The all-singing, all-dancing, all-producing, all-directing, all-acting Jay Chou (周杰倫) has worn many hats over the past few years. And now he wants to add another to his collection: talk show host. The Mando-pop star announced at a press conference in Shanghai at the weekend that he’s interested in hosting a talk show sometime this year.
But with the recent flop of adventure flick The Treasure Hunter (刺陵), starring Chou, and paltry ratings for his television drama Pandamen (熊貓人), perhaps the Chairman (周董) should focus on what he does best, which of late seems to be whipping gossip hounds into a rabid frenzy by appearing on stage with ex-flame Jolin Tsai (蔡依林).
And so it is no surprise that Tsai appears at the top of his list of prospective guests. They would certainly have plenty to discuss. Bowling tips, perhaps, or Taipei’s top hot pot restaurants. They might even touch on Tsai’s shrinking bust size or her new album, Vogue, a Madonna tribute set for release next month, according to the China Times.
The promo photos for Vogue would undoubtedly kill a few minutes of talk time.
One image, which shows Tsai thrusting her thumb suggestively into the front of her low-cut pants, elicited some drooling and got tongues wagging.
Writer and Internet celebrity Lucifer Chu (朱學恆), translator of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, said that Tsai’s outfit made her look like Buzz Lightyear, the ranger of Toy Story fame.
One fan said that her outfit’s color, a lurid green, matched the packaging of popular antifungal cream EcoFu (益可膚), which makes her a perfect spokeswoman for the product.
Another celebrity who might appear on Chou’s talk show is Edison Chen (陳冠希). They could discuss their current musical collaboration, or tips on how to keep racy photos off the Internet. Having spent much of the past couple of years in self-imposed exile after his 2008 sex photo scandal, Chen told reporters in Shanghai that he was now ready to return to showbiz. He’ll be doing so as a producer because he has yet to decide on an acting role.
Unlike Chen, Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝), who played a starring role in the sex scandal, just can’t seem to shake off negative publicity. In addition to groveling to husband Nicholas Tse’s (謝霆鋒) mother and strained relations with her own, the actress is now being sued by Langsha (浪莎), for which she did a stint as celebrity spokeswoman, to the tune of NT$190 million. The Chinese garment company, which specializes in making socks, says the media glare generated by the debacle caused it steep financial losses. Doesn’t the company know that there’s no such thing as bad publicity?
Still, there is work in the pipeline. Yahoo News reports that Hong Kong directors are lining up to cast her in their movies. She is set to star in a Derek Yee (爾冬陞) flick and Stephen Chow (周星馳) has said he wants to work with her.
In other silver screen news, the vernacular press got hot under the collar at the prospect that this year’s Taipei Film Festival (台北電影節) awards ceremony, which took place on July 10, would see a repeat performance of last year’s Golden Bell Awards (金鐘獎) gala, when Mark Chao (趙又廷) took a surprise win for Best Actor, beating out Black and White (痞子英雄) co-star Vic Chou (周渝民), who turned out to be a sore loser.
This time it was Ethan Ruan (阮經天) battling it out for top honors with Chao for their performances in the movie Monga (艋舺). However, 11-year-old Bi Hsiao-hai (畢曉海) pipped both to the post when he won the award for his role in The Fourth Portrait (第四張畫).
And finally, a morsel of gossip that the Almighty may find of interest — though omniscience may ruin the surprise.
Taiwanese heartthrob Van Ness Wu’s (吳建豪) celibacy pledge, made in 2008 and proclaimed to the world at the Festival of God’s Power Conference (神大能醫治布道會) earlier this year where he said his philandering days are over after finding God, may be under strain.
Sina.com reported that Wu was caught heading into a movie theater late last week with a “small dark beauty” (小黑妹), leading to rumors that he is two-timing his girlfriend, wealthy Singaporean Arissa Cheo (also known as Arissa Luna). But as the posse of paps closed in to snap the money shot, Wu disappeared into the crowd.
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