比较喜欢这篇文章的文体，自己翻译了一下这篇评论，对照了网上广为流传的译文，发现自己很多地方理解上有问题，译文也不够流畅。本人初学翻译，英文基础比较弱，可能还有很多毛病自己看看不出来，需要行家指点，所以在此发个帖子，希望得到各位老师指点。
原文：
Li Yuchun Loved for Being Herself
By Susan Jakes
Posted Monday, October 3, 2005; 21:00 HKT
Chinese showbiz rarely produces icons. Sure, there are the dozen or so movie actors who can carry a film, and the odd rocker who fills a stadium. But seldom does a face on China's small screen really stand out. Even singing, the national pastime and TV staple, seems reserved for an interchangeable lineup of warbling coquettes, husky crooners and jolly fellows in brass stars and epaulets belting out odes to red flags.
Which helps explain how a 21-year-old Sichuanese music student named Li Yuchun has become one of the most popular figures in China. In August, Li won a televised American Idol-like singing contest produced by Hunan province's Entertainment Channel and bearing its own inimitable name: \"Mongolian Cow Sour Yogurt Super Girl's Voice.\" (Its sponsor makes yogurt.) The show drew the largest audiences in the history of Chinese television. As the competition narrowed, the media covered it like a war or the O.J. Simpson trial. By the time the finale aired, some 400 million people were tuning in.
The Li Yuchun phenomenon, however, goes far beyond her voice, which even the most ardent fans admit is pretty weak: her vocal range drifts between Cher territory and that place your little brother's voice went the summer before seventh grade. As a dancer, she's not much better. Hei Nan, one of the event's judges, told the Guangzhou Daily that Li was \"the worst of the top six in terms of singing skills,\" but noted that she garnered the most audience votes.
What Li did possess was attitude, originality and a proud androgyny that defied Chinese norms. During the tryouts—in which 150,000 contestants were winnowed to 15—Li wore loose jeans and a black button-down shirt, with no make-up and the haircut (and body) of David Bowie during his Space Oddity phase. She auditioned with In My Heart There's Only You, Never Her, an oldie made famous by Taiwan's Liu Wenzheng—a man. In the main competition she sang other songs written for male performers and called herself \"a tomboy.\" For an audience reared on the bubble-gum, lip-gloss standards of Chinese girl pop, Li's disregard for the rule book produced an unfamiliar knee-weakening. Her fans wept openly and frantically shrieked when Li took the stage. The show ruffled feathers among Beijing's commissars. By the final episode, Li and her two remaining rivals had switched their repertoire to patriotic folk songs.
Li's victory was unusual in other ways: like American Idol, but unlike China itself, \"Super Girl's Voice\" is run democratically. Eight million SMS votes flooded in on the night of the finale. For a few weeks after, the mainland press debated the relevance of this format. \"Only something that smashes social norms could elicit such a response,\" Yu Guoming, a media expert at People's University, told the Beijing News. \"After all, in China the opportunities to use votes to choose are relatively few.