol forever & always *__*

Imperfect rose

A few, vry few, slightly postive reviews here, here & another english review. Actually dun mind the bad reviews too much cos if this album receives glowing reviews all round, then I start to worry ^__~ That's why dun understand when ppl say the songs are pop tunes written to plse the market. Are they listening to the same album? What do they considered an album not written to plse the market? On the other hand, the album is also criticised as uninspiring with no outstanding songs. This seems to be a definition of an album not written to plse the market as who would want to listen to uninspiring, uncreative songs rite? Anyway to each its own, if you feel that Beautiful was written solely to race up the K chart, so be it cos nobody & nothing can change your mind.

The other thing I find distasteful is the disdain of some of these critics cos according to them, David did not live up to his title of 'godfather of music' in this album. In the 1st place, David has NEVER called himself this title, & secondly he HATES the title. So if you wanna stripped him of the title, plse go ahead cos David will be ever so grateful. He really dislikes any kinda title. David called this album Tai Mei Li but being the perfectionist that he is, can anything be too beautiful? It's like trying to cultivate the perfect rose, does it really exist? What does a perfect rose mean anyway? Aren't all roses perfect by nature? Most of the media referred to the fact that he only took a year and 7 mths to complete this album as if implying that had he taken longer, this album could have been better or there is something lacking in this album compared to his previous 4 which took a longer time.

Its true that his previous albums all have substance & important things to impart abt the world, all have extroverted views. In this album, its like he turned it around, shut the world out & let us see an imperfect David. All the tracks in Beautiful are fairly accessible with few surprises unless you listen carefully. The tracks that could have been outstanding have definitely something off-putting. Wang Bu Liao can either wow or annoy the hell out of you. Too Beautiful will either put you to sleep or leave you in tears. Many felt that Marry Me Today could have been better without the 'in the house' rapping.

Let me put it this way: In his previous albums, David is like a horticulturist showing off an amazing garden full of roses he cultivated with love, care & attention, many varieties & colors, all gorgeous. In Beautiful, no more cultivated roses but only wild ones, some dying from over-exposure or ravaged by pests. They are small and not so brilliant in colors but have a lingering fresh fragrance that reminds you of a sweet, innocent time. A crazy, fanciful analogy perhaps ^__^ I also adore the various movie references in the album apart from Blade Runner in Olio. Wang Bu Liao of cos sampled the famous song of a legendary movie. Intro has the music that introduced a lot of movies I think its Shaw Brothers? Too Beautiful featured beginning of I Believe, the chinese theme song he wrote for Disney movie, Atlantis. Chase is name of the hit song sang by Leslie Cheung in She's a man, he's a woman. For sure there are others I missed.

All in all, I am among the few who felt he has done something rare & precious in Beautiful. The album may not have the bang, crash, sizzle of fireworks. But that's precisely why I love it cos watching fireworks can leave me vry high but extraordinary empty. Sometimes the songs leave vry little impression but a lingering, bittersweet feeling. Then when I listen again, I wonder why this music is so warm, pulsating & familiar - like an old friend welcoming me back again. I like this kind of feeling :)

China promo - Quangzhou

Thought I post up David's musical journey in China. He sure covered quite a bit of ground. Not sure if he will be flying to HK for promos, I think so but he should be back in Taipei to guest in Karen Mok's concert on 9/2 at Taipei Arena. Caught a bit of Patty interviewing Karen & she said it could be the 1st time he appeared as guest in a female singer's concert. Actually 2nd time, he was 1 of the guests in Anita Mui's last concert. Ok, let's continue with Beijing News interview. Its actually not a chore for me as I always trying to improve my mandarin ^__^
Another popular opinion is that r&b is not suitable for chinese culture. David disagreed cos he felt that music can be considered as language. Can you say that mandarin or english is a trend? Music is like language. The language spoken by most ppl in the world in chinese, the most popular is english. But can you said they are the best. Music is the same, whether its r&b or rock, according to circumstances & changes, it can become popular or not, but its representation & value will not change. For a period there is too much "chinese wind" music, every song would have a few lines of chinese opera inserted, is that China inspired music? I don't want to go and do this kinda thing anymore. Everybody felt it too much, its not trendy anymore. But what is trendy? Its always hard to say. (Perhaps the next trend will be old skool chinese love song combined with hiphop a la Wang Bu Liao ^__~ you hear it here first)
Do you know any new singers? I have interviewed a few new singer/composers & they all say that you are their idol. David said he didn't really noticed as he is too engrossed in his own music. He is too much too busy. For the past 2 yrs, David did not listen to any new albums but only listen to 60s/70s music cos he felt that period gave him a lot of inspirations & feelings. When asked if he still like U2, David said he don't know why ppl assumed he like U2, actually his most admired singer is Sting & a few 60s bands like Beatles. Okie last part nxt post.
I don't know abt other singers but I think not many would be doing what David is doing rite now, which is touring all over China to meet up with his fans. At Chengdu, so many fans turned up that David was so touched he promised that he will try by all means to hold a concert there nxt yr. Quangzhou was also equally well-attended & David too promised a concert. The writer of the Beijing News interview seemed to be implying that David has changed from a serious musician to an idol who is attracting too many young fans who has nvr heard of Black Tangerine. I think that is vry unfair to his thousands of mainland Chinese fans who geuinuely love his music. I believe each & every of them who attended his fan gathering in Qingdao, Beijing, Chengdu & Quangzhou heard of Black Tangerine.

China promo - Chengdu

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.

China promo - Sichuan

David is selected by another chinese radio station, this time in Sichuan, as their spokesman for a season, he is the first followed by Leehom & Stefanie Sun. The station will play his songs, game, prizes, etc. They also gave him an award for being a musical angel which is vry nice.
Hope he has time for some Sichuan food as I believe he likes spicy food. His movie dream is getting close as he said that after Beautiful promo & other concert activities, he will be taking a break of 3 mths to work on his script & hope to start filming mid-2007. He did say he might ask Tony Leung to act >"< I hope not. I mean I like Tony Leung vry much but he is becoming the go-to man like Zhang Ziyi is the go-to girl. Was actually a bit disappointed that Ang Lee picked Tony for the Lust movie cos I thought Ang Lee is usually unorthodox with his casting. With Tony, the audience know they will get superb acting from perhaps the best actor in Asia. So no surprises - great actor, great director, great story.

Marry me today mv is released & up on youtube already. Its vry lighthearted, frothy & sweet with kinda musical feel. Was pleasantly surprised that David & Jolin has rather good onscreen chemistry. They really brightened up the mv when they did the 'in the house' rap while in another scene, they were in frozen tableaux then broke away to sing & dance down a path. Make me wanna see them in another mv together ^__^ David did say he will be filming more mvs but this time he wanted to make sure all the mvs will have a story to go with the song, not like in the past where he just stand there & pretend to sing. WOW can't wait to see what he has in store for us.

China promo - Shanghai

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.