Pop stop

First it was Zhao Wei (趙薇) getting wrestled to the ground last year by a xenophobic concert-goer incensed by her dress with a rising sun pattern on it. Now, in the past week Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝), Gigi Leung (梁詠琪), Ken Chu (朱孝天) and Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒) have all fallen victim to raving Chinese fans breaching security barriers to cop a feel.

At the World Chinese Music Awards last weekend in Shanghai, security, which in China is usually zealous if not always competent, was unable to prevent fans from stretching out their hands and molesting Ken Chu, Gigi and Nicholas Tse as they walked the red carpet into the venue. Nicholas even suffered a cut that drew blood. Things went from bad to worse for Gigi when the award she won broke in half and part of it dropped onto her knee making it hard for her to walk.

Cecelia Cheung had her own run in with an out-of-control fan at a show in Chongqing when a man rushed the stage, grabbed her and touched her breasts before he was jerked off stage by security [outrageous, ed]. Hong Kong's gossip media that trail Cecilia round the clock insinuated that she may have brought the attack upon herself with her supposedly strange behavior of late. By strange, they mean her increasingly outlandish clothes, tattoos, Buddhist bead bracelets and the voodoo doll she was photographed with a couple weeks ago. There were rumors in the city's papers that she was using the voodoo doll to take revenge on her former boyfriend Nicholas Tse, who dropped her like a dirty tissue for Faye Wong (王菲).

As annoying as the crazed fans in China may be, it seems that the mainland is where the big bucks are for stars these days, according to The Great Daily News (大成報). A report in the paper's Tuesday edition showed that Faye Wong earns over US$550,000 per concert in China, while Jay Chou (周杰倫) rakes in US$520,000 and A-mei can earn a cool US$500,000 in one night. Trailing far behind these three top earners are Lee Hom Wang (王力宏), who earns US$100,000, Richie Ren (任賢齊) with US$57,000 and Karen Mok (莫文蔚) at US$50,000.

Not surprisingly, Jay is also at the top of the heap in album sales. The most recent summer sales figures show Jay as having sold 305,000 copies of his latest album, which was named after his mother Ye Hui-mei (葉惠美), with S.H.E. trailing with 210,000, followed by Sun Yanzi (孫燕姿) with 160,000. The big losers in the sales race have been Machi (麻吉弟弟), who's sold only 35,000 copies and Kelly Chan (陳慧琳), with a paltry 20,000.

Though not stars on the level of Jay and company, yet still household names in Taiwan -- partly because of a four-person sex scandal dating from last year -- ?the rock band Chairman (董事長) this week released a tribute album on the Taiwan Colors Music label in memoriam of the group's original lead singer who died three years ago. At an album launch concert on Monday at Taipei's cozy Riverside Cafe attended by Pop Stop, with walk-on performances by the Assassins (刺客) and the bassist from China Blue, the new lead singer A-chi (阿吉) drank himself into a stupor that threatened to bring the show to an early end. The band had to wrap up the show after the singer fell backward over the drum set in a true rock n' roll spectacle. Expect more of the same when they play tomorrow night at Taipei's Underworld.

Another Taipei show to look forward to that Pop Stop has learnt about from the owners of Room 18 is British R&B sensation Craig David. The venue is set for the National Taiwan University gymnasium, on Oct. 24. The organizers wouldn't say whether Craig would show up at their club after the show.