Jerry Yan - Dream Prince Becomes Rock and Roll

Fades from F4's image, works hard in studio, one
year's hard work to give fans a surprise this holidays

Jerry fans please look this way, Jerry has spent over
1 year on his album and will release it in May this
year. Singapore producer has flown over to Taiwan to
work with Jerry and will let Jerry fade from the F4's
dreamy image. Jerry says: "I don't want to be a
prince, rather I'm a rock and roller." Producer Liu
also says that Jerry has cleared his other duties to
focus on his album, not eating and drinking to record
through the nights. Jerry's beauty and endurance is
surprising and has a very broad voice range. Some fake
sounds, he can sing up to 14 degrees.

Even though there are many films requesting Jerry from
HK, Jerry's main focus now is his album. To give
audience a good listen, he went to Japan to learn
singing for about 4 months. The results are audible,
Jerry now knows how to control his body and voice to
express the mood of the song.

In regards to this album, Jerry was very assertive
about what he wanted and told them to his producers.
He wanted it to have a unique lang zi rock and roll
feel, as well as a cultural feel, with a taste of
south east Asia. There's also slow songs as well but
focused more on rock. His image is completely
different to before and hopes that fans will get a
surprise out of it.

When he's in the recording room, he is very focused
and would stay until midnight, full of energy.
Producer Si saw his persistence and was moved by it.
Jerry even tries writing his own songs and according
to producer Liu, Jerry has a talent for it. Jerry has
completed 7 songs out of 10, which he had to choose
from a selection of over 1000. Jerry says that if he
doesn't sing well, then he's not living up to the
fan's expectations. When F4 sang Meteor Rain, no one
could clearly hear Jerry's voice, but this holidays,
he will bring rock and roll to the hearts of his fans.

source: ming shen bao 18/3

Please credit Lilian and http://onlyf4.proboards4.com

THE POP BOYBANDS ARE ALRIGHT
By Xtian Ji Huang
CN TV, China
March 17, 2004

IS it time to wave bye, bye, bye to teen pop? Critics
seem to think so.
But they were sounding the death knell for teen ear
candy back in January,
after Vic Chou's album failed to sell high-expected
figures.

Even as boy band 5566 releases "Second album" - one of
the year's most
in-demand discs - music critics are predicting the
death of bubble-gum pop.

FTV declared in a headline on Friday, "Boy bands
starting to feel some backlash."

" 'Pop' Goes the Teen Boom?" asked Entertainment U in
February, after Chou released the single
"Ji De Wo Ai Ni." The article went on to say the
"music industry is anticipating a downturn because it
believes teens are burned out on the sound."

And Asia News Service recently reported, "Teen pop may
be petering out."

It's more a matter of taste than truth. Sure, F4 not
the Beatles or even the Spinners, but
don't tell that to 14-year olds, who still cause a
traffic jam in Taichung when any of
their pop idols are on.

Hey, critics never liked teen pop to begin with. And
teen pop idols like F4 and 5566 don't like
critics as well, to begin with.

And, if teen pop is a fading fad, store owners don't
know it. They've ordered million copies of
ZZ's new album, the same number they ordered for the
group 5566 mega hit "Second Album."

But if *ZZ's and soon-to-release album Ken and
Vanness's new effort fail to match or
exceed their first album sales (group or solo) - the
disc will be deemed a failure.

And critics will start saying it's over for the
pop-culture phenom.

But that's wishful thinking.

Even dumber are those - like Apple Daily - who suggest
Yen's very adult problems of
immaturity and unprofessionalism signal the end of the
teen musical trend.

If booze and the blues could end a musical trend, rock
'n' roll would have died
long before Elvis did and we'd all be doing the waltz.

F4 will always remain in the history of Music,
Entertainment and Asia. The hell with the critics.
If the critics say Vic's album expect to sale 2M, and
he only sold 1.5M, does that mean his
album is a failure? I don't think so...

