Show Luo Named Most Popular Entertainer at Baidu Hot Point Awards

Baidu, one of China's largest search engines, announced its annual Hot Point Awards in conjunction with Hunan Satellite TV on 31 January. At a ceremony held in Beijing awards were given out to honour both singers and actors from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and covering the full spectrum of music, TV and films. An award was given to the Most Popular All-round Entertainer, going to Taiwanese pop singer, dancer, TV host and actor, Show Luo (罗志祥, pinyin: Luó Zhīxián, pictured left after the awards). Baidu also awarded a "Boiling Point Artist" (ie his/her popularity is running at very hot levels), which went to the comedian Xiao Shenyang (小沈阳).

In the movie awards, the actor-comedian Huang Bo, most recently seen in the hit film Cow, was named Most Popular Mainland Male Actor, while in a bit of a surprise the Actress award went to rising star Yao Chen who this year appeared in the Zhang Ziyi film Sophie's Revenge and the TV spy series Undercover. In the non-Mainland category, Hong Kong actor Louis Koo, who starred in Undercover, was named Best Actor, and Best Actress went to another comic actor, Hong Kong's Sandra Ng. Most popular film went to a mainland production, the war-time spy thriller The Message, while Hunan TV's idol drama, Meteor Shower, was most popular TV series.

In the music awards, former Super Girl winner Li Yuchun was named Most Popular Mainland Female Singer. She was the Super Girl winner in 2005, while the runner-up in the same year Zhou Bichang (sometimes known as Bibi Chou) won awards for Best Idol and Most Popular Idol. Another TV singing competition winner, Zhang Jie - who won My Show in 2004, was a co-winner of the Best Idol award. Two Taiwanese singers, R&B superstar David Tao, and Elva Hsiao took the titles of Most Popular non-Mainland Male and Female Singer respectively.

Film and TV Awards
Most popular mainland male actor: Huang Bo (黄渤)
Most popular mainland female actor: Yao Chen (姚晨)
Most popular Hong Kong and Taiwan male actor: Louis Koo (古天乐, pinyin: Gǔ Tiānlè)
Most popular Hong Kong and Taiwan actress: Sandra Ng (吴君如, pinyin: Wú Jūnrú)
Most popular cutting edge actor: Wang Luodan (王珞丹)
Most popular director: Lu Chuan (陆川)
Most popular film: The Message (风声)
Most popular drama series: Meteor Shower (一起来看流星雨)

Music Awards
Most popular mainland group: Yu Quan (羽泉)
Most popular mainland male singer: Wang Feng (汪峰)
Most popular mainland female singer: Li Yuchun (李宇春)
Most popular Hong Kong and Taiwan group: S.H.E
Most popular Hong Kong and Taiwan male singer: David Tao (陶喆, pinyin: Táo Zhé)
Most popular Hong Kong and Taiwan female singer: Elva Hsiao (萧亚轩, pinyin: Xiāo Yǎxuān)
Most popular idol: Zhou Bichang (周笔畅)
Best Idols: Zhou Bichang (周笔畅) and Zhang Jie (张杰)

Baidu also has a popular MP3 search feature, and compiles a list of most popular songs based on the number of searches and downloads. For 2009 the top ten songs were:

1. Sichuan Embroidery (蜀绣) - Li Yuchun
2. Diamond Sugar (钻石糖) - Elva Hsiao
3. Compromise (妥协) - Jolin Tsai
4. Perfect (非常完美) - Harlem Yu and Angela
5. Do Not Shed Tears for Him (别再为他流泪) - Fish Leong
6. Preferance (偏爱) - Zhang Yunjing
7. Long Live The Lovely (可爱万岁) - S.H.E
8. Ridiculous (搞笑) - Show Luo
9. Give Love (爱得起) - Gigi Leung
10. Leo (狮子座) - Zeng Yike

The list of individual winners can be found at this website, but in Chinese only. The top ten songs are listed here, but again in Chinese.

Twins Bounce Back After Two Year Break

One of the most successful Cantopop groups ever, the girl duo Twins, will finally get back together again after a two year enforced break. They have announced two Hong Kong concerts for April 16 and April 17, and will also record at least two new songs. As well as being their first public appearance together in two years, the concerts will mark the group's tenth anniversary since they formed back in 2001.

