Zhou Mi…

… and Happy belated Birthday!!!!. (It was on April 19th =DDD. Don’t worry, I didn’t know either!)

Zhou Mi @ AF.net
Zhou Mi @ soompi.

I don’t post pictures because… I’m really bad about that; plus, I have nothing unique to share anyways. Although I think Zhou Mi was sooo much more attractive pre-debut. He used to have this cute boyish confidence and manliness to him. Then, SM made him grow his hair and get funky skin treatments and lose weight (I think?) so now he looks really girly. Like in an awkward way; like they’re trying to force him to look (and act?) more feminine than he really is instead of being natural. GIVE HIM HIS SHORT HAIR BACK. NOW.

But I digress. Anyways, Zhou Mi has gotten a lot of flack for being part of SJ-M. And I’m really pissed at that because this guy is seriously talented and NO ONE in the showbiz deserves to be hated on as much as he is simply on the merit that “I love Super Junior and they should stay Only13 and Zhou Mi sucks and he’s ugly and he can’t sing and he should just die because he’s Chinese and not part of the original 13.” That just gets me pissed. GET OVER IT. SM obviously isn’t listening to you and all your rants on your [useless] Cyworld and useless protests outside the SM building aren’t going to make on effin’ ounce of a difference. NOT TO MENTION: why do you care so much? In a few years, the “age of Super Junior” will have declined anyways and people will move onto different (hopefully not BIGGER) groups. Super Junior was a ridiculous concept to begin with, and even though I have become more familiar with these cracktastic guys… I still stand by my original thought of them (although before it was more cynical, now it’s just more exasperated): It’s not fair to anyone — regardless of whom — to belong to any kind of boy”band” that has 12 or 13 people. Seriously. I don’t care about the friendships or the whatevers, if you want to be taken seriously as an artist, there is no way you can belong to a 13-member “band” and still be taken seriously. Personalities are bound to clash and overshadow… and it is no more obvious than in Super Junior. ((To note: I blame no one in Super Junior, individually, because of their bad luck to be chosen to be placed into Super Junior — although others may argue it was good luck. I am just pointing out my observations that I think Super Junior is way too big and too difficult to be noticed and to stand out unless you are just all-out outlandish *coughheechulcough*)). They might as well be split into separate groups. The Super Junior Full House team was one, and the non-Full House members were another. There is no question that the SuJu members that filmed SJ-Full House have more success, reception, and popularity than the members that didn’t (with exceptions of members that appeared frequently ON Full House such as Leeteuk and Eunhyuk…and Shindong doesn’t count because he’s a special case in general). In all honesty, Super Junior is an excessively smart marketing ploy, but that’s it. With 12 (or 13) different boys (including one Chinese member), you are going to find ONE member that you are a fan of. If SM is lucky, 2-3 members that you are REALLY devoted too. Some people may not find ANY of DBSK attractive/appealing since there’s only five of them, but with 13? If you still can’t find one you like… well, good luck getting any friends in general.

Urgh. I just had to get that off my chest; it just irritates me how no one else in the world seems to see it that way when it is so friggin’ obvious (SM’s obvious manipulation of the market and their very very successful marketing tactics).

Anyways, back to the topic at hand: Zhou Mi.
Yesh, this guy is a FANTASTIC SINGER. AND YOU KNOW WHAT?! I don’t care that he’s outspoken; he won MC’ing contests in China — he is GOING to be outspoken. From what I can tell: he is eloquent, succinct, and seems to get along quite well with Super Junior-M. The fact that he can sing the pants of all of Super Junior[minus]SJ-M[minus]Yesung is absolute great in my book. I’ve been looking forward to his debut (although not in SJ-M, to be honest) since I heard his duet with Zhang Li Yin in her “I WISH” album in “Pure Love”. Not to mention the magic that he does in ZLY’s title track, “I Will.” Thanks to Pearled Orchid for that clarification; I didn’t think it sounded too much like him when I first heard Zhou Mi sing (even though they sound similar in parts?).

Anyways, I’m just going to copy/borrow the format that the SJ-M Baidubar user used about Why SJ-M needs (although I don’t think SJ-M needs Zhou Mi, per se, I just think that putting him in SJ-M was a great move on SM’s behalf) Zhou Mi…

