#actually it is now xz. studio

[festivelotus]

With English subs. Thank you

Xi'an Food Vlog

[accio-victuuri]

BURN AFTER READING. 🍭🍬

i have never made a post with this title before, but i have shared some cpn/speculation that deserve to be burned after reading. lol. this term is often used by cpfs for a candy or info related to the boys that may be “dangerous” — so you have to get rid of it after reading. but for my version of it, let’s describe it as something that is a level up from galaxy brain cpn. it’s the kind of cpn you will think twice or thrice before making up your mind about. 💫

we have (2) topics here and just a disclaimer that i am not confirming anything here. this content is for cpf only. don’t take it seriously!

(1) Who is An Huibo 安慧博?

fans noticed that there was a “stand in” credited for the we and life of us music videos and that is this person. think of it as a body double. it makes sense cause aside from that scene in WE, there are times that xz’s figure is against a backdrop so maybe they needed someone to do that. the clowning began when people were thinking about, what if the other xz in WE mv is actually WYB ⬇️⬇️⬇️

i can think of a couple of different reasons why this could be false but the strongest explanation for me is that xz will not allow wyb to so something like this. he is very superstitious. even if this is just acting, he will not allow them to act out a scene of betrayal. that for me is enough to shut this all down. but on the flipside, maybe wyb wanted him (xz) to play his first villain role opposite him in this music video.

now we have the reasons why fans think this is something worth looking at:

1. XZ and this An Huibo are the only 2 credited actors for both MVs. so it seems kinda special.

2. The director of this is LIN, the same one who directed WYB’s redmi advertisement. There are some CPNs both were made at the same studio. Which makes sense cause LIN has his own shooting studio. There is another separate CPN about this but the gist is we think this director is familiar with both of them. So XZ may be comfortable enough to bring WYB along and even include him in the video.

3. It may not be WYB himself, but he used that name to troll us. It’s so close, Huibo. Yibo.

4. I saw this explanation as well:

If "Anhuibo" is read according to the French transliteration as An Huibo, it would approximately read:

[ã чi bɔ]

·ã: similar to "ang";

·qi: similar to "wei" in Chinese, but lighter and soft;

·bo: similar to "wave", slightly shorter.

5. As a CPF, it’s so easy for our alarm bells to ring if you read that name. An alias of sorts for Bobo. some are saying he used this kind of jumbled name to combat the bad aura of their scene together. Since he is superstitious, this removes yibo’s name and identity as the stand in who stabbed XZ’s character. if that makes sense.

maybe we will know more when they release the behind the scenes video. that is if they show who this stand in is. let’s add this to the bjyx clowning vault in the meantime.

(2) XZ look-alike in the recent GRA

i was talking to @rainbowsky about this and my initial reaction was, cpn aside, i’m surprised at how people notice these things! which i actually should be used to considering turtle’s attention to detail, but still!

so here is the “evidence”

👀👀👀👀

like all other turtles, i’m someone who has stared at tons of photos of XZ. so i can totally understand why people would look twice at this person. i get i. i was staring at this photo for so long as well. however most of the cpfs comment on this is against this candy and they have valid reasons:

1. Why would he attend and be in the audience? XZ is someone lowkey so if he was there to accompany WYB, he will be backstage. Yes he is brave, but not like this — which seems almost careless.

2. There are names on the chair, so it’s not like anyone can just sit there casually.

3. Even if you believe in the probability, CPFs don’t wanna talk much about it cause it can be anti material. Saying XZ has to hide and can’t show his face in GRA. or why is he even there incognito when he doesn’t even have a project nominated. You all know how it goes, antis can twist the narrative. Plus we don’t want to accidentally expose them if this was true. We should not observe too much and post about it cause it will make it harder for them to do something similar in the future.

4. How did this person go unnoticed? Everyone had to get inside the security and there are cameras everywhere. He should have removed his cap and mask which — it’s impossible for someone to not notice XZ ( or is it? ). another thing is maybe he went to a diff entrance??

5. Some are washing it and saying it’s Yibo’s MUA.

Please take that last point i mentioned and carry it over to the reason why this look alike is sus. People are able to confirm that this is not WYB’s MUA because he was wearing a different cap. Even the hair and daresay the ears are not the same. and why would a MUA even be there? If WYB needs touch ups then they should do it backstage. If for some reason it has to be while the broadcast and recording was not on or was on a break, he should not sit there and act like a guest.

Yibo’s MUA, Wang Yiduo has been with him for years. He has years of experience being around celebrities and attending these events before WYB. So he knows the decorum. He will not sit there and act like a guest just because he feels like it.

I’m curious too, who is this person who can walk in— in an event filled with people that are dressed up and then come in with a mask and casual clothes. To be allowed to sit there. Who is special enough? Probably a celebrity? and that’s why some think it could be XZ. Even the staff and assistants during the event are dressed up which made this person stand out. As for the CPN explanation, it’s nice to think that XZ is so proud of Yibo’s nomination that he has to be there. He will find a way to be in the audience and witness this special moment. 💕

I think this can easily be analyzed more if we have the video but i don’t have time to rewatch the whole GRA and wait for this cut. Cause i wanna know if it’s even there, that’s how much we question things here! 🤣 It’s so sus to me that we only have the screenshots and no video when CPFs are notorious for having concrete evidence. personally, it reminds me of the SDC3 incident but this one is still pretty outrageous considering it is a public event.

take what you want with this information. and as always, when it comes to BJYX: ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

sources: one/ two

[rainbowsky]

I used to love you& your blog. But I feel so disappointing today after reading your post on YSL incident. Cbiz & Chinese marketing is not that transparent. His fans are doing right. It will repeat if they stay silent. Goodbye! Hope you can maintain balanced love for our boys. Today you seriously sound unfair to XZ.

