Friday September 29, 2006
This Club’s first album
By LI EE KEE
The boys of 183 Club sure do not waste precious time. Recently, while in transit in Kuala Lumpur from Indonesia (where they had a showcase) en route to Taiwan, they held a press conference with the Malaysian media to promote their debut record, First Album. It was held at the VVIP Lounge at KLIA.
“Our schedule is rather tight. So we want to fully utilise our time. Seeing that we have several hours before our flight, we thought, 'why not use this opportunity?' And to have a press conference while transiting is kind of interesting,” said group leader Johnnie Yen.
It proved to be an interesting experience for this writer too, thanks to the overexcited 183 Club fans who sat in on the press conference. From the time the guys walked in, all very stylishly dressed in white replete with the requisite dark shades, the girls could hardly contain themselves as they fervently called out to each member.
183 Club was the ingenious creation of Jungiery, the same company that gave the Mando-pop world boybands 5566 and K-One. Their name is said to refer to the average height of the members, comprising Ehlo Huang (29), Sam Wang (29), Jack Chu (27), Ming Dao (26) and Yen (30) although only Yen, a former national basketball player, stands at 183cm.
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The members of 183 Club (from left): Ehlo Huang, Jack Chu, Ming Dao, Sam Wang and Johnnie Yen. |
Huang had an album to his name before signing to Jungiery but unfortunately for him, financial difficulties forced his then record company to fold.
Similarly, Canadian-born Chiu also released a solo album before he became a Jungiery artiste.
Ming Dao started as host of the travel show Mao Xian Wang (King of Adventure) before he ventured into acting, starring in dramas such as Tian Guo De Jia Yi (Heaven’s Wedding Dress).
If Wang looks familiar, that is because he is also a member of 5566. Yes, you would think there would be conflict of interest since 5566 and 183 Club are essentially alike, from their music, image to target audience. But as Wang explained, it is all up to the company.
“They organise my time. Basically, when 183 Club is free, I’ll do 5566 stuff and vice versa,” said Wang, who like Yen was also an athlete. He was a national football player for Taiwan.
At the moment, Wang is busy with 183 Club duties, especially with the release of its first proper album, First Album. Past records by the quintet were original soundtracks to their TV series such as Ai Qing Mo Fa Shi (The Love Magicians) and Wang Zi Bian Qing Wa (The Prince Who Turns into a Frog). Album sales for First Album is said to be encouraging.
“We put our best efforts on the album and we hope fans will like it,” Chu pointed out.
The 10-track album is largely R&B with several fast numbers. One of the songs that piques interest is I’m So Hot, especially if you have seen the music video that has the boys ripping off their shirts. It makes you wonder if they think that they are hot. Oddly enough, none offered a straightforward explanation. Modesty, perhaps?
But when asked to pick who was the hottest among them, Yen, Huang, Wang and Ming Dao promptly pointed in Chu’s direction, leaving him flabbergasted.
“When he’s performing on stage, he just mesmerises. His eyes give out an electric charge. And his physique is amazing,” said Ming Dao.
Later to a question on whether they fight and argue, Yen said they were lucky that they do not. “That is not to say that we are good but maybe it is because we’re mature so we know how to get along with each other. We have our differences but we will talk them out. What really binds us is our attitude. We are very professional and serious in our work. No matter what we do, we want to get acceptance from viewers and listeners.”
Not likely to be a problem with these lookers.
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