娱乐英语新闻:Singer-songwriter with everything in the world

BEIJING, Nov. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- With her debut album, Everything in the World, which achieved multi-platinum status in China within weeks after its release in 2012, singer-songwriter Qu Wanting now has almost everything in a musician's world: a big fan base, a clutch of awards and a promising future in the music industry.

She has appeared at various shows, music festivals and held concerts across Asia. The fact that she was invited to perform at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala early this year also confirmed her popularity.

However, the 30-year-old Vancouver-based artist dislikes the outcome of her fame.

"Sometimes I hate the popularity I've achieved," says Qu. "Mentally and physically, I was almost gone after the first album.

"You know what I worry most with all the fame I've got?" she asks. "It's whether I have time to live my life. My life equals inspiration and songs. If I don't have time to live my life, I will have less inspiration and songs, which is terrible."

She repeatedly emphasizes that she is a singer-songwriter, instead of a singer because for Qu, a singer's main instrument is their voice but she is beyond that.

"I sing, I write songs and I play instruments, which are inseparable," she says firmly.

That attitude explains why she filed a lawsuit against The voice of China, a popular reality talent show on Zhejiang Satellite Television, in which contestant Li Daimo sang You Exist in My Song.

The copyright lawsuit stirred an online attack on her. "I am the victim but I became the bad guy," she adds.

With a full schedule across the Asian and North American markets, she works like a machine. But what upsets her most is that everywhere she performs in China, she is asked to sing You Exist in My Song, her Chinese single, which has been downloaded more than 100 million times since it was released last year.

"People love that song, not me. If you love my music, you wouldn't just want to hear You Exist in My Song. And to be honest, that song is not my best work and I am bored with singing it," she says.

During her concert tour, some audiences shouted at her to stop singing English songs. When she was invited to perform at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala early this year, she was asked to perform with a Chinese actor and she wasn't allowed to play her guitar.

"I didn't know the actor and I was not allowed to sing the whole song," she says, recalling the unpleasant experience.

Unlike her debut days when she was nervous, Qu walks with her head up high now as an original singer-songwriter in her own right.

With big black curls, dark eyeliner, and a hint of rasp in her voice, Qu walked into the office of Universal Music located in downtown Beijing recently filled with confidence.

"The first album was not completely what I wanted. I don't think people know who exactly I am," she says. "For the audiences, I am a girl from Harbin with a strong Dongbei (northeast) accent, who was lucky enough to become known overnight for one song, You Exist in My Song. But it's not the whole truth."

For the second album, Qu has participated in the whole production from writing to composing and producing. "This album speaks for me," she says. "When you know who I am, you will understand why I talk like this and why I think like this. I sing my life. My songs are my biography."

With the new album, she was invited to sing at a CBC music event in Canada in August, another big boost for her confidence.

"When I moved to Canada in 2000, I started watching CBC, where many famous singer-songwriters performed and told their stories. Now, when I turn on the TV, I see myself sitting there playing the piano and singing my own songs. I feel so proud that I can tell my story as a Chinese singer-songwriter," she says.