Last Saturday's Golden Melody Awards saw not only the crowning moments of the new kings and queens of the Chinese pop music, but also the crumbling of the widely speculated split between Petty Hou (侯佩岑) and Jay Chou (周杰倫), a rumor that had sent local paparazzi into a frenzy over the past month.
Wearing a white hip-hop-style outfit, Hou rapped out a counterattack to Chang Chen-yue's (
Tailor-made by Chou for his sweetheart, the number not only proved Hou is not a particularly talented rapper, but it was said to be a public declaration of the couple's steady relationship.
Hou was all smiles. Apart from having a great time on stage with the hottest taike performers, she also had the chance to sing about His Majesty's love for her right in the face of Chou's rumored new girlfriend Hebe of S.H.E, who made a sharp exit after the ceremony before any gossip reporters could get hold of her.
In other Chou-related news, the four-piece rap act Nan Quan Mama (
For the new record, the group decided to prevent their mentor from "helping" with the production. Whenever the king wanted to sneak his sounds into Nan Quan's music, the group would say, "ah, that's nice, but can we not use it? We only make quality songs."
If the crew keeps up the attitude, may be they will have a better chance of winning the Golden Melody Award for Best Singing Group next year.
In this week's most bizarre piece of celebrity news, self-proclaimed high society dame, 48-year-old Hsu Chun-mei (許純美), happily accepted a proposal of marriage from the 23-year-old pretty-faced stud Peter Chiu (邱品叡). It may be a bit cynical to question their love, or his motives, but the scenario sounds slightly familiar: a male gold digger works an elaborate scam to get some cash out of a billionairess.
A national laughingstock for her wacky acts, Hsu will get engaged to Chiu tomorrow, after two-month's of dating. Although she lost a huge chunk of her fortune to her third husband, Hsu has been bitten but certainly isn't twice shy as she insists that a prenuptial agreement is unnecessary. Her eccentric head is filled with the desire to become the prettiest bride to match Chiu's good looks.
When questioned by the press on why they hadn't yet consummated their relationship, the media-whore said, "he is too busy with his business, and doesn't seem to have the need. But it's kind of weird, isn't it?"
A wake-up call to Hsu: yes, it is weird and get the hell away from the man before you get cleaned out again.
As previous violent incidents have demonstrated, local gangsters sometimes like to mess with show biz personalities and former Mando-pop singer Eric Woo (巫啟賢) has become the latest victim. A jury member of the local variety show Happy Sunday (快樂星期天) notorious for shooting off vicious critiques of wannabe pop star's performances, Woo was true to form when he said starlet Angel Ho's (何以奇) singing was like that of a "living zombie," but this time he was messing with the wrong girl.
A heavyweight gang leader from a gangster family, Ho's father issued an assault order on Woo, but later came to his senses and dropped the plan.
And did Woo get to walk home free? Hardly. The TV station assured audiences that the acerbic Woo would not appear on the show this Sunday or any Sunday in the future.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby