S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Ren, Hebe Tian, and Ella Chen. The name of the group is an alphabetism derived from the first letter of each member's name. Since releasin...

S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Ren, Hebe Tian, and Ella Chen. The name of the group is an alphabetism derived from the first letter of each member's name. Since releasing their first album Girls Dorm (2001), S.H.E has recorded 10 albums with sales totalling over 4.5 million,[4] and set ticketing records in each of their two concert tours. The group has acted in seven drama series, hosted two variety shows, and contributed 10 songs to six drama soundtracks. S.H.E has endorsed more than 30 companies and products, including Coca-Cola and World of Warcraft.[5][6] Thanks largely to S.H.E's success, other Taiwanese record labels began forming their own girl groups.


In 2000, Ren, Tian and Chen signed up for a singing contest, and the winner, Ren, was awarded a record contract. Tian and Chen, who were both finalists, joined Ren to form S.H.E. The trio frequently covers songs by other artists, and performs original compositions. The group produces albums under the HIM International Music label. Avex Asia distributed S.H.E's music in Hong Kong, but transferred this role to WOW Music in 2007.EMI Music China is the distributor in Singapore and the People's Republic of China.


Before releasing S.H.E's first songs, HIM International focused on the group's chemistry, and assigned the three girls to live together in a dormitory room.[10] On September 11, 2001, S.H.E released their first album, Girls Dorm (Chinese: 女生宿舍), in memory of their prior living quarters. Although the CD sold an impressive 150,000 copies for a debut group,[11] the trio gained notoriety for singing off-key during their first live performance.[12][13] Nevertheless, sales of Girls Dorm resulted in a nomination for Best New Artist at the 13th Annual Golden Melody Awards.[14] On January 29, 2002, Youth Society was released and went on to sell more than 250,000 copies.[15] With the release of their second album, "S.H.E Girl Friends" underwent a name change and became simply "S.H.E". The trio's third album, Genesis, was released on August 5, 2002, approximately six months after Youth Society. Continuing the successes of the group's previous albums, 20,000 copies of Genesis were ordered in advance of the release date. The album would go on to sell 180,000 copies.[11] S.H.E later signed an endorsement deal with N-age, a South Korean on-line game company. Not only did N-age appear in a couple of music videos, they also sponsored S.H.E's first major concert in Tainan, the N-age Genesis Concert, which attracted over 20,000 fans.[16] On January 23, 2003, S.H.E released Together, their first compilation album.
The title track from S.H.E's fifth album, Super Star, topped several music charts and won four awards. The song was later covered by Sweetbox.
The title track from S.H.E's fifth album, Super Star, topped several music charts and won four awards. The song was later covered by Sweetbox.

S.H.E's fifth album was intended for release on August 6, but due to an injury to Ella,[17][a] Super Star arrived in stores on August 22, 2003.[18] The album featured the group's first pop/rock song, "Super Star", which, for ten consecutive weeks, placed no lower than fourth on Singapore's YES 93.3 music charts.[19][20] To date, Together and Super Star have combined to sell 580,000 copies;[21] 250,000 copies of Super Star were sold in Taiwan alone.[22] On February 6, 2004, S.H.E released their sixth album, Magical Journey, in two different versions: a Magical Version and a Journey Version. The two versions combined to sell 1.5 million copies in Asia,[23] including 160,000 copies in Taiwan alone.[11] On June 2, S.H.E and HIM International agreed to extend the trio's contract,[24] which would have expired in October 2005.[25] Later that year, on September 4 2004, S.H.E began their first major tour, the Fantasy Land Tour. The tour started in Taipei, where more than 25,000 attendees were present,[26] and ended in Genting Highlands, Malaysia. During their concert at the Shanghai Stadium, the trio set an attendance record.[27] The tour raked in NT$22.4 million in gate receipts.[28] The release of S.H.E's seventh album, Encore, was pushed to November 12 2004 to accommodate Selina's graduation from university in late November. Encore sold 1 million units in Asia within one week of its release;[29] since then, that number has surpassed 2 million.[30] By the time Encore was due for release, media outlets had already begun labelling S.H.E as "The Number One Girl Group" (女子第一天團).[31][b]
Due to S.H.E's concert tour and Selina's (centre) graduation from university, Once Upon A Time was not released until twelve months after Encore.
Due to S.H.E's concert tour and Selina's (centre) graduation from university, Once Upon A Time was not released until twelve months after Encore.

