剛剛的北美之行,在演出之餘,當然也勾結了不少的當地的媒體。
#lgbtqInHongKong #CensorshipInChina #FreedomOfSpeech #LiberateHongKong #StandWithHongKong #CantoPop
//Anthony Wong’s Forbidden Colors
Out Hong Kong Canto-pop star brings his activism to US during his home’s protest crisis
BY MICHAEL LUONGO
From 1988’s “Forbidden Colors,” named for a 1953 novel by gay Japanese writer Yukio Mishima to this year’s “Is It A Crime?,” commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Hong Kong Canto-pop star Anthony Wong Yiu-ming has combined music and activism over his long career. As Hong Kong explodes in revolt against Beijing’s tightening grip with the One Country, Two Systems policy ticking to its halfway point, Wong arrived stateside for a tour that included ’s Gramercy Theatre.
Gay City News caught up with 57-year-old Wong in the Upper West Side apartment of Hong Kong film director Evans Chan, a collaborator on several films. The director was hosting a gathering for Hong Kong diaspora fans, many from the New York For Hong Kong (NY4HK) solidarity movement.
The conversation covered Wong’s friendship with out actress, model, and singer Denise Ho Wan-see who co-founded the LGBTQ group Big Love Alliance with Wong and recently spoke to the US Congress; the late Leslie Cheung, perhaps Asia’s most famous LGBTQ celebrity; the threat of China’s rise in the global order; and the ongoing relationship among Canto-pop, the Cantonese language, and Hong Kong identity.
Wong felt it was important to point out that Hong Kong’s current struggle is one of many related to preserving democracy in the former British colony that was handed back to China in 1997. While not his own lyrics, Wong is known for singing “Raise the Umbrella” at public events and in Chan’s 2016 documentary “Raise the Umbrellas,” which examined the 2014 Occupy Central or Umbrella Movement, when Hong Kong citizens took over the central business district for nearly three months, paralyzing the city.
Wong told Gay City News, “I wanted to sing it on this tour because it was the fifth anniversary of the Umbrella Movement last week.”
He added, “For a long time after, nobody wanted to sing that song, because we all thought the Umbrella Movement was a failure. We all thought we were defeated.”
Still, he said, without previous movements “we wouldn’t have reached today,” adding, “Even more so than the Umbrella Movement, I still feel we feel more empowered than before.”
Hong Kong’s current protests came days after the 30th anniversary commemorations of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, known in China as the June 4th Incident. Hong Kong is the only place on Chinese soil where the Massacre can be publicly discussed and commemorated. Working with Tats Lau of his band Tat Ming Pair, Wong wrote the song “Is It A Crime?” to perform at Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen commemoration. The song emphasizes how the right to remember the Massacre is increasingly fraught.
“I wanted our group to put out that song to commemorate that because to me Tiananmen Square was a big enlightenment,” a warning of what the Beijing government will do to those who challenge it, he said, adding that during the June 4 Victoria Park vigil, “I really felt the energy and the power was coming back to the people. I really felt it, so when I was onstage to sing that song I really felt the energy. I knew that people would go onto the street in the following days.”
As the genre Canto-pop suggests, most of Wong’s work is in Cantonese, also known as Guangdonghua, the language of Guangdong province and Hong Kong. Mandarin, or Putonghua, is China’s national language. Wong feels Beijing’s goal is to eliminate Cantonese, even in Hong Kong.
“When you want to destroy a people, you destroy the language first, and the culture will disappear,” he said, adding that despite Cantonese being spoken by tens of millions of people, “we are being marginalized.”
Canto-pop and the Cantonese language are integral to Hong Kong’s identity; losing it is among the fears driving the protests.
“Our culture is being marginalized, more than five years ago I think I could feel it coming, I could see it coming,” Wong said. “That’s why in my music and in my concerts, I kept addressing this issue of Hong Kong being marginalized.”
This fight against the marginalization of identity has pervaded Wong’s work since his earliest days.
“People would find our music and our words, our lyrical content very apocalyptic,” he explained. “Most of our songs were about the last days of Hong Kong, because in 1984, they signed over the Sino-British declaration and that was the first time I realized I was going to lose Hong Kong.”
