S.H.E is a
Taiwan
girl group whose members are
Selina Jen,
Hebe Tien,
and
Ella Chen. The name of the group is an
alphabetism derived from the first
letter of each member's name. Since releasing their first album
Girls Dorm (2001), S.H.E has
recorded 10 albums with sales totalling over 4.5 million, and set
ticketing records in each of their two concert tours. The group has
acted in seven
drama series, hosted
two variety shows, and contributed 10 songs to six drama
soundtracks. S.H.E has endorsed more than 30 companies and
products, including
Coca-Cola and
World of Warcraft. Thanks
largely to S.H.E's success, other Taiwanese record labels began
forming their own girl groups.
In 2000, Jen, Tien and Chen signed up for a singing contest, and
the winner, Jen, was awarded a record contract. Tien and Chen, who
were both finalists, joined Jen to form S.H.E. The trio frequently
covers songs by other artists, and
performs original compositions. The group produces albums under the
HIM International Music
label.
Avex Asia
distributed S.H.E's music in Hong Kong
, but transferred this role to WOW Music in 2007. EMI
Music China is the distributor in Singapore
and the People's Republic
of China.
Background
The Universal Talent and Beauty Girl Contest
On August 12, 2000, Taiwanese record label HIM International held
open auditions, searching for new talent to complement
Power Station.
During the auditions,
Taipei
native Jen Chia-Hsüan sang Coco
Lee's "Before I Fall in Love", Tien Fu-Chen, who hailed from
Hsinchu
, sang
Shunza's "Write a Song" ( ), and Chen
Chia-Hwa, from Pingtung
, sang
Mayday's "Gentle and Soft" ( ).
All three were successful and were recommended to be included in
the Universal Talent and Beauty Girl Contest.
The preliminary rounds
of the contest were held on August 20, 2000 in New York City
. Entering the final preliminary round, Jen
Chia-Hsüan was slated to sing
Elva
Hsiao's "The Closest Stranger" ( ); both Tien and Chen planned
on singing
Karen Mok's "Cloudy Sky" ( ).
All three girls were successful again and secured three of seven
spots in the TV round.
For the televised portion of the contest, to be aired on
CTV's "TV Citizen", Tien Fu-Chen was
scheduled to perform first, followed by Jen Chia-Hsüan. During the
television round, each of the five judges would turn a light on if
a singing flaw was identified — a total of three lights resulted in
elimination. Jen Chia-Hsüan sang
Christina Aguilera's "
Reflection" with her singing flaws
resulting in two lights. Tien Fu-Chen sang
Kit
Chan's "Loving You" ( ). Despite forgetting the majority of the
lyrics, she received only two lights. Chen Chia-Hwa chose
Rene Liu's "Afterwards" ( ), but was eliminated
after receiving four lights. At the end of the round, only four
contestants remained, three of whom were Jen Chia-Hsüan, Tien
Fu-Chen, and Chen Chia-Hwa. Among the four, the judges selected Jen
as the winner, and awarded her a record contract with HIM
International. Later that summer, HIM International contacted Chen
and Tien, and asked both girls to audition once again. After a few
test recordings, HIM signed both Chen Chia-Hwa and Tien Fu-Chen to
record contracts.
Origin of the name
After recording the songs for their first album, the trio needed a
name for the group. The company suggested several names, including
H.B.O, Digi Girl, 3C Girls ( ), and S.H.E Girl Friends ( ). The
name Digi Girl would have reflected HIM's endorsement of Digimaster
products, whereas H.B.O would have coincided with one of the songs
on the girls' first album. HIM finally decided on S.H.E; as a
result, Jen Chia-Hsüan became Selina, Tien Fu-Chen became Hebe, and
Chen Chia-Hwa became Ella.
The group's name, S.H.E, was selected for two reasons. With the
dots in S.H.E removed, the resulting word would emphasize the fact
that S.H.E was a girl group; the dots symbolized individual
differences with the three members. In addition, having an English
name made the group more accessible to an international audience.
However, there were concerns about how audiences would react to
such a name; it was sufficiently similar to
S.E.S., a then-established Korean girl group,
that it was thought S.H.E might be labelled as plagiarists. As a
result, HIM provided local audiences with an alternative Chinese
name for their new group: 女朋友 ( ).
Musical career
Before releasing S.H.E's first songs, HIM International focused on
the group's chemistry, and assigned the three girls to live
together in a dormitory room. On September 11, 2001, S.H.E released
their first album,
Girls Dorm,
in memory of their prior living quarters. Although the CD sold an
impressive 150,000 copies for a debut group, the trio gained
notoriety for singing off-key during their first live performance.
Nevertheless, sales of
Girls Dorm resulted in a nomination
for Best New Artist at the
13th Golden Melody Awards. On
January 29, 2002,
Youth
Society was released and went on to sell more than 250,000
copies. With the release of their second album, "S.H.E Girl
Friends" underwent a name change and became simply "S.H.E".The
trio's third album,
Genesis, was released on August
5, 2002, approximately six months after
Youth Society.
Continuing the successes of the group's previous albums, 20,000
copies of
Genesis were ordered in advance of the release
date. The album would go on to sell 180,000 copies. S.H.E later
signed an endorsement deal with N-age, a South Korean on-line game
company.
Not only did N-age appear in a couple of
music videos, they also sponsored S.H.E's first major concert in
Tainan
City
, the N-age Genesis Concert, which attracted over
20,000 fans. On January 23, 2003, S.H.E released
Together, their
first compilation album.
S.H.E's fifth album was intended for release on August 6, but due
to an injury to Ella,
Super
Star arrived in stores on August 22, 2003. The album
featured the group's first pop/rock song, "Super Star", which, for
ten consecutive weeks, placed no lower than fourth on Singapore's
YES 93.3 music charts. To date,
Together and
Super
Star have combined to sell 580,000 copies; 250,000 copies
of
Super Star were sold in Taiwan alone. On February 6,
2004, S.H.E released their sixth album,
Magical Journey, in two different
versions: a Magical Version and a Journey Version. The two versions
combined to sell 1.5 million copies in Asia, including 160,000
copies in Taiwan alone. On June 2, S.H.E and HIM International
agreed to extend the trio's contract, which would have expired in
October 2005. Later that year, on September 4 2004, S.H.E began
their first major tour, the Fantasy Land Tour.
