Voices, Idols, Yaogun, Midi and the Mainstream

I have, in this space and others, previously written of yaogun’s experiences with and breaking into the mainstream. There is yaogun’s appearance on The Voice China (中国好声音)’s past episodes as well as the show’s recent addition to the judges’ panel of rocker Wang Feng (and this little ditty, “I Want To Rock,” sung by Liu Yating who says she started singing rock when she “got fat”); Cui Jian’s best-known song sung, in competition, by a Super Girl contestant; yaogun soundtracking CCTV’s World Cup coverage; and more.

Now, more news from yaogun’s adventures in the mainstream—or is it the mainstream’s adventures in yaogun…? 逃跑计划, the band formerly known as Perdel, and now known by the translationally more accurate (though not as much fun) Escape Plan.

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Subs at the Movies, and Plans for New Album

More film news… At the end of October, A Chilling Cosplay will be released in China (check out the preview here). It’s a thriller, titled, simply ‘Costume’ in Chinese, about murders and cosplay (‘costume’ and ‘play,’ says Wikipedia, about the nature of the term, which is just as much about putting on a Toy Story-inspired costume as it is about re-enacting hard-core Japanese manga), and stars Hong Kong actor Simon Yam alongside Taiwanese Vivian Hsu.

But that’s not why you’re reading about it here.

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Blue Bone, Finally…

Cui Jian’s directorial debut, Blue Bone, will, finally, see the light of day. The film, which, says Cui, concerns “one song, two generations, three stories and four singing styles,” is set to be screened at the Rome Film Festival, and is the only Chinese film in competition.

There’s been quite a bit of Italian news for Cui Jian of late, what with the recent Maserati action and Premio Tenco award. Italy has long been kind to Cui: Beijing Bastards (1993), which Cui co-produced with director Zhang Yang, screened at the Lucarno Film Festival (ok: Lucarno’s in Switzerland, but it’s in the Italian part); Chengdu, I Love You (2009), for which Cui directed one of the film’s short stories, closed the Venice International Film Festival.

CJDoyleIt’s been a long three years since the film was announced; with Christopher Doyle’s (left) cinematography and Cui’s rock and roll credentials, let’s hope that this story of the loves and careers of an underground singer and a hacker rocks. Cui’s last rock and roll film, the free-form Beijing Bastards, provided a great—if, at times, confusing—window into life as a yaogunner back in the day; his contribution to Chengdu, I Love You