C-Pop Artist Of The Week (Mar. 31 - Apr. 6) - G.E.M.

[Hemlock]

C-Pop Artist Of The Week

 

Mar. 31 - Apr. 6: G.E.M. (鄧紫棋)

*requested by HeavenlyDreamer*

 

 

Visit the 

Official G.E.M Thread 

 

Gloria Tang Zhi Kei (鄧紫棋), also known as G.E.M., is a singer in Hong Kong, China. Her stage name, ‘G.E.M.’ stands for ‘Get Everyone Moving’. G.E.M. was born in Shanghai and grew up in Hong Kong. She started her career with a love for music, with her mother and grandmother who both came from Opera singing backgrounds. G.E.M. grew up with the wish to pursue singing and performing and started composing her own music when she was 5. When she was 10 she entered her first singing competition and started to develop her vocal skills. 

 

Since then, G.E.M. has won all kinds of singing competitions organized by schools and different organizations, and one of the competitions that G.E.M. won when she was 14, in 2008, got her the attention from her record company today - Hummingbird Music. - last.fm

 

Featured Songs

 

泡沫 Bubble

 

WHAT HAVE U DONE

 

å›žæ†¶çš„æ²™æ¼ Hourglass

 

想講你知 I Want to Let You Know

 

Other Songs

 

 

 

Previous AOTW Threads

 

 

Mar. 24 - Mar. 30: Mayday (五月天)

Mar. 17 - Mar. 23: Utopia (世外桃æºæ¨‚團)

Mar. 10 – Mar. 16: Jolin Tsai (蔡ä¾æž—)

Mar. 3 – Mar. 9: Frandé (法蘭黛樂團)

Feb. 24 – Mar. 2: Jane Zhang (å¼ é“颖)

Feb. 17 – Feb. 23: Unfamiliar Friends Party (ä¸ç†Ÿçš„朋å‹æ´¾å¯¹)

Feb. 10 – Feb. 16: Vanness Wu (å³å»ºè±ª)

Feb. 3 – Feb. 9: Queen Wei (é­å¦‚昀)

Jan. 27 – Feb. 2: Waa Wei (é­å¦‚è±)

Jan. 20 – Jan. 26: Fiona Sit (薛凱çª)

Jan. 13 – Jan. 19: Jane Huang (黃美ç)

Jan. 6 – Jan. 12: The Girl And The Robots (女孩與機器人)

Dec. 30 – Jan. 5: Mag Lam (林欣彤)

Dec. 23 – Dec. 29: AM444

*Special* New Artists Of 2013

Nov. 25 – Dec. 1: Lala Hsu (å¾ä½³ç‘©)

Nov. 18 – Nov. 24: SingerSen (歌者森)

Nov. 11–Nov.  17 : Yu Fei Men (与éžé—¨)

Nov 4th   – Nov 10th – Isabelle Huang (黄龄)

October 28 – November 3rd – The White Eyes (白目樂隊)

October 21-27th – R.Chord (è¬å’Œå¼¦)

 

 

Requests

 

Here’s the list of artists that people have requested

(the threads won’t necessarily be made in this order):

 

Khalil Fong

A-Lin

Wang Dawen 

Sa Dingding

Your Skin Against My Skin

Chthonic

Alan

Huang Qishan

 

Request more if you want and I’ll add it to the list and get to it whenever I can.

 

NOTE: I decided to wait until Khalil's upcoming album comes out to feature him. So whenever that comes out...

 

 

~Request English translations for Cpop songs here~

 

[Hemlock]

G.E.M. Wrap-up

 

Here we have GEM, a young and talented artist who was my gateway into cantopop. She's pretty popular already will continue to get more popular with her participation in the current season of a mainland singing competition called I AM A SINGER. There's a lot to like about her. She can sing, she has a strong voice, she's great live, she has good pop songs, she has good ballads, and to top it off she's cute. There's nothing more I can ask for. 

