[mandi_]

About the riin doesn't speak clear mandarin thing, does anyone else find it sort of weird that she wouldnt know she's not singing clear chinese? Like Im sure she would know if she was singing her own language not clearly...so why doesn't she fix it?

But yeah it's smart to get chinese learning korean instead, since korean is soooo much easier to learn haha. Im glad i learnt my chinese from birth...cantonese has nine sounds lmao compared to the four in mandarin.

i was thinking, maybe Jang Ri In's image in china will be a more musical image? Like seeing all these artists like jay chou and leehom incorporating musical instruments into their performances like that, it seems like a pretty popular 'thing', so maybe jang ri in will follow and use the violin??? i think it's highly likely since she's said to be REALLY good at it and they wouldn't just mention it on her website for nothing.


edit--i own this page, oh well, just put up with a boring first post of the 196th page ok??!

[Bethany]

name='vietblue99' date='Jan 11 2007, 11:23 PM' post='4648056']SM was lucky to have found Ri In and their other Chinese trainee that someone was mentioning a couple pgs back. She has an amazing singing voice. It's very different from most of the other female singers out there whether in China or Korea or etc. Her Korean is pretty good except she has a bit of an accent and is still uncomfortable using it on camera. Her Mandarin isn't too bad but you can't blame her for being born in Sichuan. Most Chinese people say that they can understand her when she's having a normal conversation. I think they only reason why you can't understand her when she's singing much is because she slurred a lot of the words in both of the Timeless and Y(Why...) Chinese version. The only reason she had to do this was to give it more of an R&B feel.

Yeah, I mentioned about Chinese trainees. Actually, there were about 3 Chinese trainees who were chosen by SM, this was during the 2003 audition, the same year as HanKyung. I was wondering why SM didn't release the names of the other two Chinese trainees, but now that I think about it I think they're supposed to be like LiYin, being kept in the dark.

I'm sure LiYin will do fine in Taiwan. I can't wait for her next performance.

edit:

About the riin doesn't speak clear mandarin thing, does anyone else find it sort of weird that she wouldnt know she's not singing clear chinese? Like Im sure she would know if she was singing her own language not clearly...so why doesn't she fix it?

Interesting question. I remember as LiYin says in an interview that she admires Jay Chou, well everytime when Jay sings, it's difficult for a Chinese person to try and understand what he's singing about. He tends to mumble and slur. Maybe she thinks it's a trend LOL

[vietblue99]

About the riin doesn't speak clear mandarin thing, does anyone else find it sort of weird that she wouldnt know she's not singing clear chinese? Like Im sure she would know if she was singing her own language not clearly...so why doesn't she fix it?

that's always been puzzling me lol

But yeah it's smart to get chinese learning korean instead, since korean is soooo much easier to learn haha. Im glad i learnt my chinese from birth...cantonese has nine sounds lmao compared to the four in mandarin.

and i was thinking, maybe Jang Ri In's image in china will be a more musical image? Like seeing all these artists like jay chou and leehom incorporating musical instruments into their performances like that, maybe jang ri in and follow and play the violin??? i think it's actually highly likely since she's said to be REALLY good at it and they wouldn't just mention it on her website for nothing.

edit--i own this page, oh well, just put up with a boring first post of the 196th page ok??!

Oh yah. She got into a high school because of her violin talents. I can so see her playing a violin. Btw there are a lot of things mentioned about her in her profile regarding all her musical talents from her dancing to her violin skills. I don't think they would say any of this if she wasn't going to use it later on to amaze us.

About her not knowing that her chinese is clear when she's singing, well in her defense SM put her under their label at a very young age. She started training at the age of 13 and she moved to Korea as well. In a way, she's been Koreanized and she might not know that much about the Chinese music scene. I guess she might think that its a trend to sing the way Jay Chou sings with all the slurring.

Bethany, I guess with SM Chinese trainees they are keeping them a secret. I guess SM is using them all as secret weapons to conquer the Chinese music industry and put first is Ri In. The other two I don't think will debut until much later. Btw you know how SM always has their senior artist help a new talent like BoA with DBSK, Kangta with CJSH the Grace, and Junsu with Ri In. I think that once Ri In becomes really big she'll help out one of these Chinese trainees to debut as well.

