Prologue: Before reading on, I urge you not to look at the attached pictures in this post, before you even finish reading the first paragraph.
In this post, I’m going to talk about my number one idol in the music scene. No, my number one idol is not Fahrenheit, Potato or Sai Sai; in fact I’ve never even mentioned this idol before in my blog. Okay, to give you some hints: first, my idol’s a “she”; second, she used to be a musical spokesperson for Qiong Yao’s drama serials, alongside Gao Shengmei and Bai He Er Chong Chang; third, she was better known for her unisexual outfits in the 90s. So who on earth is she? She’s E-jun, more commonly known as Li Yijun.
I’m not sure if you people have ever heard of her, but in the past when I tell my friends that I liked her, they’d usually give me a blank or bewildered look in return. To some, they’ve never even heard of her, but immediately recognised her when I remind them of her hit song “Promise in the Wind” (Feng Zhong De Cheng Nuo). To some others, they were surprised that I actually listen to her songs, for they feel that I should be more into bubble-gum pop songs by “Little Tigers” (小虎队) or “Red Hot Boys” (红孩儿). Actually, I myself find it unbelievable too, for E-jun’s the only singer whom I really listen that sings melancholic songs. Perhaps it was her unisexual outfit, plus her wide vocal range (she could hit very high notes, and her low octaves were good too, all thanks to her Peking opera background – she was trained in the field of “laosheng”) that had attracted me initially. Subsequently, it was her singing potential that made me like her more. For those who do not know her, she was one rare singer who had tried different styles of music and successfully gave a distinctive touch to them. About a decade ago, she made news by releasing an album, consisting of covers of songs which were considered to be too “masculine” for a female singer to sing. Years later, she suddenly jumped into the world of Hokkien pop, and became one of the very few Mandarin song singers to be ever crowned the “Quen of Hokkien Pop”. Later on, she was also given the title of “Quen of Oldies”, for her interpretation of Chinese oldies, making them her own style.
So, why am I talking about her all of a sudden? It’s because this afternoon, while I was hunting for the final instalment for “Hana Kimi”’s DVD set, I came across E-jun’s latest album in the music store. Well, though latest, it wasn’t very new, because it was actually released in June last year. I had actually seen the CD on sale in the same store a few months back, but I didn’t buy it, because I realized that the album wordings were in simplified Chinese. Not that I was skeptical of China-produced albums again, but my first impression that it was one of those “unofficial” compilation albums produced by some unknown China companies out to cash out on popular artistes. E-jun, from what I knew, was never signed on to a China records company. Today, however, after taking a closer look at the packaging, I realized that the songs inside were all brand new songs. I was surprised, because I thought E-jun had just switched company barely a few years back, and what’s more, this time round, it’s a China-based company. Nevertheless, I decided to buy it in support for my number one idol. The packaging was alright, but inside the album, there was a poster of her, all folded up! That was something I hate, especially when the fold was directly across her face! But then again, I won’t know what to do with the poster, if it’s those regular rolled-up poster like the one that came with Fahrenheit’s album (it was still sitting inside a tube holder at a corner of my room).
Now as I’m typing, I’m listening to her latest album. Not too bad, I would say, although she no longer sing those ultra melancholic songs in high octaves, since these songs are not in favour nowadays. She’s now more matured and mellow, probably as a result of her blissful marriage to actor Jian Chang.
Epilogue: As I was surfing the net just now, I stumbled upon E-jun and Jian Chang’s family blog! I am over the moon now!
In this post, I’m going to talk about my number one idol in the music scene. No, my number one idol is not Fahrenheit, Potato or Sai Sai; in fact I’ve never even mentioned this idol before in my blog. Okay, to give you some hints: first, my idol’s a “she”; second, she used to be a musical spokesperson for Qiong Yao’s drama serials, alongside Gao Shengmei and Bai He Er Chong Chang; third, she was better known for her unisexual outfits in the 90s. So who on earth is she? She’s E-jun, more commonly known as Li Yijun.
I’m not sure if you people have ever heard of her, but in the past when I tell my friends that I liked her, they’d usually give me a blank or bewildered look in return. To some, they’ve never even heard of her, but immediately recognised her when I remind them of her hit song “Promise in the Wind” (Feng Zhong De Cheng Nuo). To some others, they were surprised that I actually listen to her songs, for they feel that I should be more into bubble-gum pop songs by “Little Tigers” (小虎队) or “Red Hot Boys” (红孩儿). Actually, I myself find it unbelievable too, for E-jun’s the only singer whom I really listen that sings melancholic songs. Perhaps it was her unisexual outfit, plus her wide vocal range (she could hit very high notes, and her low octaves were good too, all thanks to her Peking opera background – she was trained in the field of “laosheng”) that had attracted me initially. Subsequently, it was her singing potential that made me like her more. For those who do not know her, she was one rare singer who had tried different styles of music and successfully gave a distinctive touch to them. About a decade ago, she made news by releasing an album, consisting of covers of songs which were considered to be too “masculine” for a female singer to sing. Years later, she suddenly jumped into the world of Hokkien pop, and became one of the very few Mandarin song singers to be ever crowned the “Quen of Hokkien Pop”. Later on, she was also given the title of “Quen of Oldies”, for her interpretation of Chinese oldies, making them her own style.
So, why am I talking about her all of a sudden? It’s because this afternoon, while I was hunting for the final instalment for “Hana Kimi”’s DVD set, I came across E-jun’s latest album in the music store. Well, though latest, it wasn’t very new, because it was actually released in June last year. I had actually seen the CD on sale in the same store a few months back, but I didn’t buy it, because I realized that the album wordings were in simplified Chinese. Not that I was skeptical of China-produced albums again, but my first impression that it was one of those “unofficial” compilation albums produced by some unknown China companies out to cash out on popular artistes. E-jun, from what I knew, was never signed on to a China records company. Today, however, after taking a closer look at the packaging, I realized that the songs inside were all brand new songs. I was surprised, because I thought E-jun had just switched company barely a few years back, and what’s more, this time round, it’s a China-based company. Nevertheless, I decided to buy it in support for my number one idol. The packaging was alright, but inside the album, there was a poster of her, all folded up! That was something I hate, especially when the fold was directly across her face! But then again, I won’t know what to do with the poster, if it’s those regular rolled-up poster like the one that came with Fahrenheit’s album (it was still sitting inside a tube holder at a corner of my room).
Now as I’m typing, I’m listening to her latest album. Not too bad, I would say, although she no longer sing those ultra melancholic songs in high octaves, since these songs are not in favour nowadays. She’s now more matured and mellow, probably as a result of her blissful marriage to actor Jian Chang.Epilogue: As I was surfing the net just now, I stumbled upon E-jun and Jian Chang’s family blog! I am over the moon now!
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