S.H.E had released albums every few months until the end of 2004. But due to their busy concert schedule, it was over a year until their next album appeared. After releasing Encore, they contributed to the Reaching for the Stars soundtrack, which sold only 50,000 copies.[11] That same year, the girl group Twins released their first Mandarin album, Trainee Cupid, in the Taiwanese market. That album would sell 800,000 copies in two months.[32] The poor sales of the soundtrack and the success of the Twins album led to this period being described as one of the lowest times of S.H.E's career.[33] On November 25, 2005, the trio finally released their eighth album, Once Upon A Time. The CD not only set a record with 50,000 pre-orders, but it sold more than 1 million copies, overshadowing Trainee Cupid. Once Upon A Time debuted on the G-music Chinese language album charts at #1, retained that position for four consecutive weeks, and stayed on the charts for a total of 13 weeks.[34] The album's title track, "Don't Wanna Grow Up",[c] won Song of the Year at Hong Kong’s TVB8 Awards.[35]

On July 21, 2006 S.H.E released their ninth album, Forever, which sold 150,000 copies within a week.[36] The album featured five new songs, a compilation of older works, and three songs from older drama soundtracks. Forever included many collaborative works with other artists in the Taiwanese pop music industry. C-pop megastar Jay Chou composed "Electric Shock" for the album. The song "Solo Madrigal" was a duet between Selina and Tank, the latter of whom had originally recorded the song for his debut album. For the Tokyo Juliet soundtrack, Hebe and boyband Fahrenheit sang "Only Have Feelings For You," which won several awards including Taiwan's Best Duet Song at the 2006 Sprite China Music Awards.[37]

S.H.E's second major concert tour, The Perfect 3 World Tour, commenced on July 8 2006 in Shanghai, where they set yet another attendance record by filling more than 60% of the stadium.[38] After their Perfect 3 concert in Hong Kong, which was recorded and released as the group's second live CD, S.H.E was commended for their perseverance, amount of dance preparation, and ability to hit their notes.[39] Within the tour's first five months, the group attracted over 200,000 fans, and collected NT$200 million in gate receipts.[40] On April 18, S.H.E signed on with WOW Music to improve their presence in Hong Kong.[41] Play, the trio's tenth album, was released on May 11, 2007, and was the first S.H.E album released under the new distribution label.[42] Play went double gold within the first four days of the album's pre-order period;[43] by June 5, more than 150,000 copies were sold.[44] A month after Play's release, S.H.E was nominated for the Most Popular Female Artist award at the Golden Melody Awards, but lost to pop diva Jolin Tsai.[45]



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Musical style

See also: S.H.E discography

Audio samples of S.H.E songs

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"If You're Happy, Then I'll Be Pleased" (你快樂我隨意)
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From Genesis (2002). This is the first S.H.E song to feature contributions by a member of the group (Hebe), and the first to mix pop music with rap. It was not until Magical Journey (2004) that pop/rap combinations became a staple of S.H.E albums.
"Super Star"
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From Super Star (2003). Most of S.H.E's pop/rock songs, including "Super Star", were produced by Roberto "Geo" Rosan of Sweetbox. Although songs in this genre are a rarity, they have combined for 6 Best Annual Singles awards.
* Problems playing the files? See media help.

S.H.E's oxalis (centre), as it appears on Forever. The oxalis, a type of clover, is found on every album cover with varying designs.
S.H.E's oxalis (centre), as it appears on Forever. The oxalis, a type of clover, is found on every album cover with varying designs.

S.H.E has released ten studio albums to date, including two compilation albums. All of S.H.E's album covers display an oxalis, the symbol for the group. On some covers, the clover is easy to spot (Girls Dorm, Together, Encore, Forever); on other covers, its appearance is more subtle (Super Star, Once Upon a Time). S.H.E's other contributions include songs in the soundtracks of Magical Love, The Rose, Reaching for the Stars, Tokyo Juliet, The Little Fairy, Hanazakarino Kimitachihe, and Bull Fighting.

