Allen Chao’s (趙樹海) recent return to the entertainment world continues to be bumpy.
His new Saturday night variety show on CTS (華視) didn’t pass the muster of station executives, who have put the program on hold and requested major “structural changes,” according to the United Daily News.
The executives also reportedly were unimpressed with Chao’s “old school” style of hosting, which they feared wouldn’t live up to competition from variety show kings Hu Gua (胡瓜) and Chang Fei (張菲).
Chao’s temper hasn’t helped, either. The atmosphere at the studio has been “tense,” as he has reportedly bawled out many crew members on the set.
The 59-year-old singer-turned-TV celebrity, who has been out of the limelight for most of the past decade, has recently attracted some unwelcome publicity over the past few months, with entertainment media portraying him as an ambitious and overbearing father and womanizer.
In October, there was intense speculation that he had pulled strings to help his son Mark Chao (趙又廷) win a Golden Bell Award. Then several weeks ago, the Apple Daily spotted Chao having dinner with model Sonia Sui (隋棠), prompting rumors that he was stepping in between Sui and her boyfriend Yao Yuan-hao (姚元浩).
Earlier this week The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported seeing Chao at yet another dinner, holding court with three shounu (熟女), which roughly translates as attractive women over 30.
At least he received some kind words from would-be competitor and old friend Chang Fei, who complimented him on his “outspokenness” and “steadfastness.” Chang recalled how Chao threw a tantrum when he tried to back out of a golf outing because it was raining. They wound up playing 18 holes in the rain, leaving Chang with a nasty cold that lasted a week.
Actor and singer Eddie Peng (彭于晏) has a new flame, according to the Apple Daily, whose paparazzos snapped a few photographs of the two on a movie date at the Core Pacific Mall (京華城). Apple’s report portrayed the date with the mystery “square-faced girl” as something of a comeback for Peng, who supposedly once dated Mando-pop diva Jolin Tsai (蔡依林). Apple asked for a response from Tsai’s manager, Wang Yung-liang (王永良), who replied, “Best wishes to him.”
Peng is probably the last thing on Tsai’s mind, as she is just fresh from a three-week vacation in Montreal, where she took French classes. This stirred the imagination of the press, which asked if her studies had led to any romantic encounters. “I mostly just asked for directions from elderly men and women on the street,” the pop star said. “But some people whistled at me from a casino ... does that count?”
Tsai admitted that while in Montreal she got recognized on the street a few times, but never let on about her identity. According to the Liberty Times, she told her would-be admirers, “A lot of people say I look a lot like her, but really, I’m not Jolin.”
And faithful Jolin-watchers just can’t seem to let go of the possibility of a rekindled romance with fellow Mando-pop star Jay Chou (周杰倫). Both the Liberty Times and Apple Daily mentioned how the two “rumored former lovers” are both scheduled to appear at an awards ceremony in Beijing this weekend.
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
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
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located