Eason Chan: king of cantopop

Eason Chan, the king of cantopop, took to the stage at Shanghai's Hongkou Soccer Stadium on April 25th. Chan has long been recognized as the leading male singer of his generation in the Hong Kong music scene. In our "List" today, we discover the world of Eason Chan's music.

This March saw the release of Eason Chan's new Cantonese album "H3M". The record is a bit of a departure from Chan's previous works. Apart from a change in his looks - he's started to grow a beard - Chan invited nine celebrated musicians to compose songs for his album. The nine musicians, including Joey Tang, Gary Tong, C.Y. Kong, Davy Chan, and Pam Chung, were all extremely popular in the 1980s in Hong Kong. Their contributions add a nostalgic touch to Chan's music, which has won acclaim from both critics and fans alike.

Eason Chan was sent to the United Kingdom to study at the age of 12. He attended Kingston University, where he majored in architecture. In 1995 he returned to Hong Kong to take part in a New Talent Singing Competition and won the first place. Chan then signed a contract with Wha Shing Records and his music career took off.

Chan released a number of albums while with Wha Shing. His albums, including "Happiness", "God Bless My Beloved One", "Nothing Really Matters", and "New Life" all sold well.

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5 biggest winners of Music Influence Awards

The annual Music Influence Awards have just wrapped up. It was a time to celebrate for last year's hardest working singers. Let's count down the five biggest winners of the awards.

No 5. Jam Hsiao

Newcomer Jam Hsiao won Best New Singer, which came as a surprise for many people. Some even questioned the decision, partly because of Jam Hsiao's last album. Although the album was supposed to be tailor made for Hsiao's unique voice, it failed to impress fans with any one of its new singles.

No 4. Khalil Fong

Khalil Fong took home two prizes: Best Producer and Best Composition for his single If Love. These two prizes recognize the talent of Fong as a both a singer and songwriter. Though he missed out on the Best Album prize, it's safe to say he is not far from that.

No 3. Xu Wei

Xu Wei was absent from the awards ceremony, but it didn't stop him becoming the envy of all Chinese mainland singers. He was honored with three awards, The Best Male Singer of the Chinese Mainland, The Best Producer of the Chinese Mainland and The Best Single for his new track Young Man. When asked about his victory, he said it only showed there was a lack of talented male singers!

No 2. Tanya Chua

Thanks to last year's new album My Space, Tanya Chua regained her popularity and got four nominations for the Music Influence Awards. She won two of them: Best Female Singer and Best Script in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

No 1. Eason Chan

The night belonged to Eason Chan, who pocketed five prizes. He broke his own record of four prizes last year. Chan won the three most coveted prizes for all singers: Best Achievement, Best Male Singer and Best Album in Hong Kong and Taiwan. His new single The Road is Always There won The Best Song.

Free, legal music download in China

China overtook the US last year to become the nation with the world's largest number of internet users. But its acute piracy problem with music downloading means musicians have not been able to gain any commercial benefit from their popularity online. But the situation has now changed.





ChinaovertooktheUSlastyeartobecomethe
nationwiththeworld'slargestnumberof
internetusers.Butitsacutepiracyproblem
withmusicdownloadingmeansmusicianshave
notbeenabletogainanycommercialbenefit
fromtheirpopularityonline.

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, or IFPI, China accounted for less than 1 percent of the world's legal music download market last year at just 76 million US dollars. Illegal music downloading is doing serious damage to the market.