The Never-ending Soundtrack: 5 Western Celebrities Still Loved in China

The Never-ending Soundtrack: 5 Western Celebrities Still Loved in China
Nov 27, 2013 By Kate Williams , eChinacities.com

Have you ever had a Chinese person mention a celebrity and the first thing you could think of was...wow, are they even around anymore? Every mention of Avril Lavigne, Michael Bolton, and countless others feels like a flashback to yesteryear.But somehow these celebrities are still loved in China. The following is a list of five celebrities that you can’t seem to escape. If you ever compiled a soundtrack to your life in China, all of these would be on it, even the last one. So, let’s explore a few celebrity ‘has-beens’ and figure out what it is that the Chinese love about them.


Source: basykes

1) John Denver
How many hands would it take to count the number of times you’ve heard John Denver’s 1971 smash hit, Country Roads, playing in China? It would be quite a few for me. Somehow, 44 years after its release this hit still holds popularity among Chinese. It can be heard at weddings or bars, shops or supermarkets, and everywhere in between. I’ve even seen night market vendors peddling handbags adorned with the song’s infamous title. While a number of his easy-going melodies are popular, Country Roads remains the one that they love the most. According to John Denver’s biography, he was somewhat astonished to discover how popular and well known his songs were in China.

In the early 1990s, John Denver performed for Deng Xiaoping at the White House and later became the first artist from the West to do a multi-city tour of mainland China in 1992. Some believe it was his down-home style that Chinese audiences favored; his love for the countryside spoke directly to the millions of people living in China’s rural areas. Others believe that his non-political message was very government-friendly at the time; he was a comfortable, non-threatening piece of the West to welcome into China. Whatever it was, he is celebrated here; he even performed and recorded In a Faraway Land in Mandarin – a song originally written by Wang Luobin.

2) Celine Dion
Another notorious tune that can be heard everywhere in China is Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On. Theme song to the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic, it was the first English song to top Chinese music charts, with its popularity measured by internet hits and sales of the single. When the 3D version of Titanic was launched in China in 2012, the song somehow gained even more popularity.

However, compared to the success of My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion’s other hits have been relatively unpopular in China; two that haven’t done too badly are The Power of Love and Because You Loved Me.

Celine Dion gave a record-breaking performance in Shanghai in 2008. According to CCTV, having received 10 million RMB for the one-night show, she was the most expensive celebrity to give a single performance in China to date. Over 30,000 people attended the concert and ticket prices were, on average, three times higher than other singers performing at the same venue.

Her fame in China continues to this day; she sang at the 2013 CCTV Spring Festival, teaming up with Chinese soprano Song Zuying to sing a popular Chinese folk song, “Jasmine Flower”. She was the first internationally known star to be invited to perform at the event.

And in case you were wondering, according to public statements made by Celine the love is not one-directional, she also has a great love for the Chinese people and their culture.

3) Kenny G
Another inescapable sound in China is the ubiquitous mellow jazz tones of the sax tune Going Home, played by Kenny G. His music is noticeably popular in China and this particular recording is often played at closing time in public places or at the end of the school day. Mass transit systems in Tianjin and Shanghai even play the song when trains approach terminus stations. The Seattle-born saxophonist has a close relationship with the Chinese people, he has recorded some Chinese songs, including Jasmine Flower and The Moon Represents My Heart a romantic song often played at weddings and has also worked with many Chinese stars, including Taiwanese-American singer Wang Leehom and Hong Kong actor and singer Andy Lau. He even made a cameo as an airline pilot in Jackie Chan's film Chinese Zodiac in 2012.

According to a Global Times report, Kenny G was introduced to Chinese music when he first started to come to China to perform in the late 1980s. His first official tour in China took place in 2002 and included performances in three cities. Most recently, he launched a five-city tour during the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival this year, with ticket prices ranging from 80 to 1,080 RMB. With prices like those it looks like his fan base is holding strong. For those of you in Guangzhou this November you too could become immersed in his emotional performance. He even holds the Guinness world record for the longest note ever recorded on a saxophone – a whopping 45 minutes and 47 seconds! Now that is pretty impressive!

