JoleCole's Station

Although I am having a blast watching Wei Wuji and Xinyue's romance unfolds onscreen, I actually have very mixed feelings about the execution of some of the most anticipated scenes in the novel. Scenes that I expected the director to execute well did not produce the "after-effects" that I hope. The climatic moments in the novel ended up "anti-climatic" onscreen. The musical score, execution, and film cutting/editing were subpar and wasted the onscreen chemistry of the two main leads. Surprisingly, the drama succeeds in some "less important scenes" of the story that I least expected anything beyond some "lines recital." 

How are you all enjoying Sound of the Desert? Besides the disappointing theme songs and score, I am loving every scene of Wei Wuji. Eddie Peng surpasses all of my expectations. He is dashing and wickedly charming onscreen. Although this new MV, once again, revolves mostly around Hu Ge's Mo Xun, there are still good scenes between Xingyue and Wei Wuji be relished about.

Mandarin title : Feng Zhong Qi Yuan  风中奇缘/ Sound of the Desert （formerly Da Mo Yao 大漠谣/ Xing Yue Chuan Qi 星月传奇) # Episode: 35 (?) Genre:  Romance, historical drama Release date: October 1, 2014, Wed./Thus. 10 p.m. Beijing time Broadcasting Company: Hunan TV Cast: Liu Shi Shi as Xinyue, Eddie Peng as Wei Wuji, Hu Ge as Mo Xun, Fala Chen as Qin Xiang, Han Dong as Li Jie,

I have always been quite envious of Xinyue and Mo Xun's shippers because they have quite a few MVs entirely dedicated to their fanship. Well...I can finally be one happy shipper now that a 5-minute MV just released and it's filled with goody scenes between Xinyue and Wei Wuji.  The vibes in this MV is a contrast to the previous two MVs where the focus was on Mo Xun. Xinyue and Mo Xun's relationship is repressed and constrained. Mo Xun.  Xinyue and Wei Wuji's relationship reminds me of two lovebirds constantly pecking at each other. Their scenes definitely exude uninhibited fun.

Great news for people who don't want to wait until October 1st to catch a glimpse of Sound of the Desert. Tencent, one of the largest web portal in China, procured the rights to broadcast a "sneak peek" version of the series starting September 28, 2014 (12:00 a.m.) Beijing time, which means the first chapter is already available for preview. "Sneak peek" version of the drama is Tencent's cut   of each episode into a 20-minute-long segment. If you want to watch the full episode, you would still have to wait for the Hunan TV broadcast on Wednesday.

Wei Wuji vigilantly stays at Xinyue's bedside when she fell unconscious either after her difficult labor or after falling into the icy water.  A fellow Sound of Desert follower, Ironfinger, thoughtfully informed me of this teaser earlier today. I refrained from posting about it until a higher quality version of the video was available. The higher quality version has finally arrived and I can fangirl all the scenes that got unveiled in this short teaser. I must say I am loving every scene of Eddie Peng's Wei Wuji in this drama. He is definitely a very very charismatic general in beautifully embroidered robes. Hahaha.

Although the first minute or so of this 14-minute  trailer is a cut from a previously released trailer, this new trailer contains a few of my most anticipated scenes in Sound of the Desert.One scene shows Xinyue's "less-than-happy" confrontation with Wei Wuji about his "not-so-noble" action in hiding her whereabouts from Mo Xun.

The magic date of October 1st is fast approaching for Sound of the Desert aficionados! Eight more days to go! Muahahaha! In the meantime, lots of promotional photos, videos, and leaked clips have surfaced on the internet. I have been busy scavenging whatever leaked online because I just do not want to wait for the snail pace release of the series.  It always feels so good to get an early glimpse of anything related to this series. If you want to remain spoiler-free, don't watch the leaked clips.

As the official release date is approaching, the Chinese large online media providers are bombarding us with new stills and teaser trailers. Besides the 22-minute long trailer, two additional short trailers have been released this month: 3-minute version and 1-minute version. One of my favorite shots in the 3-minute trailer is Wei Wuji (Eddie Peng) biting Xinyue(Liu Shi Shi)'s neck. A second shot that I really really like is Wei Wuji combing his lover's hair. Tang Ren Entertainment is totally remaining faithful to the original novel. All the juicy, spicy, hotness between the main leads are playing out onscreen.

It's finally official! I think. Multiple sources have confirmed that Sound of the Desert will officially broadcast on October 1, 2014. It's eight days earlier than the original forecast date. Can we give a sign of relief?! After two long years of waiting and waiting, the anticipation can finally be fruitful. On a side note, the Chinese name for Sound of the Desert has changed again. The original novel is titled Da Mo Yao ("Ballad of the Desert"), later due to some political sensitivity, the production team changed it to Xing Yue Chuan Qi ("Legend of Moon and Star"). Just before the broadcast, they decided to give the drama another title change. It's now officially called Feng Zhong Qi Yuan ("Fate in the Wind"). I heard Feng Zhong Qi Yuan sounds like the Chinese name for Pocahontas. LOL.

