This is the stage
that changed my
life forever.
I can still remember how n
ervous I was the first time I stepped onto the diamond-printed stage and sang a shakey version of "Zui Jin" (Lately) in front of the 5 Super Idol Judges. "You have a good look and you singing technique is not bad, but you need to work on your stage charisma," was the first piece of criticism I received。
It's been 8 months since then and it has been an amazing adventure. I"ve learned so much and now, I have been given the opportunity to show all my lessons through a song in our Super Idol Top 10 CD coming out May 6! This is a moment I've been dreaming about my whole life. It's almost like a dream to be able to see posters with my picture on it in music stores advertising our CD's release date.
Super Idol has really changed my life. And I am so grateful for this diamond stage. I will truly miss it
Super Idol had it's graduation episode a few weeks ago (with contestants returning from season 1-5) to celebrate the end of the "old" Super Idol. The show has now re-wired itself in hopes of having a fresh new feel. This shot is a picture of the Super Idol audience, an audience that cheered for me the past 8 months, giving me encouragement and confidence in becoming a better performer.
My last dance performance on Super Idol, singing "Only U U U" by Alan Luo.
Here is a video of the performance in case you haven't seen it. It is in the middle of the video
I also won an award that night from the show. I once cried backstage cuz I received a supportive card from my grandparents. This was very emotional for me because when I first left home and arrived in Taiwan, my grandparents kept telling me to stop wasting time and to go home to Virginia. I know they were just trying to be caring grandparents, but it was tough to not have their support. So when I saw their cards which had messages supporting my pursuit in the entertainment industry, I couldn't help but get really emotional. Here is the video of my "Best Backstage Video Award". ahahha
Also, check out new song which will be on the CD. Sang by the Top 5 guys of our season. "Rediscover Love."
One of my best friends came back to Taiwan to see me!!!! Simoneeeeee!!! We met on the other Taiwan Singing competition 2 years ago (Million Star Avenue) and have been close close friends ever since. Words can't express just how happy I was to see her! 2 weeks of fun with Simone! This is our first picture together after our reunion (of course I'd be eating)
Meeting with the Sony Music board in charge of our compilation CD release. This was the "meet-and-greet" meeting. Nice people (and free coke-since Wang Lee Hom is a sponsor of coke, they have a plethora stocked in the office) hahaha
Made a list of places in Taiwan I MUST go to in the near future
One night, Simone, Dre (our new awesome friend), and I watched Scream 4 together (which was hilarious btw-but worth a watch for shits and giggles). After the movie, we decided to drive up to Northern Taipei, to Danshui, the northern port of the city. This is a shot of "Lover's Bridge" at night. Supposedly, walking across it with your lover means you'll stay together forever. Dre told us it was completely false cuz his gf broke up with him right after he walked across it....wah wah wahhhh.
So my schedule has be CRAZY recently with the CD preparation stage and the advertising stage going on at once. I get a call Monday @ midnight:
"Hey, Stephen"
"Hey, what's up?"
"You are recording your song tomorrow afternoon at 1, you'll get your lyrics 2 hours before the recording session, and you'll have only 6 hours to do it all"
"...."
"bye! have a good night!"
T___T
Ok, the conversation wasn't THAT ridiculous, but it was pretty much what happened. I was pretty nervous going in the studio the next day since I wasn't too sure what to expect, but luckily， the music engineer was also American Chinese so it was really easy to communicate and get things done efficiently and quickly. We managed to have an incredibly swift and smooth recording and got EVERYTHING done in the short time span given including the back-up vocals and vocal effects. Thank god! Plus the track sounds amazing! I was so lucky to have an amazing music track engineer/editor. He seriously made it so easy!
Me, cheesing it in the vocal recording booth.
Got a call that night from the company saying "CONGRATS! you made your audition for the cameo role in an upcoming TV series! but bad news is it's tomorrow and is at 5:00AM in the morning. See you tomorrow!"
hahaha
So the next morning, I got up before the sun rose and went to the recording location. It was a lot of fun and the director said I did a great job and was pretty natural in my acting. However, the first shot I did, I wasn't used to so many people watching and the long pause the director takes before he yells "cut!" for the scene, and I was REALLLLLY awkward. But after a few more takes, I relaxed and finished the job. It was SO much fun! I hope I can do more acting in the future. This was a short scene, but I gotta start somewhere! Luckily, the staff and director were amazingly patient and nice, so it made it easier for me to relax and stay focused. Will let you guys know when the episode airs (not for a while)
Kevin Wu, Eve Liang, and I had to run to a press conference one day to be the Taiwan representatives in visiting a historical exhibition of Ancient Chinese artifacts. After recording us looking at the gallery, we were each interviewed of our favorite pieces. During my interview, I shamelessly plugged-in our CD release date. HAHAH go me.