Twins is made up of Canadian-born 27 year-old Charlene Choi (蔡卓妍, pinyin: Cài Zhuóyán) and 29 year-old Gillian Chung (钟欣桐, pinyin: Zhōng Xīntóng). Both girls started their careers as models before being signed up by one of Hong Kong's largest record companies, the Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG). They achieved immediate success with their first single 明爱暗暗恋补习社 (Míng ài àn liàn bǔ xí shè - a title that is almost impossible to translate into English), and went on to become one of EEG's most successful and lucrative acts.

Seven years, 28 records and numerous awards later, the duo appeared to have come to a dramatic demise when Gillian Chung was caught up in Hong Kong's most notorious celebrity sex scandal. In February 2008, fellow pop singer Edison Chen's private and explicit photos found their way on to the internet, and Chung was one of the unfortunate partners exposed. Her wholesome, squeaky-clean image seemed irreparably tarnished and, humiliated, she withdrew from the public eye for over twelve months. Last year she made some tentative steps at restoring her career, starting with a television chat show appearance on which she made a tearful apology. In the second half of the year, she returned to the stage as an actress, appearing in a Neil Simon play, as well as making some advertising endorsements.

Meanwhile Charlene Choi had made a seamless transition from Twins member to solo artist. Her album Two Without One (二缺一) was one of Hong Kong's biggest selling records of 2009, and she picked up awards at all the major end-of-year awards shows. It was at one of those ceremonies, the RTHK Awards, that Choi revealed Twins would be reunited again, and the concerts were officially announced a few days later.

The concert theme will be "Bounce Up", presumably referring to Chung's capacity to pick herself up from the lows she recently endured. The posters for the concert show a distinct change of image for the duo - their innocent bubblegum look has been replaced by a harder, darker style. Dressed in black with sharp metallic accessories and confronting haircuts, the bright smiles and laughing poses that were standard in their publicity shots of old are also gone, with Chung looking particularly grim. The concert PR is calling it a "rock style" and refers to the "rock and roll never die spirit" (see this Sina news article, in Chinese). It remains to be seen, however, if the rock and roll look will also translate into their music.

Throughout their career Twins have managed to defy critics' predictions that their success, like that of many other manufactured bands, would be fleeting. Instead they have had a remarkably long shelf-life, partly because they have managed to change with their audience. They started off as a teen-oriented bubblegum pop group, but their music matured as their listeners grew up. After overcoming this most recent and biggest hurdle in their career, it looks like Twins may have to re-invent themselves again - the bouncy carefree music and their image of youthful innocence no longer seem appropriate. At least they can count on a fan base that has shown commendable loyalty over the past two years. With all the massive anticipation and interest in Twins' comeback it would be a surprise if the concerts were not sell-outs.

RTHK Top 10 Golden Songs Awards

The last of the big four Hong Kong radio networks announced their music awards on January 30. RTHK's Top 10 Golden Songs Awards are the oldest of the four awards, dating back to 1978. (The other three awards are the Jade Solid Gold Awards, covered in this post, Commercial Radio FM 90.3's Ultimate Song Awards, summarised here, and the Metro Radio Hit Awards which handed out a ridiculous 149 awards - a translated winners' list is here).

At the RTHK ceremony Eason Chan (陈奕迅, pinyin: Chén Yìxùn) and Joey Lung (容祖儿, pinyin: Róng Zǔér - both pictured right) continued their domination of the Cantopop awards scene, both artists winning six awards each. Yung's achievement was especially noteworthy as she took home the Outstanding Female Singer award for the six consecutive year. In a remarkable display of consistency she has also had a song in the Top 10 Golden Song list every year since 2000. 1999, the year she commenced her career, was the only year she missed a place on the list, but even then her debut single, Unknown, was awarded Best Cover song that year.

Eason Chan won Outstanding Male Singer for the third year in a row, and he also took out the Global Chinese Best Song Award for 700 Years Later. The National Best Song Award was given to Hins Cheung (张敬轩, pinyin: Zhāng Jìngxuān) for Yes & No, while the Best Mandarin Song was won by Khalil Fong (方大同, pinyin: Fāng Dàtóng) with A Trip for Three People (三人游).

