Season 01 Compilation 02
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Compilation 02
Mosaic of China Season 01 - KTV (Karaoke) Songs
Original Date of Release: 19 May 2020.
Today's compilation episode is all about the podcast guests’ favourite songs to sing at KTV, the Chinese version of karaoke. Out of all the questions asked on Mosaic of China, this one elicited the biggest array of emotions: joy, pride, embarrassment and… sheer terror.
There’s a reason why karaoke is so popular in China and other East Asian societies with a Confucian heritage: it’s an important catalyst for group social harmony. Unfortunately that doesn’t always guarantee group *vocal* harmony. But since no-one really cares about that… what would be *your* go-to song to sing at karaoke? Please contribute to the communities on WeChat, Instagram and Facebook.
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[Trailer]
Angie WU: ‘Don't Cry for Me, Argentina’.
OF: Oh you’re kidding!
AW: I’m very good with that. That's how I impress people. And I just need that one song, then I'm done.
[Intro]
OF: Welcome to Mosaic of China, a podcast about people who are making their mark in China. I'm your host Oscar FUCHS.
So this is the second special compilation episode from Season 01. And this one contains all 30 of the guests’ answers to the question “What is your goto song to sing at KTV?” KTV being the shorthand name for karaoke in China. I'll keep my intro short this time, but I'll be back at the end of the episode, where I'll reveal a little extra surprise.
[Main]
[Voiceover]
OF: Roz Coleman, the theatre producer from Episode 22.
[Clip]
RC: KTV has completely changed the way that I think about karaoke here. The American style - the Western style, let’s call it - is to, like, take this microphone, get up, prance about like everybody's looking at you, like you have to do some sort of performance, like you have to make it into some sort of big deal or something. When actually you could just sit there, choose a load of songs, whoever's the best one at singing it - or wants to sing it - can sing that song, sit back, do the song to a really high quality level, as if you're playing a game, and then pass the mic to the next person. If you get bored, you don’t have to finish the song. And so, one of the things that we have a tendency to do at KTV is just to rush on in there, get everything on order, and then choose all of the ones that we know. And then somebody can just take it, like, if they want to take it. I think the time that I most ingratiated a room was doing a duet with my mate, Ben, to Bonnie Tyler's ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’.
OF: Oh, a classic.
RC: Yes. And so I still do have my favourites. But I'm really happy to like, again, just let go of the experience and be, like, just pick any ones we actually know the words to, and we'll all jump in.
[Voiceover]
OF: Yang Yi, the broadcaster from Episode 21.
[Clip]
YY: OK, here's a song in Chinese called 最炫民族风 [Zuìxuàn mínzúfēng]. And It’s a miracle song.
OF: OK…
YY: Well, this is not my favourite song, but I think it is my go-to song, you know, at karaoke. Because it's a very good song for warming up. And for me, I think entertaining my friends is a very important thing for me. You know, sometimes when we go to KTV, the first 20 minutes is very embarrassing, right? Someone is picking their own songs, someone is ordering drinks and food, someone is chit-chatting. And no-one is focusing on singing. So this song is, you know, a very good way for everyone to pay attention to you.
OF: Sabrina Chen, the dance programme curator from Episode 26.
[Clip]
SC: Bohemian Rhapsody. One of the reasons why I like this song very much is because it's similar to a musical. Because I used to work in a musical company too.
OF: Angie Wu, the jewellery craftsman from Episode 18.
[Clip]
AW: So… ‘Don't Cry for Me, Argentina’.
OF: Oh you’re kidding!
AW: I’m very good with that.
OF: OK, so tthat's because you're Argentinian, or at least one eighth Argentinian?
AW: No but also because the song falls into my voice range. And I can do that high pitch really nicely. But usually after that song, I cannot sing anymore. But I love it. And also people know I’m from Argentina, so they love to hear me singing this song. That's how I impress people. And I just need that one song, then I'm done.
