Wednesday 30 September 2015

Updates: TVOC4 Macau; Milan; Sony Xperia

Hi all!

Just have to do a mid-week post because there has just been too much stuff to share and I'd rather not let it back up.

This will be a summary of the exciting happenings regarding Voice, Milan and Sony.
I'll probably redirect you to the Page albums and their vid links.


Voice Of China Macau concert for the Teams was broadcast on 27 September


Link to album here and the links to the vids are in the comments:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.725113890926617.1073742098.399217090182967&type=3



Jay singing Qing Hua Ci:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x37uo1s_%E5%91%A8%E6%9D%B0%E4%BC%A6jay-chou-%E9%9D%92%E8%8A%B1%E7%93%B7_music


Jay with Willjay and Xulin:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3821ee_%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%A5%BD%E5%A3%B0%E9%9F%B3%E7%AC%AC%E5%9B%9B%E5%AD%A3-2015-09-27-%E4%B8%AD%E7%A7%8B%E7%89%B9%E8%BE%91-%E5%88%98%E4%BC%9F%E7%94%B7-%E5%BE%90%E6%9E%97-%E5%91%A8%E6%9D%B0%E4%BC%A6-%E7%A8%BB%E9%A6%99_music


Jay with Team Aiyo Not Bad:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x37whtf_%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%A5%BD%E5%A3%B0%E9%9F%B3%E7%AC%AC%E5%9B%9B%E5%AD%A3-2015-09-27-%E4%B8%AD%E7%A7%8B%E7%89%B9%E8%BE%91-%E5%9C%B0%E8%A1%A8%E6%9C%80%E5%BC%BA%E6%88%98%E9%98%9F-%E6%88%91%E8%A6%81%E5%A4%8F%E5%A4%A9_music


Link to full vid....not sure how long this one will last before youtube removes it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWaxWAR0kGQ

                                                            **************\


Jay flew to Milan to meet up with Hannah who had been attending Milan Fashion Week:





                                                                       ************


Jay's latest commercial for Sony Xperia.....handsomer and handsomer!


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.728228890615117.1073742102.399217090182967&type=3


Commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyJnGk9nTNU

Behind the scenes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc6z2owhnM0







NB:
Voice Of China 4 preliminary final round will be broadcast tonight!

Sunday 27 September 2015

Updates: Kung Fu Panda 3; Opus 2 Foshan

Time for some updates!


Breaking news during the week was that Jay would be the voice of Monkey in the China release of Kung Fu Panda 3 which is scheduled for 29 January 2016.

I don't know about you guys but I absolutely loved the first two installments of this movie about the loveable Po and have been looking forward to Part Three.
Point to note is that although the original movie is in English, the Mandarin and Cantonese-dubbed versions were also very enjoyable.
However, as the movie will be screened in English here in Singapore, the only way I'll get to listen to Jay will be when the DVD is released.
Anyway, there should be a fair amount of promotional events related to this so it will be fun!






Doesn't he look cool?





Trailer in Chinese:

NB: listen out for Jay's signature phrase! :)



                                                                ************


On to Opus 2 Jay in Foshan on 26 September 2015!

Leon Lee and Chen Zhitong, two of Jay's students from his Voice Of China team had the most amazing opportunity to sing with him at Opus 2 Jay in Foshan last night.
I'm pretty sure he wanted them to have the experience of singing in front of a huge audience before their final battle at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing.
That was just so typical of Jay, always wanting to do his best to support young talents and of course, deep down inside, he would love to win!


Leon sang What Kind Of Man with Jay:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2ZF4SQNrbM





Chen Zhitong of course sang Nunchucks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13uqVN1OORc

Jay with fans:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeAJ1Puw6TE


Jay sang in Cantonese!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux--HydBDQ8


                                                     *******************


To end off, here's wishing all a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnGB_HhwECU&feature=youtu.be

And a cute pic with his drummer, Mr Q. :)



Sunday 20 September 2015

Team Jay Chou vs Team Na Ying and MV for One Breath



Doesn't he look cute even when he is obviously tense?
Lots of nailbiting moments during the battle round between Team Jay Chou and Team Na Ying, especially when the panel of 51 judges took turns to hold up their voting placards!