The tour started in
Taipei
, where more than 25,000 attendees were present, and
ended in Genting Highlands,
Malaysia
.
During
their concert at the Shanghai Stadium
, the trio set an attendance record. Sina.com
Entertainment. S.H.E to hold a concert in Shanghai next month, with Jay
Chou, Wilber Pan, and Tank as guest stars. June 23, 2006.
Retrieved February 4, 2007.
Sina.com did not reveal what the previous attendance record
was. The tour raked in
NT$22.4 million in gate receipts. The
release of S.H.E's seventh album,
Encore, was pushed to November 12
2004 to accommodate Selina's graduation from university in late
November.
Encore sold 1 million units in Asia within one
week of its release; since then, that number has surpassed 2
million. By the time
Encore was due for release, media
outlets had already begun labelling S.H.E as "The Number One Girl
Group" ( ).
S.H.E had released albums every few months until the end of 2004.
But due to their busy concert schedule, it was over a year until
their next album appeared. After releasing
Encore, they
contributed to the
Reaching for the
Stars soundtrack, which sold only 50,000 copies. That same
year, the girl group
Twins released
their first Mandarin album,
Trainee
Cupid, in the Taiwanese market. That album would sell
800,000 copies in two months. The poor sales of the soundtrack and
the success of the Twins album led to this period being described
as one of the lowest times of S.H.E's career. On November 25, 2005,
the trio finally released their eighth album,
Once Upon a Time. The CD
not only set a record with 50,000 pre-orders, but it sold more than
1 million copies, overshadowing
Trainee Cupid.
Once
Upon a Time debuted on the
G-music
Chinese language album charts at #1, retained that position for
four consecutive weeks, and stayed on the charts for a total of 13
weeks. The album's title track, "Don't Wanna Grow Up" ( ), won Song
of the Year at Hong Kong’s
TVB8 Awards.
On July 21, 2006 S.H.E released their ninth album,
Forever, which sold 150,000
copies within a week. The album featured five new songs, a
compilation of older works, and three songs from older drama
soundtracks.
Forever included many collaborative works
with other artists in the Taiwanese pop music industry.
C-pop megastar
Jay Chou
composed "Electric Shock" ( ) for the album. The song "Solo
Madrigal" ( ) was a duet between Selina and
Tank, the latter of whom had
originally recorded the song for his debut album. For the
Tokyo Juliet
soundtrack, Hebe and boyband
Fahrenheit sang "Only Have
Feelings For You" ( ), which won several awards including Taiwan's
Best Duet Song at the 2006 Sprite China Music Awards.
S.H.E's second major concert tour, The Perfect 3 World Tour,
commenced on July 8 2006 in Shanghai, where they set yet another
attendance record by filling more than 60% of the stadium. After
their Perfect 3 concert in Hong Kong, which was recorded and
released as the group's second live CD, S.H.E was commended for
their perseverance, amount of dance preparation, and ability to hit
their notes. Within the tour's first five months, the group
attracted over 200,000 fans, and collected NT$200 million in gate
receipts. On April 18, S.H.E signed on with
WOW Music to improve their presence in Hong Kong.
Play, the trio's tenth
album, was released on May 11, 2007, and was the first S.H.E album
released under the new distribution label.
Play went
double gold within the first four days of the album's pre-order
period; by June 5, more than 150,000 copies were sold. A month
after
Play's release, S.H.E was nominated for the Most
Popular Female Artist award at the
18th Golden Melody Awards but lost
to pop diva
Jolin Tsai.
Musical style

180
S.H.E has released twelve
studio
albums to date, including three
compilation album and one which is only
digitally released. All of S.H.E's album covers display an
oxalis, the symbol for the group. On some covers, the
clover is easy to spot on the front (
Girls Dorm,
Together,
Encore,
Forever,
Play) or on the back (
FM S.H.E); on other covers,
its appearance is more subtle (
Super Star,
Once Upon a
Time). S.H.E's other contributions include songs in the
soundtracks of
Magical Love,
The Rose,
Reaching for the Stars,
Tokyo Juliet,
The Little Fairy,
Hanazakarino Kimitachihe, and
Bull Fighting. In
2008, they sang the ending theme for the film
CJ7.
All three members have different vocal ranges to complement each
other. Ella sings within the alto to mezzo-soprano range, while
Hebe and Selina sing within the mezzo-soprano to soprano
range.
Most S.H.E songs fall into the category of
pop
music. Songs from this genre consist of light melodies, simple
drum beats, and the occasional piano or synthesizer accompaniment.
In
Girls Dorm and
Youth Society, acoustic guitar
melody lines were used as well. While some slower songs,
particularly those in
Genesis, fall into the genre of
R&B, high-tempo songs, such as "Beauty
Up My Life", focus more on
techno. S.H.E has
also sung a few
pop/rock songs, including
"Piquancy" ( ), "Super Star", and "Star Light" ( ). As their career
progressed, S.H.E began mixing light-hearted pop ballads with
elements of
hip hop and
dance. Attempts to fuse these genres started
with songs such as "If You're Happy, Then I'll Be Pleased" ( ),
which contained a short rap segment, and evolved into songs such as
"Listen to Yüan Wei-Jen Play Guitar" ( ), which is composed
entirely of rap with the exception of the chorus.
Lyrics
As performers, S.H.E do not write the lyrics for the majority of
their songs. Shi Rencheng ( ), who also writes for artists such as
Rene Liu,
Jordan
Chan, and
Yuki Hsu, has been S.H.E's
main lyricist since the group's debut. Some even say that Shi's
"legendary" lyrics were partially responsible for the trio's
success. Between the releases of
Magical Journey and
Forever, Daryl Yao ( ) was a regular contributor as well.
