F4 (2001–2002)
The Meteor Garden series is an adaptation of the Japanese shōjo manga series, Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango). Yan plays the lead role of Dao Ming Si, an extremely arrogant and rich university student who meets his match in the poor but proud girl, Shan Cai - played by Barbie Xu. Zhou, Wu and Chu play his friends Hua Ze Lei, Mei Zuo, and Xi Men respectively. The four boys were the most popular and handsome boys at the university; they were recognised as the group named the "Flower Four", hence the title: F4.
Meteor Garden was released in Taiwan in 2001 and turned the leads into stars virtually overnight[citation needed]. In 2002 Meteor Garden was released in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and in the Philippines in 2003. The series was smuggled into Mainland China in 2002 despite an official ban by the authorities there on its showing due to its emphasis on power and materialism[citation needed]. A sequel, Meteor Garden II, was shot in Spain later and released in 2002. The success of "Meteor Garden" is notable because it has launched the Taiwanese Idol Dramas craze not only in Asian countries but also throughout America & Canada as well.[citation needed]
In 2001, F4 became a boyband and signed a record deal with Sony Music Entertainment. Together they have released three albums, Meteor Rain, Fantasy 4ever, and "Waiting for You Here". In 2002, F4 sang the Mandarin cover of "Can't Help Falling in Love" included in the Asian version of Walt Disney's Lilo & Stitch soundtrack.[2] The English version of this song is sung by A*Teens, which is a cover of the 1961 Elvis Presley hit of the same title. They also made the Mandarin cover of Yo Te Amo by Chayanne.
F4 has been sponsored by Pepsi, Yamaha Motorbikes and Samuel & Kevin. The Taiwan Tourism Bureau appointed members of F4 as Tourism Ambassadors on March 9, 2007. Their "Wish to See You in Taiwan" campaign involves filming a television advertisement and a drama series filmed on tourist locations. As tourism ambassadors, F4 members also invited its overseas fans from South Korea , Japan and elsewhere to visit Taiwan.[3]
JVKV (2007)
On April 29, 2007, Meteor Garden producer Angie Chai announced that the group would no longer be known as F4. The change in name stemmed from copyright-related issues. Japanese publisher Shueisha, who owns the copyright to Boys Over Flowers allowed the group to use F4 as its band name in 2001. However, as Japan had filmed and aired its own live action versions of the popular manga, with its own cast of four, the publisher felt that there may be confusion over the name in different countries.[4][5] Due to this conflict, the group was renamed JVKV using the first initials of each of the group's members. According to the producer, the members are listed in the new name by the order of their birth dates from oldest to youngest, thus Vanness Wu's name appears before Vic Zhou's.[6]
Despite rumours of disbanding,[7] JVKV released their third album, Waiting For You, on December 28, 2007.[8] Their third album still bore the name F4, not JVKV.
2008
F4 were the first foreign artistes to hold 7 consecutive concerts in Japan, breaking the records of Jay Chou and Faye Wong. Thousands flooded Narita Airport when the band's plane touched down. Jerry Yan even attracted two thousand fans at the airport during his solo fan meeting.
Сольные проекты
See also: Jerry Yan, Vanness Wu, Ken Chu, and Vic Zhou
JVKV are also concentrating on their solo careers in acting and music.
Wu has focused more of his attention on movies and musics. He released his 2nd album titled "V.Dubb" (his nickname) in April of 2007, five years after his first album, "Body Will Sing",& has released his 3rd album titled "In Between 2008 new song + collection album" in June 2008. He's been in numerous music videos, "Ai Cuo" with Wang Leehom, Chinese version of "Crazy in Love" with Beyonce and Coco Lee's "Hip Hop Tonight". He has also been involved with several big-screen movies such as "Star Runner","Kung Fu Fighter", "Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon", and "Dragon Squad" just to name a few, in fact his movies are all about fightings as he loves stunts & martial arts so much.
In August 2004, Yan came out with his first solo album titled, "The First Time" (第一次 Jerry for You). He's acted in Taiwan drama series such as "Spicy Teacher", "Meteor Garden",it's sequel "Meteor Garden 2", "Meteor Rain", "Come To My place", "Love Scar", "The Hospital" and made a movie, "Magic Kitchen" 魔幻廚房 (2004)."Hot Shot(2008)"has broadcasted in Taiwan,"Starlit" is airing in Taiwan now.