Vid of the behind-the-scenes action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEeGB5jerVM

Point to note:

The arrangement of the opening songs for Jay's team was done, not by Jason Huang but by Xulin, who lost to Willjay in the first round.
I find that extremely big-hearted of Jay, to make good on his words to Xulin to continue doing good work with music arrangement. And Xulin on his part was chuffed to be able to help the team.
Must say he did an excellent job!
Love the little reference to Jay's Wu Ding in the bridge.


Link to full show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsFBV3jK5QU&index=20&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ5-9huqvs5ulG3ng7afdel-









My thoughts:

Being my first time watching this show, I have been quite impressed with the cosmoplitan nature of the contestants, some of whom have come from countries other than China and Taiwan viz Thailand, Malaysia, New Zealand, USA, Australia and I believe Canada.
For some of them, singing in Chinese was a definite challenge and for the others, singing in English had to be one of the most difficult tasks ever, as evidenced by Xulin's lapse in his battle with Willjay when singing Bruno Mars' Just The Way You Are. His recovery was very smooth, though and although it happened at the beginning of the song, he maintained his composure and went on to finish strongly and confidently.

It also appears that having Jay Chou as a mentor has led to more rapping as seen in the contestants' choice of songs and even Na Ying singing this style for the first time ever in her team's opening performance of Jay's Yan Hua Yi Leng.
It is, however, a fact that his presence has boosted the popularity of the show by leaps and bounds.
And that many of the contestants were no doubt, influenced by his music over the past 15 years of his involvement in the Mandopop scene,

http://cn-en.kantar.com/media/tv-movie/2015/jay-chou-boosts-voice-of-china-ratings/

I think he was also correct to have held off being a mentor in earlier seasons, citing his age and wanting to reach a more mature stage of his life before being thrust into such a position.
Now at 36, married and with a family of his own, he has also honed his speaking skills and lets his natural wit and humour shine through. Not to mention all his adorable gestures and facial expressions which have earned him the nickname of Little Princess...lol!
Yet, he has remained respectful of the other more senior mentors, making sure that he himself does not take centre position, whether in the posters or on the stage in those chairs.

It is interesting to note that both his parents were teachers.
Jay also once thought he would be a piano teacher, before he veered into songwriting and the pop industry.
Looks like teaching is in his genes!
His students are full of praise for his mentorship, citing his patience, generosity and endless encouragement to enjoy music for its own sake and to always give of their best.
Other earlier instances of teaching were the times he gave a lecture to students at Beijing University

http://jaychoudiaoness.blogspot.sg/2013/04/jay-chou-at-beijing-university-lecture.html

and presenting a masterclass for last year's Golden Melody Awards events.

http://jaychoudiaoness.blogspot.sg/2014/06/jay-at-gma-global-music-festival-and.html

I feel his success as such boils down to the fact that despite his megastar status, he has no airs and remains down-to-earth when interacting with everyone as he is always mindful of his humble beginnings and is able to empathise with those who have faced difficulties in their studies and careers.
I cannot help but feel extremely envious of his students on The Voice for having the dream opportunity to work with him and get to know him personally. :)
Here's wishing them well as they proceed to the next round!


                                                                      *********


The MV for One Breath was also released last week, featuring Jay in full rapper mode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C18nyaRnR1Q

Not one of my favourite songs but I do admire his linguistic dexterity!




And here's Chou Chou to round off this post:




NB: Opus 2 Jay concerts are also on-going. Check out the Page for updates, pics and vids.
Too much to post here.

Cheers!

Saturday 12 September 2015

Team Jay Chou: The Voice Of China

Hi all!

Team Jay Chou aka Team Aiyo Not Bad was featured on Episode 8 of The Voice Of China on 6 September and if you guys had followed the Page, you would have seen all the links I posted from various sources.
As mentioned in earlier posts, this is the first time I am watching any season of The Voice Of China so it took some time for me to digest the format and really listen to the students plus understand why there were two rounds to end up with four finalists from the original twelve.



Here is the link to the full show in HD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzzaTOdmAGI


Another link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aEhPQcaJEI




Link to Page album:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.714995601938446.1073742094.399217090182967&type=3


My favourite battle was between Willjay and Xulin, with an amazing mashup of Bruno Mars' Just The Way You Are and Jay Chou's Dao Xiang.
Took my breath away!

