Tan Yifan

    cicitan2011@gmail.com

    WINNING an American Music Award (AMA) for Chinese musicians is a huge leap, but for facetious duo the Chopsticks Brothers, however, the International Song Award they accepted at the AMAs on Nov. 23 has brought them a string of troubles.

    The singing duo received the award backstage, and their name didn’t appear on the full list of winners. They were accused of “buying” the award by Chinese netizens and of performing a lip-synced version of “Little Apple,” which couldn’t be aired. The duo admitted to the lip-syncing accusation but quoted the organizer’s statement clarifying that there was no bribery involved. Even so, the legitimacy of the award and international acknowledgement of the song were questioned by Chinese fans. Is “Little Apple” already a symbol of the internationalization of Chinese pop music? Does winning a foreign award count as “real success” and help woo music fans?

    Just a few days after the duo released the music video for “Little Apple,” the song went viral and soon became a national phenomenon. With K-pop elements and the spoofs on classic stories such as Adam and Eve, the video even overshadowed the movie “Old Boy: The Way of the Dragon,” which the song was supposed to be promoting. The tune’s narrow register, simple and catchy refrain and easy-to-follow dance have somehow hit the public’s sweet spot. Among the various versions of the music video, clips of teachers, traffic police and South Korean singers dancing have tried to help it edge into the mainstream.

    But no matter how hard they have tried, the market success of “Little Apple” has not become a symbol of Mandopop nor helped transform Chinese pop culture. It just reflects a confused, awkward and aching phase of Chinese pop music.

    A singer can gain fame overnight by singing a euphonious song, but today, the golden rule for becoming a famous singer in China does not necessarily include a good song. The success of singers such as Yang Chengang, Pang Long and Xue Cun, who found fame online, and Gong Linna, who sings no lyric or funny-lyric songs, has encouraged Chinese singers to entertain fans with non-serious, atypical songs.

    Now, even words and music don’t matter that much. More Chinese pop musicians tend to win public eyeballs though flamboyant clothes and wild antics. With the success of “Gangnam Style,” the bombastic outfits and dances of Psy have encouraged Chinese singers to add such elements to their music videos.

    This year, in addition to the Chopsticks Brothers, singers Wang Rong and Jolin Tsai tried to attract fans by wearing exaggerated makeup and costumes in their newly released music videos. The former imitates a hen in her song, which has only two sentences, and the later sings naked with a mosaic painted on her body similar to the Chopsticks Brothers in “Little Apple.” Even veteran Chinese singer and musician Tengri, who hasn’t released a single in years, couldn’t help but record a music video called “Taohuayuan,” in which he acts like a horny monk who gets lost among a sea of beautiful women.

    Indeed, these bold songs have brought these singers commercial success, but only by making a laughing stock of themselves and not by contributing to Asian pop music in any way.

    Four years ago, the Chopsticks Brothers won many fans by singing “Old Boy,” a theme song that focused on the confusion and memories of the 1980s generation. Today, even though they were part of the AMAs, they received an award that no one has ever heard of. With “Little Apple” failing to impress Americans, the hope that another Chinese “Shenqu” (strange, odd but hit songs) will smash onto the international scenes becomes bleak.

    (The author is a Shenzhen Daily editor.)