Man In The Mirror
Eric Suen

The Hong Kong-born Eric Suen first found fame as a teeny-bopper Mandopop idol back in 1993 with his debut album It’s So Nice To Know You. But the pressures of the industry got to him and his popularity fizzled out after a few years. He remade himself as an actor and then returned to the music scene in 2007, this time in his native Cantonese. Then came a nasal operation and complications with his vocal cords.
It is enough to make a man look in the mirror and take stock of his life.
Hence tracks such as My Story (Part One) and 36, a reference to his age when he wrote the song last year. He bares his emotions on the former, “I’ve cried silently before, suddenly afraid of losing it in a moment”, and gives a humorous spin on his search for love in the latter.
Still, he can take comfort in the fact that he is no washed-up has-been but has instead survived the vagaries of the entertainment business for almost two decades.
It bodes well for his career that Suen had a hand in crafting all 11 tracks, including the hits If Life Still Has A Song and Walled Hometown, a contemplation on urban alienation.
He can definitely look his reflection squarely in the eye.

Your Friend
Claire Kuo

Surprisingly, Claire Kuo’s Singing In The Trees, from her previous album, has been nominated for Best Song Of The Year for the 21st Golden Melody Awards.
No doubt it has its charms but it just seems too slight for such a weighty category. Which rather sums up how I feel about the sweetie-pie Taiwanese lass.
The opener Encore La La, used for a lingerie ad no less, has her declaring: “See sexy back/We r the sexy mama.” But neither she nor the music has the conviction to carry off such a line. Throughout her fourth album, what could be light-hearted breeziness merely comes across as bland inoffensiveness, a fate that befalls the ballads as well.
I don’t think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Can't Not Love
Eddie Peng

This atrocious trend has to stop right now. First Joe Cheng, now Eddie Peng. What is it about pretty-boy actors that makes them think that they can hack it as singers as well?
Peng flits from the dance pop of Can’t Not Love to balladry for That Is I Love You to rap on Chameleon and manages to come up with duds across the board.
If you are a fan of the 28-year-old with the sunny good looks, check out the drama Hear Me instead, the highest-grossing local film in Taiwan last year.
And boys, leave the singing to the professionals.
(ST)