BEIJING, March 16 -- Caught in a wave of suspicion over plagiarism, Chinese pop band The Flowers admitted yesterday that there exist some "flaws" in their songs, including the hit "Xi Shuashua."

    To avoid disputes and authentication troubles, The Flowers will not attend any music award ceremonies this year, according to Huang Weiqing, general manager of EMI Music in Beijing.

    In a "clarification meeting" organized by sina.com yesterday, the band's lead vocal, Da Zhangwei, said: "The music (of the band) has some flaws." However, he did not elaborate on whether the "flaws" were plagiarism.     

    "I think some people are making too big a fuss. I don't feel myself in the wrong, so how can they treat me so badly," he complained.     

    The song most under fire has been "Xi Shuashua," for plagiarizing Japanese band Puffy's "K2G Rushing to You." The Flowers' label EMI Music has agreed to share the song's copyright with Sony Music, Puffy's agent company. EMI will negotiate with other music companies concerning other suspect songs from The Flowers, according to company officials at yesterday's meeting.

    "We are always careful to avoid similar rhythms in our products, but we failed in helping The Flowers in their music this time," said Zhou Zhiping, production department manager of EMI Music in Beijing. ¡¡

    The Flowers band, one of the most famous adolescent bands in China, was founded in Beijing in 1998. It bloomed suddenly last year with two albums. The song "Xi Shuashua" won numerous prizes in China.     

    Last month, some media reports suspecting the plagiarism of "Xi Shuashua" put the band in the spotlight. Later, the band was accused of plagiarizing another 12 songs from Japanese bands. The suspicions have led to disputes over the authentication system for Chinese music awards.     

    So far none of the Japanese bands concerned has responded to the plagiarism issue.

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com/sznews.com)