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Why is TNT famous in Taiwan?

The most well-known and popular boy groups and bands in Taiwan, such as Mayday, Power Train, and Little Tigers, are mainly formed in the 1990s. Whether they disbanded or not, they have always maintained high popularity throughout Asia. However, no more groups in Taiwan had accomplished the same achievement and rage after them. My first reason for TNT’s growth in popularity in Taiwan is because the market of idol groups in Taiwan is null. Not many new idol groups are formed in Taiwan, and those which were created didn’t become widespread either. 

Secondly, I think each member of TNT has different characteristics and stories. The story behind TNT’s formation was tough and challenging. A total of 24 children participated in the whole typhoon project. (The Typhoon Project refers to the TF family’s, the company of TNT, trainee project. Since its official launch in November 2014, it had lasted five years and ended on November 23, 2019, when the TNT debuted.) In the end, some of them made their debut in groups, some made their debut, and most of the children gave up their dreams of performing on stage and went home. During those five years, members from the typhoon project debuted different idol groups and were all disbanded except TNT.

 On July 19, 2018 (known as the 719 incident),  Zhang Zhenyuan, He Junlin, Yan Haoxiang, and other trainees were thrown out of the” typhoon program” and sent home overnight by the company. It was very temporary and the fans' emotions gradually intensified. 

(He Junlin was kicked out of the Typhoon program and sent home overnight. No one was sure if we would ever see him again as an idol.)

Fortunately, On June 28, 2019, the TF family announced the launch of the debut battle "Battle of Typhoon Transformation". In June 2019, Zhang Zhenyuan, He Junlin, and Yan Haoxiang returned and participated in the debut station as TF family trainees.

I think people often easily get touched by inspirational stories and start to have a good impression of them, so one key point of TNT’s success was the background story of them.

Last but not least, the third reason (which I think is the most likely one)  is because of their appearance. I first started to have my attention in TNT because of Liu Yaowen. He caught my eye during the performance with Zhu Zhixin.

(It was performed on TF Family "Reunion" New Year's Concert. He and Zhu Zhixin collaborated on the song “trouble maker”.)

Their appearance suits the public aesthetics nowadays and this is mainly why they became popular.

These are the three reasons I believed why Taiwanese like them so much.  Still, there may be some other possible reasons I haven’t found yet. In my next post, I would be telling some of the TNT fans in Taiwan feedback and opinions of them.

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TNT (Teen in times)

As I mentioned in my last post, the boy band, TNT,  was different compared to the other celebrities in China because they became popular in Taiwan. In this post, I will briefly introduce the band TNT.

Because of the “Korean wave”, many people around the globe started to form idol groups. This happened in China too. Numerous singing contests in China have brought an "idol concept" to the Mandopop industry. Such as the idol group “Ninepercent” was from the talent show "Idol Trainee" in 2018. One of the members, Chen Linong, is from Taiwan.  (Interesting fact: China brought this talent show’s copyright from Korea).

Since the growing trend of idols and idol groups, they are manufactured and marketed for image and attractiveness. Idols are mainly singers (a group or a solo act), however, they are also trained in other roles (acting, dancing, modeling, and much more).

TNT, also known as Teen in Times, is a popular boy band (idol group) in China and throughout Asia. Their forming of the group was announced in the battle of typhoon transformation (Idol survival show/talent show), which was voted by fans in 2019. Each member in the group was voted by the fans.

The members of the group are Ma Jiaqi, Ding Chengxin, Song Yaxuan, Liu Yaowen, Zhang Zhenyuan, Yan Haoxiang, and He Junlin. Each of them is assigned different roles within the group in fields in which they are talented. The captain of the group, Ma Jiaqi, is the main vocalist of the team. He is well known for his high-pitched voice(His high-pitched voice had already broken four speakers.) Ding Chengxin is the main dancer. Song Yaxuan is also the lead singer. His overall strength in music is probably the strongest in the group. Liu Yaowen and Yan Haoxiang are the main rappers.  Zhang Zhenyuan and He Junlin’s positions in the group are not very certain yet. Overall, they still play an important role in both singing and dancing in the group. TNT has an incredibly well tacit understanding, and their dancing is neat.

They had written countless extraordinary songs such as 漸暖(Jiàn nuǎn), 要你管(Yào nǐ guǎn), 小小孩(Xiǎo xiǎohái), and much more. Their stage performance has a distinct personality and charm, so they won numerous awards during their 3 years debut period(Popular Group of the Year, the best new combination of the year, and more).

Their songs have all kinds of styles including lyrical, rock, and pop music, and are still innovative. Their fans are mostly young teenagers because TNT’s age is also similar (from age 17 to 21). Their fans are named “popcorn” and they have approximately 30000000 fans. I can definitely say they are the most popular idol group in these few years compared to the other groups in China and their reputation is spreading globally. Moreover, each member of the group is developing in various fields of entertainment.

For my next post, I will be introducing the possible reasons for TNT’s success in increasing popularity in Taiwan.

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Why aren’t many Chinese singers famous in Taiwan?

Have you ever wondered why many Taiwanese celebrities(stars) are famous in China, but not as many Chinese celebrities are famous in Taiwan? We have to trace back history to find the answers. In 1952, in China, “mandopop” (mandarin popular music) was denounced by the PRC(People's Republic of China) government (the communist party) as Yellow Music, a form of pornography. This resulted in the rise of the mandopop in both Hongkong and Taiwan since they weren’t under China’s control. To this day, many artists try to start their commercial careers in both Hong Kong and Taiwan first and then re-import to China as part of the C-pop culture. For example, Jolin Tsai, Yoga Lin, and Jay Chou are some well-known celebrities that are from Taiwan and became famous in China. 

However, in recent years, due to the growth of China’s economy, the communist party of China had changed its strategy and started to develop the entertainment industry in China. Many Chinese celebrities who participated in the movie and music industry came out in public. Thus, c-drama and movies began to spread in Taiwan because the production company in China usually had sufficient funds leading to better visual effects. And yet, not many singers from China are celebrated in Taiwan since “singing” is less dependent on the fund put in. Singing requires actual skill than the visual images you see.

Nevertheless, not long ago, a newly formed band “TNT”(Teen in Times) (a boy band from China) became popular in Taiwan. My following posts will be about the growth and achievement of the band TNT and the reasons for them becoming famous in Taiwan.