 

I put Bubble first because i love Bubble. When I first discovered GEM A.I.N.Y was my favorite from her but that changed over time. I think putting Bubble and What Have You Done back to back does a good job at showing everything GEM is capable of. It goes from soft and emotional ballad to this stronger rock-ish type song. It's this range that makes it easy to see why she's popular. Cpop is seen as this ballad heavy genre but it's Cantopop that is really ballad heavy. Everybody does ballads. Albums are ~10 tracks and 8 of them will be ballads. GEM really is like a breath of fresh air for cantopop.

 

Now i know what some people might be thinking right now. "But Hemlock she sings a lot of mandarin songs..." This is true, but still it's good for cantopop to have someone like her. I like both her mandarin and cantonese songs so i don't really mind. For this thread i picked songs i liked regardless of the language. I'm not even sure what's the language ratio is here and i don't care. If she had a good english or japanese song i would have put that in here too. And I don't mean to put her on a pedestal and say she's the best HK singer ever or anything like that. I love her and all but i like Joey more. Just saying...

 

Let's talk about some negatives now. The first one is about her accent. First of all i'm not chinese and i don't speak any chinese languages so I don't notice it myself, but when i first got into GEM i read some comments about her accent. Apparently she has some kind of jaw alignment thing or something that makes her sound like a foreigner IIRC. I can see why this might be a turnoff for people. Also her singing voice isn't all that clear, especially when singing low notes. Most of the time it's not a problem but there are times when she sounds like she's mumbling a little bit, almost like a low growl at times too if that makes any sense...

 

Alright let's wrap up this wrapup. I don't know if anybody noticed but there are no songs from My Secret on this list. Why? Because i don't like the album very much. There might be a few good songs on it but i honestly don't remember any because I don't listen to the album. I could have listened to it for this, but she has enough good songs on her other albums that I didn't have to. These threads take a lot of time to listen to songs over and over, so I'd rather limit it to songs I know i like, these are my recs after all. For me it's 18 & G.E.M. EP > Exposed > My Secret.

[King of Spades]

G.E.M \o/

Because Cantonese isn't appealing to my ears at all, I never listen to Cantopop. G.E.M happens to be one of the few, if not, the only Cantopop singer that I can stand listening to. The irony, I didn't know she has an accent.  

 

I'll leave this song here since it isn't part of the list that Tony listed .. (this is the song that got me into her :D )

 

[Hemlock]

G.E.M \o/

Because Cantonese isn't appealing to my ears at all, I never listen to Cantopop. G.E.M happens to be one of the few, if not, the only Cantopop singer that I can stand listening to. The irony, I didn't know she has an accent.  

 

I'll leave this song here since it isn't part of the list that Tony listed .. (this is the song that got me into her :D )

 

About the accent. I'm almost certain it's what i read when i first was looking into her but it doesn't say it on her wikipedia anymore. So i could be wrong, but i did read it somewhere. 

 

I thought you liked some of Fiona's songs?

[a(mber)]

so I might come live here for the next week~

[Lightning]

I don't know if anybody noticed but there are no songs from My Secret on this list. Why? Because i don't like the album very much. There might be a few good songs on it but i honestly don't remember any because I don't listen to the album. I could have listened to it for this, but she has enough good songs on her other albums that I didn't have to. These threads take a lot of time to listen to songs over and over, so I'd rather limit it to songs I know i like, these are my recs after all. For me it's 18 & G.E.M. EP > Exposed > My Secret.[/center][/font][/color]

Blasphemy! My Secret is her best album imo. It has the most balance apart from her original EP. The title song is great, and Get Over You is one of her best Cantonese songs. The voice within and good to be bad are some of my favourite songs,and one button, while it had potential, isnt great, but it shows her versatility again.

 

Seriously though, I agree with you about what she brings to cantopop. She is a great song writer and she does a number of different styles well. The only problem I have is that for a hong kong singer she sings less and less in Cantonese. Like you said, if you dont care about languages it doesnt affect the quality of the song, but I'd prefer her to go more Joeys route after the I am a singer show and release 1 mandarin album and 1 cantonese album separately.