The lyrics of Jay Chou's main lyricist,
Vincent Fang, have also made numerous
appearances. On some occasions, S.H.E members even contributed
their own lyrics. Hebe wrote the words for "Say You Love Me" ( )
and "Too Late" ( ), and penned the rap portion of "If You're Happy,
Then I'll Be Pleased". Selina was responsible for the lyrics of
"Wifey" ( ) and "Silenced" ( ).
Most of S.H.E's songs are about love. The word "love" ( ) appears
in six song titles, and over 270 times in the lyrics alone. "Love",
in its original English, is not only found in three song titles,
but also countless times in the songs themselves. Related words,
such as "embrace" ( ) and "feeling" ( ), appear nearly 40 times.
Occasionally, love stories are taken from literature and put into
song. Examples include "Laurel Tree Goddess" ( ), which is based on
the story of
Apollo and
Daphne, and "The Story of Romeo and Juliet" ( ),
which is based on
Romeo and
Juliet and
The Butterfly
Lovers.
Covers
S.H.E's albums contain quite a number of
cover songs. Among the group's 90 songs, 28
are covers. Earlier albums often included cover songs; however,
since 2004, the group has recorded no more than two covers per
album. In most covers, the songs' original titles were kept. Other
songs, such as
Westlife's "Soledad", were
simply given new Chinese titles. The lyrics are usually rewritten,
but some songs, such as
Charlene's
"I've Never Been To Me", are sung in their original English. While
the musical style is usually maintained, some covers, such as "Only
Lonely" and "I.O.I.O", have a lighter,
bubblegum pop feel.
Older pieces and nursery rhymes are occasionally parodied. "Don't
Wanna Grow Up" is a parody of
Mozart's 40th Symphony, and "London
Bridge is Falling Down" ( ) is based on the
children's song of the same
name. The verses of "Thanks for Your Gentleness" ( ) are
original compositions, but the chorus is borrowed from
Mayday's "Gentle and Soft".
S.H.E's covers have received less critical acclaim than their
original works. During the group's career, original compositions
have combined for nearly 20 awards, whereas covers have been lauded
only twice.
Television and film career
From late 2001 to early 2002, Hebe and Ella acted in the drama,
Magical Love. Ella starred as
Juliet, a recent high school graduate who is constantly looking for
her Romeo. Hebe portrayed the secondary role of Sha Sha, Juliet's
self-conscious and assertive friend. Selina was absent because she
was studying at the National Taiwan Normal University. The songs
"Remember" and "Belief" were used as the drama's opening and ending
themes, respectively. In February, S.H.E signed on to be co-hosts
on Jacky Wu's show,
Guess Guess
Guess. During S.H.E's tenure on the show, ratings averaged
over 3.5, regularly putting the show in the top 10 for weekend
shows. S.H.E stopped hosting
Guess Guess Guess in July. In
April 2003, the trio guest-hosted two episodes of the Taiwanese
variety show,
Happy Sunday, before signing on as co-hosts
in May. However, during S.H.E's
Happy Sunday tenure, at
the height of the
SARS
epidemic, Hebe exhibited fever-like symptoms while coming home
from Singapore. Since Ella was living with Hebe at the time, both
were forced into quarantine for 10 days, leaving Selina as the only
one in the group who could host the television show
Happy
Sunday.

The Rose, starring Ella as Bai He
(above), marked S.H.E's second appearance in a television
series.
The drama won the Most Popular Drama Award at the 2004 Golden
Bell Awards.
All three S.H.E members appeared in the drama,
The Rose, where Ella starred as
Bai He, a girl suffering from low self-esteem. Selina played two
secondary roles: her first character, Qin, was a beautiful yet
frail girl with a heartwarming personality. Her second character,
Di Ya Man, is Qin's
doppelganger with
an arrogant and domineering personality. Hebe portrayed Xiao Feng,
a girl who quietly pursues Bai He's love interest, Han Kui. Each
episode of
The Rose was originally estimated to cost NT$1
million; that number quickly rose to 1.3 million by the time
filming had finished. In spite of the high costs,
The Rose
was the highest rated television drama in its time slot. At the
2004 Golden Bell Awards, which are presented by the
GIO to honour the year's best
television programs,
The Rose was crowned Most Popular
Drama. S.H.E sang "Flowers Have Blossomed" ( ) for the drama's
soundtrack. The song not only debuted at #1 on the UFO Music
Charts, but it also stayed on the YES 93.3 charts for ten weeks,
holding the #1 position for two consecutive weeks.
On July 29, 2003, Ella performed a stunt as part of S.H.E's
Happy Sunday segment. The stunt, which involved jumping
off different floors of a building, was part of a public service
video that explained proper fire escape procedures. On her first
attempt, Ella followed protocol, jumped off the second floor of a
building, and landed safely. On her second attempt, she was asked
to jump off the third floor. However, as she jumped off, Ella
became nervous and failed to follow the safety procedures
correctly, leading to her falling on a fire escape from twenty feet
and shattering her hip.
Paramedics transported her to the Neihu
Tri-Service
General Hospital before being redirected to the National Taiwan
University Hospital. Ella was released from the hospital after a
23 day stay, but she went home to Pingtung
for five months in order to recuperate. In
spite of this incident, the
Japan National Tourist
Organization, who had admired S.H.E's hosting abilities, asked
Happy Sunday to promote Japanese tourism. As a result,
Selina and Hebe hosted "Yokoso! Japan", a special
Happy
Sunday segment that explored numerous facets of Japanese
culture. In January 2004, Ella returned to hosting after her
recuperation period, and appeared in the final two episodes of
"Yokoso! Japan". However, during the segment's four-episode run,
producers were already searching for S.H.E's replacements, and
ultimately chose Taiwanese singer
Phil
Chang. S.H.E discontinued hosting
Happy Sunday once
they began promoting the album
Magical Journey.
