I’ve got three Mandopop connections here: Leehom, Jay and sodagreen.
The Golden Horse film awards were held tonight in Taipei. Lust, Caution won a variety of awards, including best film, best director, best adapted screenplay, best male lead actor, best newcomer, best original score… Beyond the fact that I absolutely loved this film, it is the only nominated film I’ve seen, so naturally I was rooting for victory for Ang Lee, Tang Wei, Tony Leung, etc. Leehom was at the awards ceremony presenting awards and playing the violin, it seems, and just generally being not put out about not being nominated. (But looking a bit too hairy for my taste. Leehom, sweetie, if you can’t really grow a full mustache and beard, there’s no shame in it, but then it’s better to remain clean-shaven. This oddly fuzzy look does not work over the age of 16.)
Jay Chou won his annual “best song” award, which is just stupidly predictable. Yeah, I feel like I’m over Jay. I still love his early albums, but… he just pisses me off too much right now for me to deal with him. And I’m not at all impressed with the song “Secret.” The song was up against sodagreen’s “Little Love Song,” and the idea that “Secret” is better is, well, laughable, though I’m not really sure how “Little Love Song” was nominated in the first place because it was not written for Exit No. 6 so much as included in Exit No. 6. Whatever. Jay’s film also won a technical award and best film from Taiwan, though I’m sure he’ll still manage to pout about Lust, Caution winning the best score award and Ang Lee beating him out for best Taiwanese filmmaker, though if the latter was not a foregone conclusion then there really is no justice in the world.
Update: Wow, that was fast. You can see/hear Leehom’s violin performance here. As an added bonus, the violin mostly blocks out the fuzziness.
Update2: Reuters has picked up the story, in English, here.
Update3: I don’t actually know that Jay has ever won the original song Golden Horse award before, now that I think about it, but it does seem like he is always a.) writing theme songs for movies and b.) getting random awards for them. I remember thinking when I noticed him on this year’s list of nominees, “well, that’s at least one award all wrapped up for Cowboy Jay.” Hence the sense that it is a bit stupidly predictable.
Yeah the peach fuzz definitely makes Leehom look younger than his years! 70s facial hair may be cool right now but it has to actually fill in to work.
On Lee Hom? Stubble rocks.
his violin skills are impressive! i knew he played a variety of instruments but i didnt realize that he was that good. i’m not a fan of the facial hair (i prefer my guys clean shaven) and he reminds me of someone i cant quite name. it definately makes him look more mature but i do like the outfit he had on – very musically appropriate
as for jay’s award, totally predictable. i even bet my dad $50 that he’d win it! i think this is his first golden horse original song win. he’s been nominated many a times before though and has won in other film award ceremonies.
On principle, I’d agree with Steve, but I think he needed a bit more time to grow this peach fuzz into stubble. Maybe if he hadn’t been overly ambitious and added the mustache, he could have pulled off the scruffy, five o-clock shadow look (mmm), but with it, I still think he looks like an oddly fuzzy teenager.
Wow!!!! That is, of course, in reference to his violin skills and definitely not the peach fuzz.