- Title: CHINA: Worldwide fame can wait for Asia's Taiwan superstar
- Date: 23rd January 2009
- Summary: SINGER AND ACTOR JAY CHOU OPENING LARGE BOX WITH SILHOUETTE AND QUESTION MARK / MODEL CHILING LIN STEPPING OUT JAY CHOU AND CHILING LIN ON STAGE MEDIA JAY CHOU AND CHILING LIN ON STAGE CAMERAS / JAY CHOU ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) SINGER AND ACTOR JAY CHOU SAYING: "I think art is beyond language, if you understand it, you will know it. For the international market, you have to promote yourself first, to tell people how good your music is, in English, and I seldom do that." SUPERMODEL CHILING LIN, "CI LING" DIRECTOR CHU PIN-LING AND JAY CHOU SITTING TOGETHER (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) DIRECTOR CHU PIN-LING SAYING: "For the things he loves, he is very crazy, regardless of his health. He devotes eight hours, 12 hours, 20 hours a day to things he loves, including his music. He is the same towards movie, towards Kung Fu, he is totally devoted." CAST OF THE NEW MOVIE SEATED ON STAGE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) SINGER AND ACTOR JAY CHOU SAYING: "After filming the movie, I might have a lot of aspirations because I will live in Mongolia for a while, and I will be writing my music like crazy. Going out and not only staying at home will help me to gain a lot more experience and knowledge." CHILING LIN, CHU PIN-LING AND JAY CHOU HOLDING BANNER CONFETTI FALLING OVER CAST MEMBERS HOLDING BANNER READING "CI LING"
- Embargoed: 7th February 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Reuters ID: LVA8B0PZW2V64AWNVICOZ16OTHY2
- Story Text: Taiwan singing and acting sensation Jay Chou says he is not planning on breaking into Western markets - yet.
His face adorns countless advertisements in China, he's sold millions of albums and wherever he goes his adoring fans mob him.
But for Taiwan singing sensation and budding actor Jay Chou, worldwide fame can wait.
Chou's music, which intertwines Western R&B and hip-hop with a distinctive Chinese flavour, has drawn a huge and sometimes obsessive following across Asia, and especially in China, since his debut with the album "Jay" in 2000.
Last year's movie, "Kung Fu Dunk", was a hit across Asia for Chou.
In new film "Ci Ling", which the star was promoting in Beijing on Wednesday (January 21), Chou will appear next to Taiwan supermodel Chiling Lin, though it won't be hitting the screens for at least another year.
But unlike Korean pop sensation and actor Rain, also one of Asia's top-selling musicians who has tried with little success to break into Hollywood, Chou says global renown can wait.
"I think art is beyond language, if you understand it, you will know it. For the international market, you have to promote yourself first, to tell people how good your music is, in English, and I seldom do that,"
Chou told Reuters in a rare interview with foreign media, admitting his English skills were not up to much.
Chow is now getting ready to start filming "Ci Ling", a movie whose unlikely plot centres on a couple who go back in time to ancient Mongolia looking for a treasure.
"For the things he loves, he is very crazy, regardless of his health. He devotes eight hours, 12 hours, 20 hours a day to things he loves, including his music. He is the same towards movie, towards Kung Fu, he is totally devoted," said Chu impressed the director of "Ci Ling", Chu Yin-ping.
Chou's partner in the film, Chiling Lin, also described Chou as a "god" full of creativity.
Brought up in suburban Taipei by his mother, Chou, 30, flunked his college entrance exam and had thought about becoming a piano teacher, until fame came knocking.
With his catchy songs, street Mandarin, boyish good looks and self-effacing, almost shy manner, he has won the hearts of fans even outside Chinese-speaking Asia, and has had much success in Japan. He is rarely out of the paparazzi's glare.
His global profile was raised when he starred alongside internationally renowned Chinese actors Gong Li and Chow Yun-fat in Oscar-nominated director Zhang Yimou's spectacular 2006 historical drama "Curse of the Golden Flower".
Already garlanded with praise and awards for his music, Chou now wants to pay more attention to his film career.
He said making films can also help with his music - and so can moving to a place like Mongolia.
"After filming the movie, I might have a lot of aspirations because I will live in Mongolia for a while, and I will be writing my music like crazy. Going out and not only staying at home will help me to gain a lot more experience and knowledge," said Chou.
He added he planned to do two films and put out one album each year.
Unusual for a star in the bubble gum world of Mandopop, the classically trained Chou writes many of his own songs.
The power and popularity of his songs have not gone unnoticed in Beijing.
Some have appeared on a list of 100 approved songs for music lessons in Chinese middle schools.
Chou says he would like to work with Western artists, bashfully admitting a preference to team up with U.S. hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas.
Fellow Taiwan star Jolin Tsai in 2007 recorded a song with Australian pop star Kylie Minogue.
ENDS. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None