Lavigne becomes city's girlfriend for Valentine's Day

Hot on the heels of her hand-somely paid appearance on Jiangsu TV's New Year's Gala, nerf-punk sweetheart Avril Lavigne returns to the Middle Kingdom for a Valentine's Day date with Beijing. The performance is one half of the 27-year-old Canadian's two-city Black Star tour ahead of her fifth studio album slated for release later this year.

Despite her relative drop-off from the Western music radar, Lavigne has found new hearts and ears in China. Her man-ager Terry McBride has admit-ted in past interviews that her consumption is greater in Asia than all of the Western Hemi-sphere combined.

It all begs the simple ques-tion: why?

"Almost every one of my classmates had that tape," said Fan Kai, editor of Shanghai's Hit Magazine (a Chinese-language monthly dedicated to Western music), of Lavigne's 2002 debut Let's Go.

Apart from her catchy hooks offering something different from the Chinese mainstream, Kai explained that fans were most drawn to the fact Lavigne penned the songs herself as a teenager. "People need this kind of young generation song-writer in China. It made sense Lavigne would catch on."

Whether you call it cultural exchange or the dark side of globalization, an increas-ing number of fading stars are finding fame in China, albeit with a particular brand of music. In the past year or so, not-so-hot artists such as Westlife, James Blunt and Michael Learns To Rock scored large venue shows, where the "cheap" seats were priced at 280 yuan ($44.50).

Music critic Wang Ge pointed out their appeal lies in producing KTV-friendly melodies suited to a Mandopop palate.

"The music is all about bit-tersweet love, which is always a popular theme in China," said Wang. "Even Mandopop stars know that. They release a few hits, then live off them for life."

In Lavigne's case, her call-ing card remains 2007 hit "Girlfriend," now ingrained in the Chinese pop conscious as the theme for reality show If You Are The One. The song's association with the hip dating show perhaps proves China's mainstream is ready for a smattering of punk attitude. Even Lavigne's ex-husband Deryck Whibley of punk-pop band Sum 41 is getting in on the action, with the group poised to tour China in April.

"It used to be there was no real market for Western pop singers [in China], but that has changed so much in the past few years," said Li Jianhua, a Beijing concert coordinator and self-confessed Lavigne fan. "Fans are drawn to her because a female pop star like her is rare here."

When: Tuesday, February 14, 8 pm
Where: MasterCard Center
Tickets: From 280 yuan
Contact: 400-880-2880 Contact: 400-880-2880