[winG*]

I thought that there were 3 Chinese guy trainees, and I'm not sure how many girls. A BoA documentary I watched covered the auditions in China, and showed the 3 guys that were chosen (in 2002, I believe)--which included Hankyung. I think Ri In was chosen in a later audition.

Maybe she slurred her words a bit for the R&B feel, but it's no good if people can't understand you at all :x They should teach her new techniques to sing in Chinese, since the two languages sound quite different from one another. Her (live)singing irritates me somewhat, because it goes from really strong and powerful (her growling and grunting. These two aren't the best words, forgive me. I mean them in a good way--most of the time, anyway) and then becomes really really soft. It does show that she has a wide range, but she's not controlling them enough to make the transitions pleasant. I think it's frustrating because you can tell she has SO much potential, and yet...she's not quite there yet?

I'm sorry. I think I critique her too much, but everyone else has said everything good I have to say about her...I'm not bashing right? Constructive critisism is a good thing for performers^^;;

EDIT: About her Chinese singing, I honestly think the age she went into SM had nothing to do with it :x It was probably her Sichuan accent, along with the way she was taught how to sing the songs in Korean.

[yongwonhi]

^I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU. Haha, that's exactly what I think about her voice too. :X
Anyway, I think she slurs her Chinese because that's just how she sings (I mean, for her voice. The way she sings, it's probably the only way to sing Chinese). Yeah.

[보석미남]

I can actually understand what she's singing despite all the slurring. But I guess not everyone can. I know a lot of people who dislike Jay's slurring AND a lot of people who find it sexy. Hahahaha. I actually find it harder to understand JJ Lin and (sometimes) Jay's songs because of the extremely bombastic lyrics T_T. My vocabulary is horrible.

I think the fact that she got rid of her accent when speaking is a pretty good achievement already because it's REALLY REALLY hard to drop Chinese accents. Well at least for me. =/

Bethany, I guess with SM Chinese trainees they are keeping them a secret. I guess SM is using them all as secret weapons to conquer the Chinese music industry and put first is Ri In. The other two I don't think will debut until much later. Btw you know how SM always has their senior artist help a new talent like BoA with DBSK, Kangta with CJSH the Grace, and Junsu with Ri In. I think that once Ri In becomes really big she'll help out one of these Chinese trainees to debut as well.

I agree.

From what I read (quite some time ago, before her debut), the only chinese singers that will be debuting in Korea are HanKyung & LiYin. The other SM Chinese trainees will only debut in China (So it's sorta like SM China). I heard this from a pretty reliable source who was the one that brought up the whole "secret weapon" thing months before Liyin's debut. But I'm not sure if they're still gonna follow through with this plan.

[sakura_drop]

I thought that there were 3 Chinese guy trainees, and I'm not sure how many girls. A BoA documentary I watched covered the auditions in China, and showed the 3 guys that were chosen (in 2002, I believe)--which included Hankyung. I think Ri In was chosen in a later audition.

Maybe she slurred her words a bit for the R&B feel, but it's no good if people can't understand you at all :x They should teach her new techniques to sing in Chinese, since the two languages sound quite different from one another. Her (live)singing irritates me somewhat, because it goes from really strong and powerful (her growling and grunting. These two aren't the best words, forgive me. I mean them in a good way--most of the time, anyway) and then becomes really really soft. It does show that she has a wide range, but she's not controlling them enough to make the transitions pleasant. I think it's frustrating because you can tell she has SO much potential, and yet...she's not quite there yet?

