by Ben O'Hara-Byrne
I have to admit I’ve been happy to avoid all the Susan Boyle hype these past weeks (one of the great benefits of living in Beijing is that you get to tune out the latest fads before you get completely sick of them), but it's hard not to like China’s own unlikely singing sensation (and unlikely is an understatement).
Susan Boyle, before and after her makeover.
At the tender age of 79, cane-toting, sensible shoe and sweater-wearing Wu Beiwei makes the proud-to-be-frumpy Boyle look like a young Madonna. But that didn’t stop Wu from belting her way into the top 50 of China’s answer to the Idol franchise (ironically in Wu’s case, called Happy “Girl”).
She beat out some 550 youthful contestants with her rendition of a famous patriotic song about the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s called “On Songhua River” (imagine a Canadian octogenarian singing “The Maple Leaf Forever” on Idol and you’re getting the picture). See Wu's performance by clicking here.
What impressed me about Wu wasn't her singing – but the steely moxie it took to wade into a group full of star-struck kids to audition in the first place. Have a look at more “typical” contestants by clicking here.
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Wu told local media she was walking past a bunch of young women signing up for some kind of singing contest and decided to ask organizers if they would let an old woman like her take part. Her only prior musical experience, she says, is whenever she’s faced difficulties she’s encouraged herself by singing songs (especially following the deaths of her husband and her daughter).
Now the whole thing may be a bit of a setup. Singing aside, the same way Susan Boyle is used as a facile example to Western audiences that you should never judge a book by its cover, Wu may be an easy way to remind a youth-driven culture that while an older generation may seem a bit lost in the new China of cell phones, computers and cars – they deserve respect for their courage and life experience just the same.
Still, I know I’ll sneak a peek when the show resumes in July to see just how far she makes it. Wu go girl.
Updated June 8, 2009
This is from Today’s China Daily… Wu’s 15 minutes of fame ended when the judges ruled her out of further participation on health grounds, saying "it would be too exhausting for this elderly lady to continue in the subsequent contests."
Far from being downcast, however, Wu was reportedly "happy about the result and enjoyed the whole process of taking part."
So a class act right to the end.
Ben is Global National's Asia correspondent. He is based in Beijing.
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