This is in reference to a previous post.

If you have been a follower of my blog for any amount of time then you will know that I don't shape or state my opinions to please other people. It would be utterly fake and dishonest to my readers if I were to do that. If you came here to read only things you agree with, then you probably came to the wrong place.

As for this whole issue with YSL, what is unfair to GG is for his fans to continually create petty scandals that make him look bad and threaten his career. When will they get it through their heads that he is a grown man who can take care of himself?

He has repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly implored his fans to behave rationally, stay calm, and let him take care of his own issues, and has said that he doesn't need 'protecting'; he is a grown man who can take care of himself.

IN MY VIEW (which you are totally free to disagree with), no one can credibly claim to be a loyal fan of GG while simultaneously causing disruptions and trending his name under negative topics. While going to war against a brand he's worked hard to build a good relationship with. While creating - as I said in my previous post - more negative public perception about him as a traffic star with disruptive, aggressive fans. Particularly given the openly stated position the government has taken against that type of fan culture.

And all this while people in China are watching loved ones die, and sometimes having to make the unimaginably difficult decision to cremate them in the streets because crematoriums and morgues are overflowing.

2/27 happened at a similarly troubling time for the country, when the earliest covid lockdowns were in place. It was the timing of that scandal that helped make it as serious as it was, because GG became an outlet for people to vent their anger, pain and fear upon. Now is not the time to be trending him over whether a makeup palette was attributed to his name when purchased.

His fans don't seem to GAF about his repeatedly stated wishes, nor about protecting his reputation as an artist or an individual. All they seem to care about is perpetuating their own sense of fandom consumer/traffic clout. They don't look beyond that to see that public perception and his reputation with the powers that be are infinitely more important to his long term survival in the industry, particularly given his age and background.

They keep doing this to him, over and over again. They did this with Ace Troops, they did this with ADLAD and of course 2/27. They are so full of their own sense of righteous superiority that they can't actually see clearly to realize how much they are disrupting his career path and bringing trouble to his door.

They are deluded enough to think this is behavior he thanks them for. Something tells me that is not what he mutters to himself when an issue like this arises.

But don't take my word for it, his own fan club released a statement asking people to stop.

Fat Shrimp Suggestion Book Tips

I would like to convey to you the current communication situation: the studio has conducted close communication with the business team and the brand as soon as possible. At present, the brand has confirmed the relevant reasons and apologized to the artist and consumers through customer service replies. The follow-up cooperation is also being optimized simultaneously. The shortcomings of the business team in their work have also been identified internally, and adjustments and improvements are being made to address specific issues. Here, I hope that the attention and discussion brought about by this matter can stop here. I also sincerely ask everyone to be vigilant, not to be tempted by any provocative content, not to be provoked by irrelevant or unknown people to participate, not to heat up discussions on any brand or other related content, and to avoid irrelevant disputes caused by divergent interpretations. As always, we will work hard to maintain a good Internet environment.

Here's the thing: there is never any need to go from zero to "BRIGADE AND BOYCOTT!!" every single time something arises that fans are concerned about. There is such thing as trusting GG to handle his own shit. If they'd give GG and his team time to actually address issues on their own, none of this disruption need ever happen.

If his fans really had his best interests at heart, his name would never appear on a negative hotsearch brought about by them. If they had his best interests at heart, they would take care to ensure that his name would never be attached to public disruption and disorder. They should know by now that he will be held accountable for their actions.

And if my stating my perspective on this is too much for you (while you stating your opinion - anonymously - is totally fine), then all I really have to say is,

Edit: more on why this is a problem.

[jiannguo]

Explaination on Fat Shimp Posts and Studio Reimbursing Fans

Here is a chronology of what I believe happened:

1. Melons of Xiao Zhan started circulating around 4 days ago, 20/21st December depending on time zone. Ever since the Hot Search went out, DGTV App crashed, XFX (including fans with large accs) and Official Ticket Sellers were ecstatic.

2. On the 22nd, Sohu Entertainment updated with a latest interview from an event attended by XZ's latest drama director Zheng Xiaolong where he mentions he is looking forward to the filming started early next year

3. Yesterday 24th XZ posted a picture with his haircut. Simultaneously our internal Fan Management group posted clearly that Xiao Zhan has no New Year Engagement and will join the drama group the next day.

Excerpt from the post:

"Recently, there has been some news about follow-up work arrangements. After communication and confirmation with the studio, we will now reply here. Starting tomorrow, the artist will devote himself wholeheartedly to the launch and filming of his new work. Apart from this, he has no other arrangements for the time being."

4. This caused problems among fans who tried to reimburse for the tickets and constant crashing of App didn't help. Many reached out to Fat Shrimp Account to explain and they conveniently informed the Studio. This was in their next post.

"We are all very sorry that despite our efforts, we could not coordinate the work due to time factors. At the same time, regarding the concerns and feedback from some fans about actual losses, we are actively discussing with the studio and will synchronize reasonable solutions as soon as possible. I'd like to apologize again for everyone's previous expectations and possible losses."

5. Fat Shrimp posts a final post on steps, XFX can take so as to get their reimbursements, but to fans surprise, they also reimbursed for hotel prices and air flights, as long as they can be verified by the studio that they're genuine. For that, they've asked to forward them proofs regarding their booking etc. And they've promised to ho through them individually.

"All information will be reviewed and reviewed by @小泽影视会官微@小之War.comxuanguanwei. All the costs involved are provided by @小泽Studio.

I once again say sorry to everyone for all the trouble caused by this matter."