All three members have different vocal ranges to complement each other. Ella sings within the alto to mezzo-soprano range, while Hebe and Selina sing within the mezzo-soprano to soprano range.[46][d]

Most S.H.E songs fall into the category of pop music. Songs from this genre consist of light melodies,[47] simple drum beats, and the occasional piano or synthesizer accompaniment. In Girls Dorm and Youth Society, acoustic guitar melody lines were used as well. While some slower songs, particularly those in Genesis, fall into the genre of R&B,[15] high-tempo songs, such as "Beauty Up My Life", focus more on techno. S.H.E has also sung a few pop/rock songs, including "Piquancy", "Super Star", and "Star Light" As their career progressed, S.H.E began mixing light-hearted pop ballads with elements of hip hop and dance. Attempts to fuse these genres started with songs such as "If You're Happy, Then I'll Be Pleased", which contained a short rap segment, and evolved into songs such as "Listen to Yuan Wei-jen Play Guitar", which is composed entirely of rap with the exception of the chorus.



Lyrics

As performers, S.H.E do not write the lyrics for the majority of their songs. Shi Rencheng (施人誠), who also writes for artists such as Rene Liu, Jordan Chan, and Yuki Hsu, has been S.H.E's main lyricist since the group's debut. Some even say that Shi's "legendary" lyrics were partially responsible for the trio's success.[48] Between the releases of Magical Journey and Forever, Daryl Yao (姚若龍) was a regular contributor as well.[e] The lyrics of Jay Chou's main lyricist, Vincent Fang, have also made numerous appearances.[f] On some occasions, S.H.E members even contributed their own lyrics. Hebe wrote the words for "Say You Love Me", and penned the rap portion of "If You're Happy, Then I'll Be Pleased". Selina was responsible for the lyrics of "Wifey".

Most of S.H.E's songs are about love. The word "love" (Chinese: 愛; pinyin: ài) appears in six song titles, and over 270 times in the lyrics alone. "Love", in its original English, is not only found in three song titles, but also countless times in the songs themselves. Related words, such as "embrace" (Chinese: 擁抱; pinyin: yōng bào) and "feeling" (Chinese: 感覺; pinyin: gǎn jué), appear nearly 40 times. Occasionally, love stories are taken from literature and put into song. Examples include "Laurel Tree Goddess (Daphne)", which is based on the story of Apollo and Daphne,[49] and "The Story of Romeo and Juliet", which is based on Romeo and Juliet and The Butterfly Lovers.



Covers

See also: List of S.H.E covers and parodies

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"When You're Only Lonely" (1979)
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The original country-style ballad by J.D. Souther.
"Only Lonely" (2004)
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S.H.E's rendition of the Souther original, now infused with elements of bubblegum pop and rap.
* Problems playing the files? See media help.

S.H.E's albums contain quite a number of cover songs. Among the group's 90 songs, 25 are covers. Earlier albums often included cover songs; however, since 2004, the group has recorded no more than two covers per album. In most covers, the songs' original titles were kept. Other songs, such as Westlife's "Soledad", were simply given new Chinese titles. The lyrics are usually rewritten, but some songs, such as Charlene's "I've Never Been To Me", are sung in their original English. While the musical style is usually maintained, some covers, such as "Only Lonely" and "I.O.I.O", have a lighter, bubblegum pop feel.

Older pieces and nursery rhymes are occasionally parodied. "Don't Wanna Grow Up" is a parody of Mozart's 40th Symphony, and "London Bridge is Falling Down" is based on the children's song of the same name. The verses of "Thanks for Your Gentleness" are original compositions, but the chorus is borrowed from Mayday's "Gentle and Soft".

S.H.E's covers are generally less popular than their original works. During the group's career, original compositions have combined for nearly 20 awards, whereas covers have been lauded only twice.[g]



Television and film career

See also: S.H.E filmography

From late 2001 to early 2002, Hebe and Ella acted in the drama, Magical Love (愛情大魔咒). Ella starred as Juliet, a recent high school graduate who is constantly looking for her Romeo. Hebe portrayed the secondary role of Sha Sha, Juliet's self-conscious and assertive friend. Selina was absent because she was studying at the National Taiwan Normal University.[50] The songs "Remember" and "Belief" were used as the drama's opening and ending themes, respectively. In February, S.H.E signed on to be co-hosts on Jacky Wu's show, Guess Guess Guess. During S.H.E's tenure on the show, ratings averaged over 3.5, regularly putting the show in the top 10 for weekend shows.[51] S.H.E stopped hosting Guess Guess Guess in July. In April 2003, the trio guest-hosted two episodes of the Taiwanese variety show, Happy Sunday, before signing on as co-hosts in May.[52] However, during S.H.E's Happy Sunday tenure, at the height of the SARS epidemic, Hebe exhibited fever-like symptoms while coming home from Singapore.[53] Since Ella was living with Hebe at the time, both were forced into quarantine for 10 days, leaving Selina as the only one in the group who could host the television show Happy Sunday.[54]
The Rose, starring Ella as Bai He (above), marked S.H.E's second appearance in a television series. The drama won the Most Popular Drama Award at the 2004 Golden Bell Awards.
The Rose, starring Ella as Bai He (above), marked S.H.E's second appearance in a television series. The drama won the Most Popular Drama Award at the 2004 Golden Bell Awards.