1) There are seven (7) members in SJ-M. Out of those seven members, 4 are Korean and only one has a minimal Chinese experience and background. Aside from Shiwon, none of the other Korean SJ-M members have really been exposed to Chinese previously. This wouldn’t be an issue if they were just going to be running a few promos in China from time to time, but when China is your target market, you are going to want a few native speakers. And I love Hangeng to bits, I really do… but he seems like a very shy and soft-spoken guy. I don’t think it’s because in Korea he has a language barrier, but because he genuinely is like that; some people are just like that. Don’t punish them because of it, and I’m sure SM knew it as well. Hangeng’s quiet and demure nature is GREAT, don’t get me wrong, but you are going to need an outgoing presence if you want your group to succeed. It makes me angry that Zhou Mi can’t feel like he can properly express himself because of the stupid Only13 crap. GIVE HIM A BREAK. He’s out there achieving his long-time dream; if you were on that stage, would you appreciate having legions of fangirls, or people in general, boo’ing and ridiculing you? Of course not. Just because you are so enthused about that Only13 stuff does not give you a right to put another person down. You are never going to meet Super Junior. Get over it. No matter how many posters you make and how many anti-Zhou Mi/Henry/SM/LSM events you go to… nothing is going to change that. I can’t wait to see Zhou Mi finally start opening up to the public and really being accepted in general. Then people will really see him for how great he is; he’s not cocky or arrogant, he’s confident. It’s such a double standard, y’know? When you’re confident onstage, the crowd perceives you as being cocky; when you’re shy and withdrawn onstage, the crow perceives you as being shy and uncomfortable and is eagerly crossing their fingers and waiting for the moment the song finally ends and you get off the stage. You really can’t win; and Zhou Mi especially can’t win because of Legion13.

2) SJ-M needs Zhou Mi as a vocalist. I love Kyuhyun and Ryeowook’s voices to the ends of the Earth. And Henry’s violin-playing is really really excellent (and this is coming from someone who’s friend got accepted into Julliard on full scholarship; I know what good violin-playing sounds like), but vocally — and this comes as no surprise — they’re pretty weak. I don’t think they’re all particularly bad singers, but from my experiences, most people generally aren’t bad singers… they’re just not stellar singers… not good enough to become recording artists. Zhou Mi’s voice is strong and bright and he’s gotten some recognition in a lot of singing contests and he’s only 22 years old!! For all the awards/shows/venues that he’s been on with his singing… that is extremely impressive. Especially since (and this is important to note): he’s gone on most of those venues, probably, without any formal vocal training. At least not under a recording company and not that I know of, so far. It’s not like there’s rumors out there that he has trained under this highly praised classical-Chinese vocalist… no, none of that. Zhou Mi’s voice offers a pleasing balance with his properly-pronounced Chinese (Kyu and Wook gave their all and their best and I was pleased… but they’re still not up to native-level) and soothing voice. Plus, he sings a lot of Wang Leehom songs, and Leehom is a Chinese favorite across all Chinese-speaking countries. So obviously his voice and style is something Chinese people like… which brings me to my next point:

3) Zhou Mi actually has his own strong fanbase in China. What better way for SM Entertainment to create an even larger fanbase by pairing Super Junior’s intial fanbase in China along with Zhou Mi’s fans in China?! HELLLLLOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! That is such a brilliant idea that I can’t even stress it. And it works.

* * *

Hmm… wow. I only have three. I can’t really think of anymore off the top of my head, but any of my opinions have generally been covered in those three, but yes: I think putting Zhou Mi into SJ-M was a very smart move and I look am looking very forward to seeing his development as a vocalist and the evolution of SJ-M as they overcome this [present] obstacle of … Legion13.

Honestly, give him a break and like him for his music. This boy can sing, and that’s really all that mattters in my book. And fine, if you don’t like him because of his talent, the you don’t like him. If you don’t like him cause you’re crazy ELF’er or you think he has a cocky personality (DO NOT base your opinions on any idol’s “personality;” chances are, they are all images constructed and crafted by ther management anyways) or you think he’s ugly… that’s just ridiculous. Give him a break and a chance. You’d want others to do the same for you. Now give him that opportunity; he’s living his dream.

Shouldn’t we all get the chance to live our dreams?

TANGENT
“Don’t name me ’stupid’ just because I fight for what I believe in.”
hehe. I found this quote underneath a bunch of pictures about Only13 *stuff*. I don’t know if it directly relatives to Only13, but it’s really sad (really successful if you’re LSM), if what you genuinely believe in is… a 13-member (and THIRTEEN MEMBERS ONLY OKAY) boyband… it’s just… it almost makes me ashamed. WHY WHY WHY?!?!??! They’re just people singing their songs and doing their thang, okay? And don’t give me that “Oh, SM Entertainment is going back on their promise, blahblah blah,” give me a break. Who CARES THAT MUCH?!?!?! SM Entertainment does not owe you anything. In fact, you pay them a LOT MORE than they care about you. It’s not stupid; it’s pathetic, really. The fact that you will “fight” for nothing more silly than an Only13-members boy”band” or even group. Lifechanging actions? Yes. Life-changing threats? Yes. Your religion and strong philosophical and theological beliefs? Yes. More power to you, I would certainly fight for (and die for) Jesus Christ… but… for a bunch of boys in Korea that I don’t even speak the same language as (let alone know)…? GET OVER IT.
*explodes in frustration*
It’s this kind of thing that gets me really upset; not the fact that you’re against a 13-member band the way I [logically] am, but the fact that you are vehemently upset because you are so attached to your conception of what Super Junior is and should be that you are actively willing to fight for it. Oh.Mi.Gosh. They’re people, just like you and me, and I can only hope that when you hit 20 or 30, you’ll wake up, smell the roses, and chuckle at how irrational you were back then in adolescence. God knows, I certainly do. I would’ve probably been just as incensed (had I been Korean and obsessed with SuJu from the very beginning).