simplified Chinese: 檀健次; pinyin: Tán jiàncì

JC-T

Tan Jianci (檀健次), JC-T is a dancer, singer, and actor who recently has risen to fame in the public eye for his works in “Under the Skin,” the upcoming following Season “Illustrated Manual of Hunting Crimes 2”, and “Lost You Forever”. JC-T started out as one of the first boy bands/idols in China in the early 2000s. He debuted in a group of 5 called MIC Boy Band (MIC 男团). The music and music video styles that emerged during this time were strongly American hip-hop-based. However, one of the breakthroughs that MIC accomplished that was unique during its more active years was infusing popular music with traditional Chinese music, such as Beijing Opera. MIC participated in a television music competition show called 国色天香 (Guo Se Tian Xiang), which provided the group and JC-T with an opportunity to learn and spread the art of Beijing Opera to a broader and younger audience. In the competition, MIC was given a professional Beijing Opera mentor who taught them the techniques from singing opera to stage presence and performance. MIC created and performed many covers of popular music that already had influences of traditional Chinese music elements, such as artists like Jay Cho, and adding a Beijing Opera twist. JC-T tried out many different styles of singing and some acting for the competition, which allowed them to gain much traction during the airing of the show. One example was when MIC remixed the Chinese classic The Legend of the White Snake. Each member of the group took on a character, two of which were female. JC-T took on the female character 青蛇 (Green Snake). JC-T has been focusing on his acting career in recent years, gaining popularity in the genres of traditional and modern Chinese dramas. His music as a solo artist has also taken a more modern approach with many elements of Chinese culture embedded. One of the most noticeable examples is Original Soundtracks, which he sings for many of the Chinese dramas that he stars in. For example, in the most recent drama, Lost You Forever (长相思), the character Xiang Liu’s theme original soundtrack. This song’s lyrics represent the character and growth development very well. The lyrics have a semi-poetic/traditional feel when placed in this slow song. For example, the lyrics, “the heart is like a floating map, the scenes are the coming roads, the returning roads.” These lyrics are compelling in describing love, in this case, or any kind of affection, similar to saying that one has “found their way home.” Hopefully, the future holds many more accomplishments for Tan Jianci as there is still so much more to discover about Tan Jianci and his works as an artist and an actor.

https://media.vogue.com.tw/photos/64e5b44efe281978e3a1f8da/2:3/w_1456,h_2184,c_limit/%E6%AA%80%E5%BB%BA%E6%AC%A12.jpeg

https://cdn.tatlerasia.com/tatlerasia/i/2023/08/10193853-370341_cover_1045x1567.jpg

Works Cited:

“M.I.C国色天香.” YouTube, YouTube, youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWtaDdb2fz5YBmlJfku_Mc_cvoQ2MeC9H&si=tcwCcNRMk2xi7uqc. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.

“檀健次_百度百科.” 百度百科, baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%AA%80%E5%81%A5%E6%AC%A1/8906275?fromModule=lemma_inlink#4. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.

“猎罪图鉴2_百度百科.” 百度百科, baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%8C%8E%E7%BD%AA%E5%9B%BE%E9%89%B42/63111651?fromModule=lemma_inlink. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.

“猎罪图鉴_百度百科.” 百度百科, baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%8C%8E%E7%BD%AA%E5%9B%BE%E9%89%B4/53625749?fromModule=lemma_inlink. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.

“长相思_百度百科.” 百度百科, baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%95%BF%E7%9B%B8%E6%80%9D/6266895?fromModule=lemma_inlink. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.