I feel Sun Zhong got a little too smug after the unexpected success of WZBQW plus 5566's album came out around that time too...

He started really pushing for promotions and for about half a year, almost everything was Jstars. KOne's album came out, 5566's album came out, Typhoon's album and promos came out, 183club's album came out... but with such a huge "tidal wave" of Jstars stuff... leaves little to be contended.

Now that KOne has left Jungiery and 183club is temporarily frozen and Typhoon has disbanded as well.

I heard a few years ago that there is some kind of internal struggle at Jstars because Sun Zhong has to name a 'successor' to the company's head and the two frontrunners are Renfu and Xiezhi or 5566.

I dunno what's happening, but they've been very quiet recently. KOne is now really the only active group and they've returned to their management with Wingman, so who knows where that's gonna go? I think 5566 is recording another album though. I guess in the meantime they're just keeping their heads low. Jungiery and SanLih (SETTV) are still partners though, so as long as SETTV is still around... there's little chance of Jungiery going very far. I think they're just trying to collect their bearings from a pretty bad year (06-07); with Jacky being let go, KOne leaving, 183club basically being frozen (because Jacky left), the leakages of Star Apple, etc...

Maybe that'll teach Sun Zhong not to be so eager next time. He overpromoted MingDao and practically ignored the rest of his clients and I guess now he's paying for it. Sun Zhong has never had a good acknowlegement of time though, I've come to realize. He doesn't have a lot of foresight... just ambition. I've heard that Sun Zhong is also pretty hot-tempered as well... it doesn't surprise me that's he's made so many bad and rash decisions recently.

Really? I've never heard anything close to that.. but either way, SZ still has a long way to go as the manager of J-Star.
If he's really thinking of a successor, it'd better be soon. Although I really doubt what a great successor he could choose.
If it's someone from 5566, I'm not sure if it would go so well. To be honest, I've never thought of XZ or RF as one of the "super organized" types.


I've come to the conclusion that SZ is just a tyrant at times. Look at QE -- she did pretty well in WZBQW too, and yet, he only bothers to promote MD.
SZ has a terrible reputation, therefore, it transfers onto the artists themselves.
He has a lot of ambition to get his artists very popular -- but so far he's tried to promote them in the wrong way.
An extremely hot-tempered SZ is expected. SZ doesn't really THINK before he does something. He just does it.
And that's what truly bothers me. He doesn't think through something -- he suddenly had MD sign contract for all those dramas. Who does that?

Plus, J-Star albums haven't been doing so well lately. I'd expect that 5566's upcoming album would be a disaster.

I'm not sure if it was just a 'joking' thing that was thrown out there, but yes... a few years ago, there were some jokes/rumors circulating around about finding a successor for Jungiery. I'm pretty sure they were jokes (after all Sun Zhong really isn't THAT old to consider stepping down)... but it kinda just 'fed' the rivalry between Renfu and Xiezhi, but I think that was all just media-baiting, really.

Sun Zhong just doesn't have an foresight. Like... he promotes his artists for the HERE AND NOW. I mean, the reason why MingDao dropped in popularity for me so quickly is because he appeared in like 4-5 dramas sucessively after the success of PTF. Not to mention he was on practically every popular variety show at the time too. Overexposure makes some lose points with me really fast. Now, if Sun Zhong had waited at least one season to give MingDao a rest... then maybe I wouldn't be so sick of him. That's why I gave YYSJY a chance (well, that and MingEn), but mostly because the "MingDao fever" was finally over.

It IS harder for girls to garner popularity in the entertainment business, but I don't think Sun Zhong KNOWS how to promote females at all.. that's why his girls AREN'T promoted. Plus, boys generate popularity much easier and faster because fanbases are generally girls and girls will buy.. stuf... For a girl to generate popularity, she has to be super-talented, skilled, and have overall appeal and charisma.

He needs to rotate them around, seriously. And get some sense. And not be so nearsighted. I mean, seriously...

Hmm.. for me, I felt MD was just overrated. He was around too much.
*SZ is partial to blame --MD wouldn't be on all those variety shows/dramas IF SZ decided not to sign contracts with the producers.
SZ has no patience whatsoever. It would be absolutely useless if I told him to get real and give the tired MD a break.

