The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Back-up singers finally in spotlight at Sundance Posted: 19 Jan 2013 03:07 AM PST  PARK CITY (Utah), Jan 19 — They sang for the Rolling Stones, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, U2, Sting and Michael Jackson, but they stayed out of the spotlight — until a new documentary gave them a starring role at last. "Twenty Feet From Stardom," which opened the Sundance Film Festival Thursday, showcases the lives of a series of mostly African American back-up singers whose voices are familiar but whose faces and names are barely known. They have sung on some of the most popular tunes of the modern era, but who knows the names of Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer, Tata Vega, Claudia Lennear or The Waters Family? Or Merry Clayton, the female voice on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," possibly one of the most iconic back-up vocals in rock and roll. "Something that struck me instantly was that it's not sex, drugs, and rock and roll — it's a different side of the music industry," director Morgan Neville told AFP, in the Utah ski resort of Park City, hosting Sundance until January 27. "These are people who have lived their lives making peace with the fact that they are there to disappear in the spotlight," he added. "In a way, I was making a film about addicts. These are people who are addicted to music. And it doesn't matter if they don't make a lot of money or don't get any glory — they just care about the music." That doesn't mean that they never dreamed of a solo career: almost all of them have released their own albums, but none has achieved the success that could make them a star in their own right. Lisa Fischer, the main back-up singer on Rolling Stones tours since 1989, is an exception: her debut album "So Intense" was a major success, producing a Grammy award-winning 1991 single, "How Can I Ease the Pain?" But even she elected not to go further with her solo career, telling the documentary-maker in the film that, for her, singing was not about competition, but about sharing. Tata Vega tells him that if she had become a solo star, she would probably not be alive today; she would have died of a drug overdose at some point along the line. Neville said the back-up singers form a community who have a sense of sharing far more than the stars whom they accompany. "Not everybody can sing. It's a gift. And that gift, somehow, has to be shared. It is a very spiritual thing to them. They all came out of a church, they're all very religious and I do think that they see it as a calling. "That's what they are addicted to, they're addicted to being able to lose themselves in this greater sense of togetherness. And that is a great thing," he said. The movie also follows a younger generation of back-up singers through Judith Hill, whose velvet voice entranced the "King of Pop" himself, Michael Jackson. She was supposed to be the main back-up singer on his doomed London mega-show "This is It," which he was rehearsing for when he died in 2009, ending her prospects of global exposure. Hill still hopes to have a solo career, but has to accept routine back-up singer gigs, not all of them the most glamorous, to pay the bills. The fact is that opportunities have dried up for these golden voices: the arrival of hip-hop and grunge in the 1990s, and then the recording industry's financial troubles as new technology arrived, have hit them hard. "And the biggest artists that use back-up vocals like Adele or Florence and The Machine, those vocals are done by Adele or Florence. They're doing their own back-up vocals on the records. "They don't use back-up singers." — AFP-Relaxnews |
| K-pop’s reach extends to Muslim Malaysia Posted: 19 Jan 2013 12:16 AM PST  South Korean K-pop singer G-Dragon (R) and Lee Hi (L) at the 27th Golden Disk Awards. — AFP pic But that didn't stop her joining thousands of fans who bought tickets to a K-pop extravaganza costing half a month's average salary in Malaysia, underlining the phenomenal cross-cultural appeal of Korean entertainment. "I'm very excited. I've waited a long time for this," said Maznifa, a 29-year-old administrative assistant who wore a white hijab, the headscarf worn by many Muslim women in Malaysia that covers all but the face. Maznifa spoke as she queued in sweltering conditions Wednesday with crowds of other delirious fans for tickets costing 1,000 ringgit ($330) -- she dipped into her savings -- to a two-night K-pop concert and awards show. "For them, I'd do anything," she said of her favourite K-pop bands like G-Dragon and Super Junior. "It's very hard for us to see them (perform)." Organisers have said the annual Golden Disk Awards, viewed as the Korean Grammys and which included occasionally racy performances by some of K-pop's biggest acts, saw more than 15,000 tickets sold for Tuesday and Wednesday. The exporting of the show for the second straight year -- it was held in Japan last year -- was aimed at further promoting the global appeal of Korean pop culture. Korean soap operas, with their slick production and telegenic stars, have long been popular throughout the region as part of the so-called Hallyu (Korean Wave) of culture that has taken Asia by storm over the past decade, helped by substantial support from the Seoul government. But pre-packaged K-pop with its teen-idol groups, glossy hooks and meticulously choreographed dance moves has taken the world by storm, while the "Gangnam Style" phenomenon has helped fuel global interest in Korea's music scene. The song by the artist Psy, intended to poke fun at materialism in a wealthy Seoul district, made history last month when the video featuring the singer's signature horse-riding dance became the first clip to log one billion YouTube hits. Psy has swept all before him in recent months, hoovering up awards and scoring guest appearances with everyone from Madonna to the head of the United Nations and being handed walk-on roles at major world events. On Wednesday, Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-Sang and who was not at the ceremony, received Song of the Year for his hit, while the Album of the Year award went to Super Junior's "Sexy, Free & Single". The thousands who thronged the Sepang racing circuit were further testament to the cross-border appeal of Korean culture. "I'm always so happy when I come to Malaysia because I get a lot of support and that always cheers me up," Kwon Ji-Yong, better known as G-Dragon, told reporters, dressed in black leather pants and an array of silver necklaces. Sharon Tan, 18, said she and her friends enjoy K-pop for its music and dance moves, and doesn't care that the Korean-language lyrics are meaningless to her. "The music is unique. Oh my god, it's awesome. It's unforgettable!" said Tan, who won a ticket via a radio show's song-guessing contest. Some 60 per cent of Malaysia's 29 million people are Muslim ethnic Malays, and some well-known Western artists have scrapped shows in the country due to Islamic opposition over their supposedly "immoral" content. Others have abided by guidelines such as no kissing, swearing or too much skin on stage. However, K-pop, many of whose biggest stars have already performed to large groups in Malaysia, has so far avoided such trouble. Whatever the views of Islamists, Maznifa said such content is acceptable to her and her friends. "Especially the guy groups!" she said with a giggle. — AFP-Relaxnews |
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