Marianne Hsieh
As Ricky Martin’s music bursts out deafeningly through the speaker, everyone in the place starts dancing feverishly: waving hands, shaking hips and heads, laughing, screaming, touching and embracing each other’s sweaty bodies, whether they know each other or not. This is the intoxicating pleasure of fantastic Latin music. Latin music, which has been sweeping the international pop music market in recent years, has taken Taiwan by storm as well. The definition of Latin music, however, may be a little unclear; literally the term refers to popular songs with Spanish lyrics, yet most fans, when asked why they love it so much, say that it really doesn’t matter whether you can understand Spanish or not. What they enjoy is the passionate celebration of life: Latin culture symbolizes romance, passion and energy. Strong rhythms, repeating melodies, simple but arousing lyrics, and exaggerated body movements spread magic in the air, making people want to go on dancing and singing like crazy. Latin music’s motto is forget your troubles and enjoy yourself! Latino fever began in Taiwan with “Ricky-mania”; Martin, a bilingual singer from Puerto Rico, rose to international stardom after his performance of “The Cup of Life” at the World Cup France 98. His hit singles “Living La Vida Loca” and “She Bangs” are musts at parties. His huge October 11 concert in Taipei showed the popularity of Latin music in Taiwan. And there are other popular Latino singers such as Enrique Iglesias and Jennifer Lopez. All of a sudden, it seems, Latino fever is everywhere. The trend has also influenced Taiwan’s local singers like CoCo-Lee. Her latest number one hit, “True Lover,” shows a typical Latin flavor. Even CoCo dresses in the Latino way, brightly-colored, sexy, and exaggerated, and watching her dance is just like watching a Ricky Martin music video. This is an exciting new element in Taiwan pop music. As Ricky Martin said in an interview before his recent concert, “Latino people are laid-back and energetic. I want people who come to my concerts to feel the same way.” Taiwan audiences have been moved by this passion as well. So throw away your homework assignment and shake your bon-bon! a
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May 2024
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