Comments on: Michael Jackson Matters to China

By: pandora

pandora — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:36:55 +0000

i watched the first MJ’s MTV when i was in my middle school, it was cool. During that time, many young people try to imitate his dance.his dance is unique, a lot of singers and dancers today still imitate him. Though his private life was complicated, his dance was excellent.

By: hobielover

hobielover — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:59:00 +0000

I figured he was more popular there than here. I mean, there have been so many references in variety shows, so many MandoPop stars have been influenced by him or covered his songs (sometimes in funny ways), and I don’t know of anywhere else in the world where someone’s performed a Michael Jackson dance in a cow costume. These references are surely aimed towards a younger audience, or else there would be no boy bands involved. I doubt many American youths knew who he was, since “Beat It” was only ever popular in our time as a remake.

By: Ben Ross

Ben Ross — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:50:06 +0000

Good point about the timing. MJ’s first album with Quincy Jones (Off the Wall) came out just a year after Reform and Opening Up (1978), so presumably it was some of the first Western pop music to make its way to the Middle Kingdom. Interestingly enough, for many of my Chinese friends (mostly in their mid-twenties), the only Michael Jackson song they’ve ever heard is “Heal the World.” At this point, I think his media schenanigans have superseded the music itself…even in China.

By: Feds

Feds — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:04:47 +0000

Yeah, MJ was huge here even though he never got to tour the mainland. There are endless shows on TV in Shanghai these days analyzing his impact and his career. They’re similar to the same type of programs back in North America, where you plead with the TV just to show the videos. Still, they might be interesting for the Chinese take on the man.

By: KGinCQ

KGinCQ — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:00:18 +0000

did u just refer to Michael Jackson as an “average American pop star ” ? I believe King of Pop would be a better choice of words

By: John Pasden

John Pasden — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:58:24 +0000

WEiSHUN,

Thanks! Fixed.

By: WEiSHUN

WEiSHUN — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:05:16 +0000

Hi John, I juat want to tell you that you mistook Michael’s Chinese name. It’s 迈克尔杰克逊. The last character is 逊(xùn) not 孙(sūn).

By: Cassie

Cassie — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:18:42 +0000

虽然我不是他的fan,但是从小我就知道Michael Jackson在中国人眼里，他是美国一代流行天王！

By: John Pasden

John Pasden — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:40:38 +0000

Joel,

Thanks for the link. Interesting.

"China Hush" sure looks familiar... Has another blog network been created?

By: jdmartinsen

jdmartinsen — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:14:12 +0000

I thought this was a fairly interesting read - it's a short account by Zang Yanbin (of Shanghai A/V at the time, and later with Rock Records China) of how "Dangerous" first arrived in China.