[Voiceover]
OF: Jorge Luzio, the marketer for Sprite from Episode 05.
[Clip]
JL: Surprisingly, it's a Chinese song,飞得更高 [Fēidé gèng gāo]. I don't know if you know, but at most companies, in the first year that you arrive, you need to perform at the annual dinner. So I needed to perform, and they said “What can you do?” And I said "Well, I think I like singing”. So they said “Oh yeah, yeah, let’s put you to sing.” And I said “Oh my God, I need to…” And then, I was on a business trip in 广州 [Guǎngzhōu], and I was listening to this song. And I said “Oh this song is so beautiful”. And they told me what the song was about, it was about overcoming problems. And we were having this super troublesome project at that time. And so I said “Oh, this is so perfect”. So the song is about that, ‘我要飞得更高 [Wǒ yào fēide gèng gāo].’
[Voiceover]
OF: Stephane de Montgros, the events company CEO from Episode 19.
[Clip]
SDM: I think the one song that I vaguely remember, is 对面的女孩看过来 ([Duìmiàn de nǚhái kàn guòláii]. It brings me back to my first time in Asia, which was in 2000. So I was doing Chinese over the summer, and then I did an internship in Singapore. And that song had just been released that summer. So it just brings me back to that kind of like, being a baby, not understanding anything, trying to make sense of what was around me. And obviously, I think the more you move forward, the more you know that you don't know anything.
[Voiceover]
OF: Astrid Poghosyan, the violinist from Episode 04.
[Clip]
AP: People think that I have to sing really well. Because I'm a musician, I have perfect pitch, and all my life is all about being in tune. So when I'm in KTV, I'm trying to sing as out of tune as possible. And I try to go for those songs, the sad ones like Michael Jackson, “You Are Not Alone”. And I'm trying to do it in a super out-of-tune way, and I really enjoy it. But I'm the only one enjoying it, I believe.
[Voiceover]
OF: Abe Deyo, the tour manager from Episode 27.
[Clip]
AD: S.H.E., Superstar. I’m not gonna sing any of it. Not on here. But that was my go-to.
OF: And does it impress people? Or was it like “Oh god, he's bringing that one out again.”
AD: Oh it impressed. Because, well it’s a Chinese song.
OF: Yeah.
AD: You know, a Taiwanese band. Yeah.
OF: I'm still on the search for a good song to learn.
AD: It’s pretty easy.
OF: It’s a pretty easy one?
AD: I mean, I'll be honest, I didn't learn every word. It's easy to fake a lot of it.
OF: Oh is it?
AD: And you get to the chorus, “She’s my superstar.”
[Voiceover]
OF: Yael Farjun, the historical researcher from Episode 12.
[Clip]
YF: ‘Killing Me Softly’. That's the only song that I actually remember all the lyrics to. And for some reason they have it in KTV. I try to avoid KTV, to be honest, as much as I can. But if I do go, and I'm forced to sing, then this is the song that I probably will choose.
[Voiceover]
OF: Michael Zee, the Instagram influencer from Episode 07.
[Clip]
MZ: Oh, so I've actually never done KTV in China. I've only ever done karaoke in Japan. My last memory of karaoke in Japan was this enormous skyscraper that was like 10 floors of rooms. And they had costumes, you could pick a costume to wear whilst you sing. And so I was a beer bottle, a giant beer bottle. And Mark was wearing the Björk swan dress. And we were with a big group of people from France. And I remember this French team, they were like, "Oh, we're gonna be so good at this”. And then when we actually got in the room, they were really bad. And really kind of like “Oh, you guys sing”. And I remember putting on Nirvana. And they just went wild. And I've got a video of them head-banging to Nirvana, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’.
OF: Nini Sum, the artist from Episode 16.
[Clip]
NS: Linkin Park. Yeah, because I don't really go to KTV. The last time I went there was maybe several years ago. And when I was in high school, Linkin Park was really popular. So it was like me and some classmates, and they are doing the rap parts, and I’m doing the singing parts. It’s a long time ago.