Selina and Hebe, along with 28 other celebrities, were cast for the
three-episode drama series
Happy New Year 2004. In
February, both S.H.E members co-starred in the movie,
A
Disguised Superstar ( ), with
Miriam
Yeung; in April, Hebe acted as the female love interest in the
first episode of
Say Yes Enterprise ( ). The episode would
earn a rating of 1.93, placing third behind
My Secret Garden
II ( ) and
Snow Angel ( ). In October 2005, all three
members of S.H.E starred in the drama,
Reaching for the Stars, and sang
its opening theme, "Star Light". The drama focused on the fate of
an electronics company whose chairman had just died. Selina played
the role of Zhou Xinlei, the chairman's spoiled but good-natured
daughter. Ella starred as Ren Jie, a clever girl who assumed the
identity of the company's heiress to save her brother. Hebe
portrayed Shen Xiaorou, a strong-willed policewoman who lives with
her ailing grandmother.
Reaching for the Stars had the
misfortune of airing its pilot episode during the final episode of
The Prince Who
Turns into a Frog. While the average rating for the pilot
episode of
Reaching for the Stars was 1.17, the final
episode of
The Prince Who Turns into a Frog set a 2005
record for highest average episode rating (6.93) and highest
episode rating (11.35). In the end, despite heavy investment in the
series' production,
Reaching for the Stars had only
achieved mediocre television ratings. Nevertheless, Ella was
nominated for Best Actress at the 2006 Golden Bell Awards.
In the spring of 2006, Ella pursued her own on-screen interests,
and was cast for the lead female role of a Taiwanese idol drama,
which was scheduled to air later that year. In January 2007, S.H.E
and
Wu Bai were invited to voice over several
characters for the Taiwanese rendition of
Luc
Besson's movie,
Arthur
and the Minimoys. During the same month, Selina and Hebe
signed half-year contracts to be the co-hosts of
Guess Guess
Guess, the show that they had hosted five years earlier. The
drama starring Ella,
Hanazakarino Kimitachihe,
finally began airing in November, and continued until its finale on
March 4, 2007. Ella was featured as Lu Ruixi, an American tomboy
who transfers schools so she can see her high jump idol every day.
During its 15-episode run, the drama never relinquished its ratings
crown. S.H.E sang the song, "What to Do?" ( ) as the drama's
opening theme. In June 2007,
SET
TV selected Hebe to star in
Bull Fighting as the daughter
of the man who owns 13th Street. S.H.E sang "How Have You Been
Lately?" ( ) as the drama's ending theme.
In the movie CJ7, S.H.E sang one of its OST entitled "Qi
Zai".
Endorsements
In 2001, S.H.E began promoting the first of many products,
including those of Digimaster and beverage chain Fuzion Smoothie.
Since then, the group has endorsed numerous companies, including
Bobson Jeans (2003),
Bausch &
Lomb (2002–present),
Coca-Cola
(2004–present), and
China Mobile
(2006–present). One of S.H.E's more notable commercials was for
World of Warcraft, where
the girls were put into the context of a fantasy gaming
world.
S.H.E regularly contributes songs for endorsement campaigns. The
songs "Too Much" and "Beauty Up My Life", from their debut album
Girls Dorm, were used in commercials for
Sogo and
Wacoal, respectively.
"Genesis" ( ) and "Watch Me Shine", from the 2002 album
Genesis, were used for N-age, a South Korean online game.
"Piquancy", from 2004 album
Encore, was used to promote
the online game
New Legendary Twins ( ). In collaboration
with
Fahrenheit, S.H.E
sang "Always Open" for
7-Eleven.
Companies frequently use S.H.E's music videos as advertising tools.
The videos for "Genesis" and "Watch Me Shine" featured gameplay in
N-age; "Excuse" ( ) showed flashes of
Inventec's OKWAP phones. Daphne ( ), a Chinese shoe
company, used the songs "Super Model", "Laurel Tree Goddess", and
"Good Mood Just Be Yourself" ( ) for their promotional
campaigns.
Image
S.H.E is noted as a youthful and energetic girl group. In an
industry where good looks are keys to success, S.H.E's outward
appearances are mediocre at best. However, S.H.E's main selling
point is not the quality of their faces, but the differences that
exist between each member. Numerous attempts were made to change
the group's image by either increasing their sex appeal or turning
them into rockstars, but more often than not, those fabricated
images were overshadowed by S.H.E's wild, light-hearted, and joking
nature. Unlike many female artists, who try to stay as trim as
possible, S.H.E is known for their voracious eating habits,
disregarding any risk of obesity. Not only was the group named
"history's fattest girl group", but S.H.E even called themselves
"history's ugliest girl group".
One of S.H.E's hallmarks is their friendship. This bonding is
apparent in several music videos, such as "Five Days, Four Nights"
( ). Some songs, such as "If You're Happy, Then I'll Be Pleased",
and music videos, such as "Good People Will Get Good Hugs" ( ),
even emphasize the importance of keeping good friends instead of
pursuing true love. Over the course of their career, S.H.E became
increasingly comfortable with each other. The intimacy between
Selina, Hebe and Ella reached a point where the media began
questioning the group's sexual orientation. In 2007, S.H.E composed
the song "Wifey" to commemorate their friendship. The term "Wifey"
comes from the group's days in the girl's dormitory, when Selina
would call Hebe by that name. Since then, the name has become
symbolic of the girls' camaraderie.
Criticism
Lack of originality
A review of S.H.E's 2005 album
Once Upon a Time described
the majority of the songs as "mundane", "predictable" and no better
than "mushy pop standards", indicating that little has changed over
their career. Chris Taylor of the
Taiwan Review stated that their songs are
hardly artistic, and that the girls are merely "industry-created"
idols. According to
Taipei
Times columnist Johnny Neihu, S.H.E's music simply "sucks.
[It] really, really, really sucks. Really." An article in
Style
Weekly, a Chinese fashion magazine, asserted that the trio's
songs, compared to those of "talented musicians", are lyrically
weaker because they only reflect the female view of love.