Clarifying identity is why Wong officially came out in 2012, after years of hints. He said his fans always knew but journalists hounded him to be direct.
“I sang a lot of songs about free love, about ambiguity and sexuality — even in the ‘80s,” he said, referring to 1988’s “Forbidden Colors.” “When we released that song as a single, people kept asking me questions.”
In 1989, he released the gender-fluid ballad “Forget He is She,” but with homosexuality still criminalized until 1991, he did not state his sexuality directly.
That changed in 2012, a politically active year that brought Hong Kongers out against a now-defunct plan to give Beijing tighter control over grade school curriculum. Raymond Chan Chi-chuen was elected to the Legislative Council, becoming the city’s first out gay legislator. In a concert, Wong used a play on the Chinese word “tongzhi,” which has an official meaning of comrade in the communist sense, but also homosexual in modern slang. By flashing the word about himself and simultaneously about an unpopular Hong Kong leader considered loyal to the Chinese Communist Party, he came out.
“The [2012] show is about identity about Hong Kong, because the whole city is losing its identity,” he said. “So I think I should be honest about it. It is not that I had been very dishonest about it, I thought I was honest enough.”
That same year he founded Big Love Alliance with Denise Ho, who also came out that year. The LGBTQ rights group organizes Hong Kong’s queer festival Pink Dot, which has its roots in Singapore’s LGBTQ movement. Given the current unrest, however, Pink Dot will not be held this year in Hong Kong.
As out celebrities using their star power to promote LGBTQ issues, Wong and Ho follow in the footsteps of fellow Hong Konger Leslie Cheung, the late actor and singer known for “Farewell My Concubine” (1993), “Happy Together” (1997), and other movies where he played gay or sexually ambiguous characters.
“He is like the biggest star in Hong Kong culture,” said Wong, adding he was not a close friend though the two collaborated on an album shortly before Cheung’s 2003 suicide.
Wong said that some might think he came to North America at an odd time, while his native city is literally burning. However, he wanted to help others connect to Hong Kong.
“My tool is still primarily my music, I still use my music to express myself, and part of my concern is about Hong Kong, about the world, and I didn’t want to cancel this tour in the midst of all this unrest,” he said. “In this trip I learned that I could encourage more people to keep an eye on what is going on in Hong Kong.”
Wong worries about the future of LGBTQ rights in Hong Kong, explaining, “We are trying to fight for the freedom for all Hong Kongers. If Hong Kongers don’t have freedom, the minorities won’t.”
That’s why he appreciates Taiwan’s marriage equality law and its leadership in Asia on LGBTQ rights.
“I am so happy that Taiwan has done that and they set a very good example in every way and not just in LGBT rights, but in democracy,” he said.
Wong was clear about his message to the US, warning “what is happening to Hong Kong won’t just happen to Hong Kongers, it will happen to the free world, the West, all those crackdowns, all those censorships, all those crackdowns on freedom of the press, all this crackdown will spread to the West.”
Wong’s music is banned in Mainland China because of his outspokenness against Beijing.
Like other recent notable Hong Kong visitors including activist Joshua Wong who testified before Congress with Ho, Wong is looking for the US to come to his city’s aid.
Wong tightened his body and his arms against himself, his most physically expressive moment throughout the hour and a half interview, and said, “Whoever wants to have a relationship with China, no matter what kind of relationship, a business relationship, an artistic relationship, or even in the academic world, they feel the pressure, they feel that they have to be quiet sometimes. So we all, we are all facing this situation, because China is so big they really want the free world to compromise.”
(These remarks came just weeks before China’s angry response to support for Hong Kong protesters voiced by the Houston Rockets’ general manager that could threaten significant investment in the National Basketball Association by that nation.)
Wong added, “America is the biggest democracy in the world, and they really have to use their influence to help Hong Kong. I hope they know this is not only a Hong Kong issue. This will become a global issue because China really wants to rule the world.”