After two years of being shoved under the carpet, Legend of Moon and Sta r, or better known as Da Mao Yao , may be seeing some daylight! An executive from Hunan TV just announced on weibo that Legend of Moon and Star will be broadcast following the Li Yifeng and Yang Mi's  Legend of Ancient Swords (Gu Jian Qi Tan) on its "Diamond Timeslot" starting at 10 p.m. Beijing time. The long awaited release date is scheduled to be October 8, 2014.

Sorry for my long absence! I took quite a long hiatus from my blogging life because recent dramas that flooded our screen neither interested me nor inspired me to write about it. I hope you all haven't wonder too far away from Chinese dramaland. The release of Sound of the Desert official MV finally bought me back to dramaland. I'm still keenly following every tiny bits of news about this drama series. Most of the dramas I followed have already been released (e.g., Legend of Lu Zhen, Battle of Changsha, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils), except for this one. Nothing has been confirmed yet about its broadcast. I just keep on hearing about one delays after another. *sigh*

There is not much to report about Sound of the Desert. The newest bit of info is quite generic and doesn't mean much. All I know is Sound of the Desert will likely broadcast this year. When this year? No idea. What channel? A local provincial channel. This means not everyone in China will have access to the broadcast of the drama, and consequently translates to less sources for downloads and streaming. 

I am absolutely in love! Specifically in love with the Wei Wuji 卫无忌 and Xingyue 莘月 in  Sound of the Desert  (formerly Da Mo Yao ), portrayed by Eddie Peng and Liu Shi Shi respectively. I have no new substantive material share except for my random thoughts on this latest drama excitement.  Note : Based on the official pictorial booklet released by the production company, official English title for this drama series is actually  Sound of the Desert . The original novel was named Da Mo Yao or Ballad of the Desert . Due to political reasons, it underwent a name change in Chinese to Xin Yue Zhuan Qi , which literally translates to  Moon Star Legend or Legend of Star and Moon . For the sake of consistency and deference to the "official" name, I shall henceforth refer to this drama as Sound of the Desert . I don't think I ever encountered a drama series with so many name variations in English. X_X

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! More than a year after shooting ended, Tangren Entertainment (aka Chinese Entertainment  Shanghai Limited) finally released its first official "anything" of this drama series ( related posts here ). [ Correction: So I was wrong. This trailer is not the official trailer, but a leaked version. No wonder it feels a little "off."] Unlike Yu Zheng who constantly proliferates the entertainment media with real-time photos, clips, and interviews of his productions, Tangren Entertainment had been particularly low-key about this production. Da Mo Yao/Ballad of the Desert , now officially renamed Xing Yue Zhuan Qi which literally translates to L egend of the Moon and Star (LofMaS) has been thrown under the rug in secrecy and silence by the Chinese censorship bureau. Radical history fanatics heavily bombarded the story with criticisms for the over romanticization of a famous Han Dynasty general and distortion of other famous historical figures. Dud...

Ever since photos have been leaking out of Da Mo Yao film sets, we rarely have any high quality photos of Eddie Peng's Huo Qubing. To my pleasant surprise this morning, some high quality photos were posted on Eddie Peng's Baidu Forum. I'm just amazed at how good he looks in his nobleman wardrobe. The parted combed-hair and the male hair ornamentation transform Eddie Peng into a very sleek young gentleman with an aura of grandness and regality.

If I remember correctly, this scene is where Jinyu was waiting for Meng Jiu to respond to her love confession, but to her devastation, he didn't show up. My interest in Da Mo Yao/Ballad of Desert has been on hiatus in recent months due to the lack of news, photo release, and the secretive nature of the production team. But today the splurge of new images just reignited my interest. In the past few weeks, there were barely any high quality photos of Eddie Peng in his character mode and without the usual interruption of crew/production equipments in the backdrop. Since filming just completed, we should expect more photo releases or maybe even a trailer if SARFT finally decides to approve DMY for national broadcast in China.

I'll first make a confession about my biases. Before reading Ballad of the Desert novel, I got heavily influenced by the opinions of Sima Qian (a contemporary of Huo Qubing and author of the monumental Chinese history text Records of the Grand Historian ) and some previous TV series I watched. Consequently, I formed quite a negative perception of the historical Huo Qubing.

Eddie Peng in his Huo Qubing's costume. I love this look, especially the way he wielded his bow After the SWAK miniseries fiasco, I shifted my attention to the upcoming Tang Ren's period drama, Da Mo Yao or Ballad of the Desert. At first, I wasn't too interested in this production when I heard Hu Ge and Liu Shishi would portray the main couple, playing Huo Qubing and Jin Yu respectively. I'm certain a large majority of people totally disagree with me. It seems many are adamant about Hu Ge in taking the role of Huo Qubing, to the point of boycotting the series when they heard Eddie Peng took the role instead.