I'm sorry. I think I critique her too much, but everyone else has said everything good I have to say about her...I'm not bashing right? Constructive critisism is a good thing for performers^^;;

EDIT: About her Chinese singing, I honestly think the age she went into SM had nothing to do with it :x It was probably her Sichuan accent, along with the way she was taught how to sing the songs in Korean.

yeah it okay to criticize her ..... like i give her criticism about her sing but in a way it good coz we know that Jang Riin isn't perfect and since she isn't perfect at singing we can all watch her improve in her singing skills ......... i just reckon that if a news artist starts out sing perfect with no problems then later in their singing career it would be harder for them to impress people and yeah well Jang Riin wasn't in the 2002 audition .............. she was in the one before that i remember reading that they found out about Jang Riin in the 2001 audition ............... but yeah i reckon it is hard to sing R&B songs in mandarin ...... coz noramlly R&B songs are soothing and everything and Mandarin language is very sharp and heavy in accents ... so yeah i guess she has to slurr her words for the R7B feel but also her accent is another reason why it makes her mandarin less understandable ............ Like like when JAy Chou sings his song its all slurry but people understand what he is singing coz he doesn't have a heavy accent while Jang Riin does

[vietblue99]

I can actually understand what she's singing despite all the slurring. But I guess not everyone can. I know a lot of people who dislike Jay's slurring AND a lot of people who find it sexy. Hahahaha. I actually find it harder to understand JJ Lin and Jay's songs because of the extremely bombastic lyrics T_T. My vocabulary is horrible.

I think the fact that she got rid of her accent when speaking is a pretty good achievement already because it's REALLY REALLY hard to drop Chinese accents. Well at least for me. =/
I agree.

From what I read (quite some time ago, before her debut), the only chinese singers that will be debuting in Korea are HanKyung & LiYin. The other SM Chinese trainees will only debut in China (So it's sorta like SM China). I heard this from a pretty reliable source who was the one that brought up the whole "secret weapon" thing months before Liyin's debut. But I'm not sure if they're still gonna follow through with this plan.

Oh cool. SM is expanding into China. I'm guessing that when the other Chinese trainees debut that Ri In and Hankyung will help them out. I'm guessing for SM China Ri In and Hankyung will be sort of like BoA and Kangta are right now in Korea, the big headliners of SM.

[jack jack attack]

^I'm thinking that also. Lol .. I can so see Ri In playing violin. I imagine her sitting and playing the violin in her hands with her eyes closed, concentrating on the music and moving her head along with it.

[rukawa11]

^ haha i think it was me ^^

but JJ got some nice songs too and not abt mummys.lol

when is her nxt performance ? i wonder if she did smth to her looks again...

Yeah.. but his songs are like styled after rpg games or wars or robots.. I read in an interview that it is because he loves gaming too much that he gets his inspirations from there..
but his 'dou jiang you tiao' was splendid..very cute lyrics..
I like him actually =) and plus the fact that he is from my country, I really respect him..

Like I said before, Ri In has to sort of go through the Taiwanese market in order to reach to the Chinese residing in South-East Asia and (maybe) the US..
and actually, I hope that she will debut in Taiwan because she will become more well-known..(though I don't really like having to see her facing all the competition there)..I tried telling my friends about her and introducing them to her music but it was so tiring because they kept rejecting the idea of listening to her (I have no idea why)..argh..

Well, about the Taiwanese market, newcomers seem to just come and go if they don't really make it.. and definitely, the fastest way to gain more recognition and fame would be through acting but I wouldn't wish to see Ri In in a Taiwanese idol drama because I still think they are kind of substandard (no offence)
It is also about the fact that because the industry is shrinking (due to piracy in the past and now illegal downloading), the record companies are not as willing to invest in a newcomer as before.. That is why in recent years, singers like Stefanie Sun, Jolin Tsai, Jay Chou and Fish Leong are still among the main dominators of the market..just my opinion..

About the Third Korean Wave, since Ri In is being labelled as the leader of it by LSM, I bet she's feeling all the pressure and stress now.. it's like a make it or break it kind of thing..poor girl..

[vietblue99]

^ Yah I know. Lee Soo Man really wants to claim the 3rd Korean wave for SM so he has put all this pressure on her. This sucks since she still new and young but already has all these expectations that she has to meet.

I think that she would be able to lead the 3rd Korean wave but it takes time to do this.