*thanks to starsailor2003 of http://www.pure4.net

ZZ - 20,000,000 a month
     
 
Rich commerce likes young girls with a good stature.
Rich women like cutie gigolos and bold men with
well-built bodies as well as handsome guys. The
entertainment circle is the headquarters of ferocious
males. It’s only natural that this is the holy place
for millionaire ladies.
From the 80s’ Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Ray Liu to the
90s’ Tony Leung, Leon, until today’s Zai Zai, Jerry
Yan and Bae Yong Jun, all are the most wanted male
celebrities of rich ladies. In order to touch the
hearts of these actors, wealthy women are willing to
take out 5,000,000 to 8,000,000 HKD (NT 22,500,000 to
36,000,000).
A few days ago, handsome Korean actor Bae Yong Jun
promoted his new movie in Taiwan arousing madness
among female fans. But looking ahead, among these
females, the majority are wealthy ladies. They have
money and leisure. When they chase celebrities they
obviously spend a ton booking charabancs, rooms, and
fields. They make people aware of middle-aged women’s
grand offerings, not losing to young people.
With the same principle, if millionaire women have a
male celebrity as their target, the money they throw
out really can kill people. Last year, Vic Zhou and
Ken Zhu promoted their drama “Love Storm” in
Indonesia. The two created a whirlwind, receiving a
very warm welcome by young female fans.
However, this is not what confounded the staff members
because there was a middle-aged lady who claimed to be
rich. She said she owned a bank, forest, department
store and other industries. She said, “As long as F2
Vic Zhou and Ken Zhu are willing to be supported, just
give me a price!” This almost frightened the two guys
to death.
The upper class in Hong Kong has always had a price
list of supported female celebrities. They also have a
price ranking of the most popular supported male
celebrities. From this chart, it’s not difficult to
see that male celebrities that the rich ladies like
sequent with generation and trend.
Next few paragraphs on some Hong Kong celebrities and
the amount rich ladies gave to support them.
In 2000, these celebrities are in their 30s and 40s so
they do not meet with wealthy ladies’ demands of
“young and fresh.” Therefore, nowadays, Zai Zai, Jerry
Yan and Jay Chou have become the three most wanted men
by rich ladies for care.
In order to take care of these 3 handsome celebrities,
these rich ladies have offered millions. For Zai Zai’s
support price, a month is 5,000,000 HKD (NT
22,500,000), Jerry’s is 3,000,000HKD a month and Jay’s
is 2,000,000HKD a month.
The reason why all 3 stars are from Taiwan is probably
because there hasn't been any new artists that stands
out in HK and the old ones don't have anything
refreshing.
Rich Ladies Love Zai Zai Most
This person expressed that Zai Zai's gentilesse and
obedient appearance not only attract young girls, but
also recieves gazes from wealthy women. And Zai Zai's
shyness and his lovable traits arousing rich ladies'
maternity. That's why he is the champion for most
popular male celebrity wanted by rich ladies.
Still translating.....

Source:
http://www.tvbs.com.tw/TVBS_WEEKLY/weekly_...020040318053825
Translated by Amy of http://f4ever.azn.nu

