Dramatic Ambitions

The East Asia pop scene is dominated by Japanese and Korean acts, but several Taiwanese pop stars are hoping to change that.

Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng, for instance, have built a solid fan base in Japan and other Asian countries thanks to the popularity of Taiwanese TV dramas. They hope to expand that popularity to the music realm when they perform at the Asia Music Summit, which takes place at Tokyo’s Stella Ball in October.

The two Mandopop idol wannabes told the fan site Asian Fanatics Forum that they are working on their singing and dancing skills.
“We’re in an extremely tense mood,” they said. “Before, we met our Japanese fans for the purpose of our idol dramas. Now, we’re transforming our identities into singers.”

Lin, more commonly referred to as A-Lin, is already signed to Japan’s biggest record label, Avex.

Consequently, she will also appear at Avex’s big summer event, the a-nation concert, which features most of the label’s acts.
She’ll be joined by Taiwanese dance group Dance Flow.