6. DGTV has been very professional about this and has been working hard at reimbursing tickets.

7. Xiao Zhan leaves for Hengdian early on the 25th.

[llycaons]

with everything I learn about filming the drama I'm always like how didn't xz just fucking keel over like it was hot as shit in those layers, he had a million lines that required intense emotional performaces, he was the central figure in the almost episode, they filmed dozens of hours of material over one summer, he was experiencing serious character bleed, and he wasn't even eating properly because of the pressure to look good in the outfits. like I'm glad he went to Japan afterwards to decompress because that really must have taken a physical and mental and emotional toll even though he clearly connected strongly with the role and apparently had a great experience

[theji]

Can Wang Yibo Sing?

Of cos he can!!

I’ve been meaning to write about this topic for a while, after seeing way too many comments about Yibo’s singing on Weibo, YouTube etc. Accusations of him lip syncing etc. Of cos most of these are by antis, which shouldn’t matter, but it bothers me that he’s being misunderstood

Disclaimer: I’m not a professional musician, just someone who was in the choir for about 5 years and spent my teenage years watching way too many singing competition reality TV shows.

Objectively, Yibo is not a great singer but definitely a competent one. While he identifies as a rapper, we can’t discount his years of training in Korea. For sure they have lessons on things like vocal control, techniques, etc. By virtue of him being a rapper, he has good breath control, stamina, sense of rhythm, clear diction. Which are especially evident during his live song+dance performances. After all, for him to be able to sing/rap while dancing, it takes a lot more effort and skill, as compared to standing stationary on stage. Heck, he even rapped while suspended in air. These abilities all form the basis of singing and shouldn’t be disregarded.

Now, back to his vocals. I would consider Yibo to be a baritone - his vocal range falls between mid-low notes. Compare that to XZ, whom I would classify as a tenor. Some parts of vocals can be trained but part of it is just inborn. The implication is that he has a narrower vocal range and is unable to sing very low notes; neither can he belt the high notes. He also tends to use more of his chest voice so sometimes he doesn’t project his voice very well. I’ve also not observed him using much techniques like falsetto when he sings.

And that’s perfectly fine. Disregarding these, he actually has a nice voice. Very clean and warm and soothing. It just means he would sound better singing certain types of songs, within a certain vocal range. Songs that don’t fluctuate too much in terms of key. 

I present to you Exhibit A:

Considering that this was spontaneous and sung live without any music, Yibo did really well. He sounded really good here. If you compare it to XZ’s segment, you can clearly tell the difference in their vocal range and voice projection. But the point isn’t to compare but rather, to show that different singers have different vocal range and abilities and shouldn’t be measured by the same yardstick. 

From past interviews it’s clear that singing isn’t an area that Yibo is particularly confident in. He knows he has limitations. Now, instead of debating on whether Yibo can or cannot sing (nothing is rarely so black and white), I want to focus on how he has improved over the years. Which he clearly did. 

Check out this clip of Yibo’s cover of Hebe Tien’s Xiao Xing Yun for a DDU episode in 2017. Here, he sounded ok but a bit flat and pitchy, especially when it came to the lower notes. But he can definitely carry a tune.

Unlike XZ, we don't see Yibo in that many public performances where he gets to sing. For the purpose of this post I'm not looking at his dance+rap performances cos it's not an apple-apple comparison.

In 2019, we were blessed with classics from CQL - Bu Wang and Wu Ji. Which also brought about many public performances. Comparing these two, more often than not he sounded better when he was performing Bu Wang, cos that song fits better with his vocal range and is more ‘even’. I’ve noted that he has the backing track on during his Wu Ji performances across the various concerts. Probably cos he wasn’t very confident since Wu Ji is a more challenging song. If you compare his parts with that of XZ’s in this example below, you can clearly hear the difference in the sound quality. XZ didn't have the backing track for his portions, which is also why some people commented that Yibo sang better because his voice sounded more similar to the studio version. (Side note: this is something that I really admire about GG. He always insist on singing live even when he's not feeling well). But nevertheless, even with a backing track, it can still be considered live singing to a certain extent. It's not the same as lip syncing. And I think Yibo did pretty well during those concerts and fan meets, even though there were still pitchy moments.

Xi Wei in 2020. I thought it was a good performance. He sounded more stable and hit all the right notes. I recall during this performance there was quite a bit of online chatter saying that he lip synced. They said he was holding the mic too far away but it's actually pretty common for singers to pull the mic away when projecting their voices during the higher notes so as to equalise the volume. Part of the reason could be also about the pitch. To be fair I couldn't tell for sure from the online clips whether or not he had the backing track on but he definitely wasn't lip syncing. He also sounded better compared to CQL promo days. FYI I used the fan cam version here cos the audio is more obvious.

And then we have Longing for Glory earlier this year. More power in his vocals here. I also thought he seemed to be getting more confident in his singing performances.

TL;DR: While Yibo has a limited vocal range and lacks certain singing techniques, he can definitely sing. With the right song, he would be able to sing beautifully. For instance, Dear Mom, We Stay Together and his newest song. More importantly, he has improved over the years and I think that's something that shouldn't be overlooked.

Ultimately, at least to me, I don't see Yibo as just a singer or dancer or rapper. He is a performer and a great one at that. Vocals are just one part of a performance so I think people shouldn't just focus on whether he can or cannot sing. And stop accusing him of lip syncing. We can't deny his charisma and stage presence. Every time he's on stage, he shines brightly.

I'm looking forward to more songs and singing performances by Yibo, either his own single or from his upcoming dramas.

And finally, ending off with this clip of Yibo's DDU performances over the years. The boy can sing, ok?