(link to be reuploaded when I find a good vid)


Two battles gave Jay a hard time, deciding who to let go:

Between Li An and Jiang Yuan Dong:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXPxMoQ-QTY&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ5-9huqvs5ulG3ng7afdel-&index=16

Look at how long Jay took!
And his tears....in fact, he and the students cried throughout the show!

https://www.facebook.com/jaychoudiaoness/videos/vb.399217090182967/720320458072627/?type=2&theater


And this one between Li An An and Guan Shi Min:

https://www.facebook.com/803991852971953/videos/vb.803991852971953/891946040843200/?type=2&theater


Decision time:

https://www.facebook.com/jaychoudiaoness/videos/vb.399217090182967/720305954740744/?type=2&theater


Super loved this mashup of two of Jay's songs viz A Larger Cello and Hydrophobic Sailor:

https://www.facebook.com/803991852971953/videos/891962934174844/


This was a beautiful performance from Gin Lee and Zhang Yang, featuring two different styles of zhong guo feng in Jay's Hong Chen Ke Zhan:

https://www.facebook.com/803991852971953/videos/vb.803991852971953/891953374175800/?type=2&theater




And of course there was the rapping awesomeness of Queen T and Michael, for which I can't seem to find a proper link.
Will update when available.

Link to news article about Jay shedding tears throughout the show:

http://entertainment.toggle.sg/en/asianbuzz/article/tough-guy-jay-chou-cries-5630804


What came shining through was the camaraderie between the students themselves and their mentor.
Jay reminded them time and again to maintain their friendships, have fun with music and perform to the best of their ability no matter what.
And the students all vowed to support each other to the end to help him be the champion mentor!
Very touching!





For many people watching Jay Chou for the first time on television, I think it has come as a pleasant revelation just how warm and personable he is, not to mention funny; not at all the 'cool and emo' image which he has tended to project in his younger days or in his photos, where he seldom smiles or just looks sulky, according to one of my friends.
He gives constructive criticism, tells little jokes to lighten the mood and has definitely been an important factor in drawing in more viewers, especially his fans. In the process, I'm pretty sure he has also gained new ones. :)
In this episode, he refused to let Li An say his thank you speech and instead insisted he make good on his promise of performing a split if he won....and Li An duly complied. :)
Actually, I think he was afraid he would cry if Li An spoke...lol!


At this point, I want to give a HUGE shoutout to a very important person throughout this episode viz Jay's good friend and music arranger, Jason Huang Yu Xun 黄雨勳.

Link to photos on his FB Page:

https://www.facebook.com/dreamwings.music/posts/10152973741121962

Photos from Jason's FB Page:






Jason is well known as one of Jay's oldest friends, fellow musician and a top-notch music arranger and he has once again outdone himself for all the songs the students in Team Aiyo Not Bad performed. Absolutely fantastic arrangements and mashups!
Looking forward to more in the final round!

My earlier blog post about Jason Huang:

http://jaychoudiaoness.blogspot.sg/2013/12/jays-fellow-musician-jason-huang-yuxun.html


Behind the scenes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVCP4avg8ac

Cheers!

Sunday 6 September 2015

Diaoness Updates: Luxgen/Chengdu; LOL/live; pre-TVOC4/Team Aiyo Not Bad

Two events to report:

Jay made an appearance at the Chengdu Car Show for Luxgen cars on 4 September 2015.

Doesn't he look cute??



More pics here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.717070245064315.1073742095.399217090182967&type=3


On 5 September 2015, he took part for the first time ever in a live broadcast of  a LOL match in Shenzhen.


TVC vid with Jay, Xiao Mai and Xue Gao taking on opponents and having some fun:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=semhyTVf63U&feature=youtu.be







Behind the scenes of the TVC:





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z5RpPRxZwk




Vid of the event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF8yNSbvrkg&feature=youtu.be









The picture of concentration:



LOL album:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.686647188106621.1073742085.399217090182967&type=3


Jay being Jay of course expressed his gratitude to the audience and fans for their support on his Mr J Page:

https://www.facebook.com/mrj168/posts/784126048365251:0


杰倫:人生第一次參加電競比賽 原來場面也很大 好像在辦演唱會 在遊戲過程一直很擔心畊宏 好險最後贏得勝利 謝謝現場朋友的尖叫聲 這感覺好特別





Now to keep a watch on tonight's episode of The Voice Of China, where Team Aiyo Not Bad will go into the battle round and Jay has to decide who to keep and who to let go....reports say that he took more than half an hour to decide and was near tears....!

https://vimeo.com/138291318

Can't wait!