After Starmaking 4｜When the stage spotlights went out, they found their own light

2023-07-15 12:20:06

Every season of “All People Make Stars” only a few people win the favor of big companies, sign contracts, receive high praise, and release records, becoming the new stars that have attracted much attention. For the remaining people, if they want to continue to survive in the entertainment industry, they need to find their own position and continue on.

Among the 468 contestants, except for those names that are already known to everyone, what kind of road did the others go after leaving the studio?

Some people turned down invitations from big companies and started to work as independent singers, but after a while they were still not successful, and gradually felt that business was all right; But it has become the voice heard by the audience of “Making Stars 5” every night; some people continue to have full-time jobs, regard music as an interest in expressing their emotions, and continue to reflect on what fame is.

“Making a Star” ended, and they didn’t become that star. But when the spotlight goes out, they still find the light on themselves.

*The following content is dictated by the interviewees, and is written in the first person after the reporter sorted out the interviews and answers.

(This article is the fourth article of the topic “After Star Making”, please read the previous article first:The Champion’s Struggle Phoebus: How to Be an Idol?）

Eagle — between changing the world and being changed by the world

Eagle Chen Tianao

Eagle Chen Tian’ao is 26 years old this year. He is one of the top 40 contestants of “Star Making 2” and is good at music creation. At that time, she was honored by the show producer Hua Jie (Huang Huijun) as “the top five choice”. In the show, the B4 group composed of MC Zhang Tiantian and Jer Liu Yingting, etc., also left a deep impression on the music performance. “Star Making 2” After the completion, he embarked on the road of an independent singer. In 2021, he will release the EDM genre work “Leave The World Behind” and make his official debut.

I still remember that when I was 18 years old, I applied for the Academy of Performing Arts, and I was asked in the interview “Why did I choose to study music?” My answer was: because I wanted to change the world. I actually really like music.

As a result, I didn’t get into acting, and I studied business in college—although I knew I didn’t like it, and I wouldn’t engage in those professions in the future. Later, I happened to meet CMGroovy, and got the opportunity to help arrange dance medley for MIRROR’s first concert. Later, “Star Making 2” was recruited. I just graduated from university, so I signed up with the mentality of giving it a try.

The original intention was actually very simple. I didn’t think about being famous at all. I just wanted to know more people who play music. It felt like entering O Camp in college: the group dad asked me to play, Shangzhuang, yeah! I didn’t think too much about it during the competition. In short, I like acting, I like singing, I like making music, and I do whatever I like, that’s all.

“Star Making 2” Eagle Chen Tianao

After the show is over, it can be regarded as stepping into the entertainment industry, and my mentality has begun to change a little. A lot of voices suddenly came out from the outside world, telling me what to do. To be honest, I was also a little shaken. At that time, I received offers from many companies in different forms, or debuted in different ways, the money was approved, and the contract was handed over, but I began to hesitate: my pursuit of life may not necessarily be such a thing.

Firstly, I feel that my ability, especially in singing, still needs to be honed, and secondly, my mentality seems to be unready. That’s right, I really like making music, but it seems to be another thing to go to the front of the screen and debut as a singer. One of the biggest concerns is that I don’t want to be the kind of “entertainer” in the entertainment industry who is manipulated by others, that is, the kind of person who changes his voice when facing reporters and says “Hi everyone~”. I don’t like packaging very much, artist is sell art, but if you are er, you are not artist.

I was not ready to seize the opportunity, so I left the opportunity to others—so I rejected those offers and embarked on the road of independent singer.

Since I am independent, of course I will not make those mainstream love songs, but try some more alternative music types that are even difficult to make in Cantonese, such as EDM. Anyway, not for making money, not for fame, why not try some difficult things while you are young? During those days, I felt very refreshed and free, and I could enjoy some things that few people in Hong Kong do without burden.

Of course, there are many difficulties in the process, such as insufficient resources. Of course, it costs money to make music, post-production, sound mixing, even non-musical things, such as cover art and simple MVs, all cost money. So in addition to being in front of the scene, I also worked behind the scenes, and finally got a balance between life and dinner.

But all these years, I’ve actually been at war inside of me. For example, sometimes the number of views of the work is not good, and I can’t make money, so I will question myself: Die, did I go the wrong way? Have you gone the wrong way?

At the beginning of 2023, group B4 of “Making Stars 2” will perform at the red hall concert of member MC. (From left: Justin, Eagle, Jer, June, MC)

At the beginning of this year, I was the MC concert guest together with the B4 members of “Star Making 2”, chatted with the MCs, and they all said that the company actually gives a lot of creative freedom, and they are very free in music. So I also thought, if I signed the contract at that time, would I have a lot of freedom to make music?

