Yao Chen - China's Most Popular Microblogger

It's probably the only thing they share in common but Lady Gaga and Chinese TV actress Yao Chen (姚晨) have the most followers on their respective microblogging services. Lady Gaga has long been recognised as Twitter's number 1 in terms of followers with over 8 million fans. In China however, where Twitter is officially banned if not entirely blocked, its Weibo that rules the microbloggersphere, and Yao Chen is the Queen of Weibo. Weibo, which is very similar in features to Twitter, is owned by Sina Corporation, China's biggest web portal. Although the social networking site was launched only 18 months ago, it already has an estimated 100 million users.

It's not entirely clear why Yao Chen has garnered such a large following. She's hardly a so-called "idol star" with a devoted and fanatical teenage fan-base, but rather a 31 year old respected TV actress. One explanation is that she interacts more than most celebrity bloggers with her followers. The frequency of her posts - often as much as 10 a day - is another factor. She was the first Weibo user to gain 1 million followers mid last year, and that number has since climbed to almost 6.4 million. Currently she is the 7th most popular microblogger in the world, but will most likely leap-frog Twitter users like Ashton Kutcher and Kim Kardashian over the coming weeks/months.

Yao Chen first came to prominence in the hit TV series My Own Swordsman in 2006. The martial arts comedy was one of the most popular TV series of that year and made her a star. In 2009 she starred in another hit series, the spy drama Lurk set in 1945, her performance winning her several acting awards. She is set to star in the movie version of My Own Swordsman this year.

In second place on Weibo's most popular list is Taiwan's TV host and actress, Dee Hsu (徐熙娣, pinyin: Xú Xīdì). She hosts the popular comedy talk show Here Comes Kangxi, and before that co-hosted 100% Entertainment with her older sister, Barbie Hsu. Known simply as Xiao S (or Little S), Hsu is often outspoken in her views, including those posted on Weibo. She currently has 5.47 million followers, which now puts her in the top ten global microbloggers. Just last week she added an additional 168,000 fans, and so it seems it's only a matter of time before she too reaches the 6 million mark.

Just behind Hsu is popular movie actress Zhao Wei (赵薇) with 5.3 million followers, and she too is on the verge of breaking into the global Top Ten list. The most popular Hong Kong blogger on Weibo is the singer-actress Gigi Leung (梁咏琪, pinyin: Liáng Yǒngqí). Again, her popularity might be considered surprising, as her acting career probably reached its pinnacle in 1996 with the hit romantic comedy Feel 100%, and she is also reportedly struggling to fill concert halls on her current singing tour. She has around 3.25 million followers, although that number received a further boost after her microblogging exploits were featured in a Wall Street Journal article.

The most recent numbers for microblog followers can be found at this The Independent on Sunday post.

Night Market Hero Breaks NT$100 Million Barrier

Taiwanese comedy drama Night Market Hero (鸡排英雄) has become just the third local film to earn over NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) at the Taiwanese box office. The film is the debut work of director Yeh Tien-lun and stars several actors who although largely unknown outside Taiwan are familiar faces from Taiwanese television. They include TV host Chu Ko-Liang, model turned actor Blue Lan Cheng-Lung, Ke Jia-Yan, and TV presenter and surprise pop star Lotus Wang.

Night Market Hero was released during the Spring Festival holiday period which would have boosted its ticket sales, although it also opened up against the formidable presence of Jay Chou's Green Hornet. The movie's producers, which include the Taiwan branch of 20th Century Fox, were clearly hoping to emulate the success of the Hong Kong Spring Festival comedies which are almost an institution in that city. However unlike the lightweight Hong Kong froth usually served up for New Year, Night Market Hero also contains a harder edge with a storyline that targets political and bureaucratic corruption.

Night Market Hero has in the period up to the end of February earned over NT$110 million, making it the third highest grossing local film ever at the Taiwan box office. Those takings still fall well short of the record box office return from the 2008 romance Cape No.7, which earned NT$530 million, and the gangster hit of last year Monga (NT$258 million).

February Flavour of the Month: Barbie Hsu

Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛, pinyin: Xú Xīyuàn), Taiwanese actress and TV show host, had a busy February that included a wedding announcement, a retirement and an award (albeit of the wrong kind).