Of that prospect, he said, “That’s very scary.”//
同時也有1部Youtube影片,追蹤數超過15萬的網紅pennyccw,也在其Youtube影片中提到,Hong Kong Media exclusive all star weekend highlights with so many stars!!! The 2017 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was pl...
1991 houston rockets 在 美國在台協會 AIT Facebook 的最讚貼文
Fourth of July Series (美國國慶系列之二):
您知道嗎? 美國國歌是並不容易唱準的。2004年的一項調查發現,只有39%的美國人能唱準美國國歌的第三句。
說美國國歌難唱一點也不過分;美國人享有的自由得來不易。隨著時間的推移,《星條旗之歌》已經成為一首鼓勵人們表達個性以及表達團結一心的歌曲。這一點也是恰如其分的。
請看以下的文章:
儘管在每場棒球比賽以及其他很多公眾活動開始之前都要演唱《星條旗之歌》(The Star-Spangled Banner),但這首歌出名地難唱。不過,這首歌有史以來讓那些能夠駕馭它的表演者在詮釋美國最知名的代表歌曲時給人留下了難忘的、獨一無二的記憶。
當《星條旗之歌》於1931年被定為國歌時,《紐約先驅論壇報》(New York Herald Tribune)說它的“歌詞沒人能記住,曲調沒人能唱出來”,這條評論廣為人知。 《星條旗之歌》的曲調改編自18世紀的一首飲酒歌,歌詞選自弗朗西斯•斯科特•基(Francis Scott Key)在200年前寫的一首詩(描繪1812年戰爭中的一場戰役)。這首歌的最高音和最低音之間的音域為一個半八度,要想唱準每個音極其困難。
2004年的一項調查發現,美國人中只有39%的人能唱準歌曲的第三句。
富蘭克林•布魯諾(Franklin Bruno)是一位歌曲創作者,他論述歌曲創作史的著作《曲調的內在蘊含》(The Inside of the Tune)即將出版發行。書中說,這首歌預見了美國的音樂前景,通過每節的第三個對句(“And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air …”)的節奏和韻律規律來使其他詩行的戰爭色彩變得柔和,以此改變歌曲的主調。
布魯諾說:“我們的國歌恰到好處地沒有完全地嚴格採用英國民歌的形式。”
作為國歌所具有的重大象徵意義還意味著,每當表演者沒有中規中矩地演繹這首歌曲的時候,聽眾都會認為這種發揮是有用意的。 1941年7月4日,在二戰的背景之下,作曲家伊戈爾•斯特拉文斯基(Igor Stravinsky)改編的國歌交響曲首演,其中有幾個不同尋常的和弦。這次演出導致斯特拉文斯基與波士頓警察發生了小小的衝突,因為警察認為他違反了一項禁止“篡改”國歌的州法。
在1968年大聯盟棒球世界系列賽(Major League Baseball World Series)期間,波多黎各歌手何塞•費利西亞諾(José Feliciano)在原聲吉他的伴奏下用當代民謠流行唱法演唱了《星條旗之歌》。這引起了一片嘩然。費利西亞諾後來說:“有些人要求把我驅逐出境。好像能把人驅逐出境到波多黎各似的。”(波多黎各是美國的一個領地。)費利西亞諾演唱的國歌成為了一首上榜單曲,而且他說,到他在2012年的一場棒球冠軍賽上再次以自己的風格演唱這首歌曲時,聽眾大都將其理解為“對一個給予我機會的國家表達感激之情的歌曲” 。
在1983年的全國籃球協會全明星賽(National Basketball Association All-Star game)上,馬文・蓋伊(Marvin Gaye)在一架電子鼓的伴奏下舒緩幽沉、帶有福音音樂風格的演唱讓這首歌聽起來極具現代感。當年洛杉磯湖人隊(Los Angeles Lakers)的球星“魔術師”約翰遜(Earvin “Magic” Johnson)說,蓋伊的演唱讓他感受到了“作為一個美國人的自豪感……令人心潮澎湃,淚光盈盈”。
儘管演唱《星條旗之歌》通常是要展現國家自豪感,但這首歌也被用在政治抗議活動中。 2006年,用西班牙語錄製的《星條旗之歌》(Nuestro Himno)批評了美國的移民政策。
1969年,吉米•亨德里克斯(Jimi Hendrix)在伍德斯托克(Woodstock)音樂節上演唱了這首國歌,以示對越戰的抗議,此事廣為人知。他的演唱輔以“轟炸”的音響效果,是最有名的以激進態度演繹國歌的版本。亨德里克斯於1969年9月在電視節目中接受迪克•卡韋特(Dick Cavett)的採訪時這樣評價自己的演唱:“這並非背離傳統。我認為唱得很美。”
在1991年超級碗(Super Bowl)上,惠特尼•休斯頓(Whitney Houston)引吭高歌,將《星條旗之歌》裡最高的一句“land of the free”唱得更高——當時美國正在打海灣戰爭(Gulf War),她表示要將這首歌獻給美國軍人。幾週後這首歌曲作為單曲發行,風靡一時。而10年後這首歌曲在2001年9.11襲擊事件後為紐約的消防隊員和警察募捐時再次發行,愈發受人歡迎。碧昂絲(Beyoncé Knowles)最近幾次演唱國歌時(包括在巴拉克•歐巴馬2013年的就職典禮上)都大體沿襲了休斯頓的風格,包括超高音演唱。
說國歌難唱一點也不過分;美國人享有的自由得來不易。隨著時間的推移,《星條旗之歌》已經成為一首鼓勵人們表達個性以及表達團結一心的歌曲。這一點也是恰如其分的。
Enlgish: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/…/2…/05/20140501298634.html…
1991 houston rockets 在 pennyccw Youtube 的精選貼文