[peekbackstage]

Thanks so much for sharing your perspective. I've found your posts very informative and appreciate your time and effort. I saw you mention something about XZ's team not doing a great job responding to the situation, though of course they aren't to blame for it. If you don't mind, would you share your thoughts on what a better response might have looked like, and what impact it might've had if they'd done things differently?

One of the things that stands out most to me is how unprepared XZ Studio was when dealing with a PR crisis. It seems to me like they most likely did not have a strong social media team at the time who would have been tracking any trends or conversations associated with XZ. (By the point at which 227 happened, XZ Studio had already been established for about five months.)

It is pretty standard to track your artist’s name and keep an eye on trending topics, especially to get in front any major issues. As 227 began to develop, had XZ Studio been tracking the development on social media, they could have potentially defused the situation very quickly when the big call to action first emerged from XZ fans to report a fanfic to the government. It was so out of hand, and there was no statement from either the company or the artist that it seemed as though both were complicit in allowing it to continue, which is precisely why so many antis emerged, incensed against XZ’s apparent lack of action to rein in his fans and guide them appropriately. 

Much of the backlash that occurred against XZ and his fans is because there was no initial response when the call to action first appeared - they could have essentially stopped it before it got too far and prevented AO3 and Lofter from getting banned. A simple statement from the artist and the management company to defuse everything could have potentially stopped the movement in its tracks, with the amount of influence XZ does have over his fans.

When things did go sideways, there still was no statement or even an apology from management or XZ, who was being criticized for the actions of his fans. Though it wasn’t his fault (technically), the ways in which his fans behave reflected poorly upon him as an artist and an influencer. Had he taken “responsibility” immediately and apologized, it might not have gone so far as a boycott against him that resulted in so many brands dropping him. 

What I think a better response would have looked like once 227 occurred would have been this:

1. Immediately issue a PR statement condemning the actions of the fans and take responsibility for not initially “guiding” fans properly. Apologize on behalf of the company, the fans, and the artist. Statement should also include a note that states the offending content is merely fiction and that there is no truth to the story. There is no reason to be upset over something that is not true or defamatory, as it is imaginary. (This would essentially be a coded statement denying a certain relationship to begin the process of dissociating and creating a different narrative.) 

2. Artist should issue a statement condemning the actions of the fans and apologizing as well. Call to action for any fans who might continue to act out to behave appropriately. Remind fans that fiction is not real, and to stop acting out against something that is imaginary. 

3. Meet with Weibo privately. Ask them to help with community management to ban accounts that are breaking their TOS. Do this very early on in the process. Also, invest a good deal of money to hire an entire social media management team or a company to heavily monitor Weibo and aggressively report accounts that are engaging in defamatory behavior and potentially breaking Weibo’s TOS. Take legal action against anyone who is actively breaking the law. 

4. Book an interview with a large media outlet or a well-known media personality. Allow and even encourage questions about the incident. Artist should condemn the actions of the fans who caused the incident and apologize to the public for their behavior. Artist should also say something like, “The story is fake/imaginary/fiction/not real.” (Saying something like that more or less demonstrates how dumb all of this is.) I am assuming that questions won’t be asked about AO3/Lofter being placed behind the Great Firewall due to China censorship. 

5. Dissociate from anything and everything that might allow others to continue associating the artist with the incident. In XZ’s case, that means dissociating from WYB, because he’s associated with said incident given the fact that this was all caused by a fanfic. Put a moratorium on kadians and any other potential “interactions” that would allow fans to continue to have “content” to discuss on Weibo. The point here is to change the narrative - this way antis won’t also have content they can use to criticize XZ.

6. While this is happening, call all brands and schedule meetings. Attempt to rescue the brand deals. For brands who are very unhappy, offer a contract revision to suspend the contract terms for a set amount of time (such as four months) to see if the issue blows over. (It’s better to put it on hold than it is to have to try and get a new brand deal, especially once the brand’s annual sponsorship monies have already been allocated for the year.)  

Potentially work with third party PR team to circulate rumors among XZ’s fanbase that he is losing brand deals to create urgency for a counter-campaign against antis trying to boycott XZ’s brands. If there are just as many people calling brands to support XZ as there are calling for a boycott, then it would potentially be a 50/50 toss up as to whether or not a brand deal manages to be saved. This might also lead to a surge of sales for all of XZ’s brands, which would then maybe demonstrate to the brands that XZ shouldn’t be dropped.

7. Track sentiment/feedback once all of the above has been completed. If all of the above didn’t help at all, create new action plan which might include withdrawing the artist from all activity for a set amount of time. 

So there you have it. Maybe a response like the above could have potentially ended up with a different outcome for XZ. Maybe it wouldn’t have helped at all and everything would have still been just as bad. We’ll never actually know. 

What I hope is that XZ now has a better team who can handle issues like this in the future, and that he will see a full recovery for his career this new year. If 2020 has proven anything to anyone watching, it’s that XZ’s consumer power is still massive, and that his popularity has not waned at all. The fact that he is still sweeping all the awards that require fans to vote, often winning by millions of votes, and the red sea that fans managed to put on for him during the Tencent awards are undeniable symbols of his enduring popularity.  

This kind of influence is staggeringly powerful - brands and media outlets that previously might have felt uncertain about XZ as an artist most likely will have positive sentiments towards him as a result. 

So, let’s hope that 2021 will be the best year for XZ. 

The future is full of possibilities and the sky above is endless.

Edit: @pepeyee Made it clear to me in the replies that I definitely did not clarify myself or my thoughts on all of the above well enough, so I will be writing a response to all of the above to further clarify some points so that there is no confusion about my stance here. 

