It looks like Chan Jen-hsiung (詹仁雄) had better learn how to swim — if, that is, he doesn’t already know. The producer of CTV’s One Million Star (超級星光大道) idol-search program was allegedly busted last week, again, for meddling in the hit “reality” show — an accusation that harks back to January when the show’s host, Momoko Tao (陶子), accused Chan of interfering in the program. Chan, at the time, said that if the accusation proved true, he would jump in the ocean.
Chan is now in hot water because after the performance of contestant Hsu Chia-ying (徐佳瑩) in last week’s segment, the audience couldn’t help but notice the producer running over and speaking animatedly to the judges, according to a report in the Apple Daily (蘋果日報). Hsu later won.
But the theatrics don’t end there. In one episode, contestants were required to write their own songs, which they then performed live on the show. What a novel idea: rather than singing the songs written by others, that week’s “talent” was expected to create their own. And so it went that Hsu wrote the music and lyrics to Perfume (香水), a love ballad that had the judges giving high scores. What got tongues wagging, however, was the fact that Hsu’s song bore an uncanny resemblance to Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, the 1967 single by Frankie Valli.
Although Hsu has yet to be stripped of her award, speculation is rife that it’s only a matter of time. Is it just Pop Stop or has One Million Star run out of ways of keeping the public interested in their half-baked talent and B-grade gossip?
Comments of a different kind are coming from the street with regards to the recent revelation that Huang Yi-ling (黃乙玲), who won Best Taiwanese Female Singer in the 2006 Golden Melody Awards. The gossip mongers have “revealed” that she has a 13-year-old daughter with a wealthy local businessman named King Chen (陳國欽), and that — scandal of scandals — they aren’t married.
In an attempt to whip up media frenzy, Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) reporters hit the streets and asked how the average person felt about Huang keeping her daughter a “secret.” A woman surnamed Cheng (鄭) probably spoke for the rest of us when she said, “It’s their business, not mine.”
Meanwhile, Malaysian boozer and blabbermouth Gary Tsao (曹格) just keeps the paparazzi guessing about his sexuality. Readers of Pop Stop will remember that Tsao likes hanging out at gay bars because that’s where much of his fan base hangs out — although it looks more like a limp attempt to keep his name in the papers. Tsao’s agent disclosed some rather lurid tidbits about the singer’s habits behind closed doors, as reported in the China Times (中國時報).
The agent revealed that Tsao likes to stroll around naked when at home — even when his friends are lounging around. The agent went on to say that Tsao’s hand isn’t large enough to cover his “big bird brother” (大鳥哥) and also claimed that Tsao likes to grab his mate’s members as a sign of camaraderie. When asked for a comment, Tsao just “laughed” and said that actually his favorite body part was his bum — a comment sure to keep gossip journos sniffing around for more garbage.
Over in the world of haute couture, a bevy of celebrities and socialites attended last Friday’s Chanel autumn-winter fashion show at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall (台北世貿南港展覽館). The list included singer Karen Mok (莫文蔚), Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Tien Hsin (天心) and Terri Kwan (關穎), who was hard to miss in a gold lame jumpsuit.
Also in attendance was sister act ASOS, or Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) and Dee Hsu (徐熙娣). Barbie was decked out in NT$6 million worth of Chanel jewelry — and a bandaid around her left big toe. She explained that she’d injured her foot at Vanness Wu’s (吳建豪) birthday bash and only just had six stitches removed, but refused to be defeated by her sky-high black platform heels. Barbie may not have been the only one suffering for fashion — Dee looked somewhat pained as her big sister spent the entire night clutching her hand in a death grip for support.
The Taipei Times last week reported that the rising share of seniors in the population is reshaping the nation’s housing markets. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, about 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident. H&B Realty chief researcher Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨), quoted in the article, said that there is rising demand for elderly-friendly housing, including units with elevators, barrier-free layouts and proximity to healthcare services. Hsu and others cited in the article highlighted the changing family residential dynamics, as children no longer live with parents,
It is jarring how differently Taiwan’s politics is portrayed in the international press compared to the local Chinese-language press. Viewed from abroad, Taiwan is seen as a geopolitical hotspot, or “The Most Dangerous Place on Earth,” as the Economist once blazoned across their cover. Meanwhile, tasked with facing down those existential threats, Taiwan’s leaders are dying their hair pink. These include former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), among others. They are demonstrating what big fans they are of South Korean K-pop sensations Blackpink ahead of their concerts this weekend in Kaohsiung.
Taiwan is one of the world’s greatest per-capita consumers of seafood. Whereas the average human is thought to eat around 20kg of seafood per year, each Taiwanese gets through 27kg to 35kg of ocean delicacies annually, depending on which source you find most credible. Given the ubiquity of dishes like oyster omelet (蚵仔煎) and milkfish soup (虱目魚湯), the higher estimate may well be correct. By global standards, let alone local consumption patterns, I’m not much of a seafood fan. It’s not just a matter of taste, although that’s part of it. What I’ve read about the environmental impact of the
Oct 20 to Oct 26 After a day of fighting, the Japanese Army’s Second Division was resting when a curious delegation of two Scotsmen and 19 Taiwanese approached their camp. It was Oct. 20, 1895, and the troops had reached Taiye Village (太爺庄) in today’s Hunei District (湖內), Kaohsiung, just 10km away from their final target of Tainan. Led by Presbyterian missionaries Thomas Barclay and Duncan Ferguson, the group informed the Japanese that resistance leader Liu Yung-fu (劉永福) had fled to China the previous night, leaving his Black Flag Army fighters behind and the city in chaos. On behalf of the
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