What does it take to make a celebrity in China. There are many elements, but I can one thing for sure, and that is good PR and Marketing. Upon doing the Artistry tour, one of the artists I had to contend with was Hu Yanbin (胡彦斌) as well as the band Hua er (花儿). Now, I am not going to say anything about what my opinion of his music is, but I can say that he seems to enjoy what he is doing and people (at least some) like what he is doing. In short, he is popular so people are happy. What I do wonder though, is how long does this popularity last, and how much of it comes from the singer/talent himself?

What I have seen, especially in the Asian celebrity scene is celebrity performers which seem to be controlled far too much by their respective managers and companies. It seems as if these companies see the talent as just another product to be packaged, and when this one is no longer interesting, cast it off and find some other new one. Unfortunately, I think this formula, while it does showcase some good talent, all too often burns out great talent.

Perhaps instead of focusing on churning out the temporary super-pop hits, focus on creating entertainment with more longevity, albeit perhaps without the immediate popularity and immediate money stream. Perhaps this all comes back to the culture I have experienced here in China, where the focus is on making as much as you can now, and not concerning yourself with long term gains.

China has some amazing talent out there. Let’s just hope some more make it through the giant marketing machine of the industry to create some new classic entertainment.

Here are some more of my pictures from the Hennessy Artistry tour:

I recently had the pleasure of having Soler perform at one of my events for Hennessy. They are an interesting mix of ethnicities that would make your head spin. Their passion has always been for the music, and you can tell in the way they play. They are one of the very few bands to make it big in Hong Kong/China that has real talent.

It is refreshing to see a group of this caliber that are truly passionate about their music and not just after fame and glory. Upon talking with them you learn just how charming and humble these guys really are. All in all, a refreshing break from the norm around here.
Also of notable mention are the DJs from Union music, hailing from around the world, but now finding themselves around the world. They quickly learned what the Chinese expect and play what Chinese people like, yet still manage to play really good music in my opinion. Anybody that has been in the DJ business knows that is sometimes a hard line to ride.

For those of you that are not aware cosplay(コスプレ) is a combination of “costume” and “play”, a term coined by the Japanese to describe this whole penomenon of people dressing up in costumes. Not to be confused with 制服コスプレ(seifuku cosplay), which is the adult kind of cosplay (think naughty nurse). Anyhow, this is not limited to just the Japanese. There is a huge cosplay culture around Asia, even in China, despite it’s Japanese roots.

Actually, this provides a great example of Chinese and Japanese getting along great and contributing to each others’ culture. In the cosplay event I was in, they had brought in “celebrity cosplayers” from Japan. One of these was Shiina Sakuya, a girl that is famous for playing all male roles. I knew from that whole Kabuki thing that Japanese were mixed up, but hey, I don’t mind. In fact that just makes it more interesting. She was the headliner of the show, famous for playing such parts as Obiwan Kenobi, Harry Potter and Jack Sparrow among others. Also among the celebrity cosplayers was Mariko Goku, famed for her Queen Amidala role. You can check out the pictures below to see.

My friend Redondo’s company, is one of the ones responsible for organizing such events. It seems there are many such events every year around China. Cosplay is actually a big business, with many companies and even individuals having stalls at the event selling all sorts of movie, TV show and other paraphernalia. The guests were older than one would expect, some perhaps more than 30 years old. I suppose this goes with the same phenomenon as Internet cafes where people come together to escape into another reality, one more enticing than than reality.

All in all it is just one big fun fest where everyone is just playing around having fun. There is almost a juvenile like spirit in the air, where everyone can just sit back and have fun, like being a kid for a day. I think it is a suitable alternative to getting piss drunk and making obnoxious passes at chicks. Anyhow, those crazy Japanese, spreading their Japanese insanity all over the world; It’s fun, no?

Here are some photos of the cosplay event I was in:

It seems you can’t have a weekend these days without some brand doing some event somewhere. Big brands have the money to flaunt to throw a big bash, so other people, who also have excess cash can throw it at buying the brand. The bottom line is generally these parties have better DJs, VJs, performers, decoration and everything. Is the experience better? Things that are “branded” have money behind them, so you can generally expect better things. Put an ad on something, it gets more money so it can be better. Simplicity.

Then you have the party brands, Resistance Asia, Antidote, Rennaissance and the like. They focus on making the party itself a brand name. These parties are driven by teams of elite DJs encompassing a general theme for the party.

So which is better? I would say they are one in the same. Branded parties have the money to get the top DJs and themes, but party brands focus exclusivley on the DJs and themes, so it is just a matter of your personal preference. Either way, you can expect to party all night long.

Here are some pics from a recent Hennessy party on their “This is Me Tour”. They brought in the amazing live act Spirit Catcher, as well as renowned DJs Jef K and Sasse who ripped up the tracks like there was no tomorrow. Also, the VJ team factoid mesmerized the crowd with their mind warping visuals.

It seems these days, you can’t go somewhere and not see a fashion show. In Shanghai these days, no event is complete without it’s very own fashion show. Elite bar has taken this to the exteme apparently giving you a fashion show every day! I was recently at the Elite Bar opening, where they had not one, not two, but three completely separate fashion shows! There can’t be that many different show can there? Well apparently not, as you take a look, I saw the same show twice over the span of a couple of days:

Here is a model from the Elite Bar VIP Opening

Is this the same model with the same clothes, 2 days later at the Bund 18 party?

