CantoTalk Episode #5
Please go to Quizlet for 59 vocabulary items: 
Hello everyone. Welcome to the fifth episode of the CantoTalk Music Podcast. I am your host Edgar. Our Cantonese-learning friends, please remember to check out the link in the info section, where you can find the transcript, translation, romanization, and vocabularies for this episode. In the last episode, we mentioned that in the 00’s and 10’s, the Hong Kong music scene became very boring due to the over-abundance of Karaoke songs, to the point where the act of listening to Cantopop was considered old-fashioned. Back then, teenagers in Hong Kong would rather listen to songs from Korea, Japan, Europe, or the US. We also mentioned that this phenomenon did not see improvement until recent years. In the past few years, then, what happened in the Hong Kong music scene that led to the market consisting not only of Karaoke songs, and made Hongkongers listen to Cantopop again? The reason would be the theme of this episode: Idol Groups. In 2018, the Hong Kong television network ViuTV spotted that the Hong Kong market is lacking sing-and-dance idol groups such as those popular in Korea, Japan, or even Mainland China. Thus, referencing Korean shows, they made a reality talent show called Kingmaker. Perhaps since it’s been a while since Hong Kong has local idols to “chase”, the contestants in the show have been continuously accumulating fans since the show’s debut.
After the show ended, ViuTV rode the trend, forming the boybands MIRROR and ERROR from 16 of the Kingmaker contestants. In 2021, ViuTV’s investment came to fruition: in the yearly large-scale music show Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation, MIRROR won six awards, becoming the biggest winner of the event. Plus, due to the pandemic, many Hongkongers have picked up the habit of watching TV at home again, significantly increasing the exposure of MIRROR and ERROR, who often appeared in TV dramas and variety shows. Their fans increased exponentially that year, creating an idol trend never-before-seen in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, many of the largest, most famous companies such as McDonald’s and Louis Vuitton would find MIRROR and ERROR for endorsement. Every once in a while, fans would also crowd-fund for large-scale commercials on local trams, buses, and even in other countries, such as the Times Square in New York, U.S.A. Their success miraculously made ViuTV’s parent company PCCW turn from loss to profit, with many other companies making their own reality talent shows and forming their idol groups, just like Kingmaker did. Thus, the music groups we’re talking about today, are these sing-and-dance idol groups that represent the Hong Kong stardom culture in recent years.
Of course, our first song would be the big brother of Kingmaker: MIRROR’s WARRIOR! MIRROR is a 12-man sing-and-dance boyband, with their name a metaphor for the infinite reflecting possibilities from a mirror. Besides attending events and releasing songs as a group, their members also release singles and develop in TV dramas, movies, or variety shows as individuals. We just mentioned that 2021 is an important milestone for MIRROR’s popularity. If that’s the case, then WARRIOR must be the song that can best represent this milestone. The song talks about overthrowing old policies and rules to embrace a new era. “浩浩蕩蕩迎來另一新世紀” (lit. mightily welcoming another new era) in the lyrics exactly represents MIRROR’s contribution to the Hong Kong music scene. Without further ado, we have WARRIOR by MIRROR!
The song just now was WARRIOR by MIRROR! Coming up we have MIRROR’s brother group: ERROR’s 愛情值日生 (lit. Love on Duty)! From Kingmaker, besides signing on many contestants who fit the traditional boyband image as MIRROR, they also discovered contestants who, though may not be as fit, tall, or handsome, have exceptional talents and popularity with the audience. Thus, they signed on four contestants with weird-looking shapes and faces, but each beaming with talents, as the comedy boyband ERROR, parodying off MIRROR’s name! They usually host funny game shows on ViuTV. In 2021, they finally rose to popularity through their funny, clever comments and TV shows. Besides TV shows, they have also released songs as a music group. Their songs are usually in the retro genre, sprinkled with funny lyrics on top. The song 愛情值日生 from this year is in the genre of Karaoke songs from the 00’s. The lyrics of the song are also very interesting: they’re about “legitimizing” the act of cheating on multiple people. It’s a romantic love song about a girl with multiple boyfriends, being romantic with a different person on each of the seven days of a week, hence the name 愛情值日生. See if the song sparks a familiar feeling with our songs from the last episode? Our second song is 愛情值日生 by ERROR!
Just now we had 愛情值日生 by ERROR! I have a friend who used to like Korean idols, but shifted to “chasing” Hong Kong idols in recent years. I then asked, “what’s the difference between the idol culture in Korea and that in Hong Kong?” She replied, “the images of the idols in Korea are just like an actual star, far out of reach. But in Hong Kong, perhaps since these idol groups have just started developing, we often “grow” with our idols, being able to see their grounded and most realistic sides on different media.” If we’re talking about idol groups that were looked down upon at the beginning, but gradually grew popularity as fans got touched by their hard-work, we can’t not mention P1X3L. Due to the success of Kingmaker 1, ViuTV held Kingmaker II in 2019 to form another boyband. Unfortunately, due to the social movements in Hong Kong that year, not a lot of people were in the mood of watching TV, drastically lowering the amount of discussion around the contestants of Kingmaker II.
