Show Luo's Rashomon The Number 1 Selling Album in 2010

There were no surprises with the announcement by the PMW Music website that Show Luo (罗志祥, pinyin: Luó Zhīxiáng) had the biggest-selling album in Taiwan in 2010 with Rashomon (罗生门). The studio album, his seventh, spent a record-equalling 10 weeks on the top of the Taiwanese album charts and sold over 150,000 copies in Taiwan. The album also sporned five hit singles, three of which made Taiwan's Hit FM Annual Top 100 Singles Chart. PMW bases its annual rankings on both album sales and digital downloads, making it a more accurate barometer of album popularity.

The 31 year old Show, dubbed Asia's Dance King because of his dancing skills and predominant style of music, has been riding a wave of success over the past couple of years. In 2007 he won the prestigious Golden Melody Award for Most Popular Male Artist, and in 2009 his album Trendy Man was the second-biggest selling album of the year. That accolade was tarnished slightly with accusations that his record company had inflated sales of the record. However last year there was no dispute that his was the dominant record of the year, even ahead of superstars like Jay Chou (周杰伦, pinyin: Zhōu Jiélún) and Jolin Tsai (蔡依林, pinyin: Cài Yīlín).

Jay Chou's 10th studio album, The Era (跨时代), had to settle for second position instead. The record spent three weeks at the top position on the weekly G Music charts - a relatively disappointing result no doubt for the record company JVR Music. His previous album, Capricorn, had been the biggest selling album of 2008.

Another former holder of the biggest album of the year crown, Jolin Tsai, has the third-biggest selling album of 2010. Myself, her 11th studio album and released in August, spent four weeks in total in the top position of the G Music charts. Like Rashomon, the album is predominantly dance music. The previous year, her album Butterfly had been the biggest selling album of 2009. Although this year she had to settle for third place, she did have the number 1 single of the year according to Hit FM with Honey Trap (美人计), the first single from Myself.

In fourth place is singer-songwriter Kenji Wu (吴克群, pinyin: Wú Kèqún) with his sixth album, Love Me, Hate Me (爱我 恨我). The album marked a change of pace for the 31 year old singer, with more up-tempo dance numbers on display. But it wasn't all dance music that Taiwanese music fans were buying in 2010. The number five selling album of 2010 was by singer-actress Rainie Yang (杨丞琳, pinyin: Yáng Chénglín). Her fifth album, Rainie & Love...? (雨爱), is predominantly made up of Mandopop ballads, including four from the soundtrack of the romantic comedy TV series Hi My Sweetheart, which she also starred in.

The top ten albums of 2010, according to PMW Music are:
1. Rashomon - Show Luo
2. The Era - Jay Chou
3. Myself - Jolin Tsai
4. Love Me, Hate Me - Kenji Wu
5. Rainie & Love...? - Rainie Yang
6. Miss Elva - Elva Hsiao
7. To Hebe - Hebe Tien
8. Together - René Liu
9. SHERO - S.H.E
10. The 18 Martial Arts - Leehom Wang

Source: XinMSN