The shows seemed to have completely different choreographers, but they are the same models, with the same clothes. Though the Elite Bar show had a well known choreographer, I preferred the Bund 18 show. It is also fun to see how many times I can see the same model in the same clothes different times.

Though, these shows are really not as easy as they appear. For any show, it is choreographed just as any other show would be. It takes effort to put on a good fashion show. The show has to be rehearsed beforehand, as timings are very crucial in a time like this. You don’t want a gaffe like models running into each other because there are too many on the runway, or having people come out on the wrong musical cue. Perhaps not as difficult as a dancing show, but a good coreographer can turn models walking around into a beautiful show.

For instance, at the Elite Bar show, we saw a man and a woman, first walk out, then notice each other. They met, looked at leach other longingly, then walked off together. As they left, bubble machines spurting white bubbles showered over the runway, giving the impression of falling snow in the spotlights. It is always good when they turn it into something a bit more entertaining like that.

At all these shows, it is always amusing to watch the photographers scramble to get about 50 pictures of every model at the end of the runway.The models “run the gauntlet”, as they enter the end of the runway; the den of the photographers, are attacked by countless bursts of flash like a lightning show. Now you know why models like to wear dark glasses!

While amusing, Shanghai’s fashion shows seem to still lack the professionalism you see with international fashion shows. They make up for this by adding fancy choreography and lighting, which, while interesting and visually appealing, still does not make it feel like a real fashion show, at least to me.

Here are some more photos for your viewing pleasure:

Elite Bar VIP opening

Bund 18 Luxury Goods Event

The Shanghai Short Film Competition 6.2 had some very impressive entries and some real stinkers! Anyhow, the range of talent was obvious.

Here are the Winners:

First Place: “The Corp.” directed by Jean-Michelle Tori
Second Place: “Talking Heads” directed by Michael Beets
Third Place: “Tradition” directed by Severin Bonichon

Best Actor: Richard Trombly in “Claustro”
Best Actress: Christy Shapiro in “The Love Story of Alfred J. Pintuck”

Special People’s choice award: “Tradition” directed by Severin Bonichon

The gay love story of “Tradition” was a memorable experience with excellent cinematography, music and a touching storyline. Thought the winners, I think won more for their visual flair than for the substance of the movie itself. “Talking Heads” was a very interesting seemingly roto-scoped experimental piece that had some amazing animation style visuals and cross scene effects. It was not at all in the style of Michael Beets, but he still makes it memorable piece, as are his other films. “The Corp.” can be best summed up as: “Bad guys in helicopter shoot at another guy, guy runs away, bad guys come inside, shoot some more and finally capture the guy”. The movie had amazing special effects with a helicopter moving around the office building and shooting through the windows, as well as bad guys with gun blazing in the building. The movie, as flashy as it was, was just that, all flash and no substance. Perhaps this film deserved an award for best visuals, but I would not choose it as the winner by far.

The people’s choice award was audience voted piece on which movie they thought was the best. Their choice was “Tradition”, a movie with no special effects and all substance which I thought was a better reflection on truly innovative filmmaking.

As always though, native NY actress Christy Shapiro gave an outstanding performance in “The Love Story of Alfred J. Pintuck”. She is truly one of the outstanding talents we have the privilege of having here in Shanghai.

One last congratulations and praise to all the filmmakers and actors out there! Keep up your passion, and let’s see if you can outpace yourselves at the next competition!

The new Tanghui bar is turning into an artists den. On most nights they have live bands rocking it up. Mondays now they host actors and other industry people in “Acting Up“. Actors can meet like minded thespians, and a lot of improv has been seen going on around.

Now Tanghui is calling all those aspiring musicians to come down and match wits in the Battle of the Bands! There will be several rounds all on upcoming Saturdays and Sundays, finally culminating in the final battle on September 23rd and 24th.

If that wasn’t enough, the East West Theater company is preparing to stage a murder mystery event at Tanghui sometime in September. A real whodunit type party, the guests will have to figure out who killed who. The EWTC performers have not disappointed yet, so I am looking forward to this one!

One way or another, I see Tanghui as becoming the haven for those performer and creative types in Shanghai. Rock on!

Update:
Tanghui will also be hosting a pemiere of a short movie this coming Sunday. It was shot entirley in Shanghai by locals anf foreigners living in Shanghai. For those apiring filmmakers, it will be a great opportunity to show what Shanghai based talent can do!

Firecrackers are great fun! It seems though, only if you are an adult. Apparently this is the end of a 10 year ban on the amusing poppers, and the grown ups are rejoicing.

This was provided by the “Provinical Firecracker Association” (?), who seem to be the official association that is associated with the statistics and tracking of firecracking…

In a recent survey conducted by the Provincial Firecracker Association, most respondents who say they want to buy firecrackers are above 30 years old, while teenagers below 18 show little interest in them.

Meanwhile, those teenagers above 18, seem to show more interest? It seems those aged 19-29 don’t seem to care. Really, what kind of a survey is this?

Anyhow, go out have fun and cover your ears!