[nutty1005]

Uniquely Him – Xiao Zhan: The biggest monster to defeat is himself

Translator’s Note: This article comes from ELLE Magazine 2019 Jan Issue.

He learned drawing since elementary school, drawing planets and monsters were his obsession, firmly believing in the existence of aliens. As a lively, vivid and exemplary person, he radiates a sense of security from someone dependable, and yet he has a worldly wisdom of one who knows the ways of the world but prefers not to practice it. 

He learned drawing since young, drawing planets and monsters were his obsession. When he watched Martians in movies as a child, his wild imagination gave him a battle with monsters. At that time, he was a boy who was especially fascinated with space, and believed firmly that aliens existed. When he saw news on UFOs, he was excited, curious, but also afraid – would the aliens be friendly with us?

After he read “The Three-Body Problem”, this feeling grew stronger. While exclaiming the broadness of the author’s imagination and how grand the universe is, he researched on the theories and explanations in the novel, as well as on astronomy. Xiao Zhan also imagined how the subjects in “The Three-Body Problem” would look like, “looks like an engineer, perhaps he wears spectacles, he must have a highly progressed mind, great mechanical skills, but probably useless in everyday life, just like Sheldon in ‘The Big Bang Theory’.”

The cruel logic behind all the glitz

Seated in front of the window in the hotel room, his long narrow eyes, puffy and red, Xiao Zhan just finished a day’s filming, and was accepting our interview in a layer of thick winter coat. His attitude was polite, and all around him was the vividness of youth – this made a huge impression.

He had his own studio when he was in year 2 of university, and became a designer after graduating – exemplary student Xiao Zhan’s most glorious moment was being able to design logos in projects with his seniors while he was still an intern, and the client eventually chose his design. Life as a designer lasted until 2015 – his university teacher recommended him to participate in “X-Fire” (TN: A talent search variety show) and he debuted, and since then, his life went onto a different track, becoming one of the hottest idols currently.

Actually, the challenge of becoming an artist is not much different from fighting monsters – since you receive flowers and applause, you would also receive gossip and rumors. His life had been smooth sailing till this, and this confused him for a while, “When the competition ended, there was some dissenting voices, I didn’t quite understand then. Now I’m more at peace, because when you choose a career, you need to learn to accept it. People will like you, and there will be people who won’t.”

However, the cruel logic behind all the glitz was something he could not have imagined. “Audiences do not see what you’ve experienced along the way, they would only judge you based on the final results.” He was filming his first period movie, being outdoors in the mountains at -10°C+ was a daily norm, “We’re filming by the river, everyday we could see the ice slowly form up, today the river is totally frozen, we could walk on it. Basically after every scene I have to cover my face with a warm water bag, otherwise my face would be numb from the cold and become uncontrollable.” And because today there was a scene to scream and shout, Xiao Zhan’s voice was already hoarse.

Xiao Zhan could overcome all this suffering and exhaustion well, the biggest monster he wanted to fight were his self imposed restrictions. “Just now I was thinking while doing make-up, that actually celebrities are like a product, packaged by make-up and styles in order to polish this product. I will bring forth my best to my audiences, but yet I don’t want to over package myself, the real me needs to be in it. I wish that everyone, while accepting my glorious exterior as a celebrity, would also accept my flaws and quirks, since after all, I am a vivid person.”

This sincerity and clarity is where Xiao Zhan’s wisdom lies.

“There is no grandiose in my life”

2018 is the year of rapid growth for Xiao Zhan, he had main roles in various dramas, such as “The Wolf”, “Joy of Life”, “The Untamed”, etc – honing his acting and radiating his presence.

As the lead actor in “The Untamed”, Xiao Zhan’s load was heavy and his filming schedule was tight – filming under the ceaseless summer heat in Hengdian, his mind was always tense. The temperatures in the set was as high as 50°C, the make-up could not stay on, and he filmed most scenes barefaced. The most unforgettable scene was a crying scene – Wei Wuxian, portrayed by Xiao Zhan, had an explosive emotional scene after the massacre of the Jiang family. This scene started filming in the morning, he and Jiang Yanli started crying since 7 a.m. and after they were done, their eyes were as swollen as that of goldfishes. Before this, he was filming “The Wolf” – he systematically took performance classes and grew rapidly in during the filming. “Familiar set and environment, learning to adjust to the nerves and tension, especially since there were hundreds of people servicing you on set, you can do no mistakes.” Xiao Zhan radiates this sense of security from someone dependable. “The Wolf” was his first time as a main supporting role, and he was under tremendous pressure during that period, he often dreamed of acting on set. After every scene he would request for everyone to provide feedback, and then he would learn continuously, analyze and quickly adjust.

After that he had his first cat of his life, a munchkin named Jianguo (TN: Jianguo means nut). After the performance teacher learned about this, one of the homework he gave Xiao Zhan was for him to observe his cat. As a cat-lover, he reveled in the it, “I found out some things that I overlooked, like you will find out that when she’s angry, affectionate or hungry her expression and calls are different.” Xiao Zhan was exceptionally loving to his cat – the first thing he did when after a day’s work was to go home and play with his cat. His private life was quiet and simple, he just stays at home. “The feeling of staying at home is like falling into a cloud, you could roll around as you like, there is no pressure.”

“There is no grandiose in my life.” This was what he felt that gave people the sense of security. His parents, while supportive of his career, were also worried, hence Xiao Zhan often communicated with them, sharing his career successes, helping them be at ease.

In the whole conversation, Xiao Zhan had the purity and enthusiasm belonging uniquely to a youth, and there was this sense of extraordinary realness in him. “Whether or not I want to be an idol, I don’t actually have a choice, the label of an idol is already on me, just that I want to slowly shed off the label of an idol, and become an actor accepted by audiences, so that they can see more of my inner self.”

