Taiwan has overtaken Hong Kong as the capital of Asia’s pop culture, giving fans an endless array of pop stars backed by sleek packaging, kitsch and a smattering of talent. Being a pop star these days means you have to be a singer, actor, product endorser, director. In short, you have to do everything and be everywhere from music billboards to TV and silver screens. Taiwan stars fit this bill perfectly and one very good example is Jay Chou. Starting out as a composer for popular singers, he produced his own album in 2000 and never looked back. In the last eight years, he became Asia’s biggest music star selling out albums and concerts before moving on to star in big-budget films including Curse of the Golden Flower directed by Zhang Yimou and co-starring Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li, and Secret, which he himself wrote, directed and acted in. The only thing that Chou hasn’t done is the so-called idol dramas that Taiwan popularised. But there are enough stars to fill that void and capture the short attention span of Asian fans. The names Jerry Yan, Vanness Wu, Vic Chou and Ken Chu—collectively known as F4—became household names through Meteor Garden, perhaps the first idol drama that conquered language barriers and cultural differences. The F4 fever swept across the region from Hong Kong to Malaysia and the rest of Southeast Asia, up to mainland China. The famous quartet of pretty boys are perhaps Taiwan’s biggest entertainment exports, so popular across the region that the country’s tourism ministry even tapped them as tourism ambassadors for the Japanese and Korean markets. They have become big in Japan, where the pop culture is just as thriving; the 30,000 tickets for the group’s three-night concert in Japan this month were all sold out in only half an hour. Like Chou, the F4 members have also branched out to other areas in the entertainment industry from music to films. To be sure, Chou and F4 are not the only Taiwanese artistes who have brought attention to the small island in Southeast Asia. Taiwan’s pop culture is so alive and kicking that the popularity of its singers and actors have extended beyond the island’s limited shores in ways that Hong Kong—Taiwan’s closest neighbour and rival in pop culture—never quite achieved. Aside from Chou and F4, artistes like Show Luo, Jolin Tsai, Rainie Yang, S.H.E., Wang Lee Hom and many more have become household names. Gone are the days when Hong Kong stars like Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung and Faye Wong lorded it over. Perhaps this could be attributed to the lack of younger Hong Kong artistes that could capture the imagination of Asia’s large and young fan base that extends to those who do not speak Mandarin and Cantonese. This is not to say that Hong Kong has fizzled out in the pop world. Stars like Twins, Cecilia Cheung, Nicolas Tse, Edison Chen and Shawn Yue have made their marks but given Hong Kong’s paparazzi-like media environment, the focus has been more on the scandals that these stars have been embroiled in than on their talents. So while many would argue that Hong Kong stars have more to show in the talent department, the sleek packaging of those from Taiwan has given their stars the edge. Fans are also buying into the savvy package offered by Taiwanese stars. Ivy Chen, 20, from Singapore counts Taiwanese artistes among her favourite singers. “I’m more into the Taiwan scene now because I don’t listen to Cantonese songs. The packaging of Taiwanese stars is stronger.” Other talents like those in Singapore also look to Taiwan for inspiration and guidance in the regional music scene. Yvonne See, assistant general manager of Singapore label Ocean Butterflies Music, says: “Basically all OB regional artistes start out from Taiwan. It is still the most influential market, compared to the other territories, be it in artiste popularity or entertainment buzz.” There are good reasons why the Taiwan pop scene now has the leading edge in the region’s entertainment scene. See cites the well-oiled entertainment infrastructure in the country, pointing to the “strong network of platforms”, which ranges from newspapers and TV to cable TV, karaoke and digital new media. “When something is ‘happening’, practically everyone knows it,” she adds. And in Taiwan, being a tri-media star—from TV, films to music—has become the rule more than an exception. If you’re not multi-tasking, if your face is not plastered on commercials, you are not famous enough. But being in demand has given stars like Chou dilemma. Because of various endorsements and other projects from films to albums, they can barely find time to do everything. Chou, who has stood out in a sea of pretty boys, recently told CNN’s Talk Asia: “Maybe it’s not good for me to know too many things because the more I know, the more the work load. So lately I’ve been thinking of having some body doubles to share the work load and have more time for myself.” Source: mysinchew Edited: AsianBite.com
lol this is so true, Taiwanese Stars are better than HK they can prob do more stuff , such as singing and acting and composing, well HK Singers can do that too , but taiwanese just does it better , Go Jay !
thats right. Ive never ever bought a canton cd in my life. Ive purchased taiwanese, korean and japanese, but never canton, just feel its not worth a penny. cos all (99.9%) hk singers are crap.
^ not always...and that made up percentage is shit... taiwanese singers are very good i especially like Jolin!
lol you guys..... and jolin but i have to she is freaking hot... after all that plastic surgery she better be lol but wow so true man.. taiwanese stars do seem a lot better than those at HK
lol, yer, Some HK Drama might be better, lol Taiwanese drama is mostly bout Love and etc lol, HK is more spread, and some of the Taiwanse Actors and Actress , how should we put it , they lack a bit of acting, or something, unless they're like really pro ,
I have to disagree the old HK singers was awesome but now the new HK singers are all garbage, I still love the time with the 4 heavenly king and when there was Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung. Taiwanese now are way better than the HK Pop market.
hk owned the old school....but now taiwan definitely took over cause new hk singers either go mandarin or do the same shit over and over again.
im not sure if i could agree that Taiwan is the center of Asia's pop culture because Korea has clearly started and have been leading the asian wave for a few years now. Taiwan is leading the chinese industry over HK and they get their influences from Japan, Korea and America. They get albums sales that open with 100k+ compared to hk's 10k = success and their biggest stars known throughout asia would probably be F4 and now Fahrenheit but still they don't have enough random big names that are fimilar with the whole of asia like Lee Jun Ki , Daniel Henney or DBSK/TVXQ the fall of HK's entertainment industry seems obvious with lack of talent and budget and standards so what you get is a stale industry with no excitment full of rehased love songs and nothing to excite the crowd, no dancers no sex appeal, it may have been ok a decade ago but times have changed so it's obvious people are turning to other asian markets. Your average hk mv looks like its been shot with a hand held cam corder from a house party, makes you feel like you're stuck in the 90's unless they are willing to invest its going not going to get past the locals. One thing i would have to agree with is that HK still makes the good dramas.
The only singers that I admire are "Eason" and "Joey", they are the only talented singer in HK... Too bad Joey is pretty ugly and Eason hair is errr.....
BUt 1st of all~~ We must understanding their market~~. In Taiwan~ even a not so popular artiste can pull a large~ crowd.. Unlike Hong Kong, getting a large crowd of support is not easy~~!!
yea i wouldn't agree that they are taking over asia either i mean japan is like the second largest music industry or something (from what i've learn). some americans know the japanese music through games and anime (which is very popular in us) but the chinese music is definitely not as widespread.