And if he never thought over it.. why doesn't RF and XZ/rest of 5566 have much popularity anymore? Even Shao Wei is dropping tremendously. Look at ENAC (well I suppose this one could pass.. bad timing on Sats) and Full Count.

I guess most of this is because of my hate for SZ.. but I suppose that the artists have no choice. I feel bad for all newcoming artists SZ plans to sign a contract with.. Ah...

Not that im cursing anyone or anything
But i hope Jungiery breaks up
The artistes aren't doing anything..
the most recent album is Love Miracle 3
QE and MD and MZ got roles in YYSJY
which is faring badly..so i heard
Then what about the others?
I can just imagine them sitting at home
hoping to get a call from SZ that they are releasing new albums
Like 7F..what happened to them?
After that first album?????
I like them..and was hoping for more.
But as the years passed..nothing came!!

Can the existing artistes not renew their contract when it's time to do so?
What for waste their time and talent staying on in Jungiery when they may have better prospects somewhere else?
SZ needs to know he's running the company badly..
the artistes are practically his prisoners
it's sad.

Perhaps if QE wasnt with Jungiery
she'd have been more famous now..
and MD..we wouldnt have gotten so sick of him so soon
as stated by nanshi
and for MingEn fans..they might have dated..if not for Jungiery's rules..

sigh

^
No, I almost agree with you =D

I mean, SZ is known for favoring his artistes... and Jstars seems to do that a lot; have a really "hot season" (It was like 05-06) and then cool down... and just... almost dissipitate. He uses them as manipulation tools too; creating scandals or rumors about them that aren't true just to get them posted in the papers again (like that ridiculous thing with the 5 most uncontrollable stars of Jungiery).

He's just SOOOO bad at marketing and promoting. Like I physically groan when I think about how he goes about promoting his artists. And he's SO bad at it! He uses everyone to promote EVERYONE. Like Shaowei from 5566 to go to 183club, and then DaLun from KOne to go to Typhoon, and then the duet of 183club with 7F, and at the very begininng 5566 to promote KOne (Top of the Forbidden City, anyone?). ... ARGH.

He should really... iono... try to let his artists stand on their own for awhile? They still have their internal activities and I think a lot of them are still pretty active at SETTV hosting or modeling or stuff... but STILL...

I don't think they CAN break up because Jungiery+SETTV sooo...meh. He needs to learn some marketing skills... and appeal. I mean, frankly, in this age of idol-dom, you either have someone SUPER talented or someone super-marketable. Unfortunately, SETTV has few of those. Qiao En is super talented, but for some reason she isn't well promoted and we see so very little of her. Among other talents, I think only Renfu and XieZhi have them (especially since KOne left)... so really? what else is there?

And... Sun Zhong doesn't know how to market his people... if he DID, Xiao Qiao is SUPER marketable cause she is SOO pretty and down-to-earth. Most of 183club is pretty convenient to market as well.

Like I said: tons of ambition, little-to-no foresight. He has the ambition to make them big and famous, just has no idea how to get them there. Especially with all the other competing (And frankly, more talented) artists out there. No one in Jungiery just really has any appeal anymore when you're competing with attractive idol heavyweights like Farenheit or Danson or Rainie .... Plus, I think since 2006, Jungiery has gained an ill-reputation and very few companies are willing to hire their artists or Sun Zhong has just become extra-posessive (both are quite likely). Either companies aren't offering scripts and contracts to Jstars or SZ is refusing to let Jstars sign them, either way... it's only hurting the company and the stars.

^ Well 5566 is recording their album right now. And MingDao & QiaoEn aren't going to do series for SETTV anymore, since they're not getting paid the way they should be. And I read something about 7 Flowers deciding as a group that they won't record another album, since they're all busy with their own things. XiaoJie and WeiRu are busy with their studies and XiaoQiao and QiaoEn are hosting and filming or something. So supposedly 7 Flowers might disband. :/ Plus I think QiaoEn's contract with Jungiery is ending soon... so there is a possibility that she will be leaving the company. I mean, if one of 7 Flowers isn't leaving the company, why should Sun Zhong disband them?