The Top Ten Songs list was as follows:

• My Own Book of Legends (搜神記) - Joey Yung
• 700 Years Later (七百年後) - Eason Chan
• You Hide I Hide (你瞒我瞒) - Jason Chan
• My Memory Isn't Mine (我的回憶不是我的) - Vincy Chan & Hai Ming Wei
• Turns Out I'm Really Happy (原來过得很快乐) - Miriam Yeung
• The Moon Says (月亮说) - Ivana Wong
• Even If the World Has No Fairytales (就算世界無童话) - Janice Vidal
• Song Of The Year (年度之歌) - Kay Tse
• Earth is Dangerous (地球很危險) - Leo Ku
• If I Was Eason Chan (如果我是陳奕迅) - Mr

The Golden Needle Award, a lifetime achievement award, was given posthumously to 80s Cantopop star, Danny Chan (陈百强, pinyin: Chén Bǎiqiáng - pictured left). Possibly his best-known song was Ripples, but he had a string of classic melancholy ballads like Hoping for Destiny, Tung, Pien Pien Hee Foon Ni (Slowly I Love You) and his last hit song Yut Sung Hor Kau (What's To Be Expected of This Life?). Chan retired from the music business in 1992 when he was just 34 years old, and a little more than 18 months later he was dead.

The cause of death has remained a mystery to this day - officially it was a heart problem that left him in a 17 month coma before he passed away. However rumours quickly surfaced that he died as a result of his long battle with the bottle, that he had overdosed on a mixture of drugs and alcohol. Another theory had it that, believing his career was in decline, he became depressed and took his own life. The Golden Needle Award was accepted by Chan's father.

The full list of RTHK Golden Song Award winners can be found at Wikipedia.

January Flavour of the Month: Xiao Xiao Bin

Xiao Xiao Bin (小小彬) is the child actor who has had an immediate impact in the hit drama series Autumn Concerto, even managing to upstage his idol co-stars. He first appeared in the series in November, and almost immediately the ratings began to shoot up. In the new year, as the ratings continue to climb, Xiao Xiao's celebrity status likewise continues to reach new levels.

He began the year with a prominent role in Taiwan's Flag Raising Ceremony, the first of several public appearances in January. His father, who also acts as his manager, then announced a schedule that includes four movies and six commercials in the near future. Xiao Xiao's weekly earnings were also revealed (Chinese article here): 700,000 Taiwan dollars, or US$21,000 - much more pocket money than I ever received.

Xiao Xiao also got his first taste of the dark side of being a celebrity, when he had to answer some tough questions during a variety show interview. The five year old, whose parents are divorced, was asked "Do you want a new Mommy?". His response, that his old mommy didn't want him anymore, hinted that behind his bright and cute persona his parents' break-up may have left some scars. Some people felt the interview had gone too far, but the show's host defended himself, a little insensitively, by claiming it's all part of a child star's job. (Original Chinese article here, and a translation from Asian Fanatics here).

Questions have also been raised about Xiao Xiao Bin's heavy workload, and whether it's appropriate for someone who, let's face it, is just a little boy. His Autumn's Concerto co-star, Ady An, has publicly expressed her wish that his father doesn't put too much pressure on him. Even the Bureau of Social Affairs were called in to investigate his workload. At least Xiao Xiao, his waking hours taken up with acting and promotional appearances, doesn't have to go to school. Instead he will receive private tutoring, a decision that has also received criticism.

Although Autumn's Concerto nears the end of its run on TV - the show has two more episodes to go - Xiao Xiao Bin will continue to remain large in the public eye. A rival idol drama series, Down With Love, in which he has a prominent role, has just started its run on Sunday evenings. He will also act in TTV/SETTV's follow-up to Autumn's Concerto, with the working title P.S Man.

His father has also revealed plans for a CD, possibly for release at the end of the year. First however Xiao Xiao has to learn how to sing and dance. While no one doubts his acting ability, an appearance on another variety show exposed his shortcomings in the fields of song and dance. Dance lessons, not to mention English tutoring, have been added to his already busy schedule.

Rock Pioneer Zang Tianshuo in Prison Until 2014

Zang Tianshuo (臧天朔), part of the first wave of Chinese rock musicians who emerged in the early 80s as the country began to loosen its social shackles, will spend the next five years in jail. Zang had been arrested in September 2008 for being behind a gang fight that left one man dead back in 2003. In November last year the Beijing People’s Court found that Zang had organised the attack after a business dispute with the co-owner of one of his bars on the outskirts of Beijing.