Of course I didn’t want to look back. If you ask me if I regret it, I don’t know either. I think my goal is to be a singer-songwriter, these are all experiences. Now I’m not too poor to have no money, it’s as simple as that.

After a period of precipitation, my thinking now is, can I compromise and choose something while doing what I like? I used to do EDM, or it was something I wanted to play and do, but no matter how good I was, it seemed useless. For the general public, music is music, and there seems to be only difference between good and bad.

Eagle

Musically, I started to think about whether it could be more commercial. For example, the style of music, slow songs have always been popular in Hong Kong, and it is easier to connect to others when making love songs on the theme. Love songs seem to be very popular and mainstream, but the reason is only because everyone has this emotional need. If it is to be popular, it will not be popular if it is too complicated and difficult to do.

Do you want to follow the mainstream market and do things that are easy to connect with the audience, or follow your own heart and express yourself more artistically? At different stages, there will be different ideas. Maybe because I have grown up now, I feel that if I can satisfy myself, I can also connect and even change others, that would be great.

Recently, I keep asking myself: Back to the original intention, what is the purpose of making music? Fame, making money… Do I have to resist these things? Or what can I do after I get these? I don’t think there is such a thing as a fully ready moment, but now I accept it in my mentality-I tell myself that even if I get these things, try not to change too much, the most important thing is: Be honest with yourself and have a clear conscience.

Mark Tai: Standing behind the scenes, I feel so comfortable

Mark Tai Dai Jinyang

Mark Tai Dai Jinyang, champion of the 2013 CASH Pop Song Writing Contest, top 55 in the first season of “All People Make Stars”. After the show ended, he joined Zhao Zengxi’s “Big TV Master” project, and made his debut with “I’m Not a Pretty Boy” in 2021. Now an independent musician, he tends to work behind the scenes. Recently, he has arranged lyrics for STRAYZ member Wei Qiao’s “Stone Breaking Song”. He also served as an assistant to the music director CM Groovy in “Making Star 5”, assisting the contestants in arranging music, adapting and singing the theme song “Prequel” for this season.

Time flies, so it’s been five years.

Standing behind the scenes this time watching another group of young people participate in “Making a Star”, I feel deeply. The rehearsal for the first round of performance took three days. In fact, it should not be called a rehearsal. It is more like a medical examination. The contestants walk in one by one. We see what is uncomfortable, diagnose and then give medicine.

I’ll pay special attention to young contestants who don’t seem to know how to get along with others. In fact, I was also like this back then. I was relatively quiet and didn’t like clinging to other people, focusing on my own world.

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Back then, when I signed up for “Making Stars”, I actually had no goal, just to get rid of the manager at that time. In the past, he always arranged for me to attend some very boring performances, such as the Poon Choi banquet hosted by district councilors at the estate court. Of course I want my neighbors to be happy, but when I sang “Gong Xi Fa Cai” on stage, I couldn’t help thinking: What happened? What am I doing?

During that time, there was indeed a feeling of being underappreciated deep in my heart.

Livelihood is also an issue. At that time, I would go to the bar to perform. The wages were very low, hundreds of yuan for two hours. Subsistence is of course a problem, because you can’t sing seven days a week, you will be dumb, and you have to use a lot of energy. I would tell myself, this is fine, what else is wrong?

I was lost my whole twenties. Sometimes friends will ask, when do you have to give up? I always say, don’t do it if you close the skin. But the problem is, you never know when it will be time to close the skin, keep doing it if you are hard enough, and win if you don’t die.

In order to let more people know about my existence and get away from the manager, I participated in “Star Making”. But in the program, I feel very tired again. Participating in this program, you have a kind of responsibility to design yourself and present your experience to others. But maybe my personality is not suitable, even if I try my best, I always feel that maintaining this image every day is very tiring, so I might as well just ignore it.

I don’t really like to bury people, but “Star Making” needs to show certain emotional interactions. For example, if a contestant is eliminated and leaves, many people will shout, but I can’t shout, I can only Response: “oh, bye”, hahaha that’s it.

Mark Tai Dai Jinyang

“Making a Star” is a real-life show. I just want to perform, but in this show, performance is not the only meaning, because people not only watch you perform, you also have to participate in a performance to show your feelings and image to the world. So I will gradually realize that it is another thing to be an artist, performing and performing, music and music. To manage an image is something I’m not good at at all, and I don’t want to waste my energy doing it.

This program is like a mirror, allowing me to see the difference between my imagined self and my real self. I realized that I understood myself better, so I decided to do something that really suits me.