Kevin Wu's song, which is titled "Super Idol" was chosen as one of the 3 songs to have a music video by Sony. The rest of the top 10 contestants also starred in the video which we shot in locations all around Taipei, starting on the northern coast of Taipei at an elementary school by the sea. It was an interesting experience, but extremely tiring.
My scene in the video is of me teaching English to a student in a cafe. The cafe we chose was one by the beach. Seriously nice location! I wanna go back again sometime to relax there in the summer!
Family Photo. Super Idol 5's Top 10
Another contestant named Jasper helped take a few cool photos of me, here are some of my favorites:
Jumping at the beach, although I look a bit preggers
Hannah So called this "Hollister Model"
One of my favorites. Looks like I'm flying!
This week, I got to be on a TV show (for the FIRST time other than the singing competition) I was so excited to be on one of these types of variety shows, which I've watched since I was a kid! But it's actually quite stressful! You always have to have your game face on and have lots of expressions and witty remarks. At the same time, since you're a new person, you can't talk too much or you'll be annoying and you can't be silent too much cuz then the producers will think you're boring and not have interest in having you back on the show. STRESSFUL! but it was a fun show to be on and I enjoyed every moment
Our advertisement poster we bring onto each show recording to announce our CD release date, and our autograph concert dates coming up in the next month. We are going to have a busy May! In the picture, I'm the second from the right.
The next day, I got to be on a Trivia show with Eve. STRESSFUL! The questions are SO hard, yo! Plus, everything's in Mandarin, so I was sooo lost. There was a time when I knew the answer to the question, but I didn't know how to say it in Chinese so I was like frantically moving my arms and trying to charade it to Eve, who looked at me like i was crazy. haha
Aside from the game show, Eve and I did a short performance to "Telephone" which I choreographed the night before. We practiced until 5AM so I'm sure our brains were not completely awake. Great show to be on though! I always though the celebrities that went on the show were given to the answers to round 1 in order to get into round 2, but nope, you have to rely on your own smarts.... luckily we at least got into round 2 hahaha. We're not stupid!! Hooray!
Example of the one of the questions:
Of the three, what is least suitable for a cat to eat?
A) Milk
B) Eggs
C) Fish
The answer: Milk
Because cats can't really break down milk enzymes in their digestive tract. But you see it all the times in movies! MOVIES LIE!
Simone and I outside an Italian restaurant while waiting for her friends. haha she is leaving back to Beijing tomorrow and I am muy sad. :(
After moving to Taiwan, my diet has become more and more Asian. I enjoy eating things that usually Americans don't like. For instance, here is Tofu mixed with Fermented Duck Egg smothered in Soy sauce Ointment. Mmmmm it is SOOo good, but the word "fermented" turns most of us Americans off, doesn't it? hahah
Last night, Super Idol 5's Top 10 got to be invited to sing at an event in Mid-Taiwan's city of Hsinzhu. It was actually a televised event at a relatively large scale. I was the opening number and had to "work up" the crowd. In the end, I worked my magic enough to get some people moving since my song's name was "Let Your Mom Shake Her Hips" hahaha. I was shaking all over the stage. Ridiculous!
This is the red tent we stayed in while waiting for our performance. I was actually quite nervous because I didn't know what to expect and what the stage was like and who the audience was, but it was a great experience.
On stage. The backdrop has our pictures! Cool!
The funny thing about my performance is at one point, I ran into the crowd to get the crowd worked up and excited, and one lady go so excited to shake my hand that she accidentally knocked my microphone into my mouth and I started bleeding. HAHAH
so my last chorus, I was like dancing while bleeding from my mouth. The post-performance interview was funny cuz I was sweating and bleeding while trying to answer their questions. Of course I had my smile on, but the hosts looked worried hahaha.
Man, these days, I am REALLY busy, but I love every moment. Late night practices, awkward video shoots, and bruised lips. Everything is amazing and I wouldn't trade the world for it!
Don't forget to buy my CD!!! If you're in the states, you can buy it off Yesasia.com (trust-worthy site)
http://www.yesasia.com/global/super-i-do-preorder-version/1024318001-0-0-0-en/info.html
