Blackie found a friend from Taiwan called Yu Guang. He asked him to send over Michael Jackson's video. Yu Guang was the planner of Jackson's "Dangerous Journey" concert in Taiwan.
In order not to arouse the suspicions of the approvers, Seth deleted some scenes that did not conform to the values of the Chinese people. "There are some scenes of ghosts and human rights, as well as scenes of fans fainting in excitement at foreign concerts. They will definitely be worried about causing a riot after watching it.”Wang An said.
However, the scene of Jackson covering his ** with his right hand, a classic dance move, was not deleted. In Blackie's opinion, this might be the main reason why Jackson's trip to the mainland was aborted. Yu Guang once recalled to the media that when he sent a summary of Jackson's videos to the relevant parties in the mainland, the reply he received was that this action was considered "not in line with the customs of the mainland."
Wang An, who had personally witnessed the entire incident, did not agree with Yu Guang's statement. He said,"The reason isn't as simple as I imagined. The Ministry of Culture wouldn't reject Jackson just because of a single action.”
The Chinese Literature Department was also very cautious. Hei Zi and the others learned from their friends in the Chinese Literature Department that the Chinese Literature Department had specially invited three top domestic musicians to " review " Jackson's video.
"Now that I think about it, it seems a little funny. Those three are the masters of classical music in China, but they decide whether a Western pop king can come to China?”Wang An said with a bitter smile.
At the end of August, the date of the September 4th concert was getting closer and closer. Some of the music industry kept sending news from Taiwan that the preparations for the concert in Taiwan were in full swing and that tickets had even begun to be sold. The Americans called the Chinese again, emphasizing that once Beijing decided to hold the concert, they would immediately cancel the concert and compensate for the losses.
Blackie and Wang An had a premonition that things were already irreversible.
The verbal reply from the Ministry of Chinese Affairs came over the phone a few days after Jackson's concert in Taiwan. It did more harm than good.
These four short words contained endless wisdom.
"The main thing is, I wonder what Jackson will bring to China after he comes. That was why Jackson was so scary. In that era, no one could imagine the impact he had on society. In a relatively unstable political and external environment, it was too terrifying to let something uncontrollable happen in China. Moreover, they would also see the information about Jackson's performance in Moscow's Red Square from other sources.”Wang An said in the conference room.
Li Xuan was also silent after hearing Wang An's words. Although Li Xuan was only one year old in 1993, he later understood the environment of China at that time. After the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, the United States had already pointed its finger at another big red country, China. Therefore, China was also wary of the United States at that time. Although Michael Jackson was an international superstar, it was undeniable that he was an American and a very influential American. This reason was very understandable at that time.
Then, Wang An continued to speak.
On the night of September 23, 1993, the day after Jackson's concert in Beijing, another piece of bad news came. Beijing's first bid for the Olympic Games had lost to Sydney by two votes.
"Actually, we always thought that the only thing that could turn this situation around was Jackson's concert.”Wang An said.
After the miscarriage
The year 1993, when Jackson and China had just missed each other, was a watershed in the development of a western artist and an ancient eastern country.
On September 15, 1993, due to his involvement in a case of sexually harassing a boy, Jackson's acting career began to decline. Pepsi canceled its sponsorship contract, and Michael Jackson was also harassed by various scandals.
The company that suffered the most losses was Seth. In order to prepare for Jackson's trip to Beijing, the company had almost spent everything. "In those few months, the company put down all their business and everyone was busy with this matter. At that time, they did not care about the cost and all the money they earned was used to fill this hole. If we go to the United States and they go to China, they will have to spend a lot of money, at least tens of millions of yuan. By the end of 1994, Seth had lost more than 800,000 RMB.”Wang An said. Don't forget that Seth had signed a large number of top artists like Na Ying before 1994.
After the failure of this battle, Seth was no longer interested in similar performances.
Looking back now, Wang An said that he also thought that the time was not ripe. "As practitioners of the pop music industry, we are ready. Beijing wants to use him to bid for the Olympic Games, and we are ready, but our country is not ready yet.”Wang An said that in the most sensitive era, the most representative Western performances that concentrated all kinds of advanced factors were placed in front of China. The influence and destructive power of pop music was far greater than books and media. "Even now, I still think that our competent department is very serious. It was precisely because we were all too serious that a commercial performance carried too much responsibility, causing this concert to be a bubble.”
Li Xuan also nodded. After all, it was just an ordinary large-scale commercial concert, but it had been planned into a performance that combined politics, business, the Olympic bid, and various other purposes. It was indeed a little too complicated.
In Wang An's opinion, it was because the speed of development in China at that time was not that fast. He said," It's indeed a little unbearable for him to accept this kind of situation all of a sudden. It's true that we're talking too early. If it was now, this matter would definitely be successful.”
In 1999, Hei Zi left the pop music industry, and Wang An continued to work hard in this industry. At that time, he secretly made up his mind to take over Hei Zi's baton. One day, he would make the regret of that year become a reality. But this was already impossible. What made him most regretful was that after the miscarriage, Jackson had personally promised Blackie to donate 5 million US dollars to build a dream-like Hope Primary School in Beijing. However, after the sexual assault case, the matter was left unsettled.
