With Asian Pop Acts Dominating Charts Around the world a new Band Called FFCA crush
hopes to be China's answer to K-Pop
Their spiky hair and suggestive dance routine makes them look platonic ideal of the boyband with one exception
They're girls
The five members of China's hottest boy band FFCA Crush prefers to be referred to as
May Shao Nian or handsome youths. The a in A Crush is for Adonis (a Greek god known for his beauty) and with their short hair, dropped-crotch pants and sneakers
they look more like Bieber clones than Fifth Harmony.
A Crush is the brainchild of Wang Tianhai, the 34 year Swengali who formally made internet movies
Wang's seven month old company, Jiujiang Hua Thi, is funded in part by the two hundred and fifty five billion dollar Chinese tech giant, Tencent.
Wang hopes to create China's Pop Star Industrial Complex.
A Crush is their first act but he's churning out two more in rapid succession.
Why do you think the world is ready for C Pop now?
Two thousand women competed to be in Wang's Pop Group
Trainees are split into four levels: A, B, C, and D, that dictate how close you are to enlistment.
New hairstyles and clothes are assigned
*vocalizing*
And vocals and dance trainers from the pre-established world of Kpop are flown in.
But there's one skill they haven't imitated: daily football practice.
The FFC in their name stands for Fantasy Football Confederation, as in soccer.
It's unorthodox for a Pop Group, but China's President, Xi Jinping, is a huge fan.
And there's a collective effort to attract interest in the sport.
(Go)
Few of the thirty trainees have played before and the former soccer
professional turned FFC coach has a highly improbable task.
Soccer, gender fluidity, pop hooks and choreography seems like a scatter-shot play for universal appeal, but Wang isn't taking any
chances. The next Two Group FFC N Crush and FFC E Crush stand for Nymph and Elfin
For their debut ACrush Travels from Pop Star School in Jinhua to Beijing. It's the first time they're performing for fans and
Expectations are High
It seems Wang's efforts are paying off. ACrush have fans months before their debut release.
Asked what would happen if they don't like the songs, the fans are adamant in their devotion.
Western press has hyped the visibility of a queer seeming pop group but androgyny isn't new in China
Lǐ Yǔchūn aka Chris Lee - the makeup free, short haired trailblazer - won an American Idol type contests a decade ago
Singing love songs to girls. And as trendy as the unisex look is, talk of sexuality Is verboten
begging the question of how much progress this actually is. There's a deliberately vague quality to their discussion of fans
Right, right. Yes, they call us 老婆 ("Lǎopó" - wife)
So, are you guys allowed to date anyone?
No, we wouldn't, because...
And while FFC A Crush follows a classic boyband formula -
There's the Baby, The Crooner, The leader, the Rapper, and The Real Musician - don't expect a rebellious phase.
Each Tencent Part trainee cost Wang seventeen hundred USD to enlist
And they're all replaceable
Understudies are rampant.
Which is why the event seemed more like a shareholders' meeting than a concert
Your band is debuting in just a few short hours. How do you feel about that?
Despite the fanfare and hoopla, Wang decided at the last minute to pull the plug on a show. ACrush
was deemed not ready for a live performance but I got a sneak preview