Jane Zhang
(张靓颖;Zhāng Liąngyǐng) took 3rd place in China's
2005 Supergirls televised singing competition although she seemed to be the
most talent of all the contestants. Despite her vocal talent,
apparently many Chinese voters were more interested in the more
outgoing and tomboyish images of Li
Yuchun and
Zhou Bichang.
Another factor that may have
worked against Zhang was her versatility. During the
competition, she performed songs in English, Spanish,
Cantonese, as well as
Mandarin Chinese.
Jane likely had more performing experience
than her competitors due to some difficult circumstances in her
childhood. Her father died when she was 15 and she earned
money by singing at a local
Chengdu
bar with her uncle accompanying her.
Her early performing experience led to familiarity with various
musical genres, and and artists. Like some of her favorites
singers, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera, Jane is known for having quite a vocal range.
In addition to the videos below, a later example of the higher part of
Jane's vocal range is exhibited in a duet with popular male vocalist
Leehom Wang (王力宏),
Another Heaven
(另一個天堂).
After the Super Girls show, Jane was promptly
signed to Chinese record company Huayi Music which quickly
released an EP,
Jane·Love (Jane·爱),
in early 2006 and her debut album,
The One, in late 2006. The
album contains 3 songs in English which were produced in the
United States and Zhang also performed some concerts in
California in
2007. Zhang released her second album,
Update, in mid-2007 and also
participated a recording of the theme song for the
2008 Beijing Olympics torch relay, Light the Passion, Share
the Dream (点燃激情，传递梦想).
Her most recent album,
Jane@Music, was released in January 2009, a month before
her contract with Huayi expired. Despite that, Jane
managed to land an appearance on the
Oprah Winfrey show on May 11,
2009.
Possibly not so
coincidentally, Jane
signed a record deal with
Universal Records about a month later. The
Universal deal reportedly includes artists singed to
Zhang's new label, Show City as well as her own
recordings.
Jane & Zhang
Songhui, president of Universal Records, China
While Zhang has clearly
conquered China, it seems she and Universal have bigger plans.
In addition to some recording and performances in the United
States, Zhang (or Jane Z as she's apparently billing herself in
the land of the rising sun) recently spent some time in Japan,
performing some showcase concerts.
While in Japan,
Zhang apparently decided to add another language to her
singing repertoire. I guess when in 日本 (Japan), do as the
日本人(Japanese) do. Hopefully, this won't get Zhang
into too much trouble or branded as a traitor by the
highly nationalistic young Chinese, many of which harbor
extreme hatred for anything Japanese (due to the
Nanjing Massacre
and other atrocities committed during the WWII era).
Although it may be too idealistic, maybe music can help
ease some of the hostilities and prejudices that exist in
the world.
To my knowledge, no Chinese singer has ever hit
really big in the U.S. While I think this might have more to do
with lack of receptivity by the American audience (not to
mention lack of variety in the highly consolidated radio
industry) than lack of Chinese talent, Jane Zhang may have the
best chance of any current Chinese singers.
With her ability to sing well in English, vocal talent, and
attractive image, it may be a matter of finding songs that show
off her talent and a serious marketing effort. Even if the
notoriously anti-foreign American music audience isn't won over, there's over 4 times as many people in her home
country alone so I think she'll manage to survive.