Barbie Hsu in (Photoshopped) wedding dress - thanks Xinmin website

Earlier last month Hsu announced a wedding date for her marriage to multi-millionaire restaurateur Wang Xiaofei - to be held in the Chinese resort city of Sanya on Hainan island on March 22. It's actually the second ceremony for the two; in November last year they also got married, but in a low-key affair in Beijing almost immediately after announcing their engagement. Low-key understates it - not even the couple's parents attended the civil ceremony. The second ceremony will be much more extravagant, with Wang reportedly planning to spend NT$2.5 million (or US$85,000) on the occasion.

The Mainland-born Wang is an executive director with the restaurant chain South Beauty Restaurants. His father is the founder and chairman of the group, a business that reportedly has a net worth of NT$11.5 billion. The 29 year old Wang certainly has a way with the women. Previous girlfriends include actresses Zhang Ziyi and Kitty Zhang, and he can now add Hsu to the list of photogenic conquests.

Soon after the wedding announcement, Barbie Hsu also revealed that she would take a break from movies for an indefinite period. She said that she hoped to have children soon, adding fuel to the rumours that she is already pregnant. Those rumours first surfaced after her surprise engagement announcement in October last year and subsequent hasty initial marriage. Although Hsu has said she won't be making any movies or TV shows, she hasn't closed the door on lucrative TV commercials. She is already a serial endorser of products and services; Wikipedia's entry on her lists 21 brands that she promotes.

Not everyone will mourn the halt to her acting career. The Golden Broom awards, China's equivalent to the Golden Raspberries, last month nominated Hsu in the Most Disappointing Actress category. Hsu wasn't nominated for just one performance but three: Future X-Cops, Adventure of the King, and Reign of Assassins. I haven't seen the first two so can't comment, although she has already won a Golden Donkey, Taiwan's version of the Golden Raspberries, for Adventure of the King. The nomination for Reign of Assassins however seems a bit harsh, but unfortunately for Hsu, she has built a reputation over the years. Say the name Barbie Hsu and Chinese almost inevitably comment on her bad acting, and at times it seems like an almost knee-jerk reaction.

Hsu started her showbiz career initially as a singer, in a girl group called ASOS with her younger sister Dee Hsu. The two went on to acheive greater fame as co-hosts of the Taiwanese TV variety show, 100% Entertainment, a gig they held from 1998 to 2005. Hsu's career really took off in 2001 when she starred in the hit Taiwanese idol drama Meteor Garden and its sequel Meteor Garden II the following year. She is a regular on the FHM's Sexiest Women in the World lists and was also voted one of PETA's Sexiest Vegetarians in 2009.

Show Luo's New Release Dominates Album Sales

Taiwan's King of Dance Music, Show Luo (罗志祥, pinyin: Luó Zhīxiáng), released his latest album Only For You (独一无二, pinyin: Dúyīwúèr) on February 18, and it has achieved a domination of sales that has rarely if ever been equalled. The G Music charts, which measure album sales in Taiwan, showed that it had a staggering 74.6 percent of the share of Chinese language record sales for the week 18 to 24 February. That means three out of every four records sold was Only For You, way way ahead of the second biggest selling album, Will Pan's 808. Even looking at the figures for all record sales, including Western releases, Show Luo's sales numbers are still stunning. Just under half of all records sold (48.4 percent) in Taiwan last week were Only For You.

Only For You's success follows on from that of his previous release, Rashomon, which was Taiwan's biggest selling album of 2010 (including ten weeks as the number one seller). The previous year he had the number two selling record with Trendy Man. All of which begs the question: can Show Luo now be hailed Taiwan's biggest pop superstar, ahead of previous claimants to the position like Jay Chou, Jolin Tsai and S.H.E?

Only For You is the 31 year old singer's eighth studio album since he first released his debut record in 2003. Before that he was a member of two boy bands, the Four Heavenly Kings and Romeo. Ironically, considering he's now one of the hottest properties in Mandopop, no record company wanted to sign him after Romeo was disbanded in 2000. He had to wait three years until Avex took a chance on him and signed him up. But it has been first EMI Music and now Gold Typhoon who have benefitted most from having him in their record company stable.

