The Boys Are Back in Town

On a July weekend, the members of the boy group F4, featured in the "idol drama serial" known in English as Meteor Garden, are having an autograph session in Taipei's Hsinmenting area. Incredibly, thousands of people have shown up, creating a level of fervor that at least equals, if not surpasses, that generated by the Taiwan publicity tour of the Japanese boy group V6. As the crowd presses forward, the stage begins to wobble, and the sponsors have no choice but to abort the event to prevent disaster. Still, more than 20 people are reported to have passed out, and another four are in shock. Many entertainment reporters are moved to declare the return of the super boy group fever that seemed to have receded when the Little Tigers fell out of the public eye.

Idol buffet

Hai Chen is a junior high student, still attending "remedial classes" despite its being summer vacation. Taking advantage of a day off from school, she and her classmates have braved the sweltering heat to jostle for a glance at their idols.

"Even before they announced the cancellation they were already taking the stage apart, so we had an idea what was happening. But we still hung on until the last moment, when they actually announced the cancellation. What a mega-disappointment!" Hai Chen, still in the bloom of youth, reels off the names of her favorite male stars: Nicholas Tse, Andy Liu, Nicky Wu, the Korean boy group H.O.T. It seems she goes for boyish good looks. (Andy Liu, who is the same age as Hai Chen's mom, is the exception, but Hai Chen says she can "live with that" because he is "mega-handsome.")

"Everybody loves F4," she gushes. Though her classmates all have their own favorites among the F4 boys, because they are all in the same band, everybody shares the same obsession in common, says Hai Chen, so there are plenty of things to talk about together.

Music critic Ma Hsin echoes Hai Chen's logic. An ensemble that brings together different images and characteristics is like a "buffet lunch," with "more for your money." "Everything you could wish for, wrapped up in one package" is how she puts it.

What makes F4 so hot? Even when they only existed as a group in a comic book, they were already immensely popular idols. The members had different personalities, such as the low-key and gentle guy, the playboy who is really lonely at heart, and the stubborn yet passionate one. When these four idealized personality types were given form as tangible people (or at least tangible actors), and they rescued the girl in the TV series from poverty, naturally the hearts of young girls in Taiwan never stood a chance. So who cares if these kids can't act?

Market indicator

A more diversified product that offers different types of handsome young guys definitely covers all the bases. That is why, avers Wang Tzu-shou, a music critic for the Min Sheng Daily, boy groups are always a good bet in a slow record market. Especially now, after a long empty-nest period for boy bands in Taiwan, many in the biz are looking to such groups to pull the industry out of the doldrums.

Last year B.A.D. got noticed after performing well in band contests in the US. Mark Liu, former managing director at EMI, the company which has B.A.D. under contract, declared: "I stake my whole reputation, earned through more than ten years in the industry, that if this record doesn't sell, there's no point in making any records at all." And the band has indeed done quite well.

Wang Tzu-shou notes that boy groups are suited to the "roulette wheel" mentality of an industry that is struggling to survive. They are composed almost exclusively of unknowns, so, except for the training fees associated with the earliest stage of popularity, they require little capital input. If a company puts its chips on the right number, the money will come rolling in. There is not even any need to figure out how to organize and run such groups: Taiwan record companies just have to follow in the footsteps of successful precedents from Japan, Europe, and the States. You can see how this works from a short history of boy bands in Taiwan.

In the global groove

The Little Tigers, who came up in the early 1980s, were a copy of Japan's Shonentai in virtually every respect, and even their most popular song was simply the Chinese-language rendering of a Shonentai hit. The formula was pretty simple: clean-cut looks, easy-listening melodies, and a few basic dance steps for the stage.

Next up were the Crickets, composed of guys who danced behind Hong Kong superstar Anita Mui. Their trademarks were a tougher look and driving rhythms, fitting into the dance music fad in late 80s Taiwan. Then the LABoyz, overseas Chinese from the States who came back to Taiwan in the early 90s, followed the trail set by black "break dance" music in the US, and they even went for a "black" feel in their attire and physical appearance.

F4 is a composite, with two Taiwan-born-and-bred members, one who lived in Singapore for quite some time, and one Chinese-American. They look sharp, and have a somewhat foreign feel. When you combine these features with their packaging in an "idol drama serial," you've duplicated the product formula blown in on the wind of Japanese idol TV shows.

"Dream maker" Liu Wei-tsu, agent for both LABoyz and B.A.D., says that F4 marks a significant innovation in terms of the channel used for making the boys into celebrities and also in the fact that the group requires a cooperative effort among different agents. But this approach won't necessarily apply to other boy groups.

"The success of F4 is a matter of being in the right place at the right time with the right people. Not everybody can be so lucky," says Liu. Stardom has to be in your stars, too. If the timing is good, if the record company chooses the right packaging and market niche, and if the managers judge correctly which way the wind is blowing, it's not that difficult to get famous. But pop culture never stands still, and even if you've got all the "manufacturing" techniques down pat, you still need an extremely sensitive nose to pick up the scent of the latest pop trend.

As easy as ABC

So have Taiwan's boy groups had anything special about them compared to those from the US, Europe, and Japan? Wang Tzu-shou doesn't mince words: "Not a thing." But one aspect that seems worth looking at a little more is the popularity of so-called ABCs: American-born Chinese.

"The children who emigrated or who were sent off to be 'little overseas students' in the 1980s have grown up and come back. They are more hip to Western pop culture and speak English well, which are enviable qualities. Now that a few have entered the field, they are sure to bring others in after them," says Wang. But this, he adds, is just a question of background; it doesn't mean a thing when it comes to style.

While many kids are fascinated with boy groups, many adults are obsessed with Hello Kitty. Critic Ma Hsin says that they have something in common: The product itself produces a rush in the consumer, creating a sense of worship and the thrill of collecting. So both older folks who cuddle their stuffed dolls and young girls who gaze enraptured at posters of their idols get a sense of gratification. Hai Chen's mom worries that her daughter's attachment to idols will distort her development, but Hai Chen seems to know what she is doing. Pop stars are just another part of the youth vocabulary, and it's only normal that you need to know something about them to be able to talk with other kids and sing their songs at karaoke.

Boyish good looks will always find admirers. So long as nobody gets the fiction confused with reality, being stuck on pop idols is just an ordinary phase young girls go through. We've all been there, haven't we?

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F4

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B.A.D.