Jumpy, goofy Vanness
DIRECTLINE By Boy Abunda
The Philippine Star 03/19/2004

If you don’t know F4 sensation Vanness Wu by now, then
you must be living in a cave for the past six months
or so.
Ever since Vanness Wu and his F4 buddies Jerry Yan,
Vic Zhou, and Ken Zhu made their Philippine TV debut
on Meteor Garden, the entire nation has been gripped
by chinovela-mania, fanatic mass hysteria that is
reminiscent of the Beatlemania we witnessed in the
‘60s. Come to think of it, they’ve also been dubbed as
an Asian Fab Four of sorts. These Taiwanese pop idols,
however, seem determined to make their own distinct
mark in the entertainment industry. The most gung-ho
of the Gang of Four is Vanness Wu, who charmed all of
Manila when he (and Ken) visited late last year for
the smash concert The Event.
Indeed, Vanness consistently wins points among Pinoys
because he’s the only one who speaks English fluently
(having been raised in the US) and seems the most glib
and gregarious of the four. He once confided to a
Filipina interviewer that he had lots of Filipino
friends when he was in high school and that he has
kept in touch with most of them. When he told them
that he was visiting Manila for a concert, his Pinoy
pals were stunned. "It’s funny," he relates, "but they
told me that they haven’t been to the Philippines in
19 years, while I am going there to perform!"
He also stands head and shoulders above the other F4
members because he not only possesses the silkiest
tresses, but because he is also the most gifted when
it comes singing and dancing. If Jerry is the Bad Boy
F4, Vic is the Quiet F4, and Ken is the Most
Unintimidating F4, Vanness takes home the prize as the
Most Talented F4. And his F4 gangmates wholeheartedly
agree.
"I’m his no. I fan," Jerry himself concedes. In fact,
when Vanness launched his solo CD, Jerry dropped by,
lined up with the fans, and got an autograph from his
idol. "He is my singing and dancing instructor," Jerry
attests. "I think he is the most well-rounded one
among the four of us." When they’re already old and
gray, Jerry opines, Vanness will still be around, "as
the international king of the dance stage." "I admire
Vanness’s courage and determination," Vic asserts. "He
really prepared himself for all this. His singing is
the best among the four of us. and his dancing is also
tops. Moreover, he is the least likely to be moody
when working."
Ken concurs and singles out Vanness’s positive work
ethic as his friend’s most endearing attribute. "He is
very generous. His knowledge about music is very
broad. His easy-going attitude allows other people to
get close to him. He is probably the most normal among
us four!"
He’s also the funniest, it seems. And the most
mischievous. People who know the real Vanness say that
he’s the eternal child at heart. He once pulled a
prank on their clueless manager, putting sugar in his
shoes. The problem was, it was unbearably hot day. So
by the end of the shoot, the sugar in the shoes
melted, leaving the poor manager with a sweet yet
sticky mess.
He also admits being a bit hyper. "I’m really an
active, sporty type of person," he pipes up. "I love
running around. Jumping around. Just goofing off."
That’s why he was offered an action flick, Star
Runner, for his big-screen debut, he didn’t have to
think twice about it. "That was awesome," he recalls.
"I felt so fortunate because everyone involved in the
project poured 100 percent into it. All their time and
energy."
For his first big movie (and all his hard work), he
was nominated Best New Actor at the HKFA Awards in
Hong Kong. Colleagues also claim he is the most
finicky about his looks. That he is Mr. Vain. That
much was confirmed by Barbie Hsu or San Cai of Meteor
Garden fame. "We often talk about facial masks and
stuff like that!"
In fact, he was given the nickname Barbie King Kong,
because he exudes both macho and prissy traits.
Because he constantly struggles with his Chinese, he
oftentimes mixed up his lines of dialogue on Meteor
Garden 1 and 2. Once, instead of saying "Hello
everyone!", he absent-mindedly cracked "Hello big
chickens!" As such, he is almost always the recipient
of gentle ribbings from his F4 cronies.
Jerry once joked that in "Vanness’s dictionary,
there’s no such word as modesty." Quick on the drew,
Vanness wittily retorted: "But I only borrowed the
dictionary from you!"
Because such good-natured camaraderie is daily fare
for the F4 guys, rumors of jealousy and in-fighting
confound and exasperate Vanness so. "Everyone is happy
for each other," he exclaims. "We’re really excited
for each other’s solo projects."
He rules that media seem to prefer to focus on nasty
rumors. "People say we’re not friends, that we don’t
get along," he explains. "Why would they all show up
at the premiere of my movie in Taiwan?" The press made
a big deal out of it, he bristles, "We’re friends!
What’s wrong with you? We don’t envy each other at
all. We’re all very happy for each other’s success!"
That’s the real Vanness, in a nutshell. Slick,
straight-shooting, and sharp. Pinoys will again get
the chance to know the real Vanness Wu when he stages
a major concert tour in the Philippines this March. He
is set to headline Crazy In Love with Vanness, with
guests Pops Fernandez, Francis M, Jay-R and the
Hotlegs. Also guesting on March 27 and 29 are Mark
Herras and Yasmien Kurdi, and Star In A Million
champion Erik Santos. Direction is by Rowell Santiago.
It will go onstage at the Expo Filipino in Clark Field
Pampanga (March 26), at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon
City (March 27), and at Abellana Sports Complex in
Cebu City (March 29), with the Quezon City Performing
Arts Foundation, Inc. as beneficiary.
For ticket inquiries, call Ticketworld at 891-9999,
the Expo Filipino Office (843-6589), and Mindworks
Consulting Co. (255-8388, 253-0891).
http://www.philstar.com./philstar/index.htm
Taken from: VicZhoufamily

