New MVs: Raymond Lam, Summer, and A-Lin

The latest chart toppers from Hong Kong, mainland China, and Taiwan are featured in this week’s music video roundup at JayneStars. Raymond Lam (林峯) once again secures his spot as Hong Kong’s ballad king. Summer’s (吉克隽逸) vocally fantastic debut supports the theory that Sichuan is indeed the home of China’s most talented musicians, and Taiwan’s A-Lin continues to provide her fans with powerful ballads and a thunderous voice.

Raymond Lam – “The Same Forest” <同林>

“The Same Forest” is the theme song to Raymond’s new mini-movie, Give Me 1 Minute to Say I Love You <愛在魅來1分鐘>. The mini-movie is separated into several episodes, with each being released several days after the former. The music video of “The Same Forest” is a mesh of some of the clips from the first three episodes of the mini-movie.

The music video, as a standalone, tells you nothing of what the story of the mini-movie is about. The clips are out of sequence, and it seems as if the editor of the MV has no intentions in attempting to make sense out of the story. If you really want to know what the mini-movie is about, watch the actual movie, not this MV. The lyrics to the song also have little to no relations to the actual mini-movie as well, but Raymond performs the song beautifully, and the sadness of the melody matches the “star-crossed” lovers theme in the movie very well.

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Summer – “Colorful Black” <彩色的黑>

It appears that many of China’s most talented singers are from Sichuan! This year’s rookie C-pop star, Summer, completely owns all the other rookie singers with her powerful vocals in “Colorful Black.” Although not exactly my kind of song, I have no doubts when it comes to Summer’s vocal talents and charisma.

Summer’s ethnic origins come from the Yi tribe, or Lolo tribe, of mainland China. As a result, Summer has dark skin unlike many Han Chinese. Summer takes great pride in her skin tone, as “Colorful Black” is a song that commands others to not judge someone’s integrity by their skin color.

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A-Lin – “Happiness, Then What” <幸福了 然後呢>

So you finally achieved happiness, then what happens? Just like the lyrics of the song, A-Lin’s new ballad is unexpectedly catchy. The song starts off very slow, draggy, and quiet. However, towards the middle and the end of the song, A-Lin’s powerful vocals kicks in, and the song evolves into a loud pop ballad. I was pleasantly surprised, as I was very close to giving up in listening to the song in the first minute – it was putting me to sleep!

Since her debut, A-Lin has been competing against other powerful singers for the Best Mandarin Female Singer award at the Golden Melody Awards. She was nominated in 2009, 2011, and 2012. Would the release of “Happiness, Then What“ help A-Lin take the trophy home in 2013?

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This review is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.