Presumptive Chinese president Xi Jinping has gone missing. He cancelled high-level meetings with Hillary Clinton and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last week, and HOLY CRAP FREAK OFF PANTS OFF. Normally rational media organizations such as the Associated bleepin' Press have published sentences such as, "More dramatically, the U.S.-based website Boxun.com cited an unidentified source inside Zhong ...

The Beijinger's New Festival Showcase at 2 Kolegas on Saturday mostly proved to be your standard gathering of drunken expats, except it produced one hell of a musical highlight: Residence A, a Beijing staple we featured in an Outro earlier this month, giving what I thought was the performance of the night around 8:30 pm. Reasonable music fans will disagree, and I admit I didn't catch every act, but the ener ...

UPDATE, 9/11, 12:14 pm: I've switched the embed to the original video; the pianist is Andy Lee from Hong Kong, and he's apparently five years old. The website Godvine got itself a viral video recently, called "4 Year Old Boy Plays Piano Better Than Any Master - Wow," but left no information about it. Can you blame anyone for being a bit a skeptical? But this looks real to our eyes. Maybe the boy is actually ...

https://twitter.com/W7VOA/status/235929707500158977 The original Gangnan Style by (South) Korean rapper PSY is here. The remix is by YouTube user lalartu, and it's quite good. Youku video for those in China after the jump. ...

Remember when Korean rapper PSY made the video for "Gangnam Style" and was thusly described in a Time headline as having the "best invisible horse-riding rap video" of the week? If you haven't seen it yet, go here and watch (YouTube and Youku versions available). This post really was an excuse for you to go watch Gangnam Style again. But also -- here's a remake of that song featuring 4minute's Hyuna, who wa ...

Eason Chan was never cut in the same mold as other Canto- and Mandopop stars who churn out anodyne, over-produced songs with mass appeal. He wasn't exactly a rebel, but part of his popularity lie in the fact that he was unique, with songs that at least hinted at deeper meaning. Time called his album U87, released in 2005, "a bridge between past and future, showing off a rawness rarely found in Chinese pop." ...

Allow me to categorize, in an admittedly clumsy manner, the options expats have for international music in Beijing: * Foreign bands, usually rather amateurish, that live in China. * Past-their-prime bands or solo acts that have little more than nostalgia on their side (think Ian Brown or any individual Ramone). * Super big-pop acts that no one really likes (Lil' John, Akon). * Up-and-coming bands that may e ...

BJC contributor Alicia found this just now, and it's one of those stunning works of art that makes you want to hug the Internet. It's a man atop a cow singing Justin Bieber's "Baby." The original video, titled "I am legendary, art dream," is the only work that appears under Youku user w451119777’s page. Apparently it was published two months ago and viewed 1,830 times, a relatively small amount for such a h ...

First of all, it's eight minutes. Say what you want about "Survival," London's official Olympics song, but at least Muse had the courtesy to stop at a reasonable five minutes and 20 seconds. For what is essentially an overproduced, commercialized ditty, what couldn't you possibly do in five minutes that you need eight? Actually, we know the answer: you couldn't squeeze in “more than 100 singers and movie st ...

There's no logical reason for me to enjoy this video, "Karaoke in Beijing," by YouTube user dimitrivandillen. But I do. And I'm not sorry. Have a pleasant Thursday evening, everyone. Youku version for those in China after the jump. ...

After four years, Leona Lewis returned to Beijing to perform at the Bird's Nest on Saturday as part of something called the BMW Olympic Joy Festival. The last time this singer-songwriter was in the city, she was sharing the spotlight with Jimmy Page (and David Beckham) at the 2008 Olympics closing ceremony -- I think it's safe to say she's sort of a big deal here. Thanks to someone who just may be Lewis's b ...

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jason Mraz played in Beijing on June 12 as part of his Tour is a Four-Letter Word, marking his first time in China. Without any opening, he and his band played an hour, then did an encore. That's a lesson here that big-name foreign musical acts would do well to heed: respect the crowd, and they'll respect you. Those inside Workers' Gymnasium seemed to love Mraz, often ...

London Olympics organizers have said they wanted to go a completely different direction than Beijing (and everyone ever), and yesterday's release of this year's Olympic theme song, "Survival" by Muse, confirms they're men and women of their word. But really, organizers are a Steps line dance away from being in full fuck-all-y'all mode: they do not give one rat's greypence about what the Olympics were, are, ...

Last week, we posted a video from Nice Peter called Chillin Panda Baby. What we failed to mention was that Nice Peter is sort of famous on the Internet for a series of amazing vids called "Epic Rap Battle," each with millions and millions of views (like, 58 million, in the case of Darth Vadar vs. Hitler). I've embedded what I think is the only Asia-centric battle, featuring the line, "Beijing is in China, y ...

By The Good Doctor Friday night's show at MAO Livehouse featured an Italian band called The Medullary Paralysis. I could write a lot about the experience, but I think a quick summary of facts will tell you everything you need to know: 1. Half the songs sounded like a lost Nine Inch Nails album I never realized existed. The other half sounded like a halfway decent impersonation of the Smashing Pumpkins. 2. T ...

Lang Lang, who turns 30 next week, performed outside Buckingham Palace on Monday for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert, featuring Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and others. The main song in Lang Lang's medley was Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody in Blue #6, which seamlessly transitioned into George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Kid's got some skills. Youku video for those in China after the jump ...

Looking for Chinese music? The Sound Stage, hosted by Jonathan Alpart on China Radio International, may be your answer. Calling itself "your all-access pass to Chinese new music," it seeks to promote the latest in contemporary Chinese music every week. The above is a sample -- episode two. ...

The Good Doctor attended a private VIP party for the Beijing Blues Festival at YAN Club at 798 last Friday. He came back with these pictures. ...

I've encountered my fair share of amateur singers, mostly of the older set, at public parks in China, but none have given a performance quite like this guy, captured on video Saturday at the Summer Palace by YouTube user BeijingShenghuo. He gets an A for effort, definitely. But how bad is he, really? Bad enough to be good? Because as we all know, if one sings poorly enough, he or she comes out the other sid ...

Posted on Monday by YouTube user texasdaveodell -- who longtime Beijingers will remember as Dave, a staple in the local punk scene -- the musicians in the video could well be Beijing's first Irish band, active from 1999 to 2001. (Or not -- someone out there correct this bit of info in the video title if you can.) Like a true nostalgic, Dave has asked the members of the outfit to contact him at dave@texasdav ...