Ahhhhhh. I just wish Sun Zhong would manage his company better! :S But it's true, this year just isn't a good year for them. *sigh* Honestly though, I don't want to see Jungiery continue to fall apart.

Okay, to be honest with you, SETTV + J-Star is unbreakable. SETTV just stated that Ming Dao and Qiao En are their top artists.
What can top that, really?
And what you mean by "in this age of idol-dom," do you mean that in this kind of era, idoling is really subjective?
Because really, it IS.
Most of these days.. things are changing tremendously -- producers simply base on looks/who is more popular, and doesn't really go by skill.

And poor Qiao En. She is the one in J-Star right now that is truly underrated.
*Of course, I feel SZ doesn't really know how to promote female artists anyways.

Just Samantha --
I actually want 7F to disband badly.
Not to mention that all of J-Star is doing terribly right now.
So I could actually see through why you would want J-star to completely break up. BUT, keep in mind, some artists have really long contracts (Ming Dao has a 10 yr). So it would be hard, and wouldn't the artists AND SZ lose their job?

nanshi
haha..you sound so anti-SZ
so they can't break up?
!@#$%
I feel that Jungiery artistes would fare much better if they were signed to some other company
they are getting so little exposure nowadays..
and qiao en should be promoted well cos i feel that she's an awesome actress
just that her talents can't be shown thru jungiery
and i think many ppl don't like SZ
that's why they don't want to hire jungiery ppl..

Just Samantha
so 7F are breaking..(hopefully)
that's fine.
i'd rather they break than stay together for so long but doing NOTHING
Perhaps Qiao En can collaborate with Xiao Qiao and release an album
as for the two youngest..they aren't that famous..seriously..so i don't think they'll be releasing any albums
but i feel so sorry for xiao jie,especially
in jungiery, she is one of the most 'neglected' celebs
maybe because of her age or her talents aren't that good

LittleDevil
so can the artistes not renew their contracts?
i mean, what's the use of renewing?
they'll be just wasting more time(in MD's case, TEN whole years)
in that period, they could have been more famous alr
and true..the artistes would lose their jobs
but hopefully they can get new ones
maybe some other company has been eyeing them already..
but i'd say if jungiery breaks up
the artistes that want new contracts with other companies wouldn't be that famous anymore
their popularity would have dipped..maybe because of their past in jungiery???
or maybe everyone is sick of them already..

MD and QE were right in leaving SETTV
i mean..they should get higher pays lor
how can SZ just sit there and not say anything to help both of them?
like say a word of fairness that they should get higher pay??
even though Jungiery has links with SETTV
but still..they shouldn't give such low pay..
MD and QE are after all, SETTV's top earners..
it's SETTV's own loss

who cares if SZ loses his job?
it's his problem..he should have known it'd happen
serves him right

so fed up with SZ right now

LittleDevil
Oooh noo, I don't want J-Star to break up at all, lol. Ahh it'd be horrible for the artists to lose their jobs. o___o

LovesRainie
Hmm I guess 7F are breaking up.. still don't know for sure yet though. I don't check up on their AF thread very often. Ooh hey, it would be nice to see QiaoEn and XiaoQiao release an album together.. although I don't think XiaoQiao has a very nice singing voice. But it'd be fun to see that. *Sighhh* I feel really down when I think about the J-Star related issues.


I just thought of something; do you guys think SZ should be replaced? LOL.. not that there's anyone to replace him or that anyone can replace him, but if you guys could choose, should he be bagged? (Like would you guys rather have a completely different person take over J-Star or just have SZ improve his managing skills?) I think things may change too much if a completely different person suddenly just took over SZ's job.. I'd rather just have SZ fix things up. o___O

But hey, since QiaoEn already knows what her next series will be, doesn't that mean that she won't be leaving J-Star for like another year? (Or half a year?)

First post here...
I kinda like some J-stars, not all of them but quite a few... I used to like them more but I think I started to get bored of them or dislike some because of SZ... I dont find him really good or anything and just hope to see him replaced by someone else so that J-stars may have a different boost...

They'll probably lose their jobs if they leave J-Star.
So far, there's no other open company that was J-Star in, due to their bad reputation.



