Joanna Wang is a up-and-coming Taiwanese-American artist whose first album has garnered rave reviews and provoked innumerable comparisons to Norah Jones. Our selection is the Chinese language version of a song that was released on her debut album in both English and Chinese.

Did we mention that the song is also controversial? If you dropped by our office last week, you'd have witnessed a raging debate over whether Joanna even counts as Chinese and is deserving of a place in our KTV pantheon. "It's not Chinese music," Echo insisted, before storming off to watch Korean soap operas. And while she has a point - there's very little that is traditionally Chinese about the music or singing style - if Chinese jazz is a novelty, we expect to hear a lot more of it in the future. So you be the judge.

* Youtube refuses to embed this video so we're linking to Youku. If you're in the United States you may find it faster to load the Youtube version .
 said on
March 4, 2009
Wasn't 王力宏 born and raised in the US and finally start learning mandarin when he was 18 or 19? He still has a weird-ass accent. I remember one of my Chinese teachers trying to convince me he had only been overseas to 留学 a couple years. And now he not only counts as Chinese, he's like the symbol of Chinese pop music today.

Anyone else think with her 盘子脸 and high cheekbones she looks korean? Also, check out how much of an effort it is for her to close her mouth fully, even when she's not singing.
 said on
March 4, 2009
我自己不太喜欢王力宏的歌,虽然身边有很多女孩提到王力宏的名字就尖叫。

我觉得Joanna Wang的英文歌比中文的好,她唱中文歌的时候我还是觉得她好像在唱英文的~~

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
March 4, 2009
@Echo

My first thought was it's in French, not Chinese--second thought, sounds more like Portugese--so I get the "not Chinese" take on it...Doesn't make it any better or worse for that, though.
 said on
March 4, 2009
FYI, 他的中文名子叫 王若琳.
 said on
March 4, 2009
我喜欢这首歌!
 said on
March 6, 2009
听到这个名字,完全不知道她是谁,直到搜到了那首“I love you ...",天,原来是她唱的!
 said on
March 6, 2009
我昨天去咖啡厅,在那里听到了这首歌的英文版。。。。
 said on
March 12, 2009
"he had only been overseas to 留学 a couple years. And now he not only counts as Chinese, he's like the symbol of Chinese pop music today."

It's all about the archaic, racially motivated concept of 華人! If 王力宏 were a 連環殺手 instead of a famous pop star, the Chinese wouldn't consider him 華人. However, he is a famous pop star, so therefore he's a 華人.

Vin
 said on
March 12, 2009
@vindalsace,

maybe. And if you finally find a 華人連環殺手one day, you let me know. ok?

o(∩_∩)o...

Instead of people like 王力宏, we are probably more interested in 連環殺手, if we have one....
 said on
March 12, 2009
@Gail... I think he has a point. There was that guy from Alberta who went crazy on a bus and beheaded a poor student. I didn't see the Chinese press rushing to repatriate him. Not that I would....

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24111255-5001021,00.html

I've never found Chinese people to be very analytic about their patriotism. One reason I think people with Chinese ancestry who were born or lived abroad often have trouble coming back. Expectations are much higher than they are on caucasians. I'm white and still get treated with kid gloves by people who should know better. I think it makes it harder to do certain types of business, but it can be an advantage at times too.

 said on
June 2, 2009
She sounds exactly like Norah Jones, which is to be expected given the era & genre of music she was exposed to in the States. It might be a little too copy-catish for my taste. BUT .. its refreshing to see someone like her busting out on the Chinese music scene, which is just dominated by idol-class performers who either cant carry a tune (ex: Wang Lee Hom sining live at the 2004 Hong Kong music awards), or get by artificial nose & breasts and half arsed retarded dance moves copied direct from the Korean & Japanese like Jolin Tsai.
 said on
June 2, 2009
@Dude,

It's very interesting that not many Chinese people are quite familiar with her name, but a lot of people have definitely heard of the song "I love you".

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
September 23, 2009
Dude:

Funny how you claimed Wang Lee Hom cant carry a tune. If you realise, Wang Lee Hom remains one of the few singers that actually know how to sing, and has actually been recognised by other professionals as a good singer. Yes, professional singers and musicians. If you actually know singing, many of his compositions requires many different styles and vocal techniques that most idol-class singers know nothing of. Give his live singing a few more tries, I assure you he CAN carry a tune, at the very very very very least, and is definitely leagues above an idol-class singer.
 said on
September 24, 2009
@Treen,

Hi, welcome to the site ! 欢迎你 !

I don't know much about Wang Lee Hom, but I remember that when he gave a concern a few weeks ago in Beijing, traffic was impossible. There were so many people at the concern and our taxi couldn't move. I am sure that he is a real star in Beijing/China. 大明星!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
Mark Lesson Studied