A personal take on the King of Mandopop, incorporating pics, vids and links to relevant websites and forums.
NB: Absolutely no copyright infringement (of pics) intended.
The Rooftop
Nice bird's eye view of The Rooftop, ya?
That gramophone...you either love it or hate it.
I find it really cute and as Kelvin on JCS mentioned, it'll probably end up in one of his reataurants after the movie. :)
Recap of the trailer is here:
Here's a close-up shot:
And a still showing Jay's fabulous abs from the trailer: *faint*
And a pic of Jay and Will Liu at work, editing:
The Rooftop is scheduled for release on 27 June 2013!
Gosh...my birthday is in June too...and what with his concerts, it is going to one helluva month!!!
CNN Travel posted an excellent interview with Jay with many new and interesting insights into his songwriting and travels:
I know many Jay fans love to listen to his speaking voice in radio/talkshow interviews so for your listening pleasure and some nutshell translations, here are three which he did in HK recently. :)
"There are more happy songs and love songs in OPUS 12. Major and minor keys for different moods."
"Train Of Four Seasons has sounds of the train for the introductory sound effects. An MV for this song should be something quite cinematic. However, I've yet to shoot this MV 'cos we spent alot of money on the earlier MVs already...lol!"
"Gong Gong is a fun song, which I wrote because I felt Xiao Mai looks like a Gong Gong."
"It's important to stay young-at-heart and child-like to keep in touch with the fans. Keeping fit is also part of this."
"I felt that Sign Language by itself is like a dance. I liked the LA style I did before but I had to practise very hard for that as I'm not good at dancing. But for Sign Language, I only needed to dance from the waist up, (lol) Many Western hiphop artistes like to go shirtless and wear a chain. I did something similar for Silence many years ago when I was younger and now for Sign Language, it'll be similar because it's after twelve years...I'll do this every twelve years...lol!
I want everyone to see that I've managed to maintain myself well and not aged much and I hope that fans will get the same feeling as when they heard Loveable Woman. My music has not changed that much but there will be different genres as always."
"Ukelele has many different 'voices' in it; I'm having fun with the music. I like to mix things up and try different styles like in A Bigger Cello, which is something I've never done before."
"Gary and Lara's involvement was quite incidental as I saw that they were available and suitable. I like to rope in my fellow artistes in JVR. The timing was right. The song is different in that there are three separate voices in it and I decided to experiment with them in the recording studio and it turned out well. This is how I like to have fun with music."
"I like to do MVs for my Chinese-style MVs and for Red Dust Inn, I roped in Darren as an actor."
At the end, Jay talks about his upcoming concert tour and promises something new for every concert in HK. He sometimes would forgo a rehearsal to walk the streets and get more inspiration. He loves getting random ideas to use in his concerts which keep them fresh and exciting.
The next interview is on youku. When I get the youtube link, I'll upload accordingly.
"I want my fans to feel that I've not aged. Keeping fit and building up my body is one way of doing so. Re the cover for the album, I did not actually ride the horse as it was not easy! So the photos were taken separately and then combined, together with some special paint effects."
"I like You Are Everywhere the most. And A Bigger Cello is the most interesting in terms of music."
"I chose Darren for Red Dust Inn to be the hero as I like to get my fellow artistes involved and he also looks nice in period costume; besides he can also act."
"I've not maintained my physique that well, what with Chinese New Year but will resume for the concert prepartion."
"When shooting the MV ins Beijing, it was very cold so it was good to exercise more there."
"I don't like to spend too much time practising dance steps but for Gong Gong, I felt it was quite fun for youngsters to learn."
He then teaches the hosts how to dance. :)
"For Ming Ming Jiu, I shot the images then asked Vincent to write the lyrics after telling him what I had in mind. Previously, he would write the lyrics first but it was different for this song. But for Big Ben, I wrote it myself very quickly there 'cos I knew there was a Big Ben in London and you know how girlfriend and boyfriend always like to call each other 'stupid' and that's like the Ben in Big Ben!"
NB: Stupid in Chinese is 笨 as in 大笨钟 da ben zhong aka Big Ben!
"For Rooftop, it was difficult to sing and fight at the same time. The timing was not easy to get right. It was tiring. But there won't be entirely song and dance. But obviously I cannot have singing during a gunfight for instance."
"I hope to have more than 8 concerts in HK and will incorporate new stuff in them this year."
For the Wall Street Journal:
"I usually wrote hip hop. There are two Chinese style songs here, one slow, one fast. Gong Gong is very fun and fresh and the lyrics are also quite complicated. Most rap songs are very simple but not Vincent's lyrics. I left it to him and they're like a lesson which must be memorised! And until now, I still can't memorise them properly!"
"I like to write songs about the importance of family, like Dao Xiang (Fragrance of Rice). Family is most important. Parents know best. "
"Apart from music, I like basketball, like what the collaboration I had with Kobe Bryant for the Sprite commercials."
"Training to be physically fit keeps one young. I also like vintage cars; a young person driving a vintage car is cooler than driving a sports car."
"Hongkong property was too expensive so I did not buy any. It was cheaper to stay in hotels!"
Update on 7 March 2013:
Haha...here's a link to a waaaay better translation than mine....enjoy!
This was one MV I was really eager to watch after finding out that Lang Lang and Kevin Lin were also involved in this song.
Lang Lang is an acclaimed Chinese pianist who has achieved many high honours as a concert pianist but who also loves to perform crossovers with other artistes to introduce classical music to more people, which is something that Jay has always promoted too. He had also performed with Jay previously in one of Song Zuying's concerts.
Kevin Lin wrote the lyrics for this song. He is Jay's good friend and a Taiwanese ultramarathoner (he did the Sahara Run, listening to Jay's music).
Come on go go go, let your dream start afresh
Different sweat, sweating out that different dream
When you are still continuing, of course I cannot say give up
Because of persistence we must believe even more so
You say you are always looking to surpass yourself on your run
I say I work hard on my music in order to go beyond this era
Throw all the disappointments and failures to the back of your mind
I am about to see the map of the world pass beneath your feet
Slowly open your eyes, slowly open your eyes
Look at the sky, even if you work hard you might be lonely
Open your heart, open your heart
If that opportunity arises, can you catch up?
Go ahead and smile, even if you keep failing
Stand up, try again, push away the frailties
Confidence is in the mind, don't let your soul become empty
Now and in the future I am cheering for you
More info and links here about Kevin Lin and Lang Lang:
JVR uploaded the official version at midnight on 1 March, which of course kept all the fans up in a fever of impatience.
The flurry of Shares on Facebook after that was quite impressive too!
What can I say?
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!
After it was released, I must have replayed it about five or six times before I was satisfied.
It is such an uplifting MV which just made me smile all the way!
(Actually, quite a few of his MVs from OPUS 12 have done that to me!)
Watch it for yourself and see!
I especially love the storyline and the three cute boys who portrayed the big guys in their younger days, especially the one who was Lang Lang...really wanted to pinch those chubby cheeks!
And the origin of fruity piano-playing was finally revealed...lol!
The footages of Kevin, Lang Lang and Jay were inspiring and it was quite interesting to see the difference in the skyline at the end of the MV, between when they were kids and adults.
Here's the BTS of the MV:
And *ahem*, clearly, these are two of my most favourite images from the MV (not for the faint-hearted!):