Zang appealed the decision but Chinese courts rarely make mistakes, and the appeal was dismissed last week. Zang, who drifted out of the music industry and into China’s shadowy “black hand” (ie organised crime) world, will remain behind bars until 2014.

Zang began his music career in a band called Tumbler, along with one of the legends of Chinese rock, Ding Wu – lead singer of arguably China’s greatest rock band, Tang Dynasty. He then played keyboard for the Godfather of Chinese rock, Cui Jian. Zang formed his own band, 1989, named after the year it was formed. That year, the year of the Tiananmen Square protests, was a tumultuous one for rock music’s biggest fan base, university students. Zang himself gained a reputation as a rebellious singer, and became known as one of the bad boys of the music scene.

1989 the band was short-lived, not surviving much longer than the year itself. Zang had a successful solo career which peaked in the early years of this century. His 2001 single Friends, is one of the most popular songs of the past decade, and in 2002 he released his fifth and possibly best-received album, Folk Songs of Zang Tianshuo. In 2003 he was awarded Most Popular Mainland Singer-Songwriter at the Chinese Music Awards, the same year in which it all started to unravel for him.

Hong Kong's SINA Music Awards the Usual Suspects

The Hong Kong version of China's most popular infotainment web portal, Sina.com, announced its SINA Music Awards 2009 on 26 January. The Awards honoured the top 20 Most Listened To Songs of the year, as well as individual awards voted by the public, and the SINA Music Most Supreme Awards. Over 30 artists took home awards, but the biggest winners were (yet again) Eason Chan (Eason Chan (陈奕迅, pinyin: Chén Yìxùn - pictured left) and (yet again) Joey Lung (容祖儿, pinyin: Róng Zǔér - pictured below) who each won four awards.

Chan and Yung triumphed in the popular awards, winning the My Favourite Hong Kong Male and Female Singer awards respectively. They then followed it up with the two My Favourite National Singer awards. Eason Chan was also awarded the My Favourite Album award for H3M, while Joey Yung was given the My Favourite Golden Hit award for the song My Own Book of Legends. Both stars had songs in the Top 20 list - My Own Book of Legends and Eason Chan's 700 Years Later.

Two awards were given for Favourite Hong Kong Group: the Male Group award was given to five-piece guitar band Rubberband, and the Female Group prize went to At17 (雁石分天), a folk-pop duo who have been together since 2002. At17, despite not fitting neatly into any easily marketable Cantopop package, have built up a sizeable following for an independent act. At17 also picked up a second award for Outstanding Live Performance. A further group award, Favourite National Group, was awarded to Taiwan's superstar girl trio, S.H.E.

SINA Music also gave out Supreme awards, with the major one, Outstanding Musician Award presented to Khalil Fong (方大同, pinyin: Fāng Dàtóng), the Mandarin language's premier soul singer. Fong also won My Favourite Mandarin Hit award with the song Red Bean, and a second song The Moon Represents My Heart was one of the Top 20 Most Listened To tracks. Two other artists won three awards. Charlene Choi (蔡卓妍, pinyin: Cài Zhuóyán), one half of the girl duo Twins, now successfully forging a solo career while the group remains in indefinite hiatus. She won awards for Outstanding Performance, Singer with the Most Clicks, and a song in the Top 20, Two Missing One. The multi-talented singer-songwriter Ivana Wong (王菀之, pinyin: Wáng Wǎnzhī) won the Most Creative Album with On Wings of Time, Most Favourite Singer-Songwriter, and a Top 20 Song, The Moon Said.

The list of Top 20 Most Listened To Songs is:
Miss You Day and Night - Linda Chung
Ding Ding Car - Fiona Sit
A Letter to Myself - Sherman Chung
If the World Has No Fairytales - Janice Vidal
Yes & No - Hins Cheung
Report Commander - Pakho Chau
One Charge - Vincy Chan
You Hide We Hide - Jason Chan
Here We Are - Kary Ng
Today, Finally Know Wrong - William Chan
B.O.K - Justin Lo
Earth is Very Dangerous - Leo Ku
Two Missing One - Charlene Choi
Borrow - Stephanie Cheng
The Moon Said - Ivana Wong
Apollo - Rubberband
700 Years Later - Eason Chan
The Moon Represents My Heart - Khalil Fong
Song of the Year - Kay Tse
My Own Book of Legends - Joey Yung

A full list of award-winners, in English, can be found at this Asian Fanatics post.

