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.
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
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Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
The Ministry of Education last month proposed a nationwide ban on mobile devices in schools, aiming to curb concerns over student phone addiction. Under the revised regulation, which will take effect in August, teachers and schools will be required to collect mobile devices — including phones, laptops and wearables devices — for safekeeping during school hours, unless they are being used for educational purposes. For Chang Fong-ching (張鳳琴), the ban will have a positive impact. “It’s a good move,” says the professor in the department of
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