At this point, Wang An had finished his story. The entire meeting became Wang An's speech, but everyone present listened with great interest.
Wang An said regretfully,"If the concert back then hadn't been so complicated, with so many functions and responsibilities, it would have been just a simple concert. I don't dare to say anything else, but at the very least, the pop music industry in China is definitely ten years ahead of what it is now.”
After Li Xuan heard this, he fell silent because he knew that Wang An was right. Now that Han and Japan were so powerful in the music field, half of them were masterpieces of Michael Jackson's concerts in their countries. It allowed these two countries to know what popular music was in the world, and it also allowed them to connect with the world.
It was also because of Michael Jackson's concert that Taiwan successfully transformed into an important entertainment market in Asia in the 1990s. In the 1970s and 1980s, folk songs were the most popular in Taiwan. For example, singers like Liu Wenzheng, Fei Yuqing, and Teresa Teng became popular by singing folk songs. After Michael Jackson held a concert in Taiwan, the popularity of pop music in Taiwan exploded. Zhang Yusheng, Zheng Zhihua, and Zhou Wakin all emerged from this background.
"Uncle Wang, why are you so confident in inviting Michael Jackson to endorse us?" Li Xuan asked Wang An.”
Wang An was a little relaxed at this time. He said,"After the failure of the Beijing concert, I was determined to connect China's pop music with the world. So, I used my professionalism and the unique relationship culture of China to get in touch with Michael Jackson. After all, Michael Jackson really wanted to come to Beijing and was looking forward to China, so I became his only Chinese friend. It was because I had placed all my focus on the United States, but the entertainment industry in China did not grow much. When I had the chance to go to Han in 2004, I met the most popular group in their country at that time, TVXQ. I knew that our country was far ahead of the rest of the world, let alone the rest of the world. So I returned to China and resumed my old business. My dream was to make China's entertainment industry stand at the top of Asia.”
"But later, I realized that China couldn't follow the development path of Han and Japan. It was impossible to copy other countries 'things. However, it was already too late when I realized it. My management company was also on the verge of bankruptcy.”
When Li Xuan heard Wang An's words, he smiled. He was very glad that he had picked up Wang An, this treasure. At that time, Wang An was already poor. He brought his youngest daughter out shopping, but her daughter wanted to eat ice cream. However, Wang An did not have a single cent at that time. Just like that, his daughter cried on the roadside, leaving Wang An helpless.
Coincidentally, at that time, Li Xuan had come to Shi Jia Zhuang to buy some materials that he needed. He saw Wang An trying his best to comfort his daughter, and his goal was to not let his daughter eat ice cream. At that time, Li Xuan saw Wang An's helpless gaze when he looked at the ice cream counter. He knew that this man had a story.
Li Xuan directly bought two ice creams. Then, he came to Wang An's side and said to his daughter,"Little girl, this is for you."
Wang An's daughter immediately exclaimed. Then, she said to Li Xuan,"Did you really give it to me?" At the same time, her big eyes were still staring at the ice cream in Li Xuan's hand.
Li Xuan smiled and said,"Of course."”After saying that, he directly handed the ice cream to Wang An's daughter.
When Wang An saw Li Xuan, he immediately wanted to reject him because he did not want others to give him alms. However, when he saw that Li Xuan was not old and was dressed luxuriously, he looked like a rich man. Moreover, his daughter had been making a fuss over ice cream for a long time, so he did not refuse. At that time, Li Xuan had bought a lot of gorgeous clothes because he needed to broadcast live.
Wang An said to his daughter who was eating ice cream,"Xiao Yu, quickly thank Big Brother." Xiao Yu said to Li Xuan,"Thank you, brother."”Li Xuan smiled and nodded, saying,"Be good."”
At this moment, Wang An took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Li Xuan. He said,"Thank you for the ice cream and thank you for your generosity. This is my business card. If there's anything you need me for, just call me. We still have things to do, so we'll leave first." After Wang An finished speaking, he left with his daughter.
Li Xuan saw that the name card said King's Management Entertainment Company, so he put it away. Behind it was the King's Dance Troupe. Wang An was from Beijing, but Li Xuan met him in Shijiazhuang. Because Wang An's company was on the verge of bankruptcy, he sold all his properties in Beijing to pay off his debts. Later, their family moved to Hebei. After all, the houses here were much cheaper than those in Beijing, and they were very close to Beijing.
At this moment, Li Xuan said to Wang An,"Uncle Wang, book two plane tickets to the United States. When the time comes, you can accompany me to the United States. Let's see if we can make a name for ourselves in the United States.”
When Wang An heard Li Xuan's words, he immediately said excitedly,"Good!"
Li Xuan knew that Michael Jackson's thoughts were still relatively simple, so he was confident that he could become friends with Michael Jackson. However, because of the child molestation case, Mike was now very wary of people. No one could make Mike open his heart, so Li Xuan needed Wang An.
Li Xuan believed that if Michael Jackson made the King's Dance Troupe his personal dance partner, then even if Mike's influence was no longer there, even if the King's Dance Troupe did not have the chance to cooperate with Michael on stage. However, as long as the news was released, the King's Dance Troupe would definitely become popular.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]