 

Also, while her production is usally fine for most songs, I'd like to see her work with some higher quality producers and collaborators for her faster paced songs. For example I think 'After Tonight' would have been better with a little more polish and a better feature artist.

 

Regarding her jaw, you are correct, she did intend to have surgery to correct it but then decided against it. I dont know why its removed from her wikipedia page because you can tell it affects her pronunciation slightly. Heres a quote

 

"People criticize my pronunciation, claiming that I sound like I’m tongue-tied. But it’s a problem related to my left jaw and I can’t get the surgery until I’m 21. Really, there’s nothing I can do at the moment." http://hk-magazine.com/events/article/first-person-gem

 

But all in all, I'm a huge fan of hers and in a market that is crying out for young fresh talent, she is the shining beacon.

[a(mber)]

these are my favourite G.E.M songs
Just thought I'd dump them here cos they aren't featured~

[HvD]

Not sure about the accent...

 

But I remember she said in an interview that she had problems with her vocal cords which made her voice sound weird.  Don't know what it really was though.  Might need to find that interview again...

[Krunchii]

About her accent, when she speaks Mandarin she bites down on her words a little bit, it does have to do with her jaw, it does make her sound a bit like a foreigner, when she sings in Mandarin she also doesn't enunciate that clearly and I can kind of hear her jaw sometimes too. I hear this in her Cantonese and English too, it's not a big deal and I don't find it bothersome at all, China has a lot of regional accents and there are some accents I can't stand listening to, hell I find the Taiwanese-Mandarin accent less tolerable and it's not a big deal either considering I like a lot of Taiwanese singers

[Lightning]

Not sure about the accent...

 

But I remember she said in an interview that she had problems with her vocal cords which made her voice sound weird. Don't know what it really was though. Might need to find that interview again...

Its definitely an issue related to her jaw. She talked about it in the interview I posted earlier. I remember it was in talking point when she first gained popularity in hk because people noticed it. It was removed from her wikipedia page but its still on other wikis about her like this

 

http://www.upcscavenger.com/wiki/Gem%20Tang/#page=wiki

 

"G.E.M’s accent can lead her to being mistaken for a foreign singer. Her accent is caused by the shrinkage of her left jawbone, therefore, the upper and lower teeth do not close up completely, leaving a gap in between. When G.E.M speaks, air leaks through the gap. There are surgery operations to correct this problem, but doctors suggested she not undergo the surgery until she turned 21 when her body was fully developed. However, G.E.M has already announced that she has temporarily opted against the surgery because of its high risks, and the problem has not deteriorated in recent years.CRHK 903 (香港商業電å°å±å’¤903)The Program Black 29/11/2008"

 

And the quote from G.E.M herself a few years ago before she decided against surgery to correct it.

 

"People criticize my pronunciation, claiming that I sound like I’m tongue-tied. But it’s a problem related to my left jaw and I can’t get the surgery until I’m 21. Really, there’s nothing I can do at the moment." http://hk-magazine.com/events/article/first-person-gem

[HvD]

Its definitely an issue related to her jaw. She talked about it in the interview I posted earlier. I remember it was in talking point when she first gained popularity in hk because people noticed it. It was removed from her wikipedia page but its still on other wikis about her like this

 

http://www.upcscavenger.com/wiki/Gem%20Tang/#page=wiki

 

"G.E.M’s accent can lead her to being mistaken for a foreign singer. Her accent is caused by the shrinkage of her left jawbone, therefore, the upper and lower teeth do not close up completely, leaving a gap in between. When G.E.M speaks, air leaks through the gap. There are surgery operations to correct this problem, but doctors suggested she not undergo the surgery until she turned 21 when her body was fully developed. However, G.E.M has already announced that she has temporarily opted against the surgery because of its high risks, and the problem has not deteriorated in recent years.CRHK 903 (香港商業電å°å±å’¤903)The Program Black 29/11/2008"

 

And the quote from G.E.M herself a few years ago before she decided against surgery to correct it.