All three S.H.E members appeared in the drama, The Rose, where Ella starred as Bai He, a girl suffering from low self-esteem. Selina played two secondary roles: her first character, Qin, was a beautiful yet frail girl with a heartwarming personality. Her second character, Di Ya Man, is Qin's doppelganger with an arrogant and domineering personality. Hebe portrayed Xiao Feng, a girl who quietly pursues Bai He's love interest, Han Kui. Each episode of The Rose was originally estimated to cost NT$1 million;[55] that number quickly rose to 1.3 million by the time filming had finished.[55] In spite of the high costs, The Rose was the highest rated television drama in its time slot.[56] At the 2004 Golden Bell Awards, which are presented by the GIO to honour the year's best television programs, The Rose was crowned Most Popular Drama.[57] S.H.E sang "Flowers Have Blossomed" for the drama's soundtrack. The song not only debuted at #1 on the UFO Music Charts,[58] but it also stayed on the YES 93.3 charts for ten weeks, holding the #1 position for two consecutive weeks.

On July 29, 2003, Ella performed a stunt as part of S.H.E's Happy Sunday segment. The stunt, which involved jumping off different floors of a building, was part of a public service video that explained proper fire escape procedures.[59] On her first attempt, Ella followed protocol, jumped off the second floor of a building, and landed safely.[17] On her second attempt, she was asked to jump off the third floor. However, as she jumped off, Ella became nervous and failed to follow the safety procedures correctly, leading to her falling on a fire escape from twenty feet and shattering her hip.[60] Paramedics transported her to the Neihu Tri-Service General Hospital before being redirected to the National Taiwan University Hospital.[17] Ella was released from the hospital after a 23 day stay,[61] but she went home to Pingtung for five months in order to recuperate.[59] In spite of this incident, the Japan National Tourist Organization, who had admired S.H.E's hosting abilities, asked Happy Sunday to promote Japanese tourism.[62] As a result, Selina and Hebe hosted "Yokoso! Japan", a special Happy Sunday segment that explored numerous facets of Japanese culture.[63] In January 2004, Ella returned to hosting after her recuperation period,[64] and appeared in the final two episodes of "Yokoso! Japan". However, during the segment's four-episode run, producers were already searching for S.H.E's replacements, and ultimately chose Taiwanese singer Phil Chang.[65] S.H.E discontinued hosting Happy Sunday once they began promoting the album Magical Journey.[66]

Selina and Hebe, along with 28 other celebrities, were cast for the three-episode drama series Happy New Year 2004.[67] In February, both S.H.E members co-starred in the movie, A Disguised Superstar (冒牌天皇), with Miriam Yeung; in April, Hebe acted as the female love interest in the first episode of Say Yes Enterprise. The episode would earn a rating of 1.93, placing third behind My Secret Garden II (我的秘密花園II) and Snow Angel (雪天使).[68] In October 2005, all three members of S.H.E starred in the drama, Reaching For The Stars (真命天女),[h] and sang its opening theme, "Star Light" (星光). The drama focused on the fate of an electronics company whose chairman had just died. Selina played the role of Zhou Xinlei, the chairman's spoiled but good-natured daughter. Ella starred as Ren Jie, a clever girl who assumed the identity of the company's heiress to save her brother. Hebe portrayed Shen Xiaorou, a strong-willed policewoman who lives with her ailing grandmother. Reaching for the Stars had the misfortune of airing its pilot episode during the final episode of The Prince Who Turns Into A Frog (王子變青蛙). While the average rating for the pilot episode of Reaching for the Stars was 1.17, the final episode of The Prince Who Turns Into A Frog set a 2005 record for highest average episode rating (6.93) and highest episode rating (11.35).[69] In the end, despite heavy investment in the series' production,[70] Reaching For The Stars had only achieved mediocre television ratings. Nevertheless, Ella was nominated for Best Actress at the 2006 Golden Bell Awards.[71]

