Upper Row (from L to R): Pop duo Yu Quan, Tian Zhen, Wang Feng

                                         Bottom Row: Super Girls, Hu Yanbin, Zhang Liangying

Hello and welcome to another edition of  China Beat here on China Radio International. This is Zhong Qiu.

At the turn of the century, the Chinese pop scene began to see an explosion of pop idols and a panorama of different music genres. Jay Chou led the popularity of rhythm-and-blues and rap music. A couple of lollipop boy-bands and girl-bands also rose on the C-pop scene, with commercially successful groups like S.H.E and Energy. And the national-level singing competitions like 'Super Girls' greatly boosted Mando-pop's influence.

In the new millennium, the Chinese pop industry boomed with increased exchanges with overseas. More and more foreign singers and musicians are now performing in China. As the commercial system becomes powerful and international exchanges more frequent, one can hear almost any kind of music in China: pop, jazz, blues, punk, rap and techno. As a result, it is now much harder for a singer or band to be popular than in the 1980s.

With so many choices, audiences have become more critical of their music. With today's China Beat, we will continue to look back at the development of Chinese popular music and recollect the golden hits over the past thirty years.

(Be There Or Be Square)

In the beginning of the new millennium, Channel V China and CCTV, China's biggest television broadcaster, joined hands to launch the Chinese Music Awards. It has since become one of the most important music ceremonies in Asia, working to promote Chinese pop music throughout the world and to improve communication between Chinese pop artists.

(Be There Or Be Square)

In the early years of the 21st century, the mainland pop music scene was still dominated by front-line singers such as Na Ying, Liu Huan, Tian Zhen and Sun Nan. They were listed in the category of best female and best male Chinese singers, and their hits like Sun Nan's 'Be There Or Be Square', (不见不散), and 'Be Close to Me', (靠近我) by Tian Zhen were named among the best songs.

(靠近我)

However, Chinese pop scene was diversifying and many new talents were emerging.

(最美)

Yu Qun was one of the newcomers who saw instant popularity in 2000, and is still considered to be the most successful duo in the mainland pop industry. Their debut album, "The Most Beautiful," was a smash hit. They wrote and performed all the tracks off the album, and the title track, "The Most Beautiful", (最美) has a catchy melody that many pop music lovers sing along to.

(最美)

At the turn of the century, Chinese rockers also managed to rank in the mainstream charts. Dubbed as the "godfather of the new generation of Chinese rock music," Wang Feng helped pop lovers to appreciate the musical expressions of rock. His smash hit "Flying Higher", (飞得更高), topped the charts for 8 weeks in 2004.

(飞得更高)

Annual music events also help to revive the Chinese rock movement, which include the Midi Modern Music Festival in Beijing, and the Snow Mountain Music Festival in Yunnan. As the Chinese pop industry matured, local, independent record labels, like Modern Sky, began to grow. This encouraged many young rock bands to burst onto the music scene.

(草原之夜)

Yet, music charts and awards no longer made up the complete picture of the Chinese pop scene as it entered the new millennium. With easy access to the internet and free music downloads, people sought out their own stars rather than following the radio and TV charts.

(草原之夜)

In 2004, Dao Lang was arguably the hottest name on the mainland pop scene. His album "Kashgar Poplar" sold 400,000 copies on the first day of release and his name soared to the top of Google and Baidu, two leading search engines.

(草原之夜)

(老鼠爱大米)
In the same year, another song became an overnight sensation through the internet. "Mice love Rice",老鼠大米 not only helped its writer and performer, Yang Chengang to rank among the most popular singers in the mainland, but also provided a chance for marginalized pop talents to break into the mainstream pop scene.

(老鼠爱大米)

Despite the busy scene of the pop industry, however, in the first five years after 2000, few songs were truly impressive or memorable. Pop music was struck in the dilemma of giving way to aesthetic values by the attraction of popularity.

(Super Girl's Theme)

In 2004, a singing contest called 'Super Girls' was staged nationwide, with enormous attention from both home and abroad. Considered as China's answer to 'Pop Idol', 'Super Girls' ran for three years and became one of the most popular entertainment shows in the country.

(Super Girl's Theme)

Along with its nationwide popularity and success, Super Girls also provoked a debate throughout the whole country. Some criticized the show as "poisoning youth", but its supporters claimed it was a sign of successful marketing in the local entertainment industry, and even a new democratic dream. Regardless of opinion, the talent show did bring some fresh talent into the pop scene.

(我用所有报答爱)

Jane Zhang, (张靓颖), is one of the Super Girls proven to be most commercially successful. During the contest, she received the highest reviews from critics and professional musicians. In 2006, Jane Zhang sang the theme song "Only For Love", (我用所有报答爱)for the movie, 'The Banquet', and was awarded the Best Singer at the 2007 Music Chart Awards Ceremony. At the one-year countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Jane was invited, along with other big Chinese pop stars like Joey Yung, Alan Tam, and Eason Chan, to record the song "We Are Ready". The song we are hearing now is the wonderful 'Only For Love'.

(我用所有报答爱)

At the same time, a group of musical prodigies also emerged on the Chinese pop scene. Most of them have strong music background and are adept in many different music genres. They started their careers as teenagers and showed talents in composing, performing and even producing. The music geniuses include Hu Yanbin, Zhang Liyin and Wang Bohong. With these talented newcomers, the Chinese pop scene is rising to new heights.
And so, with Hu Yanbin's cover of 'My Future Is Not A Dream', we come to the end of this edition of China Beat. In tomorrow's program, we will continue to look back at the development of Chinese popular music. This is Zhong Qiu. Bye for now.