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Abstract: While popular culture flows in Myanmar have begun to attract greater critical attention, the significance of ethnic minority performance and representation in these productions is largely unexamined. This article discusses the political and economic networks behind the stardom of the ethnic Shan singer Sai Sai Mao. Many of his songs are copy thachin, or Burmese cover renditions of international songs, including several popularized by the Taiwanese superstar Teresa Teng, which, in turn, were often appropriations of songs and styles from Japanese enka. Tracing the history of these cover renditions reveals not only the transnational character of music itself but also the subnational geopolitical relationships that existed during the Cold War years in mainland Southeast Asia. Both singers demonstrate that popular success in an otherwise hostile political climate also depended on symbolic flexibility, anodyne sweetness, and transnational glamour.
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Introduction
The year is 2005, and facing the sold-out audience in a cavernous concert hall in Yangon stands Sai Sai Mao,1 one of the most famous ethnic Shan singers in pop music history.2 The Shan constitute the largest ethnic nationality group in Myanmar, following the Burmans.3 Stepping up to the mike, outfitted with dark sunglasses and a flashy white suit, he politely introduces his first song. While his backup band plays the introduction, young dancers in traditional Shan costumes make their entrance on the stage, their graceful calculated steps complementing the beat of the song. Sai Mao leads into the first verse, crooning about the cool mists on the mountains of his Shan homeland. The song he is singing at this Yangon performance is one of his greatest hits, "Shan Be Boub Lay Kyandaw" (I am just a Shan bean).4 The melody is both smooth and catchy and is immediately recognizable to overseas Chinese audiences as one and the same as "Wo He Ni" (Me and you),5 sung by the panAsian superstar Deng Lijun,6 also known as Teresa Teng. Those with an ear for Japanese enka recognize the melody as originally Sen Masao's "Kitaguni No Haru" (Springtime of north country).7 But music fans in Myanmar are most familiar with this version sung in Burmese by this Shan singer. The audience sings along with Sai Mao's lyrics, which romanticize the...