Bodyguards and Assassins Leads Asian Film Awards Nomination Tally

Action film Bodyguards and Assassins (十月围城, pinyin: Shí Yuè Wéi Chéng), a Hong Kong-Chinese co-production, earned most nominations for the upcoming Asian Film Awards (AFA), announced this week. Along with a South Korean movie, Mother, it was nominated in six categories including Best Film. Bodyguards and Assassins has already proved a hit at the box office - it was the second highest grossing domestic film in China last year behind The Founding of a Republic - and is hoping to repeat that success with critics. Ironically, The Founding of a Republic was snubbed by the AFA, with not a single nomination in the fourteen categories up for grabs.

In the Best Film Category there were six nominations, three of them Chinese productions. Besides Bodyguards and Assassins, the Taiwanese arthouse favourite and Golden Horse winner No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (不能沒有你), and the wartime drama from mainland China, City of Life and Death (南京! 南京!) are vying for the top prize. Oddly, neither Bodyguards and Assassins' director Teddy Chen (陈德森, pinyin: Chén Désēn) nor Leon Dai (戴立忍), the director of No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti, were nominated for the Best Director award. (Do awards judges think these films direct themselves?) Instead, up for an award is the director of the historical drama Prince of Tears (淚王子), Yonfan (杨凡, pinyin: Yáng Fán), probably best-known for his mainstream hit Lost Romance, and the not-so-mainstream drama about a homosexual playboy, Bishonen. City of Life and Death's director, Lu Chuan (陆川) is also nominated in the Best Director category.

Two Chinese actors were among the five nominees for Best Actor - veteran actor Wang Xueqi, enjoying a career revival of sorts in his sixties, for Bodyguards and Assassins, and Huang Bo (黄渤), already a winner at the Golden Horse Awards, for his comic role in Cow (斗牛). In the Best Actress category, another Golden Horse winner, Li Bingbing (李冰冰), will look to repeat her success with her role as a suspected undercover agent in the wartime spy thriller The Message.

Also nominated, for the second year in a row, is the 23 year old French-Taiwanese actress Sandrine Pinna (张榕容, pinyin: Zhāng Róngróng), regarded by many as a future star in the making. After her critical success last year in a little-seen film called Miao Miao, she was nominated again for Yang Yang (阳阳) in a role written specifically for her. She plays a talented Eurasian girl trying to navigate treacherous roads in both the entertainment industry and her personal life.

Three Chinese actors are competing for Best Supporting Actor: Bodyguards and Assassins' Nicholas Tse (谢霆锋, pinyin: Xiè Tíngfēng); Huang Xiaoming (黄晓明) for his eye-catching performance in The Message; and the Taiwanese actor-singer Tou Chung-Hua (庹宗华), best-known for his TV roles, for his performance as an Era of the Warring States general in The Warrior and the Wolf (狼灾记).

In the Best Supporting Actress category is versatile Chinese mainland actress Yan Ni (闫妮) in Cow, and Hong Kong's Kara Hui (惠英红, Wai Ying-hung), arguably one of the screen's greatest female kung fu exponents. Now approaching 50, Hui is revitalising her career as a dramatic actress, and earns a nomination for her performance as a doting mother who becomes blackmail victim while protecting her teenage son in the Malaysian-set drama At the End of Daybreak (心魔).

The AFAs also have a Best Newcomer category, and Super Girl winner from a few years back, Li Yuchun (李宇春) was nominated for her film debut role in Bodyguards and Assassins, a role in which she got to show off her martial arts skills. Other nominees in the Best Newcomer category include Malaysian actress Jane Ng Meng Hui (黄明慧) for At the End of Daybreak, and the Beijing-born beauty pageant graduate Oceane Zhu (朱璇, pinyin: Zhū Xuán) who starred in Prince of Tears.

The Asian Film Awards are organised by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, and winners will be announced on 22 March as part of the International Film Festival. The awards, held for just the fourth time, aim to recognise the best in Asian cinema. The full nomination list can be found at the AFA website - the link is a media release in PDF format.