[dreamweaver]

about her chinese, i also think it's because of her accent + the R&B style of singing. i think one never realizes one's accent is "too strong" or pronunciation is "unclear" because when you grow up learning to speak a certain way, you'd think that's "normal". that's why artists need coaches to "correct/get rid" of the regional accents. or if you stay in a place long enough, you can get rid of the regional accent once you pick up the local accent. =)

i think fans these days appreciate talent - vocal or music composition. especially in the taiwan music scene. that's why artists like jay chou, jj lin, lee hom, jasmine, stefanie, etc. are so popular. there's no longer a contentment with just pretty faces. that's why i hope if liyin debuts there, she'll wow them with her amazing vocals and other musical skills. maybe LSM is just taking his time with his "attacks" and "strategies" for marketing and promoting liyin.

[genna]

Ri In's accent isn't that bad, I can actually understand her mandarin for the most part, unlike Hankyung, whom in which takes me a long time to make out what he's saying, but I don't think the accent is going to be much of a problem in their career. Accent's sort of reflect individuality in my opinion, and besides I enjoy listening to Jay Chou even though I can hardly understand a single word from his songs. xD

Anyway, I'm really anticipating her debut in Taiwan, but I guess SM wants to stabilize everything and make sure Ri In appears in the Chinese entertainment industry with a bang, which is also something that I want to see.

[dreamweaver]

^ heehee... i can understand liyin, hankyung, and jay chou just fine. i agree about the individuality thing. jay's signature slur style makes him stand out. and liyin's just starting out really. so, she has plenty of time to develop her individuality over the course of her career. but yeah, accents are not a big deal. plus, there are a number of artists who speak with accents, but sound perfectly fine in songs. that goes for western artists as well.

anyway, i guess we're all looking forward to her inkigayo perf. this weekend. i think that's all she's got on her schedule, right?

[jack jack attack]

^I totally can't wait for that! Just 2 more days!! I think that is the only thing on her schedule right now.

[talksound]

I can't wait to see it either.
& I wanna watch her play violin too! (:

[kawaiigurl27]

^ yeah, i think sm should also showcase her violin skills....
and her dancing skills too!! ^__^

[blessed]

i wanna watch ri in play violin too!!
i wonder how they can incorporate it into a performance.. but the problem with violin is that you cant really sing while playing,, unlike the piano.

ahh i hope she continues activities in korea when she debuts in taiwan!!

[mandi_]

haha i dunno if you guys have seen this, but i was just surfing around youtube and came across this fancam from the Timeless performance at the korean drama festival. Actually I think this is a rehearsal because Xiah is less professional in here and she sings SO much better than the one that actually aired on tv! Anyway it's really good because after the performance this person keeps taping them and you get to see a bit extra of Junsu and Riin interacting after they've finished singing and Xiah is like directing her where to go and they're discussing stuff about the stage..and then they both walk off ^^ I wanna see more clips of them in 'real life' like this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj0jC_as4NA

[kawaiigurl27]

^ waaaiii...
i just finished watching!!
omo!! they look soooo cute together...and junsu was being "i am responsible for ri in"

random: in the beginning of the clip....xiah was like............errrrmmm....scratching his back?? hahahaah!!

just wanna share what april shared over at TMLSS

When Stars talk about Junsu!!!!!

*Our cute Junsu!!! He can play soccer really well...very well!!
- Kim Hee Chul


*A really handsome and gentlemanly guy who has a limpid soul. Every time before we go on stage, he would help me take care of everything
- Jang Riin


*I really like Xiah Junsu alot. I would continue assisting him forever.
- Bae Seul Gi

*He puts in more effort in my stuff in comparison of his own, a good buddy who always feels apologetic towards me. In the end, we always been the same, running towards our common destinations. Thanks, really!
- Eun Hyuk

*Didn't sleep for 2 nights consecutivly, drawing some stuff on an A4-sized paper in the dressing room early in the morning. I went to have a look. It was a concept of soccer positions.
- Kang In


Credits
Source: TVXQF + cutie_bratz14@ TMLSS
Translations: eveelyn @ TVfXQ SFC+ Forever_Charmed@AF