Features
Jackie Chan Pop
At the end of the month a new male K-pop group called JJCC will release its debut album in South Korea before letting it loose in mainland China.
Photo: AP Photo
Singing at the charity concert "Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders" in Hong Kong.
Four of the five members are South Korean while the fifth is Australian-Chinese.
All are in their early 20s – nothing unusual there. What is noteworthy, however, is that the group is managed by, and named after, Hong Kong-Hollywood action star Jackie Chan.
According to Sha-sha Lee, the head of the Jackie Chan Group South Korea, Chan himself auditioned the band members and will oversee their careers personally.
The name of the group uses Chan’s initials but also stands for its purpose of “joining cultures” in Asia.
In addition to being top-notch singers, dancers and rappers, the five young men have studied acting and martial arts, as they may appear in movies alongside their mentor. In the 1990s, Chan tried to crossover into pop by releasing several albums in Mandarin to only moderate success.
Apparently, the dream is still alive, though it will be by proxy and in a slightly different field. K-pop is nevertheless the most popular genre throughout Asia right now.