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SCMP Reporter

JANET Jackson is negotiating to play in China as part of her upcoming world tour and the word from Los Angeles is that she is fairly close to securing the tour, according to her record company, Warner Music.

  While details are sketchy, Janet had apparently made it very clear to her label she wants to perform in this part of the world - especially China. The Asia leg is sure to include Hongkong again, according to local record company reps.

  This follows hot on the heels of news that brother Michael also wants to perform in the People's Republic. His Dangerous World tour kicks off in Hongkong with two shows on August 15 and 16 at Sha Tin racecourse.

  Janet is apparently fascinated by all things Asian and especially anything Chinese, as her latest video reveals.

  It opens in the back street of a Chinatown. Speaking in Cantonese, a young man is trying to talk his way into a nightclub hidden behind a heavy door.

  Set in a night club-cum-bordello and reportedly based on a Chinese novel she read recently, Janet does her usual high energy dance routine - this time with a Siamese number thrown in - while around her swan beautiful Asian men and women in varying statesof decadence.

  ''It's almost unbelievable,'' said MTV Asia's music programming manager, Darren Childs. ''It's like someone went over there and said to Janet Jackson, 'you should make a video specially for this market'.

  ''The fact they've used Cantonese over Mandarin is very interesting too. This is very special to us.''   But Janet Jackson's latest release, if, is more than just a coincidental god-send, believes Childs - it marks the beginning of a whole new trend that will see all things Asian in vogue.

  ''It must be a very sexy image right now,'' mused Childs. Videos from two of the world's most successful and influential Western pop performers arrived on his desk this week within 15 minutes of each other.

  Those dictators of vogue - Janet Jackson and Madonna - have gone Asian in a big way.

  Making their debuts on MTV Asia tomorrow afternoon at 3.30, the two very different, but very Asian, videos are already set for the high rotation list.

  While Janet's is exotic and hintingly erotic Chinese, Madonna has gone for a stylised Japanese video to go with her latest catchy ballad, Rain.

  Dressed in the latest from Japanese designers, Madonna's Asian look is completed by an elfin short hair cut dyed sleek black. Also appearing in the video is Japanese actor and musician, Ryuichi Sakamoto.

  Madonna's gentle piece could even be a tribute to the hi-tech wizardry of Japanese technology, and its undoubted impact on the music scene.

  But why this seemingly sudden penchant for the Asian look?   ''While it looks like they have been made especially for this market, that is not the case - they are made specifically for the US market. A lot of research goes into the making of these videos and it shows that this sort of imagery is coming on to fashion in the US,'' concluded Childs. While EMI and Warner Music are hoping for big sales in the region because of this new fascination with the east, Childs believes it could mark the start of a musical explosion.

  ''Madonna and Janet, along with her brother Michael, are the big trend-setters in western pop music now. I believe it is the start of a focus on this region by record companies and the music and entertainment industries.''   Janet's song if is the second single off her album, janet. The first single, That's The Way Love Goes, went straight to the top of the Billboard charts in less than three weeks - a record shared only by The Beatles, her brother Michael, and Whitney Houston.

  Janet will no doubt be hoping that her Hongkong visit goes off a little more smoothly than her first visit to the territory. Janet flew into Hongkong in November 1990 for three concert dates, but the tour, wedged between Japan concert dates, was labelleda shambles by angry fans.

  While the 11,000 capacity Coliseum was only 60 per cent full and the crowd took a long time to warm up, some fans were hot under the collar before she even appeared on stage.

  Some luckless fans, who had paid $350 for what they thought were the best seats in the house found themselves wedged behind a mountain of speakers at the back of the stage and only caught a glimpse of the back of her head.

  The promoters of her concert tour, Artist World Enterprises, are one of the three organisers behind brother Michael's Dangerous extravaganza.



Janet gets bitten by the Asia bug again