Feb 12
20

Taiwan: Joanna Wang 王若琳

8 Comments

From her second album, Joanna & 王若琳, Joanna Wang sings Don McLean’s Vincent.

The daughter of music producer Wang Chi-ping (王治平), Joanna was born in Taipei but raised in Los Angeles. At 20 she released her first album, Start From Here, which went #1 in Taiwan and was popular throughout east Asia. Singing in both English and Chinese, she has four albums to her credit including her latest, The Adventures of Bernie the Schoolboy.

The one thing that I find striking about her voice is her vocal pitch, very relaxed and a little lower than most Asian singers. She also reminds me of Astrud Gilberto, the famous Brazilian vocalist who sang The Girl From Ipanema, with that same flat tone and straightforward style.

(more songs after the jump)

Similar to Jimi Hendrix, Joanna is also a left-handed guitarist.

This is from her The Adventures of Bernie the Schoolboy album, not a finished product but a snapshot of her developing a song. As you can hear, it’s very different from her previous work and quite peppy. I like it!

I couldn’t find a website for her but I did find her MySpace page. I’ll leave you with this beautiful old classic.

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Posted in Music Taiwan USA by Steve 8 Comments

8 Responses to "Taiwan: Joanna Wang 王若琳"

  • HongKonger says:
    February 20, 2012 at 10:27 PM
    Reply

    Oh, yeah….She’s a rising star…I love the laidback way she talks as much as her cool jazzy vocal style

  • miaka9383 says:
    February 21, 2012 at 12:47 PM
    Reply

    I wouldn’t say she is a rising star. I would say she is already a star. I have every album of hers. I love love her voice. It is very sultry and calming at the same time.

  • Steve says:
    February 21, 2012 at 2:32 PM
    Reply

    Miaka’s correct, her first album was from 2008 and went to the top of the charts. Since then, she’s been a big star releasing approximately one album per year.

  • HongKonger says:
    February 21, 2012 at 3:41 PM
    Reply

    Ops, sorry, my bad. I had heard of her name back in 2008, when she was a teenage singer, but since I don’t normally watch TV or listen to HK radio, or any radio program in China (I will do so regularly from now on) I had no idea she had achieved stardom. I also heard that she was a bit hard to work with – but it could just be the media making something out of nothing.

  • TonyP4 says:
    February 27, 2012 at 10:36 AM
    Reply

    I tried to embed the video in last post. It does not seem to work. Here is the link of a good singer Tung Lai from China.

  • admin says:
    February 27, 2012 at 1:27 PM
    Reply

    Tony, just post the link and we’ll embed it. We’re using a different plugin for these videos.

  • Rhan says:
    February 28, 2012 at 5:38 AM
    Reply

    I think 王若琳 is not that ‘mainstream’, many hardly know who she is. And i am a bit perplex how Dongli could be so pupular, she sing mostly oldies.

  • Steve says:
    February 28, 2012 at 5:53 PM
    Reply

    Hi Rhan,

    王若琳 is pretty mainstream, at least in Taiwan but she’s also supposed to be very popular in SE Asia, which is your neck of the woods. I’ve had friends in both China and Taiwan mention her to me in the past. Here is a list of some awards she took when she released her first album:

    2008: Singapore Hit Awards 2008 – Outstanding Newcomer
    2008: 9th CCTV-MTV Music Awards – Most Popular New Female Artist of the Year in Hong Kong and Taiwan
    2008: Metro Hits Music Awards – Metroshowbiz Hits Mandarin Songwriter Singer Big Award
    2008: Metro Hits Music Awards – Metro Radio Hits Most Voted Newcomer Award
    2008: China Mobile Wireless Music Awards – Most Potential New Female Singer
    2008: 2008 Beijing Chinese Pop Music Awards – Best Composer-Singer Newcomer

    When it comes to Chinese pop singers, I listen to anything Miaka says since she’s the queen of Asian pop knowledge. ;)

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