A-Lin (real name Huang Li-ling (黃麗玲), an Aboriginal R ’n’ B songstress whose anthem Lovelorn, Not Guilty (失戀無罪) inspired numerous tributes by TV talent show contestants, performs a rare public concert titled A-Lin September’s Happiness Party (A-Lin 【九月幸福 Party】) at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言) tonight.
The pop siren, known for her Mariah Carey-esqe range and poignant delivery, will tackle covers of Wan Fan (萬芳) and Sandy Lam’s (林憶蓮) songs.
In stark contrast to the sentimental and melancholic love songs usually found on the Mando-pop charts, A-Lin is known for her empowering ballads, such as Lovelorn, Not Guilty and Before After.
“The songwriter wrote Lovelorn, Not Guilty as a song to encourage people who suffer from a broken heart,” A-Lin said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Her views on romance shun sentimentality. “If you don’t love me, just leave me,” she said. “I don’t like to be a victim and cry
at home.”
“I am an optimistic person. I want to encourage people to face life with a happier outlook,” she said.
As well as singing inspirational songs, A-Lin admires accomplished female performers.
“I think Momoko Tao (陶晶瑩) is really a strong female model for all of us,” she said. “I read the Web site started by Tao about female issues.”
Performing in pubs since the age of 16, A-Lin was discovered by her current agent while singing Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful at Taipei’s EZ5 live house.
A member of the Amis tribe (阿美族), A-Lin was handpicked by A-mei (張惠妹), also an Amis, to star in her hit 2006 musical Carmen (愛上卡門) in the supporting role of Micaela.
Since her debut album Lovelorn, Not Guilty in 2006, A-Lin released Natural Diva (天生歌姬) in 2008 and Before After (以前以後) in December last year.
A-Lin plans to release her next album this December, for which she says she’ll move into more up-tempo territory.
May 26 to June 1 When the Qing Dynasty first took control over many parts of Taiwan in 1684, it roughly continued the Kingdom of Tungning’s administrative borders (see below), setting up one prefecture and three counties. The actual area of control covered today’s Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung. The administrative center was in Taiwan Prefecture, in today’s Tainan. But as Han settlement expanded and due to rebellions and other international incidents, the administrative units became more complex. By the time Taiwan became a province of the Qing in 1887, there were three prefectures, eleven counties, three subprefectures and one directly-administered prefecture, with
It’s an enormous dome of colorful glass, something between the Sistine Chapel and a Marc Chagall fresco. And yet, it’s just a subway station. Formosa Boulevard is the heart of Kaohsiung’s mass transit system. In metro terms, it’s modest: the only transfer station in a network with just two lines. But it’s a landmark nonetheless: a civic space that serves as much more than a point of transit. On a hot Sunday, the corridors and vast halls are filled with a market selling everything from second-hand clothes to toys and house decorations. It’s just one of the many events the station hosts,
Among Thailand’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) villages, a certain rivalry exists between Arunothai, the largest of these villages, and Mae Salong, which is currently the most prosperous. Historically, the rivalry stems from a split in KMT military factions in the early 1960s, which divided command and opium territories after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) cut off open support in 1961 due to international pressure (see part two, “The KMT opium lords of the Golden Triangle,” on May 20). But today this rivalry manifests as a different kind of split, with Arunothai leading a pro-China faction and Mae Salong staunchly aligned to Taiwan.
Two moves show Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) is gunning for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) party chair and the 2028 presidential election. Technically, these are not yet “officially” official, but by the rules of Taiwan politics, she is now on the dance floor. Earlier this month Lu confirmed in an interview in Japan’s Nikkei that she was considering running for KMT chair. This is not new news, but according to reports from her camp she previously was still considering the case for and against running. By choosing a respected, international news outlet, she declared it to the world. While the outside world
RSS