Vanness entertains girls, for sure

Vanness entertains girls, for sure

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, 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.