Chinese New Year is quickly approaching, and it's time to contemplate the auspiciousness of the year ahead. Pop Stop, however, is unashamedly more concerned with "wardrobe malfunctions" and the fate of booze-addled celebrities.
But first, One Million Star "talent" show celebrity Aska Yang (楊宗緯) was reportedly paid a total of NT$1 million for crooning at Foxconn Technology Group (鴻海科技集團) and Fubon Financial Holding Co's (富邦金控) year-end parties, or weiya (尾牙).
In other Yang news, ET Today reports that Gary Tsao (曹格) said his work over the past two years has been meaningless because Yang is getting all the attention for the songs Tsao has written. And we thought Yang was king of the crybabies. In response, Yang, in a burst of humility that is all too rare amongst Taiwan's celebrities, publicly admitted to respecting Tsao and went so far as to call the Singaporean crooner and tell him so.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Meanwhile, Vivi Wang's (王婉霏) "black forest incident" and Liu Zhen's (劉真) costume malfunction seem to be paying off. The China Times reported that both models were hired for weiya gigs, with Wang reportedly receiving NT$80,000 for the evening. The NT$50,000 fee Wang reputedly charged for the car promotion that included the special viewing leaves Pop Stop wondering what you get for NT$80,000.
Taiwan's authorities are at it again. Earlier in the week, this paper reported that the Taichung County Bureau of Health is in negotiations with Akane Nagase, a Japanese porn star, to help promote condom use. After hearing the news, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) angrily asked, "What is the message that the bureau is trying to spread?" Well, Pop Stop suspects the message the bureau is trying to spread is that businessmen who keep mistresses or visit prostitutes abroad, contract diseases and then return to Taiwan and share them with their wives should realize they have more than just themselves to protect.
Shu Qi (舒淇), the Taiwanese "ex-porn star" as the Mirror newspaper repeatedly reminded readers when it falsely reported that she was sexing it up in a trendy London sushi joint with British bad boy Hugh Grant and his friend John Duigan, has had her reputation restored. Though the gossip rag printed a retraction of the story and an apology, bloggers were miffed that Rupert Murdoch's "red top" kept the "ex-porn star" tag and failed to edify its readers of Shu's sterling acting career over the past 10 years.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
David Tao's (陶吉吉) drunken exploits last week might land him in jail. The Liberty Times (自由時報) (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) reported that the sauced singer allegedly assaulted the younger sister of one of his many ex-girlfriends. Pop Stop suspects that the lawsuit, if it comes to pass, could be enough to sober Tao up. Not.
Finally, it looks as though Terri Kwan (關穎), daughter of Jih Sun Group (日盛集團) chairman Chen Kuo-he (陳國和) has dropped sexy models and rich businessmen for that old Taiwanese favorite: gangsters. At least the son of one. An intrepid Apple paparazzo caught Kwan and Chen Chu-he (陳楚河), son of the recently deceased Bamboo Union godfather Chen Chi-li (陳啟禮), together on film. Though the sometime actress vehemently denied that anything was going on, capturing the two together is the kind of tattle that will keep the rumor mill grinding far into the next year.
Climate change, political headwinds and diverging market dynamics around the world have pushed coffee prices to fresh records, jacking up the cost of your everyday brew or a barista’s signature macchiato. While the current hot streak may calm down in the coming months, experts and industry insiders expect volatility will remain the watchword, giving little visibility for producers — two-thirds of whom farm parcels of less than one hectare. METEORIC RISE The price of arabica beans listed in New York surged by 90 percent last year, smashing on Dec. 10 a record dating from 1977 — US$3.48 per pound. Robusta prices have
A dozen excited 10-year-olds are bouncing in their chairs. The small classroom’s walls are lined with racks of wetsuits and water equipment, and decorated with posters of turtles. But the students’ eyes are trained on their teacher, Tseng Ching-ming, describing the currents and sea conditions at nearby Banana Bay, where they’ll soon be going. “Today you have one mission: to take off your equipment and float in the water,” he says. Some of the kids grin, nervously. They don’t know it, but the students from Kenting-Eluan elementary school on Taiwan’s southernmost point, are rare among their peers and predecessors. Despite most of
The resignation of Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) co-founder Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) as party chair on Jan. 1 has led to an interesting battle between two leading party figures, Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如). For years the party has been a one-man show, but with Ko being held incommunicado while on trial for corruption, the new chair’s leadership could be make or break for the young party. Not only are the two very different in style, their backgrounds are very different. Tsai is a co-founder of the TPP and has been with Ko from the very beginning. Huang has
A few years ago, getting a visa to visit China was a “ball ache,” says Kate Murray. The Australian was going for a four-day trade show, but the visa required a formal invitation from the organizers and what felt like “a thousand forms.” “They wanted so many details about your life and personal life,” she tells the Guardian. “The paperwork was bonkers.” But were she to go back again now, Murray could just jump on the plane. Australians are among citizens of almost 40 countries for which China now waives visas for business, tourism or family visits for up to four weeks. It’s