Chinanews.com, Beijing, November 11 (Reporter Wang Shiyao) When receiving the invitation to "Overcoming Thorns 17", Pinguan only hesitated for a moment before deciding to participate, and he wanted to go all out. "Because there may not be another opportunity like this, and there may not even be a next time."
In the 28 years since his debut, Pinguan has gone through the period of "fairy fight" in the Chinese music scene, and is a powerful singer who has been certified by major music charts. Today, he is a senior in the music industry who has overcome obstacles and has the courage to challenge.
"The Door Is Not Locked", "I Obviously Love You Very Much", "I've Been Annoying Lately", "What Those Girls Taught Me", "I Thought"... These KTV golden songs in the post-80s and 90s youth have become unforgettable memories of a generation.
When the familiar prelude sounds, it seems that people can instantly go back to the humming past and relive the throbbing of that time. And this is the "magic" that belongs exclusively to classic songs.
People like to "kill memories" because they miss themselves in their memories. In the indomitable time, memories are plated with a golden halo, warming the people who move forward in the years.
Pinguan is well aware of the power of "memory killing", and those familiar music is the link between him and his fans. He will also be curious, the post-80s fans who once listened to his music have basically married and taken on the burden of the family, "If I hold a concert now, will they still buy tickets to watch it?" That's the homework I'm going to do. ”
Memories are beautiful, but people always have to look forward. If you want to become a singer who is not left behind by the torrent of the times, the secret is to constantly innovate and attract new listeners.
Tapes, CDs, digital records... The music market has gone through several turns, but Pinguan has never stopped. Appearing in music variety shows, starring in musicals and even shooting short videos, he cherishes every opportunity to leave good works.
The following is Pinguan's self-report, organized according to the content of the dialogue.
The door to the challenge, unlocked
I received the invitation to "Overcoming Thorns 5" at the end of May this year, and I was both nervous and excited. The reason why I am nervous is that if I go to "Overcoming Thorns 3" at my current age, I must be prepared in my heart, that is, to participate in the show with the attitude of "I really want to work hard".
I've watched the first two seasons of the show, and those brothers are really working hard to show their best side on stage, and maybe even inspire the side that they never thought they could do. I think I should be able to do that too.
This stage is different from the stage of the music variety show I participated in before, in the past, I only needed to prepare my own stage, but in "Overcoming Thorns 3", it is more of an all-round display.
Especially in terms of socialization, before joining the group, I always thought of myself as a "social cow", and later when I met these brothers, I realized that maybe I had too few people in my usual contact. Aside from the performances on stage, their interpersonal and social skills in daily life made me see that "a mountain is still high".
is like Mr. Cai Guoqing, although he has always said that he is "running six", he is actually not a few years older than me. I admire him very much for his spirit of trying and challenging new things in the face of new things that he showed in the show. Sometimes I also reflect on myself, is it a little too reserved and conservative?
On the road of music, such as making albums and hiding in the studio to do some behind-the-scenes work, sometimes I feel quite lonely. But this time I had the opportunity to work with my brothers, and I realized that the original way of making music can be some new inspiration by communicating with different musicians. For example, whether it is arranging, singing, or stage performance, it is an eye-opener for me.
Accepting regrets is the norm in life
When I accepted the invitation of the program team, I immediately contacted Brother Xiao Qi (Ren Xianqi) because he participated in the second season of "Overcoming Thorns". His advice is to take it easy, but because it's a reality show, your daily life, including your interactions with your brothers, will be captured by the camera, so don't think about privacy.
When I actually entered the dormitory, I understood the meaning of his words, because there were shots everywhere. I really haven't had a group life in a long time, and several older boys sleep in the same room and have to share the shower and toilet. Every time I returned to the dormitory after the performance, the six of us had to wash up, because Hu Bing and I were older, and the other brothers were also very polite to us, so this different experience was quite interesting.
It's just a pity that when I look back at my performance, there are indeed some places where I am not relaxed enough, and I don't show everyone my most natural state, which is a bit of a pity.
This time, I participated in "Overcoming Thorns 3" with the motivation to challenge singing and dancing, I didn't encounter a suitable opportunity when I was a duke, and after the second duke joined Chen Chusheng's tribe, we got a song "Under Investigation", which made me see the opportunity.