The group's regular covering of songs has also earned some ire over
the years. After the release of the
Reaching for the Stars
soundtrack in 2005, there were accusations on Internet forums
stating that the song "Star Light" sounded suspiciously similar to
Ayumi Hamasaki's "
About You".
In response, S.H.E declared that "Star Light" and "About You" were
completely different, and did not even sound similar to each other.
The same year, a
netizen lashed out at the
group for singing too many covers over the course of their career.
However, S.H.E fans felt that the netizen was being slightly
uptight about the issue, and stated that "as long as the song is
nice, [there's no] point worrying about whether the song is a
cover." Despite the trio's claims that their covers were merely
products of company decisions, some critics feel that the trio is
still oblivious to the concept of artistic integrity. The use of
covers is controversial for other artists as well as for S.H.E; an
article in the Beijing times in 2007 asserted that the frequent use
of cover songs to stay successful indicates the declining
originality and quality of Chinese popular music.
A group in decline?
In a 2004 review of female artists in
Greater China, S.H.E was given an 80%
approval rating, while archrivals
Twins received a mere 50%. The difference in
quality was apparently so great that there was no reason for S.H.E
to be concerned.
According to another review in early 2005,
S.H.E still seemed to hold an advantage, beating out their Hong Kong
counterparts in yearly earnings, and amount of
progress made since their debut. However,
Reaching for
the Stars received mediocre ratings, and the group also made
controversial comments about
Taiwan's political relationship with
mainland China by saying they were Taiwanese, not Chinese. This
led to them falling out of favour with the Chinese media. By 2006,
S.H.E had lost several product endorsements, and an entertainment
review in that year gave Twins the advantage over the trio in
almost every category, from song quality to concert presence. The
only area in which S.H.E beat Twins was having more rumours.
Indeed, the trio had quite a number of hits to their credit, but
most of them were over three years old. Despite starring in several
dramas, including the award-winning
The Rose, S.H.E scored
2.5 out of 5 stars in the 2006 review.
Influence and impact
Musical
By 2001, the vast majority of notable singing groups in Taiwan were
male. When S.H.E was formed, other girl groups were only beginning
to earn their fame in the Taiwanese music industry, but few would
last more than two years. Formed in 2000,
4 in Love had similar success to S.H.E
during their first year in the entertainment business, but broke up
less than two years later. Among the former members of 4 in Love,
Rainie Yang is the only member to have
continued her singing career. Other groups, such as Walkie Talkie (
), were formed as a result of talent competitions, but were less
notable during the course of their careers. Over a year after
S.H.E's formation, the state of girl groups in Taiwan had changed
little. In January 2003, radio station UFM1003 released a list of
its Top 10 Taiwanese Pop Groups for the year 2002. Although S.H.E
was ranked first, they were the only all-female group on the
list.
During the course of S.H.E's career, a significant number of
musical groups were introduced by their companies as "the next
S.H.E" with hopes of emulating their success. When Warner Music
Taiwan wanted to form a three-person boy band, they planned on
marketing them as "the male version of S.H.E" before coming up with
the name "G-Boys". Some groups were formed to topple S.H.E's
standing as Taiwan's premier pop group. Jungiery Star manager Sun
Derong stated that
7 Flowers was formed
just to provide competition for S.H.E. Despite the increase in
competition, S.H.E maintains a definitive stranglehold on the
Mandopop group awards, suggesting that the
formation of these new groups has done little to ruffle the trio's
feathers.
Other
According to
Baidu's year-end Top Search Terms
survey, the most-searched movie of 2004 was
House of Flying Daggers ( ).
The phrase logged more than 1.2 million searches, which was nearly
twice as many as second place (
Kung
Fu Hustle). Baidu attributed this difference to the fact
that S.H.E had released a song with the same name earlier that
year. As a result, searches for the song were lumped together with
the movie, thereby inflating the latter's search totals.
S.H.E has also influenced television dramas, education systems, and
even business operations. In the
I
Not Stupid Too television series, Chengcai, the
wushu-practicing protagonist, was
courted by three members of the school's chess society: Shirley,
Helen, and Elaine, who were collectively known as S.H.E. On a 2005
secondary school English examination, S.H.E was the subject of a
reading comprehension passage that mentioned their involvement with
CCTV's annual Spring
Festival Evening show. Cliff Wu, the president of
Teradata's Greater China operations, was so amazed
at how S.H.E affected his teenage daughters that he borrowed the
group's name and transformed it into an acronym, summarizing the
three main elements of Teradata's plan for entering the Chinese
market. S represents "Strategy", while H and E represent "Human"
and "Execution".