Zhan Lian's call for voluntary enlistment strikes a
chord with idol
draftees
Posted: March 17, 2004

Presidential candidate Zhan Lian proposes voluntary
enlistment and
says he would push to enact enlistment if he gets
elected.  At that
time, military services will no longer be mandatory
for draftees.

At present time, there are many idol draftees,
including Energy,
Youwei Lin, Wei Lee, Zaizai, 5566's Menze Xu, Taro
etc; they are all
assent to voluntary enlistment.

It is not that thy want to avoid military services.
All things
considered, enlistment is a better policy than the
current mandatory
conscription.  They also don't have to worry about
their careers, for
which they have been striving so hard, being
interrupted by military
services.   Of course, they are all for it.

Zaizai currently is a college sophomore and will soon
face the
problem of military services.  He thinks one year and
ten moths of
training do not improve the military power. 
Enlistment, which
treats soldiers as a profession with full benefits,
serves as a
better national defense policy.

The rest are comments made by Youwei Lin and members
of Energy and
5566.

Source: Da Cheng Bao
----------------------------
This is written by the head of China Economics
Research Institute in
Taiwan.  He used F4 to illustrate the concept of
opportunity cost.
Only that part is translated.

[size=5][b]Conscription versus Enlistment[/b][/size]
Posted: March 17, 2004

National defense budget does not represent the real
military cost. 
Under conscription, people go to the armies without
pay.  But this
does not mean that the cost of building up military
forces is zero. 
The real cost of military forces is what people need
to sacrifice in
exchange for being in the armies.  Let's assume that
F4's annual
singing income is 10 million NT dollars, and then the
social cost of
F4's military service is 10 million NT dollars.  Under
conscription,
all male draftees who have passed physical
examinations will have to
join the armies regardless of their potential income
is 10 million NT
dollars or zero.  If we don't need that many soldiers,
it is obvious
that we should choose only those with zero income to
be soldiers and
let F4 continue its singing careers.  As such, the
society as a whole
can lower its opportunity cost.  But, isn't this
unfair? Of course,
it's not fair. So we should pay appropriate salaries
to those who go
to the armies, and let F4 pays income taxes which in
turn are used
for salaries for these people. This is what enlistment
is about.

Source: China Times Daily

Translated by laiou2002 of
<http://www.vicpower.net/asp>

Thanks to MaanZHOU and Kenzie of F4Pilipinas

Jerry Yan - Dreamy prince transforms to rock wastrel
Posted: March 18, 2004

Jerry fans please come over. Jerry Yan spent 1 year to
manufacture his first album. The earliest the album
will be published will be in May. Producer Si Song
flew from Singapore to Taipei to manufacture Jerry's
album, making Jerry fade away from F4's dreamy
appearance. Jerry said, "I don't want to be a prince,
this time I want to become a rock wastrel." The
producer Liu Tian Jian expressed that Jerry excluded
other work to concentrate of recording for his new
album. He frequently records until midnight without
eating or drinking. Bao Long's perseverance and
endurance is indeed astonishing. Moreover, his bass
larghetto, in one, two fake sounds can sing to the 14
degree.

