Many people have not yet heard of Xiang Chen. But in China, he is gaining popularity with each gently musical stroke of his guitar. Though he is currently only a young boy performing in singing competitions, this young man has the potential to become China’s version of Korean pop star Rain, or even more. His voice has a mature quality to it; quite unusual for a young boy of his age, and his guitar playing is beautiful and flawless, adding the perfect ingredient to round out his sound. His songs are soft and romantic, and the girls in the audience swoon and scream as he looks off into the distance and strums that first chord on his guitar.
Korean pop star Rain’s voice is full and rich with emotion, and Xiang Chen’s is no different. In fact, Xiang Chen’s voice and appearance are unique in that they have an honest quality to them that will take him very far in his career. He lays himself on the line with the heart and emotion he puts through his music. You can see it on his face and hear it in his voice and his instrument. There’s something mesmerizing about the way Xiang Chen sings and appears on stage. He looks so confident and well put together, as if he could walk onto any stage in those trendy jeans and T-shirt with his guitar in hand and win the audience over.
Xiang Chen is a cross between John Mayer and Justin Timberlake – Chinese style. He’s got a beautiful and harmonious sound thanks to the simple combination of voice and guitar, with a more pop-like style similar to Justin Timberlake. John Mayer’s music is often more carefree-feeling, but he has certain songs with mainly voice and guitar that are heavy with longing and desire. It is this serious style Xiang Chen sounds so similar to. Xiang Chen, like John Mayer, uses an acoustic and not an electric guitar, which gives a softer and gentler quality to the music. In addition, up and coming Chinese pop star Xiang Chen loves to sing slow and meaningful songs in a similar style to that of John Mayer. However, Xiang Chen is more strictly a pop singer than Mayer and many qualities of his voice and song content resemble those of Justin Timberlake. For starters, there is no doubt that handsome young Xiang Chen resembles the Chinese version of a boy band “hottie.” Those girls in the audience sure think so! Secondly, Justin Timberlake’s sound cannot really be defined as anything but pop, just like Xiang Chen’s sound. Both singers croon about love, getting up on stage and causing the hearts of many girls to skip a beat.
Xiang Chen has a voice that will make people turn their heads and stop to listen. He has a quality about him so honest and beautiful that comes partially from being new to the pop world, and partially from his own personality. America and much of the world may not know about him yet, but check his youtube videos and watch this young rising singer become the next Asian pop star after Korea’s Rain. Who knows – he may even take the U.S. by storm!
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07-09-2010 11:35 PM