4) The Backstreet Boys
It never ceases to amaze me how popular The Backstreet Boys still are in China. Despite the fact that their popularity has significantly declined in the West, they retain a substantial amount of fans in China, and fans of all ages too. Even my future father-in-law’s QQ screen name is ‘Backstreet Boy’ translated into Chinese! Their repetitive and catchy tunes allow Chinese people to engage with the music without necessarily understanding the lyrics. Popular hits in China include: Get Down, Larger Than Life, and I Want It That Way. They were even featured on The Voice of China this past summer performing some of these hits a cappella.

And just when we thought we were done with them, The Backstreet Boys became a five-man ensemble once again. They were in Beijing earlier this year donning traditional Chinese jackets to announce the start of their 20th anniversary world tour in China that began in May. The multi-platinum group toured several Chinese cities including Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, and Xi'an. According to their Twitter account, they officially became Panda Ambassadors while in Chengdu, and the internet is littered with pictures of them embracing cuddly pandas to prove it.

5) Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean
And just in case you thought this list was going to be entirely musicians…here is a master of comedy.

Mr. Bean is a character known and loved around the world, and there’s certainly no shortage of him in China. My apartment complex even shows the series on a rolling loop in the lobby. Just a mention of his name can arouse giggles in many, myself included.

 The character rarely speaks and so the large majority of the humor is derived from physical performance. There is also very little confusion in what he’s doing because the show revolves around his attempts to complete simple, everyday tasks, tasks that everyone, no matter where they come, has done. As Mr. Bean interacts with other people and comes up with his original (and often absurd) solutions, the world is able to sit back and laugh. Rowan Atkinson described Mr. Bean as “a child in a grown man’s body” and it seems the innocence in Mr. Bean’s slapstick humor is just the right tickle for the Chinese funny bone.

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Keywords: Western celebrities in China playing in China Celebrities still loved in China

7 Comments

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seansarto

John Denver never disappoints.Check out his song, "I'm Sorry"..."I'm sorry for the way things are in China..."

Dec 03, 2013 07:01 Report Abuse

zayabingi

Mr Bean......hahahahahahah that dude got some crazy sense of humour

Dec 01, 2013 22:24 Report Abuse

Vyborg

Pachelbel's Canon in D major, arranged for electric guitar(s) blasting from a shopping mall. Vitas, from Russia. Several others that I'd never heard of before coming to China: Atomic Kitten, Groove Coverage, Hayley Westenra, Richard Marx, Sissle, Vengaboys... I wish I'd never heard of them at all. Two things have amazed me eversince. Back home the audience consists of 10 year old girls, here the whole population loves it. And whenever someone turns on his damnd musicbox, there's always a couple of people that start singing along. It seems like they all know the same songs by heart. But let them listen to Child in Time.. Bohemian Rhapsody.. anything by David Bowie, Tom Waits.. nonono we don't know it (and we never will... it's too creepy). Finally, why translate band's names into Chinese. 后街孩子? Wtf? Try these: 范德格雷夫士发电机乐团 and 杰斐逊飞机 and 平克弗洛伊德. Of course we don't know Britney Spears. But boliteni sibosi is very famous in China!

Nov 27, 2013 19:15 Report Abuse

royceH

That great little bar that sold 8 kuai Asahis, across the way from Kiwi Cafe in Qingdao, used to play The Carpenters every single evening. It's gone now.

Nov 27, 2013 18:40 Report Abuse

DrMonkey

Ho, a song that seems to be big here is actually the jingle of a short-lived, corny (euphemism...) French sitcom from the 90's. That sitcom stars 25 years old beginner actors playing teenagers. They played awfully equally awful scenarios. It's full of all 90's fashion. It tanked pretty fast. The sitcom is long forgotten in France, but the song is alive here. "Helene et les Garcons", it goes like "Helene, je m'appelle Helene, je suis une fille pas comme les autres" in a 5 minute loop :D

Nov 27, 2013 14:07 Report Abuse

carlstar

West life and green day seem to be favourites too.... and beiber. Just to add more to the list

Nov 27, 2013 10:23 Report Abuse

Guest2278378

Haphazard article. The author needs to either spend more time in China or get out more. She neglected to mention The Eagles 'Hotel California'. They definitely trump Kenny G, Backstreet men, and Bean (wtf). I kind of stuck with the music theme. Otherwise Nicolas Cage is a shoe in.

Nov 27, 2013 10:17 Report Abuse