美国国家公共电台 NPR K-Pop Stars Red Velvet Set To Perform In Pyongyang This Weekend

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

K-pop is popular in much of the world, and it is about to extend its reach into North Korea. One of the genre¹'s hottest acts is performing there this weekend. As NPR's Elise Hu reports, the music may be lighthearted, but the purpose is the stuff of serious diplomacy².

ELISE HU, BYLINE³: When it comes to inter-Korean relations, pop music and politics can work in concert. North Korea sent a musical delegation⁴ to South Korea for the Winter Olympics last month. Here's the group performing a song called "Let's Run Toward The Future."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET'S RUN TOWARD THE FUTURE")

MORANBONG BAND: (Singing in foreign language).

HU: Now it's the other side's turn. Solo singers and group acts will head north for the first time in more than a decade. Adam Cathcart, an East Asia researcher at the University of Leeds, calls cultural exchanges important.

ADAM CATHCART: It is an achievement that can be moved forward when everything else is stuck and when other exchanges need to get moving forward.

HU: Other exchanges are set to happen. The leaders of the rival Koreas have scheduled their first face-to-face summit for April 27. But before that, there will be music.

CATHCART: Music is particularly useful because it doesn't require a lot of talking, and the performance looks great but it doesn't necessarily require a long discussion about the ideas behind it or anything else.

HU: Singer Cho Yong-pil will also be part of the 160-member cultural delegation. Cho was the last South Korean singer to perform in Pyongyang in 2005. But the biggest names are the K-pop idols⁵ Red Velvet⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUSSIAN ROULETTE")

RED VELVET: (Singing in foreign language).

HU: The members have, in recent years, been it-girls in the pop industry here. Jeff Benjamin follows the group as the K-pop columnist⁷ at Billboard⁸ magazine.

JEFF BENJAMIN: They've done remarkably⁹ well in just their short amount of time together.

HU: K-pop can be used strategically as both a carrot and a stick. Just two years ago, K-pop figured in the propaganda war against the North. South Korea blared music by the hitmakers Big Bang...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BANG, BANG, BANG")

BIG BANG: (Singing in foreign language).

HU: ...Over loudspeakers on the border with North Korea. Adam Cathcart.

CATHCART: That was seen as a way of sort of luring¹⁰ the North Korean soldiers over, a demonstration¹¹ of South Korea's cultural vitality¹² and its superiority, the high living standards, et cetera, et cetera.

HU: Now the same genre is being wielded¹³ in a peaceful way. The setlist was worked out in advance, since song choice is especially sensitive when performing in Pyongyang.

CATHCART: And, of course, there are some very serious censorship issues there. So often what you'll hear about is that K-pop is a subversive¹⁴ force in North Korea. And indeed, South Korean music is illegal to obtain and to listen to.

HU: Red Velvet will play a two-song set, including last summer's hit, "Red Flavor," and a tune¹⁵ called "Bad Boy." Billboard's Jeff Benjamin.

BENJAMIN: I do think they're very representative of the two sides of Red Velvet. One is really, really fun and upbeat and just this addictive¹⁶, sunshiny pop song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RED FLAVOR")

RED VELVET: (Singing in foreign language).

BENJAMIN: The other one is more of a slick, slinky R&B track done by the same guys who worked with Bruno Mars.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BAD BOY")

RED VELVET: (Singing in foreign language).

HU: All part of a soft power strategy for both Koreas, using the slick sounds of pop music as part of a diplomatic opening not seen in more than a decade. Elise Hu, NPR News, Seoul.

1 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

5 idols   

偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像

参考例句：

• The genii will give evidence against those who have worshipped idols. 魔怪将提供证据来反对那些崇拜偶像的人。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Teenagers are very sequacious and they often emulate the behavior of their idols. 青少年非常盲从，经常模仿他们的偶像的行为。

6 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

7 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

8 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

9 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

10 luring   

吸引，引诱（lure的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Cheese is very good for luring a mouse into a trap. 奶酪是引诱老鼠上钩的极好的东西。
• Her training warned her of peril and of the wrong, subtle, mysterious, luring. 她的教养警告她：有危险，要出错儿，这是微妙、神秘而又诱人的。

11 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

12 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

13 wielded   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The bad eggs wielded power, while the good people were oppressed. 坏人当道，好人受气
• He was nominally the leader, but others actually wielded the power. 名义上他是领导者，但实际上是别人掌握实权。

14 subversive   

adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子

参考例句：

• She was seen as a potentially subversive within the party.她被看成党内潜在的颠覆分子。
• The police is investigating subversive group in the student organization.警方正调查学生组织中的搞颠覆阴谋的集团。

15 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

16 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。