First single from Only For You was, uncharacteristically, a ballad, What Am I Fighting For? (拼什么?). But he was back in familiar territory with the release of the title track, a blistering dance track, as the second single. A third single has been released, the cutesy and boppy Touch My Heart, which currently holds the number one spot on the MTV Taiwan singles chart. The Only For You single also made MTV's number one, while What Am I Fighting For? reached number 3.

Chinese TV Series Palace A Ratings Hit

Mainland China's first big idol drama of the year, Palace (宫, pinyin: Gōng) has been a major hit for its producers, Hunan TV. It gained an impressive ratings figure of 1.99 for its opening episode on January 31, which translates into 8.24 percent of the viewing audience. This figure betters the ratings for the premiere of another smash hit idol drama, Meteor Shower in 2009.

Palace combines the soap opera elements (and storylines) of Taiwan-Korea idol dramas with the costume dramas so beloved by Hong Kong TV, and also throws a bit of time travel into the mix. The heroine of the story, played by 24 year old Yang Mi (杨幂), is a simple-hearted modern girl (as they so often are in these idol dramas) who by accident is thrown back into 18th century Imperial China where she winds up in the court of Emperor Kangzi. Much palace intrigue then ensues with our heroine using her knowledge of the future to her advantage. There are also several romantic twists and turns as she first rebuffs one of the Emperor's sons (Zhong Fengyan), falls in love with another son, played by Mickey He (何晟铭, pinyin: Hé Shèngmíng) before discovering his true (evil) nature, and makes an enemy of a third son, played by Feng Shaofeng (冯绍峰), before discovering his true (good-hearted) nature and falling in love.

The two leads, Yang Mi and Feng Shaofeng, were already well-known TV stars in China, though this series has lifted their stardom to another level. Yang came to prominence in the 2006 TV series Return of the Condor Heroes, and appeared in recent blockbuster shows Chinese Paladin 3, Dream of the Red Chamber and Schemes of a Beauty. The 32 year old Feng gained fame in the Mainland-Hong Kong co-production The Drive of Life in 2007, and also starred in Schemes of a Beauty. Palace also stars well-known Hong Kong TV stars Maggie Shiu and Sonija Kwok.

The series has continued to build on its strong ratings debut, climbing episode by episode. By episode 16 of the 39 episode series, it had a rating of 3.23 or 11.2 percent. Although the nationwide ratings for the remainder of the series are yet to be published at the time of writing, ratings figures for 27 capital cities have been released. They show it had a phenomenal 16.75 percent audience share for the final episode screened on 21 February. (Ratings figures have been taken from Wikipedia's Chinese-language entry for Palace, which I can't link to unfortunately).

Zhao Benshan Spring Festival's "King of Comedy" for 13th Time

Arguably the most watched program on Chinese TV is CCTV's New Year's Gala (中国中央电视台春节联欢晚会). It's broadcast every year on the eve of the Chinese Spring Festival, and attracts an audience of over 700 million people, boasting ratings figures of over 90 percent. The biggest names in Chinese entertainment jostle with starry-eyed newcomers for a chance to appear on the program, and many a successful career has been launched via an appearance on the show.

On the fifteenth day of the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival Gala is held, also on CCTV, and winners are announced for the most popular comedy, singing, dancing and other performance acts of the Gala show, as voted by viewers. Comedian Zhao Benshan (赵本山), who has been appearing on the New Year's Gala since 1987, this year won his 13th award. The 52 year old veteran (pictured accepting his award) and his co-performer Xiao Shenyang (小沈阳) were awarded for a crosstalk (or stand-up comedy) routine they performed together. Crosstalk is one of the staples of the Gala show - for more information about this uniquely Chinese style of entertainment, see this post.

In the longer comedy sketch category, the award went to another veteran comedian Feng Gong (冯巩) and actress-singer Song Jia (宋佳). The 53 year old Feng, known for his mournful hang-dog face, is another Spring Festival regular. Song Jia, also known as Xiao Song Jia or Little Song Jia to distinguish her from an older actress of the same name, is at 30 years old a newcomer making her New Year's Gala debut this year.