Recently Jerry only wants to concentrate on recording
his album despite several Hong Kong movies wanting to
talk to him. In order to make the songs well-turned,
he was sent to Japan to recieve vocal classes. He
learned singing skills as long as 4 months. He
exercises during the day and exercises during the
night and surely enough he put forth good preformance.
Liu Tian Jian said that Jerry already knows any
position that uses the body completely, conveying
emotions.

Regarding his first solo album, Jerry has his own
views. He told Si Song and Liu Tian Jian that the
music can't "spill dog blood" (this is probably some
slang or something that i don't know how to translate,
so i'll just put a direct translation^.^;;;;) it needs
to have a unique wastrel rock style. His wastrel rock
plus nationality style has a somewhat Middle Eastern
rock flavor. Apart from rock, it also has a little
ballad. But the principal axis is rock. This is
completely different from his past image, making fans
have mixed feelings.

As long as Jerry enters the recording room, he doesn't
want to be distracted and talk about other things. He
was "sharpened" until midnight by Si Song. Yet he is
still vigorous. Si Song was touched by his
persistence. Not only that but Jerry also made his
first attempts at writting lyrics. Liu Tian Jian feels
that he has talent in writting lyrics. Currently,
Jerry has already finished recording 7 songs in
Taipei. From thousands of songs, about 10 songs were
selected. Jerry said that if he doesn't sing
seriously, he'll feel very sorry to fans. Before, when
F4 sang "Meteor Rain," everyone can't attentively
listen to Bao Long's voice. This year, before
vacation, he will be using rock to touch fans.

Source: Min Sheng Bao

Translated by Amy of http://f4ever.azn.nu

Zaizai to cast his first presidential vote
posted: MARCH 19, 2004
 
In the face-off of blue and green,
one and half million voters,
their first time,
will decide the future of Taiwan
Yesterday Central Election Committee announced that
there will be 16,507,079 voters for the presidential
election on March 20,
more than one million additional voters than last
presidential election.
There are more than 1,580,000 people of first time
voters,
ranking only after Taipei Prefecture and Taipei City
in terms of voter population.
As the number of 20-24 age groups is sufficient enough
to determine the outcome of election;
these young people have become crucial to both
parties.
Negative propagandas not appealing
What image of a president do these young people have
in mind?
Negative propagandas are not appealing to them.
Entertainer Jolin Tasi says:” I feel the character and
personalities are very important. Most of all is
responsibility.
He works for people’s welfare.”
Wei Lee says:” My ideal president is someone with
intelligence, good disposition, a broad mind and
humanity;
helping minority groups and spending money on taking
care of people instead of buying missiles.”
Vic Zhou who can cast a ballot for the first time has
already talked to the production crew to take that day
off.
He definitely will squeeze time to vote.
Source: Apple Daily of Taiwan
Thanks to laiou2002 of http://www.vicpower.net/asp
*thanks to AMY OF FAITHFUL4EVER

He's Going To Be Huge... Not only the Muscles!
Exclusive by : Xtian
Posted: March 18, 2004

Vanness Wu is already cross - and we haven't even
asked him questions yet.
"There's a lot of acts out there who don't have a clue
what they're about," he says grumpily, before adding:
"They're just out there to make a quick buck."

Now we don't mean to be rude or anything, but to look
at other artists we won't mention
the names, perhaps we could be mistaken for thinking
Wu is the one who doesn't have a clue -
just look at that hair! The pop hunk facial furniture!
The way he bounces along to the menacing hip hop on
the stereo looking more like Justin T.... And yet it
seems that everyone is talking about Vanness Wu not
from the former F4, but one who performed hottie with
Machi in the
recently concluded MTV Asia Awards in Singapore... So
what is going on? Well, get this. Stateside feature
Vanness has more chances to make bigger than anyone
else in F4.
So could it be that Vanness is, lah, actually quite
better then?

Credit to http://vannesswu.tk and F4Exclusive
baolong4ever
*thanks to starsailor2003 of http://www.pure4.net
*thanks to CRISSY of FAITHFUL4EVER

Zai Zai Likely To Outsell Everyone But himself

Vic's second Solo Album is turning out to be huge for
Chou, though
maybe not as huge as
first one's Make A Wish. Four national retail chains
said Monday
(March 15) that based
on first-day sales of Chou's Second Album, projected
first-week
numbers appeared to be
falling on sales of the SoundScan era.

