Gong Qiuxia

Gong Qiuxia, also romanized as Kung Chiu-hsia, was born in 1916 under the name (龚莎莎 Gong Shasha and 龚秋香 Gong Qiuxiang) in Chongming County, Jiangsu province (now part of Shanghai), China. She was a famous movie star and singer. By the 1940s, she became one of the seven great singing stars.

Biography

In 1933, she traveled across Southeast Asia as a member of the Shanghai Plum Flower Troupe (梅花歌舞团). One of the theatrical plays she took part in was the Five Tiger Generals (五虎将). As a result of her training, she was an accomplished tap dancer. Her early films would capitalize on this talent as one of the few Chinese female stars who was a triple-threat (acting, singing, dancing). People would affectionately refer to her as an older Shirley Temple.

Career

In 1936, she made her first film (父母子女, Father Mother Son Daughter). In 1937, she starred in the movie 压岁钱 and began taking a relatively serious attitude toward filmmaking. She is most recognized for playing the mature, housewife image.

Gong

A gong (Chinese: 鑼; pinyin: luó; Indonesian or Javanese: gong; Malay: gong ) is an African, East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat, circular metal disc which is hit with a mallet. It originated in China and later spread to Southeast Asia, and it can also be used in the percussion section of Western symphony orchestra.

Gongs are broadly of three types. Suspended gongs are more or less flat, circular discs of metal suspended vertically by means of a cord passed through holes near to the top rim. Bossed or nipple gongs have a raised centre boss and are often suspended and played horizontally. Bowl gongs are bowl-shaped, and rest on cushions and belong more to bells than gongs. Gongs are made mainly from bronze or brass but there are many other alloys in use.

Gongs produce two distinct types of sound. A gong with a substantially flat surface vibrates in multiple modes, giving a "crash" rather than a tuned note. This category of gong is sometimes called a tam-tam to distinguish it from the bossed gongs that give a tuned note. In Indonesian gamelan ensembles, some bossed gongs are deliberately made to generate in addition a beat note in the range from about 1 to 5 Hz. The use of the term "gong" for both these types of instrument is common.

Zhang Fan

Zhang Fan (born 22 August 1984) is a Chinese basketball player who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics.

References

Bai Guang

Bai Guang (born Shi Yongfen; June 27, 1921, Beiping, now Beijing, China – August 27, 1999 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) was a famous movie star and singer. By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars.

Biography

In her early years, Bai was a student of the Beiping Salon Theatrical Troupe (北平沙龍劇團), and once performed Cao Yu's play "Sunrise". In 1937, she studied at the University of Tokyo's music department until World War II in 1942. After drama school, she wanted to be a movie star. As she proclaimed, she wanted to be like the beams of light coming off the movie projectors onto the big screen. Hence, her stage name was (白光), which translated to "White Light".

Career

Her mandopop songs were often used in many of her movies as soundtracks. In an age and culture where light, higher voices were usually favored, she had a slightly deep and hoarse voice, which helped her become a big star in Shanghai. People called her the "Queen of the Low Voice" (低音歌后).

Bai's big screen career started in 1943. She was known for playing seductive roles due to her flirtatious image on screen and has also played villains at times. She lent a more dramatic tone or sexy attitude to her songs. Some of her hits include "Autumn Evening" (秋夜), "Without You" (如果沒有你), "The Pretender" (假正經), "Revisiting Old Dreams" (魂縈舊夢), and "Waiting For You" (等著你回來).

Dream Lover

"Dream Lover" is a song written by Bobby Darin and recorded by him on March 5, 1959. Darin decided to stretch out some chord changes he found on the piano and add strings and voices. The song was produced by Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler and engineered by Tom Dowd. It became a multi-million seller, reaching #2 on the US charts for a week and #4 on the R&B charts. "Dream Lover" was kept from the number one spot by "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton and went to #1 in the UK for four weeks during June and July 1959. It was released as a single on Atco Records in 1959. In addition to Darin's vocal, the song features Neil Sedaka on piano. A picture sleeve, featuring a portrait of Darin, was also issued for this record.

The song is featured in the 1991 movie Hot Shots! starring Charlie Sheen. A remake of the song performed by Dion is also played in full, during the end credits. The song was also used in Michael Apted's 1974 movie Stardust and in Barry Levinson's 1982 debut film Diner. A version of the song, retitled "Dream Maker" and with rewritten lyrics, appears in the pilot of the 1987 TV series Rags to Riches.