They love them in Japan. The latest craze for Taiwan's northern neighbor isn't another effeminate boy band or a featureless feline. It's China's 12 Girls Band (女子十二樂坊), and they're set to take the stage of the National Taiwan University Auditorium tomorrow night in a show that is sure to have as much anthropological interest as entertainment value -- maybe more.
Formed in 2001, 12 Girls Band is the brainchild of producer, agent and inveterate sunglasses-wearer, Wang Xiaojing (王曉京). Wang is the marketing magician who helped Cui Jian (崔健) to become the "godfather" of Chinese rock 'n' roll and has boosted the careers of other popular singers.
PHOTO COURTESY OF VIGOUR INTERNATIONAL
"I wanted to update traditional Chinese music for today's audiences," Wang told the Taipei Times by phone while being chauffeured around Hong Kong. The girls played there earlier this week, the third stop on their six-country tour.
PHOTO COURTESY OF VIGOUR INTERNATIONAL
To find his muses, Wang posted notices in each of China's most prestigious music conservatories searching for the country's best, brightest and most beautiful musicians. The auditions were swarmed by thousands of girls. After several rounds of elimination and a personal interview with Wang, 12 girls and one alternate were selected for stardom.
"China has thousands of excellent female musicians. I wanted the most beautiful!" Wang said making no pretense about where his priorities lay. It is the girls' smiles as much as their music that draws crowds and has sold over 2 million CDs. A typical performance consists of nearly as many costume changes as compositions and cameras get in close to the girls, filming an ongoing Pepsodent commercial that shines on overhead screens for the boys in the back rows.
Their music, composed by the group's arranger, Liang Jianfeng, combines elements of Western and Chinese music. Traditional five-tone Chinese orchestration has been usurped by Western orchestration. They play a mix of Chinese favorites, American jazz standards, Japanese pop tunes and classical compositions. They're backed up by a band -- drums, guitars, keyboards and a DJ -- that often drowns out the much subtler sighs of the erhus and plings of the pipas that the girls are playing.
But front and center they stand, smiling and swaying -- a Mandarin Menudo or Sino-Spice Girls. Molded by music industry moguls who see dollar signs where the quarter notes and half notes ought to be. They're so obviously manufactured as to make you wonder whose artistry you're witnessing: the girls' or Wang's? Then you look at their discography, with titles like Beautiful Energy, Shining Energy and their upcoming US release, Eastern Energy and wonder if there's any artistry at all.
The idea of manufacturing musical groups is, of course, nothing new. Like Menudo, which forced out each of its 30 members when they reached age 16, Wang says that the girls will be replaced "when they need to be" with a fresh and undoubtedly beautiful face. But he also points out that the idea of forming a group of 12 female musicians actually has its origin in the courts of the Tang Dynasty, where emperors would hold workshops for women to learn to play instruments, sing and dance. The number was kept at 12 for auspicious reasons: Twelve is a magical number for Chinese, meaning integrity and
perfection.
Not perfect enough. Despite the sleek new veneer given to an old tradition, when they first graced the stage in Beijing in October of 2001, the girls underwhelmed their audience.
"The Chinese are not used to hearing their traditional instruments sound different," Wang said. "With time, they'll find an audience at home. It' s already happening."
Their luck didn't change until last year, when an executive with Warner Music in Japan, Kazuma Tomoto, saw a video of one of the Girls' concerts and knew Japan would love them. But his bosses at Warner disagreed and so Tomoto set off on his own, forming Platia Entertainment.
The girls' debut album, Beautiful Energy topped Japan's Oricon music chart for more than 10 weeks. They became the fastest selling Chinese group in the history of Japan with 1.5 million copies of the album sold in three months. In its first year of business, Platia made some US$50 million marketing and distributing 12 Girls. Their music is piped into convenience stores and elevators throughout Japan. And, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, there's even a porno film featuring look-alikes of the girls.
Now they're trying to duplicate that success -- most of it at least -- in the rest of Asia, having played dates in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, then flying on to Thailand and Indonesia after their stop in Taiwan. They' re also scheduled to promote their upcoming album with a tour of the US. Due out in August, Eastern Energy will even contain a cover of Coldplay's Clocks.
How US audiences -- and, sooner, Taiwan audiences -- will take to them remains to be seen. Between the culture vultures circling overhead in China and the legions that love them elsewhere, the girls are at least stirring a debate.
Wang, for his part, is not worried: "They love us in Japan."
Performance notes:
What: 12 Girls Band.
When: Tomorrow, Saturday, June 19 at 8pm.
Where: National Taiwan University Auditorium
Tickets: Cost from NT$800 to NT$2,500 and can be purchased through ERA Tickets, or at the door. For more information, contact ERA Tickets at (02) 2341 9898.
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