Well they could.
But yes, what is the use of renewing? J-Stars are suffering under a tyrant like SZ.
But some companies don't exactly want J-Stars, seeing how bad their reputation is already. Plus, I feel that most J-Stars had a period of time where they were extremely popular, so they are thankful for that.

Everybody gets sick of J-Stars fast. I never understood why. Look at Wu Zun, for example. He's been out for a couple years (1-2), yet everybody still loves him.
What about MD? He's a J-Star. His popularity dropped in practically half a year.


--

*And 7F hasn't officially disbanded yet. But Wei Ru and QE announce that they are not releasing another album, which practically mean they are disbanded.

No, you're right. That's pretty much what I meant.

With the current trend of idols, instead of a time where talent actually matters kinda, idols are the ones that are going to generate popularity... despite their talent. Personally, I find FRH and SHE lacking in some of the talents that Jstars boast. Most of the Jstars' males boast talent that is at least equal to (if not exceeding) the talent that FRH has. MingDao, Shaowei, Yurong, even Renfu and Xiezhi (Mr. Fighting, anyone?). And singing, yeah, but in terms of acting and stuff, I think QiaoEn, XiaoQiao, and Song ZhiAi can hold their own against SHE as well (in some cases, I think those three EXCEL much more at acting than SHE's girls).

It's just that, for some reason, the trend in Taiwan right now isn't leaning towards the more 'manly' stars that Jungiery has, but the more attractive pretty-boy idols (hence with Arron and WuZun are doing so well). In the past, "manly" idols WERE quite attractive. Now... Taiwan's moving beyond that. Personally, I feel that all of Jstars has spades enough in talent to make up for what their looks lack, BUT like you said: idoling is so subjective these days that most people will just blindly follow their idol despite talent and skill.



No I am quite anti-Sun Zhong. I WAS a fan of him until after WZBQW, and then he started treating his members obviously very unfairly. Qiao En's case especially. She is just SO talented and DESERVES to be in a lot of dramas and a chance at promotions to show just HOW good she is and stuff... but SZ favored MingDao obviously.

I don't necessarily think they would fare BETTER if they were signed to another company though. I mean, there are SO many idols out there floating around that it's hard for them to compete. But I think they would do better than NOW at least in terms of equality. At least they would be decently promoted. SZ has generated a lot of anti-feelings and anti-fans though, so I'm not surprised. What I AM pleased about is how it seems that people's feelings towards SZ (at least on this forum/board) do not seem to affect how they feel towards Jungiery. And I think that goes to show you how good and talented Jstars are that people STILL like them and enjoy their works.

* * *

LittleDevil: I think the difference between WuZun and MingDao is that WuZun has had a choice of some REALLY great scripts and supporting casts. MingDao didn't really have that advantage. I mean, AQMFS did really well because of the supporting cast (ShaoWei, QiaoQiao, etc)... but Angel Lover and Legend of the Star Apple? Plus, even though WuZun is appearing in back-to-back dramas, it's nowhere near as much as MingDao was appearing in. I think he was filming the last few episodes of AQMFS while he was doing Angel Lover AND Star Apple...! Plus, MingDao was also very well-promoted at the time and was on almost every variety show there was out there. A lot of people have said that he got a huge head (I agree) because of that and that caused his popularity to decrease drastically because of how arrogant he was getting.

And you know MingDao's personality. It's SO much more different than WuZun's, y'know? You can get REAL tired of MingDao's immature and outlandish/boyish ways after awhile (although it is SOOO funny) but Wu Zun is more softspoken (could be because he doesn't know that much Mandarin yet) and it usually works in his favor.

I think Jungiery may have had a little something to do with MingDao's sudden drop in popularity, but I think that was because of BUSINESS decisions and not any part on MingDao's actual drop in appeal (choosing bad dramas for him to star in, overpromoting him on shows, etc). I mean, YYSJY is doing pretty well, I think. I think he just got very distasteful after WZBQW (what was up with that horrible long hair?!?!?) and was overexposed.

I do wonder though... Jstars does very very few CFs (commercial films) and advertisement sponsors, right? I mean... I used to see 5566 on a few commercials here and there... but it seems recently no sponsors want to touch them (that's kinda unreliable; I mean they're still fairly popular, there's no way NO sponsor out there would want to touch them) or SZ is refusing to let them sign for advertisements... That's very curious, because a lot of an idol's popularity has to do with exposure and frequency and not necessarily... just dramas and shows. Especially for Taiwanese fans.

