To sing clear, Jay cannot deal. Jay's problems faced in China.

[Phyxius]

字正腔圓 周杰倫辦不到
To sing clear, Jay cannot deal.

2004-01-02 大成報

記者 陸亦華／報導

Credits:jaywife
Translation:Phyxius - www.jay-chou.net

周杰倫在台灣被當做寶、在大陸卻是狀況特別多。先是寫個屌字被媒體關切；受邀到中央電視台在春節賀歲節目中 表演「龍拳」，被要求要唱得字正腔圓....周董反攻大陸連連吃鱉，兩岸歌迷只能說大陸官方「 不識貨」。
Jay is treated like treasure in TW, but in China situations jst keep occuring to him. First is writing the word 'diao' causing media concerns, then when invited to perform Long Quan at CCTV's new year party, he is asked to sing clearly. The fans can only say that China officials that they dont know how to treasure.

年輕人的口頭禪「好屌」，早與器官無關，而是時代潮流。在台灣講沒問題，在大陸就出事，自從在歌迷的畫作上 提個「屌」字、被批評後，周杰倫只好提醒自己，只要到了大陸地盤，口頭禪千萬別出現。口頭禪不雅就別說，想 不到連咬字不清都有事！去年大陸官方的中央電視台高層，就以「聽不懂周杰倫唱什麼」為由，不讓他上春節賀歲 節目，然而今年大陸官方也不得不與「廣大的人民站在一起」、應觀眾要求，安排特「火的周杰倫上除夕特別節目 ，不過唯一的要求竟是：「龍拳」要唱得字正腔圓。
The teens fav word "hao diao" (very diao) is not related to organs anymore, but a periodical fashion. In Taiwan it did not cause problem,s but it did in China. After being critisized for writing diao on a fan's artwork, Jay has to remind himself that whenever he's in China he has to becareful not to say his fav saying. Apart from that, even mumbling is a problem! Last year's CCTV's highly ranked officials used the reason "don't understand what Jay Chou is singing" as an excuse to prevent him appearing. This year, Chinese officials was said that they have to follow people's heart and arranged "The firy Jay to appear at the celebration, but the only demand is that "Long Quan" has to be sung clearly.

唱歌咬字不清，早已是周杰


;倫最賣的特色，如今接獲大陸官方命令，「龍拳」要唱得字正腔圓，阿爾發唱片與周杰倫都大傷腦筋，還開玩笑 說要送周杰倫去上國語日報的正音班，到時來個別出心裁的「龍拳」捲舌版好了。
Mumbling singing, has already turned into a trait of Jay. Now Chinese officials demand long quan has to be sung clearly, Alfa music and Jay are worried. Even joked to send Jay to Mandarin pronounciation class and then make a "Long Quan" tong twister version.

[kahel]

If Jay "needs" to take pronouciation classes and hw was born and raised in Taiwan. What would the people do there if they heard me speak my basic Mandarin?? Drag me to mandarin pronouciation classes perhaps.:laughing:

Please, they should understand that Jay's mumbling is a part of him. Insisting that he should sing clearly is just too much :oops:

Thanks, Phyxius :flowers: for taking time to translate.

[vunsin]

Gosh... Why won't people stop being dumb? :shifty: "Long Quan sung clearly" would NOT be Long Quan anymore. That would be plain silliness or even idiocy. Likewise, a "Jay Chou who sings clearly" would NOT be Jay Chou anymore. Why can't they just get on with life? :shifty: Take it or leave it, man...

[Pinky]

i mean, isn't that the two things he's most famous for? i mean, how can china said that, heh heh...ai, china shouldn't have said that. a jay who speaks clearly wouldn't be jay, it's his style! and dragonfist right? if it was clear, it wouldn't be jay singing it

[tootx]

come on. Is this a CHINESE lesson??
Why must Jay sing so clearly?
Yeah i agree that that the chinese officials dont appreciate jay's talents. Moreover Jay had already emphaised so many times that he talked this way too (the mumbling style :D) Now with all these articles and news, Jay really seems to be portrayed as a 'rebellion boi'.

[lilmizzaudi]

i think this is the third time i read about china having problems with jay in the past couple of weeks :? i agree with vunsin, why CANT china just accept jay for jay? first they critiscize him for writing "diao" on a piece of fan-art, then they tell jay that he cannot perform because he can't sing clearly. now they demand he speak clearly! what a great way to start off the year :dry:

[retrobaby]

it's just the china policies...
nothing to do with jay. dun worry we support him!
jay just wants to be different from others...

[l3abystarz704]

wow that's kinda harsh they're like criticising him and making jokes about him i find that very rude...and to make him change his unique style of singing is just wrong...china is demanding too much i think...that song was written to be sung that way and they want him to change it pshh! that's like telling a painter to paint clothes on a nude model..-_-; changes everything.