Zhou has come out with 3 solo albums, "Make a Wish" (January 2002), "Remember I Love You" (January 2004), and "I'm not F4" (November 2007), not to mention, he has acted in at least one drama series every year since his first break in 2001 with the exception of 2003. Within the last year, he came out with 2 movies, "Linger" and "Tea Fight",he too had started in 10 Taiwanese Idol Dramas"
Chu, known to love food and cooking, came out with his own cook book, "Delicious Relations" [美味关系] in 2006 after starring in a string of idol dramas. He has also starred in at least one drama every year since 2001, with the exception of 2005. That year, he came out with his own solo album, "On Ken's Time",he has released his 2nd solo album "2009 Getting Real new songs + collections album" in January 2009(just before his birthday), in fact,he released all of his albums in January. He has filmed 3 movies to date. In a recent interview with F4, Chu has mentioned that he is growing increasingly more interested in music.
Three of the four appeared in "Wish To See You Again." with Vic Zhou and Ken Chu starring in it, while Vanness had a guest appearance in a few episodes. Due to scheduling conflicts, Jerry Yan did not star in it and instead, Kingone Wang played the part that was initially intended for Jerry. Instead, Jerry Yan filmed a series in Taiwan alongside Wu Chun of Fahrenheit and Show Luo, called "Hot Shot" which was released in the summer of 2008. The series is based around basketball and the boys' competition on court. This series was highly anticipated due to the star status of the 3 male leads.
Дискография
流星雨 (Meteor Rain) (Ноябрь 2001)
1. 流星雨 - (liu xing yu / Meteor Rain) - F4
2. 我是真的真的很愛你 - (wo shi zhen de zhen de ai ni / I Truly Love You) - Jerry
3. Here We Are - Ken
4. 誰讓你流淚 (shei rang ni liu lei / Who Made You Cry?) - Vanness
5. 為你執著 - (wei ni zhi zhuo / Persistence For You) - Vic
6. 第一時間 - (di yi shi jian / First Time) - F4
7. 要定你 - (yao ding ni) - Jerry
8. 你不愛我愛誰？ (ni bu ai wo ai shei - Who Do You Love If Not Me?) - Vanness
9. 愛不會一直等你 - (ai bu hui yi zhi deng ni) - Ken
10. 最特別的存在 - (zui te bie de cun zai / The Most Special Existence) - Vic
Fantasy 4ever (Январь 2003)
1. 絕不能失去你 (jue bu neng shi qu ni / Can't Lose You) - F4
2. 煙火的季節 (yan huo de ji jue / Season of Fireworks) - F4
3. 愛的領域 (ai de ling yu / Love's Terrain) - F4
4. 一個人的冬季 (yi ge ren de dong ji / Lonely Winter) - Vic
5. 晴天 - (qing tian / One Fine Day) - Jerry
6. 當你是朋友 (dang ni shi peng you / You As A Friend) - Vanness and Ken
7. Te Amo我愛你 - (Te Amo/wo ai ni/I Love You) - F4
8. 只有我 - (zhi you wo / Only I) - Jerry
9. 心理測驗 (xin li ce yan - Psychological Test) - Vanness
10. 怎麽會是你 - (zen me hui shi ni / How Is It You) - Vic
11. Ask For More - F4
12. Can't Help Falling in Love - F4
Waiting for you 在這裡等你 (28 декабря 2007)
1. 體驗 (ti yan / Experience) - F4
2. 在這裡等你 (zai zhe li deng ni / Waiting For You) - F4
3. 你是我唯一的執著 (ni shi wo wei yi de zhi zhuo / You Are My Only Persistence) - Jerry
4. Listen To Your Heart - Vanness
5. 殘念 (can nian) - Vic
6. 愛不停止 (ai bu ting zhi / Love Nonstop) - Ken
7. 白 (bai / White) - Vic
8. 七天 (qi tian / seven days) - Sung by Vanness
9. 無所謂 (wu suo wei / Doesn't Matter) - Ken
10. 我沒有辦法離開你 (wo mei you ban fa li kai ni / I Have No Way To Leave You) - Jerry