Formed from the competition, the three-man sing-and-dance group P1X3L was even criticized for poor looks, bad songs, and boring TV shows. This lasted until late 2021, when they’re invited on the ViuTV comedy Xuanxue show Master Seven. In the show, feng shui master Master Qi instructed them on how to face negative comments, as well as arranged a surprise with their fans. The audience was touched by their fire and sincerity, and they gradually attracted more fans. The song we’re talking about today is the signature track Just Lean On Me, released following the trend of the show. With this song, they were able to secure the Bronze Group Award in that year’s Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation. Nowadays, many regard P1X3L as the team with the best live sing-and-dance performance among the many Hong Kong idol groups, even criticizing their label for not allocating enough resources for them. Okay! Our third song is Just Lean On Me by P1X3L!
Just now we had Just Lean On Me by P1X3L! The first three idol groups debuted from Kingmakers are all boybands. With the success of these boybands, forming a girlband seems like a no-brainer: this is exactly what Kingmaker IV in 2021 set out to do. After the competition, ViuTV selected eight girls from the top 20 to form the sing-and-dance female group COLLAR. Besides rhyming with MIRROR and ERROR, the name COLLAR also represents a woman’s captivating collar bone, as well as the breath-taking shirt collar. Different from the girlbands in Japan and Korea, the members of COLLAR are not all about that young, beauty route. For example, though team leader Gao is already 29, her dancing is really good and eye-catching. Another member Sumling is already 36, but still looks very beautiful and young. Signed up for the competition to chase her dreams, she’s introduced in the finals as “the ceiling of women”, captivating many men’s hearts. Back then, many netizens criticized ViuTV for COLLAR not conforming with their images of a girlband. However, isn’t this attitude of being looked down upon but never giving up, perfecting the matters at hand, the spirit of Hongkongers? The purpose of COLLAR’s debut song Call My Name! is to tell everyone who they are: and I believe everyone would remember their name after listening to the song. Without further ado, we have Call My Name! by COLLAR!
Just now we had Call My Name! by COLLAR! Kingmaker IV started off with the explicit purpose of forming a girlband, so the contestants of course would all like to become idols. At the end, although ViuTV only signed the group COLLAR, it didn’t stop the other groups from forming their own girlbands without the help of big companies. Besides COLLAR, Kingmaker IV also birthed two other grilbands: one’s called STRAYZ, the other’s the one we’re talking about today, Lolly Talk. If COLLAR’s direction is coolness, then STRAYZ’s direction is all about their talents, and Lolly Talk’s direction is the youthfulness and cuteness of a traditional girldband. In Kingmaker IV, the team A2 performed a very youthful and cute Cantopop song called Candy Ball. A2, with a few other top 96 contestants, formed another eight-person girlband called Lolly Talk, with the name being in the style of Candy Ball. In April this year, the Hong Kong ESports Premier League contacted the girlband for endorsement. The group even composed a theme song for the competition called 8SEC. To go with the theme of the competition, they departed from their youthful, cute direction in the past and composed a very cool electronic song, telling everyone that besides being cute, they can also be very cool. Our last song is 8SEC by Lolly Talk!
The song we had just now was 8SEC by Lolly Talk! In response to this idol culture, some thought that the idols in Hong Kong are way behind those in Korea and Japan, criticizing that they lack skills, focus only on advertising, and as a result is poisoning the Hong Kong music scene. There are also people who find the money and time-wasting act of “chasing” stars annoying and unhealthy. However, undeniably, their appearances rejuvenated the Hong Kong music scene, which hadn’t happened for over ten years. They also cultivated many Hong Kong musicians to compose in genres rarely-seen before in Hong Kong. Their commercial success is also a statement to other companies that Hong Kong’s music is worth investing in and allocating resources for, indirectly benefiting other singers and musicians. A few weeks ago I went to the Keung To fans meeting in San Francisco: there were, surprisingly, 200 people who showed up. Nowadays, not only do Hongkongers listen to Cantopop again, but such is also the case for Cantonese speakers in other countries. This is a new golden era of the Hong Kong music scene. We are really lucky and blessed to be able to witness and live in such a historical moment. After listening to this podcast, I hope everyone would fall in love with Hong Kong’s music, just like I did. That’s about it for today’s time. I am Edgar. Thank you for listening to the CantoTalk Music podcast. See you in the next episode!
To the right is a screenshot preview of a comprehensive handout that includes a full transcript, vocabulary, comprehension questions, and a featured song. The handout will be available for purchase, with the added benefit that CantoLTA members can enjoy up to 2 complimentary handouts and can purchase additional ones at an exclusive 20%
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Please give credit to Edgar Chung and the Cantonese Alliance of North America!