“I especially dislike public proclamations, you have to pace your life.”

ELLE: What type of boyfriend do you think you are? XZ: I am the boyfriend who is more considerate of the other person, if there were to be my other half in the future, when she’s busy, upset or happy, or wants me to do something, I’ll try to accompany her the way she likes it.

ELLE: Are you the gentle puppy type of boyfriend? XZ: There’s definitely a dominating side, but if you were to be dominating everyday, how do you live? When you have the other half, the most important things are responsibility and trust. (After having a cat, do you think you’re a good dad?) I feel yes, from taking care of my cat.

ELLE: What type of girls do you most want to date? XZ: In many interviews before I spoke about warm, gentle and family-loving girls, but I feel that it still comes down to chemistry, and this is something unpredictable.

ELLE: If you are currently dating a girl, how would you hope to spend Valentine’s Day? XZ: Stay at home, and cook together. There’s a phrase about when you love the right person, every day’s Valentine’s Day, why do you have to spend that day in the crowd with everyone. Being an artist is quite particular, and quite tiring, I have to go back to live my life. If everyday has to be vigorous and stirring, there’s no way to live. No one can act everyday, I especially dislike public proclamations, I feel that you have to pace your life.

ELLE: If we give you a holiday now, what would you do? XZ: Go home and rest, with my parents, and then play with my cat.

ELLE: Are you a typical Libra? XZ: I don’t think so, I don’t have difficulties in choosing, when I spot something I want to buy, I’ll just buy. But sometimes I’ll be stuck in things that I care about, for example the scene I did today, if I’m not satisfied with it, I will think about it from morning till night, and annoy the others around me with my nagging.

[yuzhousky]

It's interesting how different JY/ZZ have selected who they film with. JY (or his studio) has chose to film with super popular actors like Reba, XZ, Yibo. They all have many times more followers than JY, but by partnering with them, JY will also increase his exposure and media value. On the other hand, ZZ has mostly been filming with actors who have popularity slightly higher than himself, but not by a lot like TSY, Nazha, BJT. I wonder if these are conscious decisions or just coincidences...

Actually the actors in a film are usually selected by the film producer, director or investors. If one actor/actress doesn't wanna work with another one, he/she could refuse it. But if it's a film with good plot, investment and film crew, there's no need to refuse it at all cuz many other actors might also want to star in it. And the 'battle' to get a role in such film is pretty fierce as well.

Tbh, JY is now in Lucida whose boss can help him get better movie resources which other young actors also desire. That's why those films can attract more famous celebs.

[zhansww]

but at this point, wouldn't they receive a fuck ton of backlash if they ever tried to close the supertopic? given how large the cshipper community seems, that likely would cause them a lot of issues. also, denying any rumours this late would just seem strange. it feels like less of a "everyone secretly knows so no one denies" and more of a "the sheer number of cpf would likely result in a lot of backlash if they tried to do anything"

Aah, I may have overstated bj-x fans’ power, lol. The number of ggdd’s cp fans is a lot compared to other cps but not to the number of their solo fans. As of right now, the bj-x supertopic has 2,8 million followers. WYB’s has 5,6 and XZ’s has 7,9 million. Also, their cp isn’t even a straight, ””normal”” one... I highly doubt XZ or WYB would receive any backlash for closing a supertopic that is full of people who support a gay cp. I think a lot of people, higher-ups in the industry, would actually welcome seeing such a (popular but gay) supertopic close.

If either gg or dd were determined to shut their cp topics down, they should have taken the first opportunity to do so, no? Meaning, they should have closed the topic right after the Nanjing concerts in November 2019, the last time they had a CQL related event. Back then, there were about a million fans in their supertopic. Or even better, they coulda closed it in October 2019, after the incident on XZ’s birthday and the statement that his studio released a day later. I don’t remember the exact words but XZ’s studio promised to take actions against anyone who spread false rumors about XZ that day. And apart from the rumors about XZ/WZC and XZ/YZ, the probably worst thing that was done to him that day was a certain number of antis, pretending to be bj-x fans, showing up at XZ’s parents’ house with large banners, congratulating him and Yibo and wishing them a good future together. That incident and the actions that XZ Studio took as a result would have been the perfect time to shut the bj-x topic down — but they didn’t. They did close the XZ/WZC topic, though. Also, shouldn’t the fact that the number of people who are making wrong assumptions about your relationship with a co-star/friend keeps rising, just make it that more urgent to you to shut that misinformation down? Unless of course, it isn’t actually misinformation. 🤔

[accio-victuuri]

不要回头

this discussion is due to the announcement that the MV dropping on 11/26 is called don’t look back. let’s start with why this is relevant to xiao zhan. one that immediately comes to mind was his instagram post before where he used the caption: “don’t look back, forever”. a bit of context, this was the time in 2019 when he was having problems with WJJW’s management of his career. a week after this post, he took WJJW to court. so it may be safe to say that the message was moving forward and leaving WJJW behind.

this has been a recurrent theme with XZ, as he so eloquently explained in one of his interviews: “I feel that everyone should not live in the past. But you need to summarize your past, the areas you did not do well, take responsibility and move forward.” not looking back— meaning to live with no regrets. to run towards your future, which is why it makes sense that he likes to do the chongya pose. that’s just who xz is. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ he doesn’t sit and wallow in misery about what happened before. he doesn’t hold grudges. no matter how his fans misinterpret his messaging, it has always been very clear to me. move on. make peace.

we can actually see this mindset between xz and wyb and why ( i think ) they get along so well. considering the life they have, it’s not healthy to live in the past and miss the moment now.

for their bdays this year, both their studios talked about regrets and moving forward.