[aina]

pointless.. :shifty:
"don't understand what Jay Chou is singing" as an excuse to prevent him appearing
:laughing: what a clever excuse !!! :shifty:

and bout the "diao" word...it's only their (china ppl) conservative thought... only searching for mistakes...maybe it has something related to relationship between china and taiwan, how china ppl(government) don't like taiwan, i dunno..maybe..
how can a person sing such a fast-rap song clearly.. :shifty: ??

anyway, thx Phyxius for translating... :flowers:

[Evenstar]

Mumbling singing, has already turned into a trait of Jay. Now Chinese officials demand long quan has to be sung clearly, Alfa music and Jay are worried. Even joked to send Jay to Mandarin pronounciation class and then make a "Long Quan" tong twister version.

Some people really has a mind deffieciency...or rather, INSANITY.... If they were to sing that, how could they rap it out without murmuring some words??? They could just spit it out or something but they could never get it all out whence they started mumbling....and it's his style!!! What the hell do they want to change that from him????!!! Grrrrr....Jay's not made to be criticized by thise bludgers.... :-x

[k-ren]

does it hurt to hear someone mumble??i do not agree with them making this such a big problem..
maybe if they shut up sometimes they can listen to what people say..or in this case..mumble..
i think it's rude to tell somebody to be what they are not..some of us here don't even know what he's singing about most of the time..coz apparently we don't speak chinese..we don't make it a big deal..

[knock]

Why is it tt China has so grudge against Jay?! All they do is just criticize and more criticism! Cant they just take a look at Jay's talents and appreciate the music he made instead of what? His ronounciation. And cant they just accept that that is what is so special bout Jay. just by different? Cant they?! Cant they?! Urgh.

[evenstar_sc]

I'm sure it's not anything personal against Jay. Honestly, i think China high-ranking officials has much better and more important things to do than criticize Jay on his pronunciation when he sings. :dry:

I'm not against Jay in this, I support his singing style completely and he can say whatever that he wants, if not I wouldn't be here, as obsessed as I am =)

Just that, it may be ok in Taiwan to say 'diao' but the culture in China is totally different and as a sort of ambbassador for Taiwan, I think Jay should have realized that the word could offend. And not everybody in China understands the Jay quirkyness or is enough of a fan to know that 'diao' is his catch-phrase. I think that's just simple carelessness on Jay's part. But what aggravates me most is the fact that ONE simple word can spark off all this animosity! Like one word is a reflection of a persons thinking and how they would act. :-x

[princess_xixi]

that article is crap!!!!
soz my languange
but don't they understand they can't make jay produce his music into a clearer version.....coz thats just jay,his rapping is unbeatable..........
no matter wat the cctv ppl do jay will not change his music which the fans like
and about the word diao
they can't do anything about it either..we say it coz we like jay and we are being his fans
the cctv ppl go against jay.they will go against the whole china..........coz we are with jay all the way!!

[jaycee]

if jay has to take mandarin classes, i wanna sit next to him!!! resinging "long quan" with perfect pronunciation is completely pointless. that would just be tasteless and without style ... something that i don't think jay can tolerate!! those freakin chinese officials should just shove that demand where the sun don't shine and leave jay alone!!! and as the article said ... the definition of the word "diao" has deviated from the male body part a long time ago ... so these freakin conservative chinese should stop being perverted and accept the new slang. i was wondering ... could these criticisms toward jay also be a political issue ... cuz from the little that i understand ... china and taiwan don't necessary get along right? so maybe they're just jealous cuz jay is taiwanese and is super talented and popular (my rather immature way of explaining this ordeal) :bleh:

[nicolec]

I think it's silly for them to call Jay to pronounce clearly because it wouldn't be him anymore! I mean we like him partially because of that way he mumble (oh it's so, so, so cool!! hehe) Perhaps they're just trying to find another silly reason to not want him at the CCTV's new year party.

[nueng]

The first thought that comes to my mind when I read this article was like...wth!!?!? but then I think it is important to understand and cope with Chinese culture too (It's a big market for all the celeb, right? ^^;;), which is too much - -'' what do they want from Jay? The real fans of Jay in China must be feel very bad with all these news.

Hope Jay will be fine with all this #$@!&# news. lol

I love it when he's mumbling~ Long Quan must mumbling!!

[xJayChoux]

Gah! :-x China wants Long Quan, why? Because they like it? Long Quan is DIAO because of the mumbling! They can't force Jay to sing clearly...it's mumbling, or NO performance! :-x

[pinkypat_6]

Are those people being too fussy or what!
mumbling is his charm!! his songs are attractive with the mumbling.
why don't those people just take up the lyrics and follow along while he's singing if they don't understand!!!!
wonder how jay will feel, he likes to go and perform there doesn't he...jay must not care about these things!!!

