Oct 24 2007
Thoughts on LinLin
Like many of you, I was shocked and wary when the new Chinese members were announced. I don’t have any problem with Chinese people persay, but I was worried about how the Japanese audience would react, that this may cause some kind of catastrophic crash in Momusu’s popularity, and people on certain forums *ahem* were certainly encouraging that view point. After all, Coconuts Musume was pretty much a failure, right? Fortunately, sales of the last single, while down from Kanashimi Twilight, are still above at least a couple of past singles, so it seems that a catastrophic crash in popularity has not come to pass.
I am really impressed by the determination and courage both of the Chinese members are showing. They must be under soooo much scrutiny and pressure, not only being the new members of morning musume and having to learn everything and uphold that name, but also learning a new language and representing their home country in the process. A level of performance that would be passable for a new Japanese member would be harshly criticized if it were a Chinese member, particularly by those nay-sayers who want them out of the group. So, they couldn’t just be passable new members and take time to learn the ropes, they had to be great members right off the bat, and I really think they have accomplished that.
So now to LinLin. For her negative points, because I like to start off with those, she doesn’t seem to be the most photogenic of MM (it’s kind of hit and miss), but she more than makes up for that by being an adorable little ball of energy in person. Also, she does seem to move her head around a bit to much while singing, but hopefully she will grow out of that. And… yeah, that’s about it for negatives right now.
LinLin especially seems to be taking the initiative to speak up with her Japanese, and not be afraid to participate in a conversation, even on live television, even if she makes a mistake. This is a great thing for her to do, because, coming from personal experience, she will learn much faster that way, and the more facetime she gets on TV, the better for her. Also, her Japanese is really cute with all the little hand gestures she does, and how eager and excited she seems when she talks. I know her Japanese still has a ways to go, but I am really impressed by how well she is doing in such a short time.
Her singing is kind of hard to judge, because we haven’t heard much of it, but based off of the bad quality live recording that’s floating around, she’s pretty darn good. I really can’t wait to hear more. Her dancing is excellant. My eyes are drawn to her in live performances, even though she is tiny and near the back for most of Onna ni Sachi Are. She really has a lot of natural dancing ability and she’s just so darn… spunky, she’s great to watch.
Really, I love LinLin more every time I see her!