OF: I kind of want to see you do that now. You're very softly spoken, but I can see that you have a punk side to you that would come out pretty strong.
NS: Yeah.
[Voiceover]
OF: Emily Madge, the aquarium conservationist from Episode 14.
[Clip]
EM: Um, so I'm not much of a singer at KTV. I'm usually the one sat down watching, drinking the wine. But I would go ‘Hey, Jude’.
OF: Oh.
EM: If I had to.
OF: Even with all the long “Laa, laa, laa…”
EM: Yeah, it gets everyone going. Everyone joins in with the “Laa, laa”s.
OF: Really?
EM: Yeah.
OF: Yeah.
EM: Maybe it's an end-of-the-night kind of one.
OF: Right, yeah. When you don't remember how annoyed you are at the 10th “Laa, laa, laa…”
EM: Yeah. And everyone's too drunk to remember me singing.
OF: That's actually a very good point, because then everyone sings on top of you, and you can just slide away and go back to the wine in the corner.
EM: Exactly.
OF: Oh very good.
EM: It’s tactical.
[Voiceover]
OF: Noah Sheldon, the documentary filmmaker from Episode 09.
[Clip]
NS: My favourite KTV song is, if you want get everyone going, you can always do Tiny Dancer.
OF: Very good.
NS: I think that’s…
OF: That’s a classic.
NS: Everyone loves that.
[Voiceover]
OF: Greg Nance, the ultramarathon athlete from Episode 23.
[Clip]
GN: Oh, Led Zeppelin's ‘When the Levee Breaks’. It's a beautiful song. And it's fun to introduce it, because none of my Chinese friends have heard that before. And so when available - it's not always - but that's what I like. What's always available, that I've been talked into a number of times, and I've sort of had to claim it as a result, is a lady named Natalie Imbruglia sung ‘Torn', which is like a 1998 super pop hit or something. And colleagues make me sing that one when we go out, because I do give a pretty good rendition. Thank you, Natalie.
OF: Oh, wow. Well, of course I know that because I'm a Brit. And we were fed a diet of Australian soaps. And she is an Australian soap star.
GN: Oh, there we go, OK.
OF: Which most Americans don't realise…
GN: Did not.
OF: No.
OF: Gina Li, the invention company CEO from Episode 06.
[Clip]
GL: I don't know if you know, there's an animation serial called 喜羊羊 [Xǐyángyáng], it’s like happy sheep everywhere.
OF: Oh, I have seen it, yeah.
GL: Yeah, that's the song, every time I will sing that. It's like a kids song, singing about cabbage and, like, vegetables and carrots and everything. So I just love those lyrics. it’s like “I'm singing about all the vegetables together, because I’m a sheep”.
[Voiceover]
OF: Nick Yu, the playwright from Episode 13.
[Clip]
NY: I went to KTV many many times with my colleagues, with my friends. My voice is not that good. But I have one song, it’s from a movie. In Chinese, the name is 大实话 [Dà Shíhuà]. That movie is about a member of the Communist Party, 焦裕禄 [Jiāo Yùlù]. He's real famous in China. He died in the 1950s. That story really touched lots of people for many generations. But in that film they have a song. That song is really difficult, but I love it.
[Voiceover]
OF: Sebastien Denes, the inclusion advocate from Episode 11.
[Clip]
SD: It's not a fancy one. It’s John Denver, ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’.
OF: Oh the classic.
SD: Yeah, classic, easy to sing. But also a lot of meaning. In the first years in China, it was a song that was referring to home in France. And over the years, home is now here.
[Voiceover]
OF: Lissanthea Taylor, the pain expert from Episode 28.
[Clip]
LT: November rain
OF: No.
LT: Yeah.
OF: The whole nine minutes?
LT: Yeah, and don't touch that button, or we have to start at the start.
OF: Oh man.