But Chou's album, does not seem to be on course to top
the first-best
sales mark
held by 5566, if compared, retailers said. "Based on
what I'm seeing
so far, I'm
projecting millions in sales in asia of the albums of
5566 than Vic,
like so far the releases
of the debut albums of F4 and 5566, 5566 album flew
off the shelves
and even ran out of stock to
sell for buyers...said Bell, music buyer for the Music
chain.
"It may not meet the mark of the Second Album of 5566,
but in the
end, Chou hopefully can
still manage to hold at least the #3 if not the #1
which is the
position for the quintet"

Through this, many people have been predicting the
death of the F4
phenomenon, but anyone
predicting that ZZ will also be over should be proven
wrong.

On other stores, ZZ's album also was wiped off the
shelves but failed
to match the
sales of Second Album by 5566. Best Megastores echoed
that statement,
pinning Chou's sales at only 70 percent of those of
5566.

"We're very encouraged," Hanson from the TR said. "We
think it'll do
as well, if not better,
than 5566."

Source: Lyss, TR, Best Megastores

SUBJECT: F4News: F4 Rules in MNL PH - Proof As
Attached

Heads up, Asian Tv Series Fans...!!!

Check out the ff URLs to get snapshots on the latest
and historical
TV ratings as extracted from AGB's database.

These figures are utilized by advertisers and ad
agencies in coming
up with their media planning & buying efforts.

About AGB
The world-wide range of the AGB Group made it possible
to introduce a
uniform telemetric research standard in its member
countries.
(including the Philippines)

http://www.agb.com

Disclaimer:
The tables are subject to various analysis and
interpretations.

Highlights of the extracted data:

1. Periods covered: 2003 (full year) and 2004
(to-date)
2. Target members: Individual (as against household)
3. AMR% - Average Meter Rating
4. CNT - # of times the program was shown

5. Interesting Highlights:

2003 - a banner year for F4 in the Philippines.
Remains unprecedented!

2004 - korean telenovelas get a better viewership
share (to date)

6. How the Asian Idols Fared

F4 Rules in Top 10 (2003) and it's latest MG2 Rewind
(2004) run still
have a satisfactory turnout.

5566 - MTV Valentine and West Side Story - both have a
low 5.9%
turnout
Competition: F4 (19%) and Ghost Fighter (10.8%)
respectively

Barbie Hsu's latest, Eternity, got a measly 5.6% on
the scale. Very
unsatisfactory as it's timeslot is near/almost
in the primetime category (more traffic expected).

The Snapshots:

ASIAN TV SERIES IN THE PHILS - 2004

http://img1.photobucket.com/albums/1003/Tigerlily_Kaye/AGB-TVRatings-
2004.jpg

ASIAN TV SERIES IN THE PHILS - 2003

http://img1.photobucket.com/albums/1003/Tigerlily_Kaye/AGB-TVRatings-
2003-A.jpg

http://img1.photobucket.com/albums/1003/Tigerlily_Kaye/AGB-TVRatings-
2003-B.jpg

http://img1.photobucket.com/albums/1003/Tigerlily_Kaye/AGB-TVRatings-
2003-C.jpg

This effort was made as objective as possible.

As an F4 supporter, I also want to share this piece of
proof and
great news to the bevy of supporters who have been
just as
remarkable@!!!

Kong Qi! Jia you!!!

To all F4 detractors - you must have been missing out
on this one.

The bottomline is--- F4 has come a lon way and is here
to stay!
Keep the F4 spirit ablaze!

So everyone---- Don't Stop. Ask For More!!!

More F4 drama series and events to come!!!!

Note: You may disseminate this one....spread the word!

Cheers,
Tigerlily Kaye-F4Pilipinas-ZaizaiCrib

http://img1.photobucket.com/albums/1003/Tigerlily_Kaye/fb93e40f.jpg