[moonsilk]

Thankz for sharing the news phyxius...
I agree with both hands and legs that the china people do nt noe how to treasure Jay...
Com'on lor...not singing clearly is one of the speciality in his songs lor...and it has become a trend for younsters to imitate him...as long as people enjoy listening to Jay,who cares if he sings clearly or not...
The china officials are juz too old fasioned and fussy...
I cant believe that theres a joke for Jay to go for chinese classes...theres a standard in his chinese to produce such beautiful song lyrics lor...
Poor Jay...he muz b quite sad and worried...
Jay...jiayou!!

[Qp_patt]

u guys have to understand that some people just din't get it they were too " old- fashioned head" thinking inside the box. so i hope jay din't worry too much about that. he has already got a load of pressure on his back. so be cool jay. go go jay . hao diao jay.

[phoebe]

if the cctv ppl are really lsitening to the youth and giving jay to them - then maybe they should do it wholeheartedly - accept jay as he is because the youth who are jay's fans accepted him as he is - mumbling / diao / shy / filial / musician.

[darky]

that's not fair! altho jay's style of singing is a bit hard to hear, its his way of singing! everyone sings differently and i reckon his 'mumbling' makes him more unique.. like if u hear that mumbling voice u automatically think of jay ^^

and btw what does 'hao diao' actually mean?? :blush:

[aznbballer]

dis is just soo stoopidz! i mean wah ish the prob of him singing long quan mumbling?!? i mean thas one of his trademark. itz lyk saiing chocolate without sugar. meaning itz different without the major ingredient that makes it good.

p.s wah is "diao" mean??

[jaycee]

aznbballer: wah is "diao" mean??

"diao" is a slang used by the younger taiwanese generation. it is equivalent to "cool/tight/dope/neat" etc. jay's favorite phrase is "diao bu diao?" meaning "cool or not?". however, traditionally "diao" means penis ... so some conservative chinese get offended by this word and consider it a curse word. some chinese parents are having a cow because jay recently signed the word "diao" on a cool drawing done by one of his fans. :dry:

[aznbballer]

ohz!! fanx jaycee.. that word had me really thinking coz all meh taiwan and chinese friendz use it and i dunno wahs going on!
well, to be honest taiwan and china have had disagreements ever since taiwan was well.. taiwan.
i just think that there using this as a excuse to argue again

although i am chinese and happi of that, honestly china, let it go! u no he isn't using it as a term penis!

[jjfgirl]

well..it's like this...in my very biased opinion.

the old chinese officials can't deal with the fact that the younger generation idolizes taiwanese pop culture and everything taiwanese.

they don't want jay there, but since everyone else does...they have to come up with lame excuses like attacking his mandarin.

which is the only thing they could attack him for.

since many people in taiwan DO speak like that...shouldn't china be a little more accepting..since they keep trying to insist that taiwan is part of china? so much hypocrisy.

[scarletwillow]

I'm from the mainland, and I sure don't share a lot of ideals with the communist government, but I have to say, from a very moderate point of view (and being anti-communist, pro-unification), that many of you aren't exactly being the best of sports either.

What the Chinese government did was wrong. What you people are doing is wrong too. Criticizing is one thing, but condemning is another. I read the majority of this thread with a warm but heavy heart... not the best of feelings, might I add.

For a generation that so stresses independent thinking, it seems the lot of you are pulled down more by obsolete ideas and to-the-grave generalizations than anything else.

Congratulations, you're Chinese. Or are you.

[jjfgirl]

yah, many of these replies are biased. but that's what constitutes an opinion. i don't have anything against mainlanders as people (i consider myself taiwanese)..but i think jay is popular because of his distinct style and the government has no right to intervene with that. even further, i feel that if jay actually complies with their demands, he'd be a sell-out..and i'd lose a little respect for him. i guess business is business though...

[scarletwillow]

You're 100% right, and I do hope this incident won't affect Jay's individuality, but the core of what disturbed me profoundly is that some members, rather than being "supportive" of Jay were just critical of the mainland government.

Criticism is key, but as some very open-minded posters have acknowledged, culture *DOES* play into the overall scheme of this affair. China apparently just doesn't want its youth losing its own identity (honestly, I wouldn't want my children using the word "penis" in place of "cool", though I'm sure the Chinese connotation is far less risque than the English version). Imagine if a famous mainland Chinese singer toured Taiwan wearing a red star. What would be the reaction to that?

Fine line between civil control and fascism :)