In the spring of 2006, Ella pursued her own on-screen interests, and was cast for the lead female role of a Taiwanese idol drama, which was scheduled to air later that year. In January 2007, S.H.E and Wu Bai were invited to voice over several characters for the Taiwanese rendition of Luc Besson's movie, Arthur and the Minimoys.[72] During the same month, Selina and Hebe signed half-year contracts to be the co-hosts of Guess Guess Guess,[73] the show that they had hosted five years earlier. The drama starring Ella, Hanazakarino Kimitachihe, finally began airing in November, and continued until its finale on March 4, 2007. Ella was featured as Lu Ruixi, an American tomboy who transfers schools so she can see her high jump idol every day. During its 15-episode run, the drama never relinquished its ratings crown.[74] S.H.E sang the song, "What to do?" (怎麽辦) as the drama's opening theme. In June 2007, SET TV selected Hebe to star in Bull Fighting as the daughter of the man who owns 13th Street. S.H.E sang "How Have You Been Lately?" (你最近還好嗎) as the drama's ending theme.



Endorsements
S.H.E promoting Fuzion Smoothie in one of their first endorsements. As their career progressed, the group promoted more notable brands, such as Coca-Cola and 7-Eleven.
S.H.E promoting Fuzion Smoothie in one of their first endorsements. As their career progressed, the group promoted more notable brands, such as Coca-Cola and 7-Eleven.

In 2001, S.H.E began promoting the first of many products, including those of Digimaster and beverage chain Fuzion Smoothie. Since then, the group has endorsed numerous companies, including Bobson Jeans (2003),[75] Bausch & Lomb (2002–present),[76] Coca-Cola (2004–present),[5] and China Mobile (2006–present).[77] One of S.H.E's more notable commercials was for World of Warcraft,[6] where the girls were put into the context of a fantasy gaming world.[78]

S.H.E regularly contributes songs for endorsement campaigns. The songs "Too Much" and "Beauty Up My Life", from their debut album Girls Dorm, were used in commercials for Sogo and Wacoal, respectively.[79] "Genesis" and "Watch Me Shine", from the 2002 album Genesis, were used for N-age, a South Korean online game.[80][81] "Piquancy" (Chinese: 痛快), from 2004 album Encore, was used to promote the online game New Legendary Twins (Chinese: 新絕代雙嬌). In collaboration with Fahrenheit, S.H.E sang "Always Open" for 7-Eleven.[82]

Companies frequently use S.H.E's music videos as advertising tools. The videos for "Genesis" and "Watch Me Shine" featured gameplay in N-age; "Excuse" showed flashes of Inventec's OKWAP phones.[83] Daphne (達芙妮女鞋), a Chinese shoe company, used the songs "Super Model", "Laurel Tree Goddess - Daphne", and "Good Mood Just Be Yourself" (好心情Just Be Yourself) for their promotional campaigns.[84][85]



Image

S.H.E is noted as a youthful and energetic girl group. In an industry where good looks are keys to success, S.H.E's outward appearances are mediocre at best.[86] However, S.H.E's main selling point is not the quality of their faces, but the differences that exist between each member.[87] Numerous attempts were made to change the group's image by either increasing their sex appeal or turning them into rockstars,[88] but more often than not, those fabricated images were overshadowed by S.H.E's wild, light-hearted, and joking nature.[87] Unlike many female artists, who try to stay as trim as possible, S.H.E is known for their voracious eating habits, disregarding any risk of obesity.[89] Not only was the group named "history's fattest girl group",[90] but S.H.E even called themselves "history's ugliest girl group."[91]

One of S.H.E's hallmarks is their friendship. This bonding is apparent in several music videos, such as "Five Days, Four Nights" (五天四夜). Some songs, such as "If You're Happy, Then I'll Be Pleased" (你快樂我隨意), and music videos, such as "Good People Will Get Good Hugs" (好人有好抱), even emphasize the importance of keeping good friends instead of pursuing true love. Over the course of their career, S.H.E became increasingly comfortable with each other.[92] The intimacy between Selina, Hebe and Ella reached a point where the media began questioning the group's sexual orientation.[93] In 2007, S.H.E composed the song "Wifey" to commemorate their friendship.[94] The term "Wifey" comes from the group's days in the girl's dormitory, when Selina would call Hebe by that name.[95] Since then, the name has become symbolic of the girls' camaraderie.[96]



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