I must know: Does this painfully atrocious song exist in the United States?
It is wildly popular in China. It is heard EVERYWHERE—karaoke lounges, cell phone stores, clothing shops, and even at the English speaking competition I've been judging the past few days. For the talent portion of the contest, so so many chose to sing this song. I'm sure I did a terrible job of disguising my weariness after the tenth time I heard it.
If it is, as I think, a China-only phenomenon (please, God, please!), it's actually interesting that it's so hot there. The lyrics take religion—formerly forbidden and still watched closely by the government in China—and challenge one of its most common archetypes, that God is male—in the context of a country where it's still really a man's world. All this while giving a nod to the one state-sponsored religion here: the future. Oh, and the album cover is not the sort of thing that good little Chinese girls are supposed to be looking at.
Things that make you go hmm... Still can't stand the song.
I promise to tell you more soon about Star of Outlook, the English speaking competition I've been judging. For now, you can check out this playlist of the songs I heard sung by 13-year-old Chinese boys and girls today. Read through one by one, and imagine them in the squeaky adolescent voice of someone whose English is still very very elementary. This will give you some idea of how entertaining my day was.
Download StarofOutlookPlaylist.doc
