the blunt truth.

I was shocked when I first read what he wrote.

Then, later awe and pleasant surprise struggled for dominance in me.

It was the most HONEST blog entry EVER, and that is what you will never expect from an artiste.

Honest, yet poignant and heart-wrenching at the same time.

You see, in his blog entry, this artiste stated that someone mentioned to him,

'What you are selling is your face, NOT your music."

It comes as a surprise that according to the artiste, he expressed shock at this person's statement, which is shocking in itself because it's so bloody true, and either he's simply ignorant or too deluded to accept the truth.

Later, he went on to say that he should have been outraged at the implication that he was just a good face to look at, with completely no substance...but he said that he found himself at a loss for words. 'Was my silence a consensus?' he lamented in his blog.

I think for any budding or full-fledged artiste, the most hurtful remark is that one is growing popular solely because of his or her looks, and has no musical talent to back up his or her popularity.

I mean, if the artiste has BOTH looks + musical talent, it's more acceptable and he or she will be more willing to reconciliate the fact that yes, their looks help to sell albums, but hey, look, we have talent and substance too and is not just an empty shell that has flowery package to cover up the fact that they have no talent.

Well, I would really really like to speak up for this artiste, especially after his VERY heart-wrenching blog article. But, the fact is, this particular artiste is growing popular BECAUSE of his looks. And, so far, he hasn't proven his musical talent. Not saying that he has NO musical talent, but rather than saying he's a singer, he's much MORE of a looker...people buy albums because of his LOOKS.

It's true. No matter whatever trash music the artistes produces, the fans will still continue buying multiple copies of their albums if they think, 'Ohhhh, he's so cute!'

No more is music just purely a voice that can take your breath away. Fussy consumers are getting more superficial, they would rather support a CUTE face than a GOOD voice.

Think about it this way. If it is REALLY all about the voice, why does Mandarin pop singers today have to be flowery packaged? Why do they have to be molded into a certain personality type? It is so that consumers can identify them to a certain character, and it's easier to sell albums that way.

Ok, let's talk about a certain record company...H.I.M

For those initiated, H.I.M is well known for recruiting good-lookers. I'm not saying anything, but S.H.E is not exactly the best singers around, but they have three very cute and pretty girls. Same with Fahrenheit, four poster boys.

The point I'm trying to make here is...look where are S.H.E and Fahrenheit on the popularity charts? It proves that H.I.M's strategy is a sure-fire success...LOOKS come before TALENT.

Ok, then I would like to make another BUT here.

BUT I notice that the trend is slowly changing today. We have not very good-looking people who are gaining popularity because of their MUSICAL talent. They write, compose, produce, sing their own songs. Not necessarily the best-looking people around, the average dude on the street probably looks better than them, BUT most importantly, they have TALENT.

Ok...so as I said before, LOOKS come before TALENT in the Mandarin pop industry, which is true. Those good-lookers shoot to red-hot burning fame immediately after their debut, but those with REAL musical talent have to slowly make their way up the popularity charts.

Because looks are immediately apparent and much more accessible, meaning people will more likely take notice of your music if you have a poster-worthy mug to boost. Those average-looking dudes with real musical talent have to gain popularity through their talent alone, and it's a slower process. But, chances are, their fame will last longer.

Back to the artiste I mentioned.

I applaud his courage for daring to speak up. It was like risking his rice bowl to publicly admit that hey, it may all be due to my good looks. And, how many artistes you know really have the courage to admit that?

NONE.

I've read countless (understatement) interviews with celebs asking that million-dollar questions.

"Why do you think you are popular?" or "What is it about you that you think attracts your fans to you?"

Every celeb always give the same boring, trained and superficial answer.

"Oh, I think it's because of my friendly and sincere personality, that warms fans up to me!"

How many would actually be brutally honest enough to say, "Oh, I think it is my good looks that attract them to me!" Not exactly career suicide, but they will probably get a harsh warning from their record company.

Besides, people will probably go, 'Eeeee, so hao lian (proud, arrogant)!'

Humility is also very important in an artiste, people like a down-to-earth celeb.

So, this artiste went on to say that he worked so hard at honing his craft, his vocals for the past two years, then rather helplessly poked fun at himself by saying...

'In fact, none of this actually mattered. because all that matters is my 'face' and all my hard work turned out to be for nothing. I never thought that the final result would be this. Should I be happy or should I cry?*'.

He also mentioned this:

"Human beings are creatures that are so often focused on the outer beauty that they forget to probe further into the subject matter. Are all these seemingly perfect exteriors just mere sugar-coated artificiality? The real things that breathes meaning into life, that brings vibrancy into life have long been forgotten by human beings ...*"

Well, very unfortunately, this very same artiste together with his fellow groupmates was recently pinpointed by a very important figure in the media entertainment industry that they are all looks, and no substance.

It whipped up a storm and a huge outcry among fans who cried foul. He referred these artistes as "good to look, but of no use." And, also, likened them to inflated dolls. "When it's being inflated, it is nice to look at. But, once it is deflated, the whole thing collapses".

Besides flaunting their looks, another trend has recently gained foothold in the industry. I'm talking about girls exposing their flesh, challenging boundaries and burgeoning into the lustful minds of young teenage guys everywhere in an international conspiracy consisting a mass flash parade of female Mandarin artistes today.

Two to three years ago, Jolin Tsai said that exposing a little bit more flesh was alright for her, 'but when I talk about flesh, I mean the legs and arms, not other places!'

Today, her boobs are all over the place.

* All translations by me, original article in Chinese.