When Canadian-born Hong Kong actor and singer Edison Chen (陳冠希)
and Jolin Tsai (蔡依林)
strutted down the catwalk in 2007 to promote a leading brand of jeans, it seemed like just another fashion show. Months later, however, when explicit pictures were stolen from Chen’s computer showing him with some of Asia’s top female stars in various sexually explicit poses, Netizens were drooling over the prospect that Tsai was among the handful of starlets Chen had photographed.
None, however, emerged.
When the pair showed up last week at the same fashion show, all the old rumors resurfaced.
Organizers, however, were careful to keep the two apart,
with Tsai appearing at the
beginning of the show and Chen at the end. And then there was the mutual backslapping.
Commenting on Chen’s fall from grace, Tsai told the assembled press pack that the scandal wasn’t that bad and she wished him good luck on his forthcoming projects, which include an album of “confessional” songs, slated for release next month. Chen, for his part, said that he admires Tsai’s singing and dancing.
He’s not the only one. Rumors continue to circulate that Tsai’s former flame, Jay Chou (周杰倫), wants to sign her to his JVR Music (杰威爾音樂) label after her current contract with Warner Music (華納音樂) expires this summer.
Both pop stars denied the reports, according to a story in the China Times. The Apple Daily, meanwhile, reported that Tsai has already opened her own record company, which if the precedent set by Chou is anything to go by, is a smart move.
Model Timi Hsiao (蕭依婷), who once appeared in one of the Chairman’s videos, has, allegedly, been caught with drugs.
But that’s not all. A follow-up investigation by the police revealed that Hsiao was involved in a prostitution ring operated by mamasan and former beauty pageant finalist Ling Wei-wei (凌葳威), reported Apple.
Ling is alleged to have pimped out B-grade actresses, singers and models to patrons in Taiwan, China and Singapore for NT$60,000 a pop.
Hsiao later said that she had recently run into financial trouble and only agreed to “dinner dates” as a way of earning extra money and denied that anything untoward had happened.
Ling was quoted as saying that she only arranges the dates with clients and what they do on the assignations is their own affair.
Meanwhile, a SetTV (三立) reporter is in the firing line over a question she posed to child star Hsiao Hsiao Bin (小小彬), the stage name of Wen Hsuan-yeh (溫玄燁).
At a promotional event attended by Bianca Bai (白歆惠), Xiao Xiao Bin’s mom on the hit television series P.S. Man (偷心大聖P.S.男), the reporter queried the five-year-old about a report in the United Daily News that suggested whenever he appeared in a show, its ratings plummeted.
“You are always on television, [but] how would you feel if [audiences] didn’t want to see you anymore?” the reporter asked. The comments clearly got to the youngster because he later asked his father, “Why doesn’t everyone want to see me?”
Needless to say, the stunt has turned into a PR nightmare for SetTV. In a statement, the company said its reporter asked the question as a way of giving the kid “an opportunity to explain himself.”
And finally, an addition to the annual roster of ridiculous polls. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia-Pacific’s annual Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity vote celebrates those in the entertainment industry who don’t eat meat. Big S (大S), otherwise known as Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), and Blue Lan (藍正龍) were leading the Taiwanese pack as of press time. To cast a ballot, visit www.petaasiapacific.com/featureSexiestVegCeleb2010-Eng.asp?c=papsv10epr.
On Jan. 17, Beijing announced that it would allow residents of Shanghai and Fujian Province to visit Taiwan. The two sides are still working out the details. President William Lai (賴清德) has been promoting cross-strait tourism, perhaps to soften the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) attitudes, perhaps as a sop to international and local opinion leaders. Likely the latter, since many observers understand that the twin drivers of cross-strait tourism — the belief that Chinese tourists will bring money into Taiwan, and the belief that tourism will create better relations — are both false. CHINESE TOURISM PIPE DREAM Back in July
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