\" An editorial in the China Daily wondered: \"How come an imitation of a democratic system ends up selecting the singer who has the least ability to carry a tune?\" As Li prepares for a nationwide tour with the other finalists, her handlers are loath to discuss the political dimensions of the program or of Li's triumph. Hunan Entertainment Channel refused TIME's requests to interview or photograph Li. According to one of her many agents, they were worried the story would portray Li as more than just an entertainer. But she is more: Li represents unabashed individuality, and that's why she's a national icon.
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我的译文：
李宇春真我的风采
中国的娱乐业很少会产生亮点。当然，在中国总有一大把能够拍戏的演员，也有一批充斥在舞台上的另类摇滚歌手，但是面对中国这个小小的屏幕极少有人真正脱颖而出。即使是歌唱，这种举国性的娱乐形式和电视节目的重头戏，看上去也被那些鸟语般的媚眼歌手，沙哑的伤感乐人，滑稽戏的丑角和那些带着肩章面对红旗引吭高歌者轮番霸占。
以上这一切都说明了：李宇春一个21岁的四川籍音乐系学生，如何会成为中国最流行的歌手之一。八月份，李获得了由湖南卫视主办类似《美国偶像》节目的电视音乐比赛冠军，这次比赛被冠名为“蒙牛酸奶超女之声”（赞助商是酸奶制造商）。节目吸引了中国电视有史以来最多的观众。随着比赛临近尾声，媒体对它的聚焦就像关注战争或辛普什案件一样。在决赛播出时，大约有4亿观众收看了。
然而李宇春热决不是因为她的声音，就连大多数她忠实的歌迷也承认这个弱点：她的声音就像青春期的男孩。作为一个舞蹈演员，她也差强人意。黑楠，这次活动裁判之一，告诉广州日报李的唱功是前六名中最差的，但是他也指出李宇春囊获了最多选票。
李所拥有的是与中国传统格格不入的态度、创意以及她引以自豪的双性特征。在从15000参赛者中遴选15名的比赛中，李穿着宽松的牛仔裤和黑色保守的衬衫，不着粉黛，发型（和体型）和David Bowie在Space Oddity那个阶段一样。她试唱的“我的心里只有你，没有她”是一首由台湾男歌手刘文正唱红的老歌。在主要的比赛中，她演唱的歌曲都是为男性创作的，她称她自己为“假小子”。习惯了中国女流行歌手嚼着泡泡糖、涂着靓丽唇膏的观众，对他们来说，李对规则的叛逆会让他们感到前所未有的恐慌。李上台演出时，她的歌迷毫不掩饰地哭泣并且疯狂的尖叫着。这场比赛撩得北京的高官们烦躁不安，在决赛阶段，李和剩下的两位选手把她们的预备节目改为了爱国主义老歌。
李的胜出非同寻常，其特别之处在于：“超级女声”是一次民主的比赛，这场比赛更像是《美国偶像》而非中国自身的娱乐比赛。决赛之夜八百万短信投票如海水般潮涌而来。几周过后，大陆有媒体对这种形式的实效性进行争论。人民大学媒体学专家喻国明（音）告诉《北京新闻》：“只有打破社会准则才可能带来这样的反响。毕竟，在中国有机会参加投票选举的机会相对非常少。”人民日报的一名记者感到疑惑：“这种对民主体制的效仿怎么会选出这样一个五音不全的歌手？”当李准备和其他决赛选手进行全国巡演时，他的经纪人谈及这次活动和李的获胜的政治尺度显得非常勉强。湖南娱乐频道拒绝了时代周刊采访李和为李拍照的要求。根据她多个代理人之一的说法，他们担心采访会把李描绘成一个超越娱乐歌手的角色。但李的确超越了：李代表了从容不迫的个性，这也就是她为何会成为举国亮点的原因。
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网上流传已久的译文：
（无标题）
中国的影像工业造星乏术。尽管有若干影星占据银幕，也有少数摇滚歌手可以炒热体育场，但却鲜有电视银屏上的面孔能够真正出位。即便是在国家娱乐活动及电视晚会的歌唱环节中，也总是看见一些换汤不换药的风尘女子、沙哑的男低音和貌似愉悦的跟班，在军衔和铜制五星的簇拥下高歌红旗颂。
而这也正解释了为什么一个名叫李宇春的21岁四川女生会成为中国最受欢迎的流行偶像。8月，李宇春在湖南卫视那档类似“美国偶像”的歌唱比赛中盛出，并赢得了她独一无二的称号：“蒙牛酸酸乳超级女声”(电视节目的赞助商是做酸酸乳的)。这个节目吸引到了中国电视史上最大的观众群。当比赛日趋白热化，媒体就像面对一场战争或是辛普森案那样对比赛进行了报道。在总决选中，约4亿人收看了电视直播。
被李宇春的狂热歌迷们追捧的歌声经不起推敲——那只是种漂移在雪儿(Cher)和你还没上初中的小弟弟之间的音色。而作为一名舞者，她也强不到哪里去。超女评委黑楠在接受《广州日报》采访时说：“她是六强中唱功最差的”，但是请注意，她依然赢得了最多的观众选票。
实际上，李宇春现象早已超越了她的歌声。李宇春所拥有的，是态度、创意和颠覆了中国传统审美的中性风格。在那个从15万人中选出15人的预赛阶段，李宇春身着宽松的牛仔裤与黑色带扣衬衫，素面朝天并带着大卫·鲍伊(David Bowie)在演唱《太空星尘(Space Oddity，1969年发行，译者注)》时的发型和体型登台亮相，演唱了台湾男歌星刘文正的著名老歌《我的心里只有你没有她》。海选过后，李宇春又演唱了许多为男歌手创作的歌曲并说自己“像男生”。对教条的不屑一顾引来超乎意料的反响，每当李宇春登台亮相，她的“粉丝”们总会泪洒现场或是惊声尖叫。这档节目惹恼了北京的高层。在总决选中，李宇春和她的两位竞争对手不得不将原先安排好的曲目换成民歌。
李宇春的胜利在很多其他方面都显得与众不同：类似“美国偶像”——而非中国现状——“超级女声”以一个民主的方式运作。800万短信投票划过决赛当晚的夜空。此后数周，大陆媒体围绕着这种节目模式展开了争论。“只有打破常态的东西才会引起如此大的反响，”人民大学新闻学院教授喻国明在接受《新京报》采访时说，“但毕竟中国能够实际的完全用投票的方式进行选择，机会是比较少的。”《China Daily》的社论(《Svengalis scramble to decipher Super Girls' secret》，8月27日，作者周黎明，译者注)发问：“为什么一个模拟民主的比赛机制却选出了唱功最差的歌手呢？”当李宇春准备和其他“超级女声”展开全国巡演的时候，她的经纪人并不愿意在政治层面上谈论这档电视节目和李宇春的胜出。湖南卫视拒绝了《时代》周刊的采访，也不允许对李宇春进行拍照。经纪公司非常担心这篇报道会给李宇春扣上艺人以外的帽子。但是，李宇春确实拥有更多含义：她代表了张扬的个性，这就是她成为全国偶像的原因。 （完毕） |
发表于 2006-1-15 15:53:39