As a child of Detroit, Harlemm Lee says soulful music runs through his veins. Mr. Lee has sung R & B in talent shows, in musicals at Disney World and even on an album he recorded in the 1980s as he pursued a music career after high school.

李哈林從小在底特律長大，他說他血液流著靈魂樂，李哈林曾在才藝表演及迪士尼樂園音樂劇中演唱節奏藍調，1980年代高中畢業後，他想圓職業音樂人的夢，還灌了一張唱片。

Then in 2003 he won the NBC reality show "Fame," gaining national attention and another record contract. Lee thought it was his big break, but he is about to turn 40 this year and is still working as a secretary, still waiting to make it as a singer.

然後在2003年，他在國家廣播公司真人實境秀「Fame」中贏了，引起全美注意，還簽下另一張唱片約，李哈林以為，這下他可以大展身手了。但今年他就快40歲了，還在當祕書，還在苦苦等待，想當歌星。

Of all the factors that have shaped his career in a fickle industry, Lee said he is sure about the one that has hurt him most: looking Chinese.

在這個變化無常的業界，形塑他演唱生涯的所有因素中，李哈林說，他確信，傷害他最大的莫過於長相一看就像老中。

There are Asian-American stars in sports, movies, television and classical music. But the "Asian thing" is what Lee and many other aspiring Asian-American singers say largely accounts for the lack of Asian-American pop stars. People in the music industry, including some executives, have no ready explanation, but Asian-American artists and scholars argue that the racial stereotypes that hobble them as a group — the image of the studious geek, the perception that someone who looks Asian must be a foreigner — clash with the coolness and born-in-the-U.S.A. authenticity required for American pop stardom.

無論體育、影視和古典樂界均不乏亞裔美人，但「亞洲色彩」正是李哈林和其他很多渴望當歌星的亞裔美人認為，最足以說明缺乏亞裔流行樂歌星的原因。樂界人士，包括一些高級主管也說不出所以然來，但亞裔藝術家及學者指稱，對亞裔的刻板印象：只知埋頭苦讀的怪胎，及亞裔長相一看就知是老外等因素，傷及整個族裔，至少和美國流行樂歌星要酷，要生在美國、苗紅根正相衝撞。

Asian-Americans may be expected to play the violin or know kung fu, but not necessarily to sound like Madonna, or sell like her.

一般也許預期，亞裔美人會拉小提琴或練過功夫，但未必唱起歌來像瑪丹娜或像她那麼大賣。

Some in the music industry note that there is no dearth of Asian-Americans or Asians of mixed race in the ranks of successful record producers, rock bands and pop and hip-hop groups, and musicians in general. But where is the Asian-American Justin Timberlake, Prince or Christina Aguilera

音樂界有人指稱，成功的唱片製作人、搖滾樂團及流行樂和嘻哈樂團，乃至於一般音樂家均不乏亞裔美人或亞裔混血兒。但亞裔的賈斯汀、王子或克莉絲汀在哪裡？

Asked to name the most recognizable Asian-American pop solo singer today, older generations might say the Hawaiian singer Don Ho, but younger Asian-American artists agreed on one person: William Hung, the "American Idol" castoff who became an overnight sensation in 2004 for his off-key rendition of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs."

當被要求講出今天亞裔最為人知可以獨當一面的流行歌手時，老一代可能說是夏威夷歌手唐和；但年輕一輩亞裔藝人只認同一位：孔慶翔，他在2004年參加「美國偶像」選拔被淘汰，但他唱瑞奇馬汀的She Bangs時走調，而且五音不全，而一夕爆紅。

"By and large the music industry hasn't done a great job cultivating Asian-American talent," said Jon Caramanica, music editor at Vibe magazine. "Because there's no significant tradition in the mainstream, it becomes that much harder to become that breakthrough artist."

「基本上，音樂界在培育亞裔人才上乏善可陳，」Vibe雜誌音樂主編卡拉曼尼卡說。「由於主流樂界沒有這項傳統，要能突破，當上歌手，難上加難。」

Scores of young Asian-American singers are trying to become that artist. Like aspiring musicians of all stripes, they have created their own parallel universe, and many are writing songs and putting out music on the Internet, playing shows in small clubs and Asian festivals and sometimes starting their own labels.

