South Korean singer-songwriter Roy Kim is to join dozens of Taiwanese signers in performing at this year’s HITO Music Awards in Taipei later this month, the first foreign singer invited to attend the event.
In what will be his second visit to Taiwan, the 21-year-old Kim is to appear at the music awards on May 31 at the Taipei Arena, said radio station Hit FM, which is organizing the event.
One of Kim’s songs, the theme song of South Korean TV drama Pinocchio, topped Hit FM’s Asia chart earlier this year.
The drama, a hit in both South Korea and Taiwan, chronicles the life of young reporters at two competing TV news stations.
Kim has released two studio albums and several singles.
He first visited Taiwan in November last year, during which he sang at a meeting with fans in Taipei.
He will be the first foreign-language artist to perform at the music awards since they were established in 2003, Hit FM said.
Almost 30 singers and groups are scheduled to perform at the event, including Taiwanese singer Rainie Yang (楊丞琳), who will stage a special medley of classic songs by previous HITO Music Awards winners, the organizers said.
Other singers performing at the event include Della (丁噹), Jia Jia (家家), Wilber Pan (潘瑋柏), Elva Hsiao (蕭亞軒) and Jolin Tsai (蔡依林).
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C