SJM Interview Stirs Up Semi-Scandal Part 2 May 14, 2008

 

I was reading this post on Soompi, and I just have to say…I expected it, unfortunately. The post provides this link to a blog entry regarding the mishap. According to that blog, since Zhou Mi ran his mouth, Leehom has been getting criticism from netizens. In response, Leehom fans searched for the video of that event from several years (provided in the blog entry) and revealed the truth. Leehom had an upcoming concert and wasn’t supposed to sing at events prior to it; thus, he invited Zhou Mi on stage to sing. Now Leehom fans hope that Zhou Mi will give an apology.

 

I hate fandom for this, especially because they believed a newbie and lost faith in one of the most well-established singers in Asia. Now all these netizens think Leehom’s some kind of cheater when we know he’s definitely not. You’d think that after having tons of Leehom’s high school/college songs online and a 14-year long career, everybody would know what his voice sounds like and that nobody’s behind the scenes providing his voice. 

 

And you know, Leehom fans didn’t even want to make a big deal out of this because it really is just a newbie mistake – everybody makes mistakes, especially newbies. I’m tired of hearing about Super Junior’s insane fans doing something stupid. They haven’t done many smart things in comparison to their stupidity. And yes, I AM comparing their fans.

 

So let’s just leave the thing alone. We know the truth now. Just know that we can’t believe EVERYTHING someone says and maybe also a little thing or two about interviews.  

 

PS: Don’t use this entry as “news.” If you must, refer to the links I provided in the beginning.

 

Have a nice, stupidity-free day.

SJM Interview Stirs Up Semi-Scandal May 6, 2008

If you take a look at this video and the comments below it, you’ll know what I’m talking about:

 

 

A basic summary is: Zhou Mi mentioned in the interview that when Leehom was having contract problems, he had to shorten his performance and so Zhou Mi sang for him. However, his wording made is sound as though he was singing backstage while Leehom lip-synched on stage to Zhou Mi’s voice. Of course, Zhou Mi fans were slightly shocked that Leehom would “take credit” for a voice that wasn’t his. Next to that, they were excited because their ZM is comparable to Leehom. In response, long-term Leehom fans got enraged because now Leehom looks like a cheater despite his fourteen years of hard work in the music industry.

 

To clarify things, it was a misunderstanding, period.

 

First of all, Zhou Mi sounds nothing like Leehom. He’s a good singer but he doesn’t sound like Leehom. 

 

Second of all, what really happened was that Leehom had contract problems and had to cut his performance short so he invited Zhou Mi to sing. Nowhere did Zhou Mi mention lip-synching. In fact, some fan accounts say that both of them were standing on stage together. Others say Zhou Mi was on stage while Leehom was backstage. If what the scandal-starters assumed was true, it wouldn’t make sense. Leehom would still have the contract problem, and if it were his face lip-synching on stage, that would probably still violate his contract.

 

And most importantly, Leehom fans like me know that he would never do that. It’s not like I know him personally but all the news articles about him and his activities show me that he has a lot of professional integrity. My favorite story was when he rejected a spot in Madame Tussaud’s wax museum because he felt he wasn’t accomplished enough. He’s diligent and he doesn’t stand on people to get ahead in life, even if it’s just for a moment. Besides, the only times I’ve ever heard of him lip-synching was when he had to do dancing on stage. He rarely dances, he’s no SE7EN, so of course it’ll be hard for him to sing and dance simultaneously. But it’s always his voice, no one else’s. Other than those circumstances, he doesn’t lip-synch.

 

I suppose that this is either due to someone’s carelessness in translating Zhou Mi’s words, or Zhou Mi didn’t word his answer correctly. This little mix up put Leehom fans and Zhou Mi fans against each other for a few hours, but I’m sure Leehom can forgive and forget, so let’s do that.

 

Video Credit: symbelmyn @ YouTube

 

Releases: One World One Dream by Leehom Wang April 30, 2008

Check out this lovely demo for Leehom’s new Olympic-inspired song, One World One Dream:

 

 

When Leehom really puts his heart into a song, out comes a masterpiece, and I think this is one. It’s quite reminiscent of his past works and collaborations such as Hand in Hand, which is also a wonderful song. Don’t mistake it for the song Han Geng and Zhang Li Yin performed together. No. Leehom and David Tao collabed during the SARs epidemic to write a song that brings people together. So I see quite a similarity in concept to this new song. He wants to unite the world in song as the Olympics unites the world in sport. It’s a really pretty song. I hope you guys enjoy it.

 

What I really love about this song is that the melody isn’t hard to remember. Some songs are hard to pick up on. I listened to this once and I could sing along right after that. I think that’s really important for a song like this.

 

Now my Chinese isn’t perfect, as you guys know. So I’m also really glad that he used some English. That way, I knew his concept. I think his voice is really sexy in English, too.

 

Video Credit: musicforeverlove @ YouTube