Later, he released his own songs. I don’t have the purpose of “I want to be a singer! I want to be popular!”, and my mentality is more like creating art: I can make it up when I have time, listen to it if you like it, and forget it if you don’t like it. Anyway, put the creation on the stream now The platform is also easy. Yes, it is very Buddhist. I have never thought of myself as a debut singer, you may not have heard my name, even if you have heard my name, you may not think that I am a star, and I don’t think I am.

Now I’m more inclined to be behind the scenes. Recently, I helped Wei Qiao make a new song. It feels a bit like delivering a baby, which is very interesting. If someone thinks, “You are working behind the scenes because you can’t be in front of the scene”, I will ask, would you say “Because you can’t be a chef, you go to the whole car”? I understand why those people think this way. In fact, it’s very common to not understand it—you don’t have to know how a song is composed to listen to a song—but front- and back-stage are really two completely different jobs.

I got married this year, you ask me if I am focusing on behind-the-scenes because of the change in my life stage? In fact, the answer is the opposite: because I don’t have much interest in continuing to work in front of the screen, I have the idea of getting married. After all, it is very difficult to be in front of the scene, and there may be no food. It’s very realistic, but it doesn’t mean I won’t continue to do what I like. Going forward, will you find other things you want to do along the way, or find some things you want to break through yourself before you can do it? I am looking forward to it.

Nightmare Gacha: Occasionally we talk about fame

Nightmare Gacha

Nightmare Gacha is an indie duo consisting of Hugo and Dayze. Hugo is the top 10 of “Star Making 2”, and the original song “See you at the bottom of the mountain” in the finals is impressive, and Dayze is the writer of this season’s program. The two came up with the idea of a combination because of a trip to Taiwan. In 2021, they released “Unfollow, I am the most intimate thing you have ever done” and became newcomers in the music scene. Both Hugo and Dayze have other full-time jobs, and Nightmare Gacha has no new work for 555 days, until the release of “Occasionally (and when I miss you)” (feat. Eagle Chan) in May this year, “Someone may be waiting, but we Will choose to ignore this voice.” They walked at their own pace.

Dayze: Toxin or nourishment is just a thought

Back then, my role in the show was to be the “little sister” of the contestants. During the process, I witnessed how they struggled for fame and recognition. I was somewhat moved and inspired.

I have always been afraid of being ugly, but I have seen so many people working hard, and I have gained some courage from it, and I think I can try something different.

“All People Make Stars 2” (Source: @dlcl)

There is a question that I have been thinking about recently, even before going to bed at night – what is the meaning of nightmare gashapon to me? Everyone needs a role to face the world and make themselves feel the value of existence. So I figured that the Nightmare Gacha just gave me an identity, and to be honest, it feeds a certain vanity of mine. Of course, we are not very famous, but we have a taste of fame. Generally speaking, someone knows and affirms himself. From the applause and praise of others, you will feel that you are influencing many people, or have the ability to influence many people. You are no longer an NPC (Non-Player Character) in the game, but a person with a name.

Growing up, I always thought that I was the kind of person who sought approval, but now I realize that I am not quite the same. For me, creating music is like writing a diary, recording my emotions naturally, like the first song “Unfollow I’m the most intimate thing you’ve ever done”, I didn’t tell anyone about the relationship in it, But if it is made public through the song, that matter is considered complete.

I have a full-time job now, and I only make music when I have free time. For me, this state will be healthier, because I don’t have to turn creation into my only income, and I won’t feel unfair so easily in my heart, questioning why I didn’t get what I deserved after paying so much, so that I can be pure Enjoy making music.

It has been 555 days since the last song, is anyone looking forward to our work? I have no idea. Both of us are actually very casual, we don’t have a lot of gains and losses, and we even hold the same mentality: Even if this combination stops after today, it doesn’t matter: Okay, at least it was fun.

Sometimes at work, I meet people who participated in “Making Stars” back then, and even attended the show with them and were shortlisted together. When I see some people who are more talented than me, work harder, and pursue the development of acting arts, but they don’t get as many opportunities as us, I will reflect: Should we actually work harder? How much do you cherish opportunities?

dayze

My observation on the contestants of “Star Making” is that some of them have experienced this game, and they have been disgusted with this industry since then, and their illusions have been disillusioned; There is a new season, which is no longer remembered by the audience, so they are very unwilling and impatient, as if they are no longer the same person they used to be, and just want to try their best to get those things they tasted in the show.

This kind of mentality is actually two sides of the same coin. It can be a kind of perseverance, but it also depends on how the person digests it: should he turn unwillingness into nourishment, or let it develop into poison, feeling that the whole world owes him?

