A few days ago was randomly watching a cctv talkshow & they were discussing a Chinese folk dance program. Apparently the choregrapher was vry unhappy as she said the dancers selected were not appropriate for some of the dances. These dances originated from mountain villages & the women there all mostly stocky with short arms & legs. The dancers selected were the model variety - tall, slender with long arms & legs. The mountain folk dances were created to make the stocky women look particularly graceful when dancing with verve & vitality. However the producer said that audience wanted to look at beautiful women dancing so he sacrificed the origin of the dances for visual effect. Imagine after many years when the choregrapher is no longer around & the mountain villages all gone, nobody knew the real meaning of these dances. All they remembered was the program with beautiful dancers but the dance itself empty & meaningless.
In the same way I think David is trying to preserve the real meaning of having a concert. He knows chinese audience are spoiled by extravagant staging & costumes that they no longer listen to the music. Ppl said he is arrogant for criticising overblown concerts. Yes, he can stay silent & not make waves like the others cos apart from pure & virginal, chinese stars are expected to be humble too :P But he chose to speak out cos like the choregrapher he felt he has to for his own integrity. In this way he is also helping pave the way for the younger generation to bring music back to concerts. I feel strongly that this is what a responsible singer/composer should do if he geninuely believes in the power of music. At the moment most rather go with the flow & stage concerts that are more like variety show with the obligatory guest to spice things up.
Here is a good article abt David calling him a 'professional musician player'. David has always been regarded by his company as one of the few Chinese male singers who has steady album sales as well as the ability to earn money through concerts. Last year was when he participated in the most appearances all over China. Guess its the lesser evil to endorsing product after product. Album sales can no longer be considered as profitable so singers have to find other ways to make money. David has a lot of freedom when it comes to his album but still he complained abt the creative meetings he had to attend where he was asked to come out with more commercial songs as well as to live up to his image as a socially conscious singer/composer. He is frustrated that nobody cares abt the musicality of the songs or whether they are suitable for the singer.
David will of cos always go his own way but the writer felt that as a professional musician, David is also not afraid of 'playing' with music by writing a few K songs to please his record company & listeners like Marry Me Today. Only trouble is of cos when he write a K song it usually becomes vry popular & even win awards ^__^ A lot of ppl sneered at him when Marry Me Today won GMA song of the year as if its his fault. What do they expect him to do? Declined to accept the award cos the song is considered too commercial? Maybe this is the reason he remixed the song almost beyond recognisation in his concert & used sexy dancers to contrast with the sweet lyrics of happy ever after. I agreed that he is indeed a vry 'playful' musician haha
A few days ago was randomly watching a cctv talkshow & they were discussing a Chinese folk dance program. Apparently the choregrapher was vry unhappy as she said the dancers selected were not appropriate for some of the dances. These dances originated from mountain villages & the women there all mostly stocky with short arms & legs. The dancers selected were the model variety - tall, slender with long arms & legs. The mountain folk dances were created to make the stocky women look particularly graceful when dancing with verve & vitality. However the producer said that audience wanted to look at beautiful women dancing so he sacrificed the origin of the dances for visual effect. Imagine after many years when the choregrapher is no longer around & the mountain villages all gone, nobody knew the real meaning of these dances. All they remembered was the program with beautiful dancers but the dance itself empty & meaningless.
In the same way I think David is trying to preserve the real meaning of having a concert. He knows chinese audience are spoiled by extravagant staging & costumes that they no longer listen to the music. Ppl said he is arrogant for criticising overblown concerts. Yes, he can stay silent & not make waves like the others cos apart from pure & virginal, chinese stars are expected to be humble too :P But he chose to speak out cos like the choregrapher he felt he has to for his own integrity. In this way he is also helping pave the way for the younger generation to bring music back to concerts. I feel strongly that this is what a responsible singer/composer should do if he geninuely believes in the power of music. At the moment most rather go with the flow & stage concerts that are more like variety show with the obligatory guest to spice things up.
Here is a good article abt David calling him a 'professional musician player'. David has always been regarded by his company as one of the few Chinese male singers who has steady album sales as well as the ability to earn money through concerts. Last year was when he participated in the most appearances all over China. Guess its the lesser evil to endorsing product after product. Album sales can no longer be considered as profitable so singers have to find other ways to make money. David has a lot of freedom when it comes to his album but still he complained abt the creative meetings he had to attend where he was asked to come out with more commercial songs as well as to live up to his image as a socially conscious singer/composer. He is frustrated that nobody cares abt the musicality of the songs or whether they are suitable for the singer.
David will of cos always go his own way but the writer felt that as a professional musician, David is also not afraid of 'playing' with music by writing a few K songs to please his record company & listeners like Marry Me Today. Only trouble is of cos when he write a K song it usually becomes vry popular & even win awards ^__^ A lot of ppl sneered at him when Marry Me Today won GMA song of the year as if its his fault. What do they expect him to do? Declined to accept the award cos the song is considered too commercial? Maybe this is the reason he remixed the song almost beyond recognisation in his concert & used sexy dancers to contrast with the sweet lyrics of happy ever after. I agreed that he is indeed a vry 'playful' musician haha
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