OF: Lexie Comstock, the cookie supplier from Episode 20.
[Clip]
LC: OK, so my go-to is Alanis Morissette, ‘You Oughta Know’.
OF: Oh.
LC: It’s just a great one. But I'm gonna say the best move I've ever pulled at KTV - and I love KTV, we actually haven't been together we should totally go.
OF: Why has that not happened?
LC: I don't know. But the best move that I ever did was, I went to a KTV with people I wasn't that close with. And so at, like, 2am everyone's pretty drunk. Like, people are singing their intense songs. And at 2am, I put on Enya’s ‘Only Time’. Like “Who can say?” And it was so funny, because everyone was like “Who is this girl? Like, what is she singing?” And I was taking it really seriously. And everyone's kind of drunk by that point. So like, half the people didn't remember, but the people who do were like “What is that?” So that was really fun.
[Voiceover]
OF: Maple Zuo, the comedian from Episode 02.
[Clip]
MZ: I love Adele, very deep voice and very emotional…
OF: Yeah but very hard to sing.
MZ: I go to KTV always on my own.
OF: Oh really?
MZ: So I can scream. I'm really bad at singing, but I like to scream “I can find someone just like you”.
[Voiceover]
OF: Simon Manetti, the business leader from Episode 17.
[Clip]
SM: Probably The Bee Gees. What is it… “You can tell by the way I use my walk, I’m a woman’s man, no time…” What is it? What is it?
OF: Er… ‘Stayin' Alive’.
SM: ‘Stayin' Alive’! Sorry. I just screamed there, I just got so excited. So you can see, it just comes out.
OF: Wow.
SM: Yeah, there you go.
[Voiceover]
OF: Vy Vu, the fitness community leader from Episode 08.
[Clip]
VV: This is really embarrassing, but anything by Mariah Carey. As soon as a song comes on, I'm just belting it.
OF: This is a very adventurous and ambitious goal. And I believe you to be a very adventurous and ambitious person. I think that speaks volumes about you, that question.
VV: Oh gosh. Don't invite me to KTV.
[Voiceover]
OF: Octo Cheung, the fashion designer from Episode 30.
[Clip]
OC: I think most Hong Kong people like Eason Chan. We can find lots of Hong Kong culture in the lyrics. So the one I love is called 歲月如歌 [Sui Yuet Yue Goh].
[Voiceover]
OF: Sanford Browne, the biochemist from Episode 29.
[Clip]
SB: If I had any ability to sing, I would not be working in Research and Innovation, I would be a lounge singer, because that is my desire in life. But sometimes you're given gifts, and that is not a gift at all that I have, in any way shape or form. That said, if there was one song… An older one, 小苹果 [Xiǎo Píngguǒ], “Small apple”. It's a few years old. It was a dance song here. And well, you have to see the video as well.
[Voiceover]
OF: Philippe Gas, the Disney resort CEO from Episode 01.
[Clip]
PG: I cannot do anything but think about Beauty and the Beast. I've been very involved in the new Broadway show that we have here, Shanghai Disney Resort, Beauty and the Beast. And I have spent so much time both in New York and here with the team working on that so it sticks to my mind right now, I would say. Beauty and the Beast.
[Voiceover]
OF: Lori Li, the private club GM from Episode 10.
[Clip]
LL: I think… Because sometimes I go with Chinese friends, sometimes I go with Western friends, I'd have to pick a song, which both groups can understand. So I will pick ‘Yesterday Once More’. So everyone can sing together. And it used to be a very sad song. But when 10 people sing it together, it’s very joyful.
[Voiceover]
OF: Eric Olander, the journalist from Episode 03.
[Clip]
EO: This is quite revealing. I've spent a significant chunk of my adult life in Asia - Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, China - I don't do KTV. I don't do it for the betterment of society, and I don't do it because you don't want to hear me sing.
OF: Oh, but I do.
