Hot Shot... B-ball Superheroes!

I got a little distracted as I was doing my Onimal homework... and what's responsible for it?

Well, there's a Taiwanese idol drama that's pretty hot right now... in fact, it's probably the most highly anticipated idol drama of 2008... it's called "Hot Shot", or in Chinese that would be "Lan Qiu Huo" (which literally translates to "Basketball Fire").

I hardly have time to follow these TV shows when they're showing on TV anyways, so I usually watch them on DVD instead. I love watching idol dramas, 'cos they're feel-good shows... they are pretty much bright and happy, or at the very least they give me a sense of hope after I've watched them, whether I'm in tears or not by then.

So what's the hype with this show?? Well, first up, and the most obvious reason for the heat it generates... the 3 male leads in this show are all Taiwanese superstars in their own right...

**Jerry Yan / Yan Cheng Xu (from Taiwanese superband F4, solo artist, model, actor and basketball enthusiast ~ he's No. 12 of the Thunderclap Wolves)

**Show Luo / Luo Zhi Qiang (solo artist, pop idol, actor, variety show host and basketball enthusiast ~ he's No. 1 of the Thunderclap Wolves)

**Wu Chun / Wu Zun (from another Taiwanese superband Fahrenheit, model, actor, gym owner and ex-Brunei National Team basketball player ~ he's one of the members of a top team that plays against the Thunderclap Wolves)

Let's see, it would be like Justin Timberlake, Nick Carter and David Archuleta all in one TV show... well, not really, but you get the idea as to how big these guys are in Asia!

There's a song in the "Hot Shot" soundtrack that caught my attention, and it's one of those songs that plays in your head mercilessly, even when you don't want it to... anyways, here's a clip of the boys and their B-ball team, the Thunderclap Wolves, performing a little boyband-like dance to this song after a victorious match against a rival team...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5B3DQWegCQ

Incidentally, if you look closely at who's the leader of the rival team in this clip, it's none other than AnD Artist Gabriel Lee making a cameo appearance here! (and boy, is he pissed at being defeated by the Wolves... you can bet that he's not gonna let them get away with this!)... and yeah, there's another familiar face in this clip, it's Coco Chiang from "New Police Story", she acts as the coach of the Thunderclap Wolves... quite a cast here, eh? **winks**

Here's a pic of the lovely Coco Chiang...

Right now, I'm listening to the "Hot Shot" soundtrack CD, and I'm loving the songs in it, especially the ones by Nese Ni... OK, here's where I step aside and let the videos do all the talking...

"Superman" by Nese Ni (Ni Zi Gang)... this is the actual music video with Nese in it... it's pretty funny... LOL! :-D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyoxn19cC9Q

If you'd like the English translation of the Chinese lyrics to "Superman", then check out this link:

Here's the other song by Nese that I am sooo hooked on right now... this is "Jue Dui Wu Di (U Got Me)" by Nese Ni (Ni Zi Gang)... the literal English translation of the Chinese song title is "Ultimate Team with no enemies" aka they're INVINCIBLE!! This is the video that features scenes from the TV series, so you can see just how hot this show is... the action is pretty crazy, and needless to say, there's some wirework involved here... suspend your belief for a few minutes ~ literally ~ will ya?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFgJ8llWv3Q

And here's the actual music video for "Jue Dui Wu Di (U Got Me)" that features Nese Ni...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vet8Q3Nfuqs

There's an English version of "Jue Dui Wu Di (U Got Me)" by Nese... the English lyrics are different from the Chinese lyrics, so they are not a translation of each other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSBO9c0Yaj0

Here is the English translation of the Chinese version of "Jue Dui Wu Di (U Got Me) .  (Just ignore the English version of the song that is playing there, 'cos the translation is actually for the Chinese version of the song).

Also, since we have some major Asian music superstars acting as the leads in this show (with the 2 main leads being Jerry Yan and Show Luo), they also had to have some of the musical action here... their songs are not in the "Hot Shot" soundtrack CD, so here are some clips from the show, so you can hear what it sounds like...

This is the opening theme song that was sung by Show Luo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zniYcZUp6Go

And this is the closing theme song that was sung by Jerry Yan...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmNHT-JbFfg

If you think that "Hot Shot" is all special effects and hype, with not much substance in terms of basketball skills, then check out these 2 behind-the-scenes news clips, where the guys prove that they are not just pretty faces with no real B-ball skills... the first clip features Jerry Yan scoring with one hand, while NOT even facing the basket...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UGUPEniybU

And the second clip features Jerry Yan and Wu Chun playing B-ball and scoring for real...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZZc5BqjRnU

All the B-ball match scenes were played "live" for the filming of the matches in this show... and in case you're wondering, the people in the crowd at the B-ball match here are actual fans of the stars in this show, so all that screaming and cheering was pretty authentic, as fans even flew in from Korea and Japan to cheer for their favourite celebs.

So now you know why I got distracted...?? Hehe! ;-p