13 Jul 2007, ST
The Singapore singer's new music video features disturbing scenes and has been banned by three Taiwan TV stations
By Aviel Tan
SINGAPORE singer JJ Lin has overturned his shy, boyish image once and for all with his latest music video in which he plays a lust-filled, piano-playing madman who kills a pretty girl, mutilates her body and cuts off her head.
The gory 21-minute-long video for The Killa, a single from Lin's new album West Side, was immediately banned by three TV stations in Taiwan, where the Mandarin pop idol is based. They deemed it unsuitable for broadcast. The album has sold 15,000 copies in Singapore.
A five-minute censored version of the video has gone to the Media Development Authority (MDA) to get censorship clearance for broadcast release.
The original uncensored version will not be shown here. It shows scenes of the victim's topless body and Lin - whose full name is Lin Jun Jie - gouging out her heart.
Various versions of the grisly video have already popped up on popular website YouTube.
Lin, 26, used to be known as the boy-next-door who composed romantic ballads until last year, when he shocked fans by going for a macho, sexy look, even baring his torso in a book.
His latest move looks set to make that striptease seem mild in comparison.
The video, which cost $250,000 to make, tells the story of how a man (Lin) develops a deadly obsession with an exchange student (played by a Paraguayan-Taiwanese star known only as Liz).
Lin's bespectacled character drugs the girl, kills her and makes her 'his' by slowly mutilating her body. He then cuts off her head and creates a grisly mural on his wall with her severed body parts.
On Taiwan authorities banning the video, Lin told Life! in a statement released by his record label Ocean Butterflies: 'The process of filming this was a great experience for me. I'm not surprised to know that it (the full-length music video) got banned from broadcasting, but I think it's a fantastic video and it would definitely be a pity if the audience can't get to watch it.'
JJ Lin Jun Jie-The Killa Movie-A
JJ Lin Jun Jie-The Killa Movie-B
When Life! asked whether the singer had concerns over negative influences on his fans, Ms Daphne Ng, the home-grown label's artiste management assistant, reckoned that youths nowadays are more well-informed and information savvy.
'It's up to them to decide whether what is depicted in the video is acceptable,' she said.
She went on to say that contrary to popular belief, local fans had actually taken to the singer's portrayal of his darker side.
'They understand that he wants to shed his boy-next-door image and continue to re-invent himself as an entertainer,' she added.
Indeed, one fan Life! spoke to, Ms Tay Jie Fang, 18, a communications student at Temasek Polytechnic who has followed the artiste since his entry on the music scene, said that the five-minute video that she saw was a breath of fresh air.
'I like the darker and tense concept and I think it breaks away from his previous music videos, which were kind of upbeat,' she said.
'I like his performance in the video and how he conveys the conflicting emotions when he decides to kill the girl he loves.'
However, Ms Sophia Tan, 19, a first-year university student, gave the video the thumbs-down.
She said: 'JJ is not being true to who he really is. 'He is just using the video to get more attention for his new album.'
Then again, Ms Cai Ming Shi, 22, a quality assurance executive with a local food company, who has been a fan of Lin's for four years, sighed: 'Whatever he does, as long as he enjoys it and is sincere about giving his fans the best in music, then I think it's enough for the rest of us.'
The Singapore singer's new music video features disturbing scenes and has been banned by three Taiwan TV stations
By Aviel Tan
SINGAPORE singer JJ Lin has overturned his shy, boyish image once and for all with his latest music video in which he plays a lust-filled, piano-playing madman who kills a pretty girl, mutilates her body and cuts off her head.
The gory 21-minute-long video for The Killa, a single from Lin's new album West Side, was immediately banned by three TV stations in Taiwan, where the Mandarin pop idol is based. They deemed it unsuitable for broadcast. The album has sold 15,000 copies in Singapore.
A five-minute censored version of the video has gone to the Media Development Authority (MDA) to get censorship clearance for broadcast release.
The original uncensored version will not be shown here. It shows scenes of the victim's topless body and Lin - whose full name is Lin Jun Jie - gouging out her heart.
Various versions of the grisly video have already popped up on popular website YouTube.
Lin, 26, used to be known as the boy-next-door who composed romantic ballads until last year, when he shocked fans by going for a macho, sexy look, even baring his torso in a book.
His latest move looks set to make that striptease seem mild in comparison.
The video, which cost $250,000 to make, tells the story of how a man (Lin) develops a deadly obsession with an exchange student (played by a Paraguayan-Taiwanese star known only as Liz).
Lin's bespectacled character drugs the girl, kills her and makes her 'his' by slowly mutilating her body. He then cuts off her head and creates a grisly mural on his wall with her severed body parts.
On Taiwan authorities banning the video, Lin told Life! in a statement released by his record label Ocean Butterflies: 'The process of filming this was a great experience for me. I'm not surprised to know that it (the full-length music video) got banned from broadcasting, but I think it's a fantastic video and it would definitely be a pity if the audience can't get to watch it.'
JJ Lin Jun Jie-The Killa Movie-A
JJ Lin Jun Jie-The Killa Movie-B
When Life! asked whether the singer had concerns over negative influences on his fans, Ms Daphne Ng, the home-grown label's artiste management assistant, reckoned that youths nowadays are more well-informed and information savvy.
'It's up to them to decide whether what is depicted in the video is acceptable,' she said.
She went on to say that contrary to popular belief, local fans had actually taken to the singer's portrayal of his darker side.
'They understand that he wants to shed his boy-next-door image and continue to re-invent himself as an entertainer,' she added.
Indeed, one fan Life! spoke to, Ms Tay Jie Fang, 18, a communications student at Temasek Polytechnic who has followed the artiste since his entry on the music scene, said that the five-minute video that she saw was a breath of fresh air.
'I like the darker and tense concept and I think it breaks away from his previous music videos, which were kind of upbeat,' she said.
'I like his performance in the video and how he conveys the conflicting emotions when he decides to kill the girl he loves.'
However, Ms Sophia Tan, 19, a first-year university student, gave the video the thumbs-down.
She said: 'JJ is not being true to who he really is. 'He is just using the video to get more attention for his new album.'
Then again, Ms Cai Ming Shi, 22, a quality assurance executive with a local food company, who has been a fan of Lin's for four years, sighed: 'Whatever he does, as long as he enjoys it and is sincere about giving his fans the best in music, then I think it's enough for the rest of us.'
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