EO: Oh no, you really, really don't. But I could do, you know, like, shower singing like. oh god, your whole character will be judged on how hip you are, on what song you sing, you know. I… I'll say American Pie. “My, my, Miss American Pie."
OF: Eric, it's beautiful, what’s wrong with you?
EO: I mean, I'll be on that front line podcasting, but not singing.
[Voiceover]
OF: Gigi Chang, the translator from Episode 24.
[Clip]
GC: I don’t, really. I mean, either some sort of 80s Hong Kong TV theme song. Or I’ll try very miserably and impossibly to sing this Chinese band called ‘New Pants’, 新裤子 [Xīnkùzi]. But yeah, it’s impossible. I’m very bad at karaoke.
[Voiceover]
OF: Tom Barker, the diplomat from Episode 25.
[Clip]
TB: I have done 노래방 [Noraebang], which is the Korean version of KTV. I sing in the way that a diplomatic personality should, so dogs howl and screech in the distance. So I try not to do it very often. But my song of choice is Psy’s ‘Champion’, which is a song he did, I think in 2004 or 2005, right before he got banned from Korean media for smoking marijuana.
OF: Well, you're certainly burnishing your Korean credentials right there. Which is funny, since we're not in Korea, actually, Tom.
TB: No well I need to find a good Chinese song.
[Voiceover]
OF: Srinivas Yanamandra, the compliance leader from Episode 15.
[Clip]
SY: I think people will ban me if I go to KTV, and start singing. So don't venture into that.
OF: Do you sing at all? Like, when you're whistling down the street, or..?
SY: No, when I started in fact, I didn't do much karaoke. But I happened to do karaoke a couple of months ago. And people started thinking that the machine got corrupt, because they said “When we started doing the karaoke a few weeks before, it was working fine”. And when I started singing, they said “Why is this voice not getting picked up?” And they all got surprised as to why this is happening. Then they understood that it is not a problem with the machine. So they let the individual go out of that room.
OF: I'm trying to link this back to what you said before about machines harassing people. And people…
SY: Maybe it is ‘people harassing machines’.
[Outro]
OF: Well, that was fun. I hope you enjoyed that compilation as much as I enjoyed putting it together. And you may have already heard me talk about this elsewhere, but I actually made a special version of this episode. That version includes excerpts of the music that each of the guests mentioned. And I'm really happy with the way it turned out, actually, it's a lot of fun listening to the music as the guests are talking about it. Sadly, I couldn't publish that version publicly because of copyright issues. But if you'd like to hear it, then you certainly can. Please get in touch with me on social media, and I'll share it with you privately. You can message me through Instagram on the handle @oscology* and Facebook on the handle @mosaicofchina, or send me a note on WeChat. To connect with me there, just find me on my ID: mosaicofchina.* And when you receive it, please don't pass it to anyone else. It hasn't been designed for that. It should just be seen as a personal gift from me to you.
The next compilation episode will be released in two weeks; time and it'll be an anthology of the things that still surprised the guests about life in China. See you then.
*Different WeChat and Instagram handles were mentioned in the original recording. These IDs are now obsolete, and the updated details have been substituted.
[Clips]
PG: Thank you very much.
MZ: Thank you.
EO: Thank you so much.
AP: Thank you too.
JL: Thank you very much.
GL: Thank you.
MZ: Thank you again.
VV: Thank you so much.
NS: Great, thank you.
LL: My pleasure too.
SD: Thank you very much.
YF: Thank you.
NY: Thank you.
EM: Thank you.
SY: Thank you so much.
NS: Thank you for having me.
SM: Awesome, thank you.
AW: Thank you.
SDM: Thank you.
LC: Thanks for having me.
YY: Thank you for having me.
RC: Thank you so much for having me.
GN: Thank you for having me.
GC: Thank you
TB: Thank you very much.
SC: Thank you.
AD: Great to see you too.
LT: Thank you so much.
SB: Thanks.
OC: Thank you.