Most popular singer was Song Zuying (宋祖英), arguably China's most-renowned soprano, who sang Deep Blue Sky (天蓝蓝) at the show. A member of the Miao ethnic minority, Song was born in the Miao Autonomous Region in Hunan, central China, in 1966. She began her singing career in the Chinese Navy (she actually holds the rank of Rear Admiral, believe it or not), and has performed several times previously on the New Year's Gala. She has been nominated for a Grammy, performed in concert houses the world over, and sang a duet with Placido Domingo at the Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremony. And for lovers of salacious gossip, she has also long been rumoured to have been the mistress of former Chinese president, Jiang Zemin.

Chinese magician Fu Yandong (傅琰东) won the award in the "Other Performances" category. His magic act was not without controversy; it involved getting half a dozen fish in a tank to swim in formation, seemingly at his command. The act however received complaints from animal rights activists, who contended that to create the illusion the fish were either fed or implanted with magnets.

Finally there were Special Awards given to three acts who represent "grassroot performers", or performers from humble origins who are given their opportunity at the Gala to showcase their talents. This year featured two acts that first came to public attention when videos of them were shown online. Xuri Yanggang (旭日阳刚, roughly translated as Masculine Sunshine) are Wang Xu and Liu Gang, a duo of migrant workers, former farmers that had moved to the city for work. Last year an amateur video of them singing a cover version of the ballad In the Spring became an online sensation. Then at the end of last year they won a reality TV show, I Want to Perform on New Year's Gala (我要上春晚), earning them a spot on the Gala show. Ren Yueli caught the public eye in much the same way. She's better known simply as Xidan Girl (西单女孩), from an online video of her busking at Beijing's Xidan subway station that earned millions of hits when it was posted on the net in 2009. (For comprehensive background on Xidan Girl, see this China Smack post.) A hip hop dance group from Shenzhen also shared the Special Awards with their act, Let the Workers Have the Power.

The award winners are listed here, but in Chinese.

Merry-Go-Round A Surprise No 1 on HKFCA List

The Hong Kong Film Critics Association (HKFCA), not to be confused with the better-known Hong Kong Film Critics Society, has released its Top Ten Chinese Films of 2010. The list was published back in January, however I've only just stumbled upon it. The HKFCA has a reputation for sometimes eccentric judgement. Its annual Golden Bauhinia Awards, after all, were suspended after 2007 partly because of the ongoing controversy over its award choices (although more because most of the winners didn't turn up to the ceremony). HKFCA's choice of number 1 film for 2010, Merry-Go-Round (东风破), will again have some people scratching their heads.

Merry-Go-Round is an arthouse drama with two intermingled storylines - one set in the present, the other in the 1930s. It stars some pop star actors like Ella Koon, Laurence Chou, Denise Ho and Wilfred Lau, alongside a few Hong Kong veterans including Teddy Robin Kwan (currently experiencing a career renaissance) and Nora Miao. It was jointly directed by Yan Yan Mak (who also wrote and produced it) and Clement Cheng, the man behind 2010's surprise hit, Gallants. From critics (other than, presumably, the Hong Kong Film Critics Association) Merry-Go-Round earned some praise for its cinematography and warm nostalgia, but was also panned for its screenplay and intrusive soundtrack. An example is this review at Film Business Asia.

Number two on the list was the detective story set in China's Tang Dynasty, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, a Best Film nominee at the upcoming Hong Kong Film Awards. At number three is Pang Ho-cheung's sharp-tongued romantic comedy Love in a Puff, starring Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue as white-collar fugitives from Hong Kong's indoor smoking bans.

The rest of the list provides mostly predictable choices, including mainland China's biggest-grossing film of 2010, Aftershock, the Taiwan gangster film Monga, the martial arts spectacular Reign of Assassins, and the aforementioned Gallants, winner of Best Film at the Hong Kong Film Critics Awards. Barbara Wong's hit-and-miss romance Break Up Club is the surprise addition to the list at number 5. A success at the Hong Kong box office, it also divided critics, some praising it for its fresh inventiveness, while others condemned it for being insubstantial and too clever for its own good.

The full list is as follows:

1. Merry-Go-Round (东风破)
2. Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (狄仁杰之通天帝国)
3. Love in a Puff (志明与春娇)
4. Under the Hawthorn Tree (山楂树之恋)
5. Break Up Club (分手说爱你)
6. The Stool Pigeon (线人)
7. Aftershock (唐山大地震)
8. Reign of Assassins (剑雨)
9. Gallants (打擂台)
10. Monga (艋舺)