Asia News: Dua Lipa Cancels; Countdown Adds NewJeans; Music Awards Japan;

INDONESIA

Dua Lipa Cancels For ‘Safety Concerns’

Dua Lipa cancelled her Nov. 9 concert in Jakarta due to “safety concerns,” according to Sky News. As part of the Asian leg of her “Radical Optimism” tour, Lipa was scheduled to perform in the Indonesian capital but just prior to the show called it off “due to concerns about the staging” at the 16,500-seat Indonesia Arena.

In a joint statement on Lipa’s website, organizers TEM Presents and PK Entertainment said the cancellation was “due to unforeseen safety and logistical issues.” The statement went on to say that the organizers had made “diligent efforts to resolve critical production issues related to the stage structure provided by Mata Elang Productions,” but that it was “not safe for the performance to carry on.”

On Instagram, Lipa wrote, “I am heartbroken to share that I won’t be able to perform in Jakarta this Saturday, Nov. 9. I am there in your amazing country and ready to perform, but I am gutted to share that it has been determined that it is not safe for the performance to carry on due to safety issues with the staging. I was so looking forward to this night, and it truly pains me that we cannot perform for you all, especially after such a long time since my last performance in Jakarta. Refunds will be made from your point of purchase. I love you all and truly can’t wait to be back together in the same room with you singing and dancing our hearts out as soon as possible.”

JAPAN

NewJeans Brings K-pop To Countdown

NewJeans will become the first K-pop girl group to appear at Japan’s biggest year-end festival, Countdown Japan.

The group’s management agency announced the appearance on Nov. 7, according to Korea Herald.

Countdown Japan, which is presented by the music magazine Rockin’ On, takes place from Dec. 28-31 at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, which is just east of Tokyo.

NewJeans will perform on the final day of the festival. Countdown Japan started in 2003 and is touted as the biggest indoor year-end music festival in Japan. More than 100 Japanese acts will perform over four days.

‘Asian Grammys’ To Debut As Music Awards Japan

A new music awards ceremony that some have called the “Asian version of the Grammys” will start next year, reports Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

The ceremony is the brainchild of five organizations headed by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, which announced the event, called Music Awards Japan. The first ceremony will take place in May in Kyoto.

The idea was proposed by Shunichi Tokura, the commissioner of Japan’s Cultural Affairs Agency, for the purpose of promoting the music of Japan and other Asian countries to the rest of the world.

About 5,000 people in the music industry will vote for songs and artists that appeared in the Japanese music charts between Jan. 29, 2024 and Jan. 26, 2025. There will be six categories, including best song and best album.

In addition, there will be awards for Japanese songs that have become global hits and for songs popular throughout Asia.

In all, about 60 awards will be given out in various genres including hip-hop, enka (traditional Japanese ballads) and kayokyoku (Japanese pop songs).

Tatsuya Nomura, president of the Federation of Music Producers Japan, said as part of the announcement, “I’d like to make the awards a festivity to share potentials of music with the world.”

TAIWAN

Andy Lau Causes Controversy With ‘Nationalistic’ Song

Hong Kong-based pop star/actor Andy Lau performed in Taiwan for the first time in more than a decade last month.

One of the songs he sang, “Chinese People,” caused some controversy on the island when a video of the concert was uploaded on the internet.

The song is clearly nationalistic in purpose, and some Taiwanese were offended, given the friction between the island and Beijing, which claims Taiwan as an integral part of the People’s Republic of China.

According to the Straits Times, Wang Ting-yu, a Taiwanese lawmaker and Democratic Progressive Party member, posted the video Nov. 2 on the social media platform Threads.
In the video, Lau sings the controversial song with simplified Chinese text of the lyrics appearing on a large screen behind him as well as a depiction of a dragon.

The word “Taiwan” is written out in “traditional Chinese characters.”

Wang accompanies the video with a message that reads: “Is this a scene of Andy Lau performing in China? What a very, very ‘China’ stage design. I’ve never heard this song before…Shocked to hear it sung tonight at the Taipei Arena.”

In an earlier post on Facebook, Wang described Lau as a “pro-Communist artist” whose concert was “not worth watching.”

The song in question was first released in 1997 to commemorate Hong Kong’s return to China and has always been considered nationalistic.

One lyric reads, “The same tears, pain and bitter sufferings of the past/We bear them in our hearts…Hand in hand, with no distinction between you and me/We advance with our heads held high/To let the world know that we are all Chinese.”

Many Taiwanese internet users joined with Wang in complaining about the song, saying that Lau’s mission seemed to be to “indoctrinate” his fans.

Conversely, internet users from the mainland joined in the conversation to defend Lau, saying that the writers of the song, Preson Lee An-xiu and Chan Yiu-chuen, were actually Taiwanese who had written many songs for Hong Kong and Taiwanese artists.

Chinese state media said that Wang was deliberately stoking a cross-straits controversy and “exposes the fragility of Taiwan’s independence secessionists.”

A professor of Chinese history told the Straits Times that the Taiwanese netizens who objected to the song felt that Lau was “imposing” his views on them, but since Lau did not break any laws “it is really up to him to choose his identity.”

Apparently, Lau performed the same song during his last Taiwanese concert in 2013, but there was no attendant backlash.