Hong Kong Media exclusive all star weekend highlights
with so many stars!!!
The 2017 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on February 19, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Smoothie King Center. It was the 66th edition of the event. The West won the game 192-182. The MVP of the game was Anthony Davis, who scored 52 points, the most ever scored by a player in an All-Star Game. It was initially planned to be held at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, home of the Charlotte Hornets. If the game had remained in Charlotte, it would have been the second time that Charlotte hosted the All-Star Game. The city previously hosted in 1991 at the now-demolished Charlotte Coliseum.[2]
On August 19, 2016, the NBA chose the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, home of the New Orleans Pelicans to host the All-Star Game, after it was pulled out of Charlotte because of the controversy surrounding North Carolina's "bathroom bill", better known as HB2.[3][4] The 2017 NBA All-Star Game is the first major sporting event in the United States to be relocated for political reasons since 1990. In that instance, the National Football League (NFL) relocated Super Bowl XXVII out of Tempe, Arizona, because the state did not recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day.[5] TNT and TBS televised the game.[6]
Kyrie Irving Cleveland Cavaliers 4
G DeMar DeRozan Toronto Raptors 3
F LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers 13
F Jimmy Butler Chicago Bulls 3
F/G Giannis Antetokounmpo Milwaukee Bucks 1
Reserves[30]
G Isaiah Thomas Boston Celtics 2
G John Wall Washington Wizards 4
F/C Kevin LoveINJ Cleveland Cavaliers 4
F Carmelo AnthonyREP New York Knicks 10
G Kyle Lowry Toronto Raptors 3
F Paul George Indiana Pacers 4
G Kemba Walker Charlotte Hornets 1
F Paul Millsap Atlanta Hawks 4
Head coach: Brad Stevens (Boston Celtics)[27]
Western Conference All-Stars
Pos Player Team No. of selections
Starters[29]
G Stephen Curry Golden State Warriors 4
G James Harden Houston Rockets 5
F Kevin Durant Golden State Warriors 8
F Kawhi Leonard San Antonio Spurs 2
F/C Anthony Davis New Orleans Pelicans 4
Reserves[30]
G Russell Westbrook Oklahoma City Thunder 6
G Klay Thompson Golden State Warriors 3
F Draymond Green Golden State Warriors 2
C DeMarcus Cousins Sacramento Kings 3
C Marc Gasol Memphis Grizzlies 3
C DeAndre Jordan Los Angeles Clippers 1
F Gordon Hayward Utah Jazz 1
Head coach: Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors)[26