Major concerts
Standalone concerts
- N-Age Genesis Concert in Tainan N-age
美麗新世界演唱會(August 24, 2002)
Fantasy Land world tour
| Date |
Tour |
Location |
Venue |
Special guests |
|
| September 4, 2004 |
奇幻樂園台北演唱會 |
Taipei , Taiwan |
Taipei Municipal Stadium |
|
| October 30, 2004 |
奇幻樂園上海演唱會 |
Shanghai, China |
Hongkou Stadium |
|
|
| November 6, 2004 |
奇幻樂園吉隆坡演唱會 |
Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia |
Bukit Jalil National Stadium |
|
| December 25, 2004 |
S.H.E 銀色夢幻演唱會 |
Las Vegas , U.S. |
MGM Grand Garden Arena |
Nick Cheung, Z-Chen |
|
| January 8, 2005 |
奇幻樂園新加坡演唱會 |
Singapore |
Singapore Indoor Stadium |
|
| January 15, 2005 |
奇幻樂園廣州演唱會 |
Guangzhou , China |
Tianhe Sports Center |
|
|
| September 23, 2005 |
奇幻樂園北京演唱會 |
Beijing, China |
Workers Stadium |
|
| September 25, 2005 |
奇幻樂園西安演唱會 |
Xi'an ,
China |
Jiaodaruisun Stadium |
|
|
| November 12, 2005 |
奇幻樂園南京演唱會 |
Nanjing , China |
Nanjing Olympic Sports Center |
|
| January 7, 2006 |
星光燦爛雲頂演唱會 |
Genting
Highlands, Malaysia |
Arena of Stars |
Kaira Gong |
Perfect 3 world tour
| Date |
Tour |
Location |
Venue |
Special guests |
|
| July 8, 2006 |
移動城堡上海演唱會 |
Shanghai, China |
Shanghai Stadium |
Jay Chou, Wilber Pan, Tank |
| July 13, 2006 |
移動城堡香港演唱會 |
Kowloon , Hong
Kong |
Hong Kong Coliseum |
Jay Chou, Z-Chen, Tank |
|
| October 14, 2006 |
移動城堡瀋陽演唱會 |
Shenyang , China |
Wulihe Stadium |
Jay Chou, Wilber Pan, Tank |
| October 21, 2006 |
移動城堡武漢演唱會 |
Wuhan ,
China |
Wuhan Stadium |
Jay Chou, Wilber Pan, Tank |
|
| November 11, 2006 |
移動城堡深圳演唱會 |
Shenzhen , China |
Shenzhen Stadium |
Fahrenheit, Tank |
| December 16, 2006 |
移動城堡台北演唱會 |
Taipei , Taiwan |
Taipei Arena |
Coco Lee, Fahrenheit,
Tank |
|
| January 27, 2007 |
移動城堡新加坡演唱會 |
Singapore |
Singapore Indoor Stadium |
Stefanie Sun,
Fahrenheit |
| September 1, 2007 |
移動城堡北京演唱會 |
Beijing, China |
Olympic Sports Centre |
Jade Liu, Tank |
|
| October 13, 2007 |
移動城堡長沙演唱會 |
Changsha , China |
Helong Stadium |
Jay Chou, Wilber Pan |
| December 1, 2007 |
大馬移動城堡演唱會 |
Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia |
Stadium Merdeka |
Fahrenheit |
|
| June 20, 2009 |
移動城堡世界巡迴
Special版澳門站
|
Macau * |
The Venetian Macao |
Tank, Peter Pan |
*special stop
S.H.E is the One world tour
Bibliography
| Title |
Chinese |
Author |
Publishing Date |
Publisher |
| So Young! |
真青春! |
Huang Ziming |
September 15, 2002 |
Jie Bi Books |
| S.H.E Daybook |
S.H.E時光日記簿 |
S.H.E |
January 17, 2003 |
Ping Zhuang Ben (平裝本) |
|
| S.H.E's Crazy Battle Vol. 1 |
S.H.E瘋狂大作戰 第1彈 |
Bi Er Jia |
July 1, 2004 |
Crown Publishing |
| Travel Along With Me |
跟我一起去旅行 |
S.H.E |
July 26, 2004 |
Taiwan Television Culture (台視文化) |
|
| Selina Loves Beading |
Selina愛的小珠珠 |
Selina Jen |
September 25, 2006 |
Ru He (如何) |
| S.H.E's Crazy Battle vol. 2 |
S.H.E瘋狂大作戰 第2彈 |
Bi Er Jia |
September 12, 2008 |
|
|
| The 3 Spas of Love |
爱的3温暖 |
S.H.E |
July 31, 2009 |
|
*
Photographer.
Further reading
- Jiaozi (角子). The Girls Dormitory (半熟卵女生宿舍). Republic
of China: Linking Books. 2001. ISBN 9570823178
Notes
- a. See Television and film
career.
- b. Searching "女子第一天團" with "S.H.E" on Chinese
search engines yields only results written after the release of
Encore.
- c. Although the English translations of the
song and album are different, the Chinese names are the same (
).
- d. The article states that Ella is an alto,
but there have been instances when Ella sings slightly above the
alto range (i.e. into the mezzo soprano range) in songs
such as "What to Do?" and "Don't Wanna Grow Up". Similarly Hebe and
Selina are listed in the article as sopranos, but there have been
songs, such as "Persian Cat", where they sang notes more fitting
for a mezzo-soprano.
- e. Yao wrote the lyrics for "Wisteria" (紫藤花),
"A Vision Of Eternity" (一眼萬年), "I Love You" (我愛你) and "The Story of
Romeo and Juliet" (茱羅記).
- f. Fang's lyrics are found in five songs:
"Riverside Park" (河濱公園), "Norse Mythology" (北歐神話), "Laurel Goddess"
(月桂女神), "Tropical Rainforest" (熱帶雨林), and "Migratory Bird" (侯鳥).
The last two songs, which Fang co-produced with Jay Chou, are both
Annual Best Singles (2002 and 2004, respectively).
- g. See List of awards
and nominations received by S.H.E.
- h. The Chinese name for Reaching for the
Stars, Zhen Ming Tian Nü (真命天女), is derived from the Chinese
name for the group Destiny's Child,
Tian Ming Zhen Nü (天命真女). Coincidentally, the plot of the drama
revolves around three girls who seemed destined to meet each
other.
- i. The magazine article refers to artists like
Richie Ren (also mentioned in the
article) as "talented types", while S.H.E qualified as an "idol
type".
- j. The usage of "Taiwan" in this article,
unless otherwise specified, refers to the Taiwanese music industry
(as opposed to the music industries of China and Hong Kong).
- k. HIM announced the Xuite blog on April 20,
2007 initially as a countdown for the album Play.
References
- See S.H.E discography.
- Han, Lei, Shi Xisheng and Kan Wenting. World of Warcraft promotion turns into a fans'
meeting. June 16, 2005. Retrieved January 30, 2007.
- Sina.com. S.H.E to star in World of Warcraft, Coca-Cola
Commercial June 20, 2005. Retrieved January 30, 2007.
- S.H.E's Life Story, Part 1: First auditions for the
"Cruel Stage" segment of TV Citizen. September 14,
2004. Retrieved February 13, 2007.
- Sina.com. S.H.E's Life Story, Part 2: The Universal Talent and
Beauty Girl Contest. September 14, 2007. Retrieved February 13,
2007.