Because I don't know how long I can stay on this stage, I finally had such an opportunity, so I prepared for the singing and dancing stage with Yu Haoming, Wang Lixin and Su Xiaoling. After deciding on the repertoire, I went back to Taipei and practiced my dance very hard, and even found a dance teacher to take lessons.
After practicing like this for about a week, I felt ready to show my singing and dancing skills, and I was very excited. But I didn't expect to return to Changsha again, and when I heard the news that the dance was going to be readjusted, I broke down at that time, and I felt that the dance steps that I had finally picked off were in vain.
Two days before the performance, I was told that my dance moves had been completely changed, and I broke down again, and my whole body was very tense. Just when I was practicing a new dance step, I unfortunately accidentally sprained my calf, and my muscles were lacerated, and Su Xiaoling's hand was injured, and the two of us "danced together".
In the end, only Yu Haoming and Wang Lixin were left on the stage of "Under Investigation" to sing and dance, and Su Xiaoling and I sang next to us, cooperating with some movements and performances. Not completing a singing and dancing stage well is the most regrettable thing in my trip to "Overcoming Thorns 3".
Singer Pinguan. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
As a performer, I've always been in awe of the stage. No matter how big or small the stage is, I will definitely be fully prepared before going on stage. For example, there will be a live performance today, and when I get up in the morning, I will go to exercise, open my voice, adjust my state, and be on stage at any time.
Even though I'm ready to give it a try, I think it's a shame in terms of the results. But life is like this, you have worked hard, although the result is not perfect, you still have to face it after all.
The gods don't fight, they just want to stay
Some people say that my singing style is not dominant in competitive music variety shows, and I actually didn't think too much about it. I know that the score of the audience is very important and related to whether we can stay on the stage or not.
I also know that it is not easy to make the audience feel the breakthrough of the performers in just 3 or 4 minutes. Let them find that the stage is very burning, very tense and explosive, and it seems to be more advantageous than a singer singing a song eloquently and lyrically.
But what I want to say is, please believe in the aesthetics of the audience now, they will have a ruler in their hearts. In addition to wanting to see a burning stage, I believe that a touching stage can also be recognized by the audience. Just like two kilometers, another stage of our tribe, "Walking Fish" sung by Chen Chusheng, Li Jiuzhe and Gem Gem, is a very heartfelt song and has also achieved good results.
Although slow songs may be visually "disadvantaged", if they are sung very touching and catchy, they can still move people and receive quite high praise.
Of course, at my current age, I'm past the stage where I have a very strong desire to win, as if I must win. I remember when I first entered the music scene, which was the era of the so-called "fairy fight", people still cared a lot about record sales and the ranking of the major music charts.
When we released our first album "Palm", the record company Rolling Stone at the time, said, "If the first album does not sell more than 10,<> copies, there will be no second album."
At that time, the singer received the message that there would be a sales threshold to determine whether you had a chance to release the next album. If you sell platinum records, hold a celebration party or something, there will be many numerical criteria to measure whether you are a singer who is recognized by the market.
Singer Pinguan. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
With the transformation of music carriers, from cassettes and CDs to MP3s when I started the industry, and then to digital music, in fact, very few people are listening to physical albums now. So now, every time I have the opportunity to release a new song or make an album, in addition to the song to move people, I care more about what the song can bring to the audience, whether it is a work that can stay.
Especially in this era of fragmented information, it may be difficult for people to listen to a song in its entirety. There may be hundreds of new songs on music platforms every day, and there are so many choices that it's almost impossible to recreate the scene where a new song was played on the streets and alleys in the past. It's getting harder, and it's getting harder.
Of course, there are also good sides, such as occasionally some good works from the 90s or 00s, which return to the public eye through short video platforms.
I myself can empathize, I participated in a show two years ago, and my son recorded a short VCR for me and sang "The Door is Not Locked". Unexpectedly, after the show was broadcast, this song inexplicably got a very enthusiastic response on the short video platform. I didn't expect a song from almost 20 years ago to become popular again.
Looking back now, I feel quite lucky, I had the opportunity to meet Brother Li Zongsheng when I first debuted, and in that era when many people paid attention to Chinese pop music, I had a better chance to let the work stay. I must have had my ups and downs in the past 20 years, including the decline of physical records and the era of digital music.
Music is the medium of communication between me and my fans, and I hope that in addition to performing the so-called "memory killing" so that fans and friends from the past can come back to listen to my music, I also want to attract the current young people through new works. After all, the times are developing, and people must always look forward. (ENDS)