F4 (band)
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F4 are a popular boy band from Taiwan. The group began in the Taiwanese television series Meteor Garden. Over time, F4 have become popular in Asia - mobbed in Chinese-speaking cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore and in non-Chinese-speaking countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, the US and Australia. In April 2005, they landed in Japan for the next phase of their pop career. There are hopes that F4 will be the next big thing in Japan, after Korean actors like Bae Yong Joon.
F4 are Jerry Yan, Vic Zhou, Vanness Wu and Ken Chu. Thanks to their good looks and height - their requirement was that they were all at least 6 feet tall - Yan, a model-turned-actor, Zhou, a schoolboy, Wu, a pop-star wannabe, and Zhu, a one-time waiter, were chosen by producer Angie Chai to star in Meteor Garden.
The series is based on the Japanese shoujo manga series, Hana Yori Dango, which roughly means Boys Over Flowers. Yen plays Daoming Si, an extremely arrogant Mr Darcy type, who meets his match in poor but proud Shancai, played by Barbie Hsu. Chou, Wu and Chu play his buddies Huaze Lei, Meizuo and Ximen respectively, all of whom are as rich and spoilt as Si. Together, they are a gang of four pretty boys, F4, or Flower 4, terrorising everybody else in school.
Because Chai was right on the money in mixing romantic comedy with raw pop-idol charisma, Meteor Garden was a huge hit in Taiwan in 2001 and made overnight stars of Yen and company. It started the ouxiang ju (idol drama) genre, too. Meanwhile, Meteor Garden took the rest of Asia. A sequel, Meteor Garden II, was shot in Spain later.
In 2001, Sony came calling with record deals. Yen and company became F4, a name taken from their series. Together they have released two albums, Meteor Rain and Fantasy 4ever. Chou has released two of his own. Wu, Yen and Chu have released one each.
As of September 2004, they have officially gone their separate ways and are now working as solo acts.
In 2005, they will reunite for their Asia Tour near year's end.