- Sina.com. S.H.E's Life Story, Part 4: S.H.E's Name. September
14, 2004. Retrieved February 13, 2007.
- S.H.E's Life Story, Part 3: The Days in the Girls
Dormitory. September 14, 2004. Retrieved September 3,
2007.
- The entertainment industry in a crisis; S.H.E's
popularity drops. November 11, 2005. Retrieved February 23,
2007.
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album and about how it feels to be in love. August 12, 2006.
Retrieved February 6, 2007.
- Zhang, Wen. Xinhua News. Once S.H.E arrived in Guangzhou, they became rather
silly. December 17, 2004. Retrieved April 2, 2007.
- Government Information Office, R.O.C (Taiwan). 13th Annual Golden Melody Awards Nomination
List. April 28, 2004. Retrieved June 22, 2007.
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2005. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
- N-age. S.H.E and N-age sing in a Beautiful New World
(Genesis). August 27, 2002. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
- Hitoradio. S.H.E - Super Star. Retrieved April 4,
2007.
- YES 93.3 Music Charts - Week 37 (September 14). 2003.
Retrieved February 15, 2007.
- YES 93.3 Music Charts - Week 46 (November 16). 2003.
Retrieved February 15, 2007.
- MTV 200. S.H.E's newest album, Youth Society.
Retrieved February 6, 2007.
- HIM's official press release for Super
Star. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
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Cai"; holds victory celebration. May 21, 2004. Retrieved
February 10, 2007.
- Popular group S.H.E to hold a concert in the
mainland in October; will enter North America next year. June
3, 2004. Retrieved November 18, 2007.
- Record label warns that one needs to wholeheartedly
further one's enterprise; for five years, the group S.H.E has been
banned from marrying. June 5, 2004. Retrieved November 18,
2007.
- QQ Entertainment. Superwomen S.H.E sit down for an interview; Ella calls
Selina "wifey". August 17, 2005. Retrieved February 15,
2007.
- The earnings of Taiwan's most popular celebrities
are revealed. April 29, 2005. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
- S.H.E's new album sales break the 1 million mark;
main zhuda is about Ella's first love. December 1,
2004. Retrieved February 24, 2007.
- The Beijing Times. (Hosted by Sohu.com Music) The voices of these unique songs maintain high standards,
S.H.E takes you on a Magical Journey. August 8, 2005. Retrieved
February 6, 2007.
- Eastday Entertainment. Six albums are not enough, S.H.E's seventh album,
Encore, is youthful and wonderful. November 11, 2004.
Retrieved February 15, 2007.
- Li Zhiming. Guangxi News. Twins turn into Trainee Cupids in Beijing; first
Mandarin album sells 800,000 copies. March 30, 2005. Retrieved
February 23, 2007.
- May 24 - Girl group S.H.E are guests on "Chinese Music
Charts". May 24, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2007.
- G-Music album charts. Retrieved February 23,
2007. Select "2006" under the year menu, choose week 6.
- 2006 Hong Kong TVB8 Awards - List of Award
Winners. December 17, 2006. Retrieved June 28, 2007.
- S.H.E's success extends over a week, kisses around
with male fans. July 29, 2006. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
- Sprite Music Awards - Aaron Kwok reaps 6 major
awards. January 21, 2007.
- Lan Di. The Epoch Times (Taiwan branch). On
Shanghai's Hu River, concerts are filled with unusual, showstopping
get-ups; box offices suffer. August 2, 2006. Retrieved February
4, 2007.
- Shang Zhongren. Asia Times. S.H.E lands in Hong Kong Coliseum, Selina performs
a hot, sexy dance + several good pictures. July 14, 2006.
Retrieved March 3, 2007.
- Xinhua News. Over 200 million earned in 5 months; 200,000
concert-goers make S.H.E into a legend. November 8, 2006.
Retrieved July 9, 2007.
- Sina.com. Hong Kong's New Music Label: Possible Future
Collaborations of Candy Lo and Fahrenheit. April 18, 2007.
Retrieved April 21, 2007.
- S.H.E to promote new album in May, first MV for the
album's zhuda features monks practicing kung fu. March
30, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
- HIM International. S.H.E breaks record; hands numb after signing around
10,000 autographs; charged with 8 tickets; 50,000 sold in 4 days of
preordering; record label very thankful, happy enough to coolly
show private photos to fans; fans dress up to perform
tongue-twisters; S.H.E laughed till their stomachs hurt while
judging. April 29, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2007.
- Sales Play are impressive: 150,000 sold,
S.H.E "receives" Golden Melody, Golden Bell, and Golden Role Model
"awards". June 5, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2007.
- Jolin defeats S.H.E for the Most Popular Female
Artist award at the Golden Melody Awards. June 16, 2007.
Retrieved July 26, 2007.
- UDN Stars. United Daily News. Little girls want to grow up. September 20,
2003. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
- Singtao News. Kung Fu brings revival to the Mainland
[China music scene]. March 24, 2006. Retrieved March 2,
2007.
- Digging up the Fuzhou version of S.H.E. July
20, 2006. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
- Hitoradio Research Centre: Laurel Tree Goddess
(Daphne). February 6, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
- S.H.E's clothing "auction" attracts many fans.
May 18, 2005. Retrieved February 24, 2007.
- Zhang Ruichen. Liberty Times. S.H.E leaving Guess? July 6, 2002.
Retrieved February 27, 2007.
- Happy Sunday to take a hit on S.H.E from
now on. April 16, 2003. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
- Channel News Asia. Hebe shows SARS-like symptoms, S.H.E to be
quarantined for 10 days. April 25, 2003. Retrieved February 6,
2007.
- News Sichuan (hosted by Tom.com). Hebe and Ella quarantined for 14 days. S.H.E:
freedom is a great feeling. May 12, 2003. Retrieved February 6,
2007.
