Girls swoon over singer-actor Vannes Wu
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Never before was covering a foreign artist as tiring or as irritating as it was on Wednesday, when Taiwanese Vanness Wu performed here in a charity concert.
Unless you have been living in a cave for the past several months, you'd have to recognize him as one of Taiwan's acting- singing sensations of F4, which has taken Asia by storm since appearing on last year's TV series Meteor Garden.
No? OK, Wu is the one with the straightest Pantene-ad-worthy locks. And the bulkiest biceps.
True, we must not overlook the fact that, especially compared to local soaps, the series is well-made and enjoyable.
Nevertheless, not unlike the West's fabricated boy groups, F4 -- standing for Flower Four, the name of the group in the series -- is no exception when it comes to relying on their looks because their acting is mediocre, as are their voices.
But who cares? Girls are crazy about them. And so, their career keeps on rolling, spanning an album, a bunch of other TV series, a solo album for Vic Zhou (another member with shaggy locks), TV shows and movie contracts. Not to mention commercials.
Following Zhou, 24 year-old Wu -- who reportedly is the better singer and dancer of them all -- just released Body Will Sing, a Chinese/English album from Sony Music.
Our one-on-one interview was called off by the label the night prior to the media conference ("too many media wanted to do it"), so I went to the latter on Tuesday.
And whoa! Dozens of girls were already there, mixed among reporters and photographers whose numbers were double the usual.
One guy showed up, looking truly Wu-esque, with a tight tank top and the hair. Apparently, he was the winner of a Wu look- alike contest held a while ago (he looked more like director Jay Subijakto, though).
But why were so many people suddenly wearing red? "It's Vanness' favorite color," said a die-hard fan who begged me to lend her my press ID.
Almost two hours later we were allowed to enter the room, after tight screening. Wu (Chinese name Wu Jian Hao) then showed up, accompanied by cheers and applause (and the endless screaming of girls from outside the room).
Fortunately, he was nice and seemed sincere. And don't forget those great biceps.
Unlike the rest of F4, Wu is an American citizen as he was born and grew up there. Dreaming of becoming a singer, he flew from home in Los Angeles to Taiwan two years ago.
After being turned down by many record companies as well as MTV (to become its VJ), he enrolled in a beauty contest where he was spotted by the Meteor Garden producer.
"It's such a wonderful life. A bit chaotic, but wonderful," he said about the phenomenal success of F4.
He refused to talk about the "One China Policy", under which mainland Chinese authorities thought the series misled young viewers and banned the show after a few episodes aired on some local TV stations.
"I'm not very familiar with the issue. Beside, I'm here to promote my album," Wu said about the album which he co-wrote.
His voice? Not bad. The music is the typical bubble gum dance pop, with highlights of R&B and hip hop. (But the remake of Auld Lang Syne? And Can't Help Falling In Love? Come on).
However, Wu sure can dance, as he put it in the title, saying that "My body is not just moving, it's kinda like singing with the music."
The album, he added, is his chance to show that he is a performer in his own right.
Wu, however, hopes for more projects in English as he is now working on his way to Hollywood, negotiating on a role as young Gengis Khan.
Later on, outside the room, there was a little chaos when several girls fought over a few leftover press kits and almost knocked a partition down.
On Wednesday night, when Wu was scheduled to perform at the Hotel Mulia ballroom, the situation was even more chaotic. Hundreds of people, mostly Chinese-Indonesian girls, swarmed the hotel, waited in long queues for the concert, the tickets for which were priced from Rp 600,000 (US$66.7) to over Rp 1.5 million.
Many media did not get a pass, and most of those that did only received one.
The opening acts were highly in demand young groups: Cokelat, Padi and Sheila on 7, all of which share the same label with Wu. Despite their great performances, the response was modest.
Guitarist Piyu from Padi told the audience that he hoped the latter did not come only to see Wu. Come on, dude, who are you kidding?
Sheila on 7 only got a hot response when they sang Seberapa Pantas (How Appropriate), which is the soundtrack for local TV series Siapa Takut Jatuh Cinta (Who's Afraid of Falling In Love), a true Meteor Garden rip-off.
Wu finally appeared, sang five numbers and gave out kisses to several girls.
Did he lip-sync? Who knows, and who cares? Who could hear anyway as girls kept shouting and screaming.
It was tiring, but thank God it is over now. Wait. The whole F4 group is coming here in January. To perform at the huge Jakarta Fairground in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. For a two-day concert. How chaotic can that be? Sigh.