Hugo: fame as junk food

I honestly feel like a heretic in “Starmaking.”

Many of the contestants themselves are dancers or buskers. They wandered around the circle early in the morning, hoping to let more people see and know themselves through the show. But I never had the slightest ambition.

When I first signed up, I wanted to do some crazy things because I was broken in love, and I used words and pictures to express myself since I was a child. I have never tried to use performance, music, dance, and drama to create, so I really want to try it. After the first group match, the goal had been achieved, and I could leave at any time, but I was lucky enough to stay until the end, so I used the performance in the final to express what I wanted to say.

On December 15, 2019, “Star Making 2” finals, Hugo and his brothers sang “See you at the bottom of the mountain”. (Photo: ViuTV)

After finishing “Making Stars”, I don’t have any plans for the future at all, and I haven’t imagined any big hits, because you can’t control it at all-even if you sign a company, give you one hundred and eighty thousand, send a song to the stage and win the championship, so what? No one knows you, no one likes you. This is basically an industry that drains willpower and enthusiasm, and then one day you finally can’t stand it anymore and want to change careers, some people will come out and mock: “Scary, are you going to do real estate? Do you want to do insurance?” ?”

So from beginning to end, I only regard music as my side business, my side interest. I hope that I have income diversity in my life, instead of killing a job. Yes, ordinary people may not have the opportunity to perform on stage, meet so many stars, and be surrounded by audiences… But it doesn’t mean that I need these things to support my life, it’s just a part of my life. I would think that being able to eat out with my family, date different people, and travel with my friends are all equally valuable things. Music is one of my pursuits, but that doesn’t mean I don’t pursue other things.

I sometimes think, if I were MIRROR or BLACKPINK — more famous anyway — how else would I live my life? If I were Lisa, I would be known by people across Asia and even the world, which means I can’t go anywhere – so where is your life? Where can you really relax and feel?

Hugo

Nightmare Gacha is my musical identity, or a medium, which allows me to express my emotions in another way, showing that I am rarely seen, that I am so useless, so garbage, so sentimental, and so useless sister side. I like Amy Winehouse very much. She became a singer just because she wanted to make some songs that she wanted to hear. I also want to do the same. Make some songs that I want to hear. I think it’s very refreshing and can express my mood. Just do it up. You can listen to it if you like, but even if you don’t want to listen to it, I can always find a way to do it.

I’m glad I still have my original intentions. There are some music friends around me, we have been working together for a few years, what they want to pursue is different, or they have more goals, so sometimes I am confused — should I have some goals? For example aim for a show, aim for an album and so on. Of course I want these things to happen, but I won’t force them.

I think fame is like junk food (junk food), so delicious, so juicy, so you want to eat it. It’s sparse and beautiful on the outside, but it’s filled with air inside, and it’s not beneficial. The more fame you get, does it greatly improve your own value? Not necessarily.

Nightmare Gacha attends the 2021 annual event (Photo: @nighmare_gacha)

“Making Stars” is a very good talent show in recent years, but every season always has its end: everyone is very enthusiastic about chasing it for half a year, and they may remember you as a person and your role in the show for half a year. But in the end, whether you can continue to appear in other performances and give other audiences a different impression depends on your own destiny.

Many contestants are pursuing to be seen and known. This is somewhat a double-edged sword. When you are famous, everyone praises you to the sky. When everyone regards you as somebody, you will really feel that you are somebody, but When the craze is over and the popularity is over, you have to go back to where you belong—do you want to make music? What circle do you want to enter? Do you want to continue acting? Do you want to keep dancing? Do you want to continue singing? Is it because you want more people to know you, or do you really like this thing?

Higgo Raj performing at Earbuds 2023

Xie Anqi’s “Song of the Year” has a very good lyrics, “After the peak, there will always be a downhill”. All pop singers always have their era. As a role in a reality show competition, you also have your own cycle and lifespan. Just when you really become popular and a big company signs you, how many years or ten years will your acting life be extended? There will always be a day when you will be eliminated by the world and by fashion. How will you cope then? How do you find yourself? How to coexist, get along, and talk to that self that no one knows?

People are like a net, if you always rely on some illusory fans who don’t know where to support you, and always rely on a single thing to support yourself, when that place collapses, your whole person will be torn apart. But if you build yourself from different things, have different identities, and invest in different places, your network will be more consolidated.

Take off the gorgeous coat, take off the gorgeous fame, you have to find out who you really are, this is the most important thing—but these things are easy to say, but hard to do—so the participants of “Star Making 5” , it might be better to read this interview after a year, haha.

Nightmare Gacha