- Lin Jingping. The Epoch Times. The idol drama, The Rose, to be released at the
end of May. March 22, 2003. Retrieved February 26, 2007.
- Feeling love makes The Rose jump towards its
first broadcast. June 30, 2004. Retrieved July 26, 2007.
- Wu Surou. The Epoch Times. The Rose wins Most Popular Drama at the Golden
Bell Awards. November 26, 2004. Retrieved February 26,
2007.
- UFO Music Charts: Week 27 of 2003. Retrieved February
26, 2007.
- Woodworth, Mark. Pop Stop. January 9, 2004. Retrieved February
21, 2007.
- S.H.E member Ella suffers injury after falling;
requires surgery. July 30, 2003. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
- Xinhua Net News. S.H.E member pretends to jump, ends up breaking
hipbone. July 30, 2003. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
- After 23 days, Ella is finally released from
hospital. August 22, 2003. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
- S.H.E is coming back to Happy Sunday next
Sunday. November 8, 2003. Retrieved July 26, 2007.
- Sina.com Entertainment. S.H.E, as "ambassadors" in Japan, scare away Rie
Miyazawa. November 14, 2003. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
- The Epoch Times. After her injury, Ella recovers and returns to her group.
S.H.E's new album starts pre-order period. January 4, 2004.
Retrieved July 30, 2007.
- Chang Hsiao-yan and Phil Chang's first time hosting
together for Happy Sunday. February 6, 2004. Retrieved
July 30, 2007.
- Taipei Today. Phil Chang enters Happy Sunday, S.H.E and
Li Mingyi are guests 張宇踏入快樂星期天 SHE林依晨當來賓. February 5, 2004.
Retrieved July 30, 2007.
- Independent video: Summary of S.H.E's Happy New
Year 2004. January 19, 2004. Retrieved April 1, 2007.
- Feng Yixian, Chen Youying. The Liberty Times. Secret Garden takes first place, Snow
Angel waves white flag. April 6, 2004. Retrieved March 3,
2007.
- The Prince Who Turns into a Frog drops the
curtain on Reaching for the Stars; finale seems
better. October 18, 2005. Retrieved February 23, 2007.
- S.H.E's first time in a drama together costs them
RMB20,000 per episode. March 29, 2005. Retrieved April 4,
2007.
- Sohu Entertainment. Reaching for the Stars ' Ella nominated for
Golden Bell; Chinese entertainment scene has a lot of good
candidates. November 29, 2006. Retrieved September 3,
2007.
- Epoch Times. The three princesses, S.H.E, perform voice recordings for
Luc Besson's movie. January 15, 2007. Retrieved February 15,
2007.
- Sina.com Entertainment. Selina and Hebe enter Guess Guess Guess once
again, most scared of Jacky Wu's meat jokes. January 23, 2007.
Retrieved February 6, 2007.
- Taiwan's 2007 Drama Battle a Complete Whirlwind.
August 28, 2007. Retrieved September 3, 2007.
- Wang Yingjuan. The Epoch Times. The glamor of idol jeans. May 12, 2003. Retrieved
February 6, 2007.
- S.H.E acts as spokespeople for Bausch & Lomb
contact lenses. April 22, 2007. Retrieved September 4,
2007.
- M-Zone does 360-degree turnaround for its brand
image. June 15, 2006. Retrieved September 4, 2007.
- Shanghai Daily. (Hosted by China Economic Net). Rise in users is 'prime time' for interactive
ads. November 23, 2006. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
- Liao Youde. ET Today. S.H.E endorsing undergarments once again. March 8,
2003. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
- N-age spokespeople, S.H.E, make an appearance. July
12, 2002. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
- N-age News. August 12, 2002. Retrieved February
6, 2007.
- Boy band and girl group working together; S.H.E and
Fahrenheit endorse once again. March 8, 2007. Retrieved March
16, 2007.
- S.H.E acts as spokespeople for OKWAP's newest C150T
cell phones. June 14, 2007. Retrieved September 4, 2007.
- S.H.E shows up in Shanghai, talks about shoes with
fans. February 18, 2006. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
- David Tao produces the fast and slow versions of a new
song for S.H.E and Rene Liu. April 28, 2007. Retrieved January
4, 2008.
- Zhang Miaomiao. S.H.E's 7 "Mosts". Music Weekly. Week 1.
April 10, 2004. Retrieved June 29, 2007.
- S.H.E - Image Change, Precious Girls Turn into Hot
Ladies. July 28, 2003. Retrieved June 29, 2007.
- S.H.E returns to alma mater. Massive eating and
drinking attracts the attention of passers-by. October 4, 2005.
Retrieved June 29, 2007.
- S.H.E: We are history's fattest girl group; we
don't need sexiness to succeed. March 26, 2007. Retrieved June
29, 2007.
- Modern megastars in the Chinese pop industry -
Female Version: Who is the Pop Queen?. February 16, 2004.
Retrieved June 29, 2007.
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2007. Retrieved June 29, 2007.
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Ella:I'm not lesbian!. January 8, 2006. Retrieved July 25,
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in November. September 2006. Retrieved April 5, 2007.
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September 26, 2005. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
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4 years, S.H.E has released 25 covers; harshly critized by
netizen. December 16, 2005. Retrieved February 23, 2007.
- The Beijing Times. Not everyone can cover songs. July 14, 2007.
Retrieved July 17, 2007.
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artists) - Who is the Queen?. February 16, 2007. Retrieved
April 5, 2007.
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22, 2005. Retrieved April 5, 2007.
- ET Today. Record label provides clarification, S.H.E refuses to
comment on the cross-strait debate. April 22, 2005. Retrieved
February 7, 2007.
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showdown. December 22, 2006. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
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December 9, 2004. Retrieved February 28, 2007.
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January 8, 2003. Retrieved March 3, 2007.
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March 24, 2004. Retrieved February 28, 2007.
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April 4, 2005. Retrieved April 7, 2007.
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2007.
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20, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2007.
External links