數十位年輕亞裔歌手都試圖成為那位出人頭地的藝人。一如形形色色懷抱夢想的音樂家，他們創造了自己的平行宇宙，很多在寫歌，並把音樂貼上網站，在小俱樂部和亞洲音樂節展示他們的絕活，有時還自己出片。

Natalise, a 22-year-old pop singer of Burmese and Chinese descent whose single "Love Goes On" was a local radio hit in 2002 while she attended Stanford University, has been able to parlay her forays into YouTube, MySpace and her own Web site (www.natalisemusic.com) into bigger exposure. She has had some of her songs, which she also writes, featured on local commercial radio and MTV shows like "Next" and "My Super Sweet 16."

22歲的流行歌手娜塔莉絲是中緬混血兒，她的單曲「Love Goes On」在2002年她上史丹福大學時，是當地電台熱門歌曲，她也曾利用攻進YouTube，MySpace及她自己的網站 www.natalisemusic.com，打開知名度。有幾首她自己寫的歌，也成為當地商業電台和MTV節目像Next 及 My Super Sweet 16的主打歌。

Natalise's manager, Andy Goldmark, said that Asian-Americans have lagged behind not because of discrimination but because they have yet to create their own popular music sound the way African-Americans and Latinos have.

娜塔莉絲的經紀人高馬克說，亞裔之所以落後，並非因為種族歧視，而是因為他們仍未能像非裔及拉丁美洲裔，創造出屬於他們自己的流行樂。

But Asian-American artists face other challenges. Making up only 4 percent of the country's population, they are too small a market, and too fragmented in language and nationalities, to offer a solid springboard for its aspiring stars the way other ethnic groups have done, said Oliver Wang, a music journalist who teaches about race and popular culture at California State University in Long Beach.

但美國亞裔藝人還面對其他挑戰，他們只占全美人口4%，市場太小，而且不管語言和國籍都太分散，以至於至今仍無法像其他族裔，提供那些渴望摘星的藝人一個堅實的跳板，跑音樂的藝文記者奧利佛．王說，他在長灘加州州立大學教種族和流行文化。

That is why the case of William Hung stings, some artists admitted. Of all the Asian-American singers trying to make it, the one who seemed to have no trouble finding the limelight was a comic figure. "For Asian-Americans it was a collective cringe," said L. S. Kim, a professor of film and television studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

因此，有些藝人承認，孔慶翔的案例特別諷刺傷人。在所有想摘星的亞裔歌手中，唯一似乎可以順利站在鎂光燈下的是個諧星。「對亞裔美國人，這是集體退縮，」聖塔克魯茲加大影視研究的金教授說。

Since his brush with "American Idol," he has put his engineering studies on hold to record three albums (with sales of 200,000, 35,000 and 7,000 units respectively) and perform at concerts, events and private and corporate parties. "I think I represent a symbol of hope," Mr. Hung said in a telephone interview. "I tell people all the time to never give up and keep trying until they succeed."

自從和「美國偶像」擦身而過後，他已經中斷工程研究的課，還灌了三張唱片，分別賣了20萬、35,000和7,000張，還在音樂會、活動場合及公家和私人派對上表演。「我想我代表希望的象徵，」孔慶翔在電話訪問中說。「我常常告訴人們，永遠不要放棄，繼續嘗試到成功為止。」

Mr. Lee, who has found success elusive for more than 20 years even though he won "Fame," is also hopeful. He still gets fan mail and takes dance classes three hours a day. "I'm just one story," he said. "We need to keep knocking on those doors."

李哈林在「Fame」中出線，20多年來一直未能成功，但他仍充滿希望，他仍收到粉絲的信，每天上三小時舞蹈課。「我只是一個個案，」他說。「我們要繼續敲門。」

《詞解》
Crack 打進
soulful music 靈魂樂
R & B 節奏藍調
album 唱片
fickle 變化無常
hobble 傷害
one last shot 最後一搏
ballad 民歌
range 音域
tonal quality 音色
label 唱片公司
hip-hop groups 嘻哈樂團
off-key 五音不全
by and large 基本上
all stripes 形形色色
parallel universe 平行宇宙
stings 諷刺傷人
cringe 退縮