XZS: The road ahead is always like this. I hope you can have fun without regrets.

YBO: …. along the way, accept imperfection, allow regrets, the mountains are high and the seas are vast, and please move forward boldly.

here are some other similarities with this theme:

XZ: i will believe in my choice and don’t regret it. just go all out and do it.

WYB: I just want to do things according to my beliefs and never regret it.

XZ interview

Q: Suppose if there is a chance to go back to the past. Which stage do you most want to return to?

XZ: i’m not going back

WYB interview

he was asked pretty much a similar question, if he can choose to travel back to an age in his life. what would he choose?

WYB: I don’t want to go back

also this classic one from WYB. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

this one is a personal favorite of mine when he was doing interview for where dreams begin:

XZ: Although life is likely to be unsatisfactory, I think as long as you persist in your heart and work hard to move forward, It will definitely be fine. This is something I insist on, don’t look back, believe in the future and the light is always ahead.

and there are alot more. i think that those of us who have been in tune with them already knows all of this. it’s the way they both are. i feel like this is also why they are successful in their careers. 🫶🏼

lastly is the significance of them singing white windmill during filming. at this time, xz told wyb— wyb, don’t look back.

Tho i’m pretty sure the song/mv title Don’t Look Back is about XZ’s personal journey — the similarity with WYB is just added in here cause we are clowns. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

-END.

[rainbowsky]

I read a couple of people mention that there will be no new post/photoshoot or video from xz studio on ggs birthday, it’s actually come up a lot, is this some confirmed news that everyone’s talking about it? Has gg or his team said anything?

This is true. GG's fan club issued a notice about it the other day. Everyone, including every endorsement brand, is to keep birthday celebrations extremely low key this year.

Keep in mind that we are within a couple weeks of the National Congress - a major governmental event in China that happens once every 5 years. The political climate there is such that everyone will want to lay low and not 'take up social resources' by trending on social media with frivolous topics right now. It would be extremely embarrassing - even potentially dangerous to his career/image - to be seen to be flaunting his celebrity status at a time like this.

However, knowing GG he will hopefully still give us a photo set and video at some point, perhaps sometime after the National Congress, or maybe toward the end of the year. I hope, anyway. He tends to be very generous toward his fans in this way.

Since he is currently filming in Chongqing, my biggest hope is that we will get... well, actually my biggest hope was that we would get Jianguo photos, which we did ... my SECOND biggest hope is that we will get a Chongqing Snacks video. I would love to see GG talk about some of his favorite foods from the region.

[jiannguo]

I'm an old fan who followed xiao zhan back in the day of his career, Untamed and then Our Song. During a lot of events during 227, I feel XZ had a huge support with Dongfang/Dragon TV who not only invited him at their New year's events for two years in a row, but also once during Chineae New Year. Host Lin Hai also hugged Xiao Zhan.

However since last year or so, Xiao Zhan has maintained a distance from this particular channel. He never appeared in any of their promos, or NYE shows or anything else. Why do you think that happened? Was that because they openly supported wang Yibo and tried to get his drama Being a Hero ?

Hello...

Yeah Dragon TV and XZ had a good working relationship back in the day.

I however don't think his relationship with Dragon TV broke down because of another actor. But it could be that the channel favours other actors more than XZ and none of XZ's TV dramas aired in Dragon TV in first slot. It's perfectly possible and very normal in Entertainment industry where situations and backers change all the time.

Dongfang/Dragon TV is also known as Shanghai oriental TV, is, as the name suggests, based in Shanghai. XZ's professional relationships are based in Beijing. His Studio is in Beijing, its the city he spend most of his career in despite being a Chonqing boy. He has always been closer to BTV and CCTV 8 since his dramas began airing in TV.

What goes on inside closed walls is actually something we will never know. We can only speculate and hope for the best. Where XZ is concerned, BTV has been extremely supportive of XZ even now they regularly post about him almost a daily one. So does CCTV 8. Dragon TV most of the time ignores him. With XZ's new drama aligning with Youku, I can forsee in 2024 alliances will change again.

So I don't think it's because of a particular actor. Its just that relationships change, and its important for fans not to align themselves to one particular channel or app just because their idol's drama aired there or a showcase filmed there. Things change. Xiao Zhan is no longer Tencent or WeTV ambassador for instance.

And to be perfectly honest, I'm not sad by any means about XZ's relationship with that channel. They did Yixing quite dirty in their New Year's eve event last year (even Lin Hai was very embarrassed). So in a way I'm glad XZ isn't a part of the clownery.

[xz1005fanblog]

Hi! Just wondering about the different weekly/ daily lists of rankings and how important they are to the stars. There are so many ie weibo powerstar list, weibo star power list (they don't seem to be the same!), vlinkage, datawin. Do you know which are the ones that carry a lot of weight for the 'value' of the stars, and which are just pure nonsense? Thanks.

Ohhhhh boy, you’ve asked a good question. There’s a lot of controversy over the different data rankings in China because of how some celebrity studios or fans would create fake data in order to appear more popular than they actually are.

Xiao Zhan’s fans were also accused of creating fake data, which proved to be a false rumor after the red sea shown at Tencent Star Awards and the New Year Celebration performances at Shanghai. You can fake data online, but you can’t fake the number of fans who will show up for you in person for your performances offline.

