Argh I waited too long to post this…massive pileup of news. This was such a headache to all get in here.

BOBO was kept busy recently with the release of their show, NONSTOP, and celebrated their two year anniversary with the release of a new photo diary that I’ve already added to my list of goodies to buy. They also wrote loving speeches to each other.

Music

This summer’s been rather disappointing in the amount of releases, and way too many artists I love have disappointed me by saying they would release this summer, when there’s still no date in sight. This week, the amount of releases is slim, but quality over quanity: Jam Hsiao‘s second album Princess came out.

Anson Hu releases new song and MV – Entrance of the ink and brush. This is a typical Anson Hu zhongguofeng song with little surprises, but anything sung with his voices, especially when its zhongguofeng, sounds gorgeous. His album is due in September.

Laure Shang releases a new song/MV, starring Annie Yi Nengjing contemplating the whole time. I think Huayi is trying to use her to stir up controversy, but they’re not very good at it. The song’s not bad, though.

Mayday goes very commercial with Pepsi. Yes, they’re with Pepsi too. Watch their Fang Si MV.

Khalil's Timeless concert poster...he actually went underwater for this.

Khalil Fong‘s Red Bean MV is out. It’s a cover of Faye Wong’s famous song, as part of a his upcoming Reprise album, a tribute to classics he loves. His album is expected to be out in August 14. On August 27,28 he will be holding a two-day concert in HK: Timeless sponsored by Nokia. Click the link to see how cute he looks by the pool.

At Alan‘s release party for Heart of the Orient where she looked pretty in blue, Wei Chen rushed over from (see below) and gave her a stuffed dog because he knows she misses her real one when she’s out doing activities.

The eeMedia family launched their Shining Red Stars album at a press conference, and the Supergirls 2009 Top 10 do a photoshoot wearing the poorly-designed “red” shirts. They look much better here than they did in their Elle photoshoot with the  fancy Italian photographers.

Joanna Wang is leaving the music circle temporarily to go to school in America. That kind of sucks, but she seemed to be still forming her views towards music, and she pissed people off in the industry by saying she felt doing pop music was shameful so I guess this is good?

Television:

After Yang Mi starred in Chinese Paladin 3, her popularity has soared and her blog hits are increasing rapidly, because she updates it often and she posts lots of pictures, like the one above with her newfound BFF from Chinese Paladin 3, Liu Shishi, and favorite person to pose with in a faux kiss. I’m glad that she’s gotten fame, finally, because she’s so adorable and a great actress but  I hope she doesn’t overwork herself; she always takes on roles she feels like she can’t turn down. 

The preview for The Myth TV series starring Hu Ge in Jackie Chan’s role is out. Looks nice, like most series in China with buzz, and thankfully Bai Bing looks better in motion than she does in photos. This is getting to be a habit with Chinese series.

Eva Huang Shengyi-produced A Tribute to Stephen Chow starring Jing Boran is becoming a dark horse in the tv world – it’s recording high ratings on Harbin and Helongjiang TV, and 12 other stations have said they would like to air it as well, including big ones like Jiangsu TV.

Movies

Sandrine Pinna in Yang Yang

The Taipei Film Festival,meant to encourage local film-makers, came to a close, and indeed has brought to light some great Taiwanese films. No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti by Leon Dai took home four prizes, including best film and best actor.   Yang Yang, by Chen Yu-chieh took home three prizes, including best actress for  Sandrine Pinna. If the prettiness of the above still doesn’t make you want to see it, here’s another reason: Bryant Chang is in it.

Taiwan filmmakers are pressing their government to take up the deal that China has been offering, “If Taiwan opens its market, China will open her doors”. Taiwan’s entertainment industry has always benefited from China’s free market with its music and its tv dramas, allowing it to flourish in those areas, but since films require so much more effort production-wise, China’s been strict in its quotas, and as a consequence the Taiwan film industry has been largely indie. If this happens, Taiwan cinema could completely change.

Chengtian Entertainment (aka Orange Sky) completed its takeover of Golden Harvest, the company that launched the careers of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.

One Night in Supermarket, which has Chengtian star Qiao Renliang,  is getting rave  reviews. The low-budget film by first-time director is predicted to be this summer’s dark horse.

Wang Leehom says that he was injured many times while filming Big Soldier Small General, but praised Jackie Chan. I’m putting this news here just so I can post this picture. Leehom + talking + formal wear = hotness!

Maybe If You Are the One did not break Titanic’s record highest grossing film in China because the BO numbers are fuzzy and it was close. If it didn’t then the real record breaker is Transformers 2, where China became its biggest BO after the US. Oh well, I expect Feng Xiaogang’s Tangshan Earthquake to obliterate Transformers 2’s record next year. But still, this is just embarrassing. SARFT, please do something productive and keep Michael Bay crap out of China.

This article takes a look at the numbers for Harry Potter 6, vs HP 5, and it’s an interesting perspective on the size of movie markets around the world, as well as how fast they are growing. China’s box office for HP6 grew 110% from HP5.

Other

Zhou Xun was invited to Chanel’s Fall/Winter custom design 2009 in Paris, and exchanged gifts with Chanel’s fashion giant Karl Lagerfeld at the end of the show. She also went for a tour of Coco Chanel’s place.

Husband and Wife, Bao Lei and Lu Yi go to Switzerland and do cute couple things together, like making cheese. So adorable.

It seems like just yesterday that Kelly Lin was married. Now she’s just given birth to baby boy, Chace Lau. I feel weird about putting celebrity children pictures up, even if they’re approved by the parents, so instead view them here.

Sports

He Chong, the cutest Chinese diver imo on the Chinese team now that Tian Liang left (idarklight might disagree) won his first world championship title in Italy by doing an extremely difficult last dive (level 3.8). Poor Despatie.

People are talking about the resemblence between Ruby Lin and Lydia Bai, the daughter of Jenny Lang Ping. Jenny Lang Ping was a former Chinese volleyplayer who helped China’s team win Olympics gold in 1984, and who coached the US team to silver in Olympics. Her daughter is 1.9m.