LittleDevil
haha..i said i hoped J-Stars don't renew their contracts
and poor MD
he's very marketable..
but because he's from Jungiery
sigh

Just Samantha
Oh yes..i want SZ replaced
no point improving his managing skills
the damage is done
and he's probably stubborn enough to not choose to improve his skills
but why can't QE leave Jungiery?
her new series isn't linked to SETTV
is it??

nanshi
yeah..J-stars would suffer out there
firstly is their bad reputation with SZ
next..their popularity isn't that good
third..ppl will feel they aren't so marketable anymore..
so yeah..i guess they would suffer if they leave Jungiery

LovesRainie
Nope, QE's new series isn't under SETTV, but to have taken up the role in the first place, SZ would've had to have approved it. (Lol, does that make sense?) So she's still gonna be under his "management" for another half a year or so, I guess.

JustSamantha
DARN
that means QE is still under SZ's hand
how upsetting.
and half a year??!!!
that's very long..
i hope she leaves Jungiery after her filming's over!!

For me I think why J-Stars are not doing so well nowadays is due to SZ EXTREME LACK in management skills. If he doesn't have a motive behind all the steps he's gone so far, soon J-Stars will vanish entirely.

Why do I say his management skills are bad? 183 club's album didn't sell well, right??? I know, because I saw it selling at 5 bucks when I went to malaysia early this year. What I feel is that he should have produced an album for 183 club RIGHT AFTER WZBQW and AQMFS fame. You know that phrase 'strike when the iron is hot?'. Nooooooo he didn't do it. He had to wait when 183 club's popularity was DIPPING to come up with one. And you know what made it worse? Their album had no good songs!!!!!!!!! I mean, NOT ONE!!!!! The 'zhu da' was Yi Ba Shan right?? It has absolutely no catchy quality whatsoever and I really cannot blame the people out there who did not buy the album. The only reason why I even bought it in the first place was because I was an 183 Club fan. And even then, after I finished listening to the album, I was like 'that it?' It did not make me want to listen to it over again and thats why I consider it to be a failure.

And about 7 flowers, I read somewhere that they were produced SOLELY to produce competition for S.H.E. When I read it, I was like wtf? You don't produce a girl band just because you don't want some other girl band to be getting all the attention. And when it became clear that they weren't able to be enough competition for S.H.E, SZ just dropped them like a hot potato. Minus another point for SZ.

I think SZ is just living in the past. I think he feels that if he continues what he did in the past, J-stars would become red hot and famous once again. What he fails to realise is that times have changed and the things that the audience and fans want is not something that 5566 and 183 club can give them UNLESS he does something different, and FAST.

Hoho nanshi I liked your iced tea story, it was funny Was the brand cc lemon???

P.S. I would like to know if SZ has ever belittled or insulted S.H.E before? Cos if he does i'll hop on a plane to TW, march to Jungiery, and cut off his head. Grrrrr

First time posting here. Agree with most of what you all are saying. Don't like SZ too. Really hope that QE will leave J-Stars and join another agency.

Don't know why SZ wants to recruit new people into J-Stars. He can't even manage the existing ones properly. The guy is just full of talk. He must be pretty persuasive to be able to persuade so many talented people to join him. But when it comes to actual management and planning his artistes' careers, he lack of skills in these areas is astonishing.

I really really hope QE will leave J-Stars. She deserves much better than to languish under SZ's management.

I hope so.. And if QE leave J-Stars she will get more chance to date MD.. Hehe.. Also about 7Flowers.. Pity for them.. They didn't get enough attention from SZ.. Eventhough they're very good in acting..

actually, it's not just QE that I want to pull out from Jungiery
the likes of Xiao Qiao, Wei Ru, Xiao Jie, the latter formed groups, Toro...darn...to the point that I want 5566 to be pulled out.

it's depressing to see how once a very powerful company turned out so bad because of one man's greed.

Hey, anyone still posting in here? Anyway, I just don't like the way they handle their stars but I still want them stay in Jungiery coz.... I don't know.... Maybe because they won't be called J-Stars if they leave... Haha