It’s been a while since we last updated Chocolyn, but we have good news to share today! We are opening up public access to a photo gallery containing image files from throughout Zhang Liyin’s career.
This photo gallery has been a work-in-progress the past two years – and even now, it’s still a work-in-progress – but with the amount of work that’s been put in so far, I feel that it’s good enough to be shared to the public.
Zhang Liyin made her first public appearance since leaving SM Entertainment in 2017 and joining her new management agency Show City Times. The TV singing competition, Singing Choice (声音的抉择), allowed up-and-coming artists to compete for a chance to work with the lead judge, Li Quan.
For Liyin’s performance, she sang a contemporary R&B-style version of Wen Zhang’s “The Clouds from My Hometown” (故乡的云). Originally released in 1984, it is considered a classic in Chinese music.
It’s been a quiet year for Chocolyn and Zhang Liyin.
Since returning to China back in the spring of 2017, we have not heard much from her. We know that she visited her hometown and she visited relatives, but on the career front, it’s been relatively quiet.
Her new management company, Show City Times, was dealt with a serious blow to their artist roster last summer when their most successful artist, Jane Zhang, left the agency. We have no idea how this will affect Liyin’s career at the company.
“Lonely” (伶仃) is the first single released by Zhang Liyin after leaving SM Entertainment back in April 2017. The song is an original duet with popular Chinese singer Henry Huo, who is well-known for his original compositions. Liyin travelled to Shanghai to record the song with Henry in January 2018, but the release of the single was not until May 29, 2018.
Zhang Liyin made her first live appearance since announcing her new management agency on Weibo. Today is her debut anniversary; it has been 11 years since she debuted on September 9, 2006, with the single “Timeless”. As a gift for fans, the company arranged for Liyin to hold a brief live streaming session with fans to celebrate the special day.
After over a decade of being an artist under SM Entertainment, Zhang Liyin announced this week that she had signed with talent management agency, Show City Times. To get a better idea of Liyin’s career outlook in her new company, we have compiled some of the best fan reactions to Liyin’s latest news.
Before we can begin, however, we must write a disclaimer to say that none of the staff members at Chocolyn are actually very familiar with the Chinese music industry. Most of what we know is from extensive research on Wikipedia and Weibo. We would love to get more insight from fans who follow the Chinese entertainment industry. If you’re one of these fans, please don’t hesitate in reaching out! We are currently looking for Chinese-English translators and writers.
It’s official! Zhang Liyin updated her Weibo biography page today to announce her new management company.
After a few days of fan speculation, Liyin updated her Weibo about page to officially show that she is now a part of the Beijing-based talent management company, Show City Times (少城时代). Their most well-known artist is singer-songwriter Jane Zhang. It was announced earlier this year that Liyin’s contract with her former agency, SM Entertainment, ended in April.
It’s been a quiet few months.
As mentioned in our previous update, Zhang Liyin’s contract with SM Entertainment officially ended sometime in April 2017. Since then, Liyin has moved back to Beijing – she held a permanent residence there during 2008 I Will promotions – with her mother to develop this new stage of her music career. There have been far and few social media updates from Liyin, but we’ve managed to scrape together a couple of minor updates.
The rumours are true! Zhang Liyin took time on her birthday to host a live video streaming event with fans, during which she confirmed that her contract with SM Entertainment will end this April 2017.
It’s been a long ten years for Zhang Liyin and her fans. During the live chat, she thanked fans who have supported her throughout the years, particularly fans who have been by her side since she first debuted with “Timeless”. As a gift, perhaps, she sang a short clip of “Timeless” in Korean for fans chatting on the live stream.
Did you miss us? We have been away from the internet for nearly three months, busy transforming our fan forums into a news fansite. We hope you like it! It may take getting used to, but there are a few very good reasons behind this major shift in website strategy.
If you’re interested in learning more about Chocolyn, please continue reading this blog. We love engaged readers!