 

"People criticize my pronunciation, claiming that I sound like I’m tongue-tied. But it’s a problem related to my left jaw and I can’t get the surgery until I’m 21. Really, there’s nothing I can do at the moment." http://hk-magazine.com/events/article/first-person-gem

Oh, so it was her jaw.  

 

Interesting.  Thanks for the info.  

[Hemlock]

Blasphemy! My Secret is her best album imo. It has the most balance apart from her original EP. The title song is great, and Get Over You is one of her best Cantonese songs. The voice within and good to be bad are some of my favourite songs,and one button, while it had potential, isnt great, but it shows her versatility again.

 

Seriously though, I agree with you about what she brings to cantopop. She is a great song writer and she does a number of different styles well. The only problem I have is that for a hong kong singer she sings less and less in Cantonese. Like you said, if you dont care about languages it doesnt affect the quality of the song, but I'd prefer her to go more Joeys route after the I am a singer show and release 1 mandarin album and 1 cantonese album separately.

 

Also, while her production is usally fine for most songs, I'd like to see her work with some higher quality producers and collaborators for her faster paced songs. For example I think 'After Tonight' would have been better with a little more polish and a better feature artist.

 

Regarding her jaw, you are correct, she did intend to have surgery to correct it but then decided against it. I dont know why its removed from her wikipedia page because you can tell it affects her pronunciation slightly. Heres a quote

 

"People criticize my pronunciation, claiming that I sound like I’m tongue-tied. But it’s a problem related to my left jaw and I can’t get the surgery until I’m 21. Really, there’s nothing I can do at the moment." http://hk-magazine.com/events/article/first-person-gem

 

But all in all, I'm a huge fan of hers and in a market that is crying out for young fresh talent, she is the shining beacon.

 

Maybe i should have relistened to it but whatever. Too late now. I know i don't like Good To Be Bad though. I like One Button even less. I don't remember Voice Within enough to say anything about it. I do like Get Over You, but i try to limit the amount of songs i post to 10-13 songs. Idk how much i used but i thought it was enough and stopped myself from adding more.

 

And lol this thread is turning into a discussion about her jaw. Good to know i remembered correctly. That quote you posted in your later post is the exact paragraph i remember reading. 

 

About her accent, when she speaks Mandarin she bites down on her words a little bit, it does have to do with her jaw, it does make her sound a bit like a foreigner, when she sings in Mandarin she also doesn't enunciate that clearly and I can kind of hear her jaw sometimes too. I hear this in her Cantonese and English too, it's not a big deal and I don't find it bothersome at all, China has a lot of regional accents and there are some accents I can't stand listening to, hell I find the Taiwanese-Mandarin accent less tolerable and it's not a big deal either considering I like a lot of Taiwanese singers

thanks for chiming in. I just assumed it was a big deal since i saw people talking about it. Good to know that it's not.

I did complain a bit about her not singing very clearly and now i know why. So what's Jay's reason then 

[Lightning]

 

Maybe i should have relistened to it but whatever. Too late now. I know i don't like Good To Be Bad though. I like One Button even less. I don't remember Voice Within enough to say anything about it. I do like Get Over You, but i try to limit the amount of songs i post to 10-13 songs. Idk how much i used but i thought it was enough and stopped myself from adding more.

 

And lol this thread is turning into a discussion about her jaw. Good to know i remembered correctly. That quote you posted in your later post is the exact paragraph i remember reading.

Lol well on a more positive note, I think she's a great live performer. Her two live concerts that were recorded are really fun to watch. I'd really love to see her record a duet with someone like Mag Lam or Joey one day too.

[Hemlock]

Lol well on a more positive note, I think she's a great live performer. Her two live concerts that were recorded are really fun to watch. I'd really love to see her record a duet with someone like Mag Lam or Joey one day too.

ehhh idk if her voice would go well with Mag's. The Joey and Mag song didn't work out for me either.

[Lightning]

ehhh idk if her voice would go well with Mag's. The Joey and Mag song didn't work out for me either.

Is there anyone else youd like her to sing with? Really I just suggested those two because they're my favourite hk singers. I'd go crazy if they made a one off girl band together lol.

