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Avril Lavigne’s new single, “Girlfriend” from her new album The Best Damn Thing is already a hit, currently sitting at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the U.S. What makes Avril’s newest song unique is that she recorded an alternate version of the song partially sung in Chinese. In order to capitalize on her popularity in (East) Asia, she recorded the chorus of the song in Mandarin, as well as Japanese and five other European languages: Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese. Hindi was attempted, but alas it proved too difficult for the Canadian singer. The chorus of the Chinese version is a direct translation from the English version of her song, which goes “I don’t like your girlfriend / You need a new one / I want to be your girlfriend / I know that you like me / It’s not a secret / I want to be your girlfriend”.
According to her manager, Terry McBride:
In order to get the intonation and meter just right, she spent hours studying recordings by foreign language singers. Once Lavigne felt comfortable, she headed into the studio with a tutor and spent "a couple of hours nailing it," McBride said in an interview Thursday following a keynote address at Canadian Music Week.Appealing to China and its massive market is of particular concern for those who manage the 22-year-old's career. McBride said analysis of online traffic suggests the largest chunk of her fans is in Beijing and two other Chinese cities.
"Her consumption is greater in Asia than what it is in all of the Western Hemisphere combined," McBride told an audience earlier Thursday at the annual music industry conference. "And some of those cities outweigh some of the biggest countries as far as the demand of consumption."
The manager did not specify which other two Chinese cities contain a large chunk of her fans. Should her popularity in Asia continue to soar, Avril’s management is showing signs that she could possibly tour China sometime in 2008.
Lavigne, who isn't slated to tour until February 2008, will have the option now of singing in Mandarin for a Chinese audience
The international appeal of the song has already struck a chord, or at least in Japan. The Japanese version of “Girlfriend” debuted at #1 on Japan’s international and domestic charts, something “unheard of” for an English-speaking singer. As for her potential success in China, the future remains unknown. With hints from her management that she might tour China, Avril’s efforts to reach out to Chinese consumers could pay off … or maybe not. Here is a sampling of some of the YouTube comments of her Chinese version of the song:
it is weird, her mandarin isn't good at all.She massacred Mandarin.
made out some of her retarted chinese...
you want a new girlfriend?can't i be your girlfriend
with a really crappy accent
Quotes taken from this article
Related
YouTube clip of (a moody) Avril playing with Chinese traditional toys
Buy “Girlfriend” (Mandarian Version - Clean) from Rhapsody
Buy “Girlfriend” (Mandarin Version - Clean) from iTunes
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eek...
I don't know which offends me more, the inane mandarin lyrics in a horrible laowai accent...
or the inane lyrics in general. God, I can just imagine the kind of girl who would listen to this song.
"Like, omg! He's totally with this like total bitch and i'm like whatever, he would like, totally be better off with me, so like, i like, cornered him at that party and like effin date raped him. Like, hot!"
Yeah, those lyrics are silly.
She seems to have the most trouble with the nv in nvpengyou, sounds like 'new' when she sings it. And she has the additional problem that the Chinese lyrics don't fit the melody very well, but that's not really her fault.
Interesting how Gang-Tai singers sing in Chinese with crappy English choruses, and now here's a Canadian singer who does the exact opposite. I wonder how China is going to appreciate this song.
the lyrics sounds fine to me, Arvil was quite popular when she got her 1st and 2nd album out,since she is foreigner,I don't think most young listener would mind her accent,however,they might think "ni xu yao yige xin de" is a awesome sentence.
i like ur girlfriend veido
So what if her pronunciation is off? Big deal. It's pretty cool that she did this, I think. You people who are ragging on her should go see a doctor to remove the gigantic bug that's up your ass.
I am a Native Mandarin speaker, and considering she has no knowledge of Mandarin or Japanese, I feel that her versions of Girlfriend are fine. You can't expect her to pronounce it perfectly.
She does pronounce a few parts better than most Mandarin learners. She can pronounce "wo zhi dao ni xi huan wo", and "bu shi yi ge mi mi" flawlessly. Of course, her neu sounds bad, it's hard to say, but it sounds fine and I love her effort to entertain her international fans. Not like other artists these days that don't try to appeal their other fans.
ARE YOU KIDDING. Thun, are you sure you're a native speaker? (And if I have to ASK, then that's pretty bad) Look at how she pronounces "xihuan" and "wo". ALL of my Chinese friends are laughing at her. Drunk Americans at KTV in Shanghai can sing Chinese better than she can.
I agree i fink her accent is bum im having a real hard time figuring out wot shes saying she pronouces everything so white-ified. But can't blame her for trying...
I am not a native speaker, I am American and while I think her attempt at singing in several different languages, none of which she speaks...except for her limited knowledge of the english language, is commendable I have been learning mandarin for 4 years and have to cringe at the horrible pronunciation. But I have to admit I could understand what she was saying, and yet it was so very...very bad. (hen huai de chang ge)Ta shi ee ge sha gua! (I probably spelled that wrong, (wo dui bu qi).
I self can speak Madarin, but I don't live in China and I think she did it very well, because someone from really can not speak Chinese DUH!
"According to Shanghaiist (h/t to Danwei), Lavigne is poised to make a lot more than mere BJS Bucks by localizing her product with some nips and tucks of Zhonglish..."
Instant Zhonglish improvement -- guaranteed
Amelia, you're in no position to be criticizing anybody's Chinese. You've been studying for four years? Christ.
I hate Avril Lavigne, and I never thought I'd defend her, but her pronunciation is pretty damn good for someone who's never studied the language.