Let’s get rid of the easiest ones first. Most popularity ranking lists on Weibo don’t mean much because you can buy a lot of data with money or manipulate just by cooperating with fans. For example, the powerstar or star power whatever (I assume you mean 明星势力榜) is a ranking based on 5 criteria: number of click views, number of reposts/comments, influence (how many wb posts will @ said celebrity), positive influence rating, and flowers received (stupid virtual flowers wb gives you for every month you are a member). I’ve included the mainland China ranking here below. The thing about his ranking is that if, let’s say, celebrity A decides to post 5 wb posts in one day, and then celebrity B doesn’t post anything at all, then chances are celebrity A will get more reposts/comments, click views, and influence points than celebrity B, while not being half as popular as celebrity B. It is also possible for fans to keep reposting and commenting on old posts up to 30 days before to keep the data up. Of course, celebrity B could be very popular outside of weibo (for example, A-list stars like Deng Chao) but never reach the top on this ranking thing because their fans would not send the virtual flowers nor would they post anything while @ -ing them). The people who keep on fighting for this ranking are young actors/idols’ fans mainly. There are also subcategories for this ranking for overseas artists, HongKong/Macau/Taiwan artists, young idols starting up, etc.

Next one is the 超话排名榜, this is a ranking for what’s called a “supertopic” on wb. You gain points by posting, commenting, reposting things in various supertopics, and you can give the points gained to the celebrity you like. It’s a pretty good gauge of how many active fans a celebrity has on weibo. 

Next is 寻艺, or Xun Yi. This ranking has a part that collects data from the entire web, and part that collects sales contribution. Recently it has started collecting data on how popular various TV series or variety shows are. It also has a section where fans can sign in that gives you a pretty good picture of how many active fans one celebrity has (or at least, how many fans care enough to do this).

Xun Yi also has a section detailing how much one celebrity’s product/brand endorsement was discussed and their sales contribution on a ten point scale. This rank is really important because it shows how much one celebrity can influence consumers to choose a product, and the sales data cannot be fabricated.

Now for Powerstar... I would say that it IS a pretty important ranking as they do collect a lot of information in detail every week: how much this celebrity was discussed on Baidu, how many times he was searched, how many times people posted on his section on tieba (similar to a forum platform sponsored by baidu), how many people signed in, how much he was discussed on weibo, how many times he was searched on weixin (chat platform very popular in China). The only part that I find ridiculous is that they included how many new fans on wb this celebrity got in one week, because everyone knows that you can purchase “followers/fans”on that platform... just like how you can also buy comments and reposts...

But! Since they give the winners a trophy by the end of the year like a proper award organization I guess they should know about the empty accounts on wb and disregard them.

There’s also Ai Man, which an organization that calculates how many active fans one celebrity has (this includes haters!), they release a ranking every day. They also have a ranking on commercial value of active artists (which also depends a lot on how many ads they shoot, so I don’t really like those). What’s interesting is that they would also publish how many of celebrity A’s haters follow celebrity B. Overall I do not like this ranking because a lot of their data is skewed by some sudden news, for example this person at no.2 on the screenshot has that many fans not because she is really popular or anything, but because she raised a big fuss recently on the script she wrote for a new show. There are also some nicknames that their system will not take into account, like some terms XFX like to use for Xiao Zhan: Zhan Zhan, Xiao Zan, etc. I don’t think they include his English name either.

There was also a couple of days where their system bugged and counted XZ’s fans into another artists’ fans, which was plainly obvious as their most discussed keyword became “Douluo Continent”, a show that said artist took no part in. So their system is a bit flawed. 

Now for the big guns, VLinkage is a pretty good data collection organization that does popularity rankings every day on various TV shows, variety shows, and artists. They split artists into TV show actors and variety show guests also. They base their data on how much the subject/person was discussed on various platforms (not just wb!) and how many times they were searched. 

DataWin does something similar to VLinkage, but they would also release which “terms” or topic were of the most interest for netizens. They would also sometimes publish their analysis of some interesting rankings or data. In addition, every month they would publish a ranking of the commercial value of artists/actors and comment on them, while taking into account the amount of data bought (and thus invalid).

Aaaaanyway, all this to say that the last two I believe are the most professional rankings. 

[twolonesomestars]

Thanks a lot for your quick reply. And same. Im just happy to see him in an official engagement in public like this. So yeah thanks a lot for the link. im just gonna keep hoping someone may sub the live stream then :D have a good day

The times between appearances are getting short too. We got his vlog just a few days ago and now this. He’s definitely coming back very soon!

And actually, I’m pleasantly surprised to see it was a livestream. The RoseOnly company or XZ’s studio looks to have comments under control, which is the biggest hurdle for something live (antis often bombard the comment section).

-

Can I start expecting OOL to come out soon & for XZ to promote with the team?

-

Have a nice day as well anon! Ride the happiness from XZ’s appearance 😉

[transingthejianghu]

Rules: Tag nine people you want to get to know better or catch up with, then answer these questions. Tagged by @lan-trans-ji!

Three ships: Sarawatine and Wangxian are the obvious choices here, but do I have a third ship that I’m invested in anymore? I suppose I could say Malec for old times’ sake.

Last song: I’m 99% sure it was something from my D&D wizard’s playlist, but I don’t remember what song so I’m just gonna say “Brother” by Kodaline. In terms of what song my brain has been playing, though, the answer is “Yang Khu Kan.”

Last movie: Sebastian I swear I’m not copying you but I’m 99% sure the last movie I actually finished watching was Disclosure.

Currently craving: Hmmmm. Possibly sleep? Actually wait, scratch that, I’d love to pet a cat right now.

Currently reading: A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson. Also like...several nonfiction books, because why read one book at a time when you could read 3-5!

Now to tag nine people... If @autistic-lanzhan, @kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, @xz-studios, @spacepython, @vulcandroiid, @gaysarawat, @princeashitaka, @onceuponavideo, and/or @geraniumsforinej want to participate, this is your invitation!