[HoneyJN]

I'm not a fan of hers but I do like many of her older songs. (Haven't heard any of her new ones). 

With that said, I saw her recent performance of Mayday's ä½ ä¸æ˜¯çœŸæ­£çš„快樂 on I'm a Singer and I really liked it! I actually like G.E.M's version better than the original.  

[laiwingnang]

I completely skip over her dance pop/electro pop tunes...they are all so bland and repetitive and she always has to buy them from foreign songwriters...what's the difference between those songs and kpop / katy perry/ke$ha?

well, her lyrics has more substance, but GEM and her producer aren't even into that type of music...

they are doing it for the sake of variety....

IMO, she shouldn't even bother with those...just stick to those beautiful ballads and rockish tunes

 

 

 

I love Mysecret the most BTW...some of the tracks there are AMAZING...eg. The Rose, Twinkle II, Doomsday, Mysecret

for me : Mysecret > Xposed > 18 > G.E.M (mainly because I can't stand "the one" and "love me now")

 

Bubble is just perfect, everything just blend so well together..

the lyrics are totally depressing...good use of metaphor, the lyrics seemingly enlightening, but is full of irony...the instrumental is dark and dramatic..it just brings out alot of complicated emotions...

[Lightning]

I completely skip over her dance pop/electro pop tunes...they are all so bland and repetitive and she always has to buy them from foreign songwriters...what's the difference between those songs and kpop / katy perry/ke$ha?

well, her lyrics has more substance, but GEM and her producer aren't even into that type of music...

they are doing it for the sake of variety....

IMO, she shouldn't even bother with those...just stick to those beautiful ballads and rockish tunes

 

 

 

I love Mysecret the most BTW...some of the tracks there are AMAZING...eg. The Rose, Twinkle II, Doomsday, Mysecret

for me : Mysecret > Xposed > 18 > G.E.M (mainly because I can't stand "the one" and "love me now")

 

Bubble is just perfect, everything just blend so well together..

the lyrics are totally depressing...good use of metaphor, the lyrics seemingly enlightening, but is full of irony...the instrumental is dark and dramatic..it just brings out alot of complicated emotions...

Yeah I agree to an extent. Its not the foreign influence that bothers me though because hk is generally bad at dance or electro songs too, the problem is just being cheap and not getting quality producers for those types of songs.

 

Glad someone else appreciates my secret album too!

[Hemlock]

Is there anyone else youd like her to sing with? Really I just suggested those two because they're my favourite hk singers. I'd go crazy if they made a one off girl band together lol.

hmm...

 

Well i'm sticking to what i've said before that Lala makes every song she features on better. So a GEM and Lala Hsu song would be interesting. I know you were probably asking for another HK singer but i can't think of a collab right now. I mean a GEM and Kary duet ballad might be nice though. And just because i'm a fan, GEM and Fiona doing a Fiona type pop song. 

[a(mber)]

can we just appreciate her face for a moment

[Hemlock]

Every post from now on must include a pic or gif of GEM!

 

[a(mber)]

Every post from now on must include a pic or gif of GEM!

[LionRock]

lol about G.E.M.'s accent... I think calling it a foreigner accent is a bit reaching, because it's not really an accent. It's more like her enunciation and pronunciation isn't clear. But she does have a "lazy accent" (which is what I call the "valley girl accent" of Cantonese LOL)

 

It does seem like she's gotten better over the years though. In her first EP, I could clearly hear that she had a enunciation problem. 

 

G.E.M. has a really solid discography but my least favorite release from hers is definitely her latest album, Xposed. It's still a great album though, but unlike her earlier albums, I felt like a lot of songs in Xposed were fillers.

[blazeaire]

Ahh so this is the famous G.E.M everyone's talking about, she's not bad from the songs I listened to in the OP, she does seem to 'slur' her words a little though sorta like Jay Chou but not as extreme :P but I can't understand much Chinese anyway so it's fine . I'll have to go through the rest of her albums later but yeah I hope she gets even more famous as the cpop market is really lacking that big 'new' face nowsday