Henan TV has once again succeeded in promoting traditional culture across the Chinese web with the Dragon Boat Festival Gala. More performances from the night can be viewed here.
Dance: Pray
Dancer: He Yinghao as Luoshen, best known for being the epitome of beauty in Cao Zhi’s poem Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River 洛神赋.
Director: Chen Jia
Executive / creative Director: Xiao Mada (also the brains behind Henan’s Spring Festival gala dance)
It’s not a new year of idol group survival shows without a Gabrielle photoshoot, so here’s the fun homoerotic one for this year’s current breakaway favorite, Chuang 2021.
Realizing that it’s going to be tough fighting for boyband member hopefuls between three streaming services for the fifth year in a row, Chuang 2021 made the smart move to bring in a ton of international contestants, especially from Japan, to make both the competition and also the interactions interesting. And it worked! I honestly don’t have attachments to any of them since I have yet to find a boyband hopeful hotter than Lu Keran, but the show is hilarious to watch as a comedy.
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Henan TV’s Spring Festival Gala has been making waves online for its creative dance performance that showcased the best of Chinese culture. Titled Tang Dynasty Banquet 唐宫夜宴, it showcases 14 female musicians passing several renowned artefacts as they make their way to the palace.
(Clicking on the third icon from the right turns off the danmaku)
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Hugely popular variety show Sisters Who Make Waves is already back for a second season, and has brought in notable singers and actors Na Ying, Cecilia Cheung, Zhou Bichang & Wang Ou among others as contestants (full list below). The variety show releases 1 episode every Friday at 12pm (CN time), and should be up on Hunan TV’s official Youtube a few hours later.
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Season 4 of I Am An Actor features Zhang Ziyi, Yu Zheng and director Derek Tsang (Soul Mate, Better Days) as the main judges, and actors Zhang Songwen (The Bad Kids), Hao Lei (Sheep Without A Shepherd) and Li Chengru (who is known for being too honest on Tencent’s acting show) as the coaches. To be honest, I’m more interested in the drama and constructive criticism that will be coming from the judge’s corner. Out of the 33 contestants, I’ll be watching out for the talented Liu Duanduan (Joy of Life) and Li Meng (The Bad Kids).
The variety show premieres tonight.
Season 2 of acting competition Attention Actors features directors Chen Kaige, Zhao Wei and Guo Jingming from Season 1, and new joiner Derek Yee (Sword Master), who seems to be playing the role of the harsh (honest) judge.
Select contestants: Ren Min, Wang Churan, Guo Xiaoting, Wen Zhengrong, Huang Mengying, Liu Ruilin, Li Xirui, Zhang Ming’en, Zhang Yijie, Lou Yixiao, Wang Zhi, Cao Jun, Dong Siyi, Lamu Yangzi, Yan Zidong, Meng Ziyi, Ma Su, Myolie Wu, Zhang Yue, Li Zhinan, Huang Yi
Meng Jia and Wang Feifei reunite for a melody of Miss A favorites as well as their own solo songs on Sisters Who Make Waves. If they couldn’t re-debut together, at least they have this stage for fans.
Sisters Who Make Waves is a show that relies on the charisma and personality of the big sisters, so I wasn’t too fussed by the shoddy camerawork for the performance stages.
Up first is Ning Jing, Aduo and Cindy Yen’s Orchid Grass. This cover is stunning, and the empowering lyrics (different from the original) are a perfect representation of the performers:
Now this is my type of show! Woman Like Me / Sisters Who Make Waves 乘风破浪的姐姐 (lit. translation) is aimed at forming a mature-age girl group, and I am loving all the contestants (full list below) and producer Huang Xiaoming after watching the first episode.
The variety show airs every Friday at 12pm on Mango TV, and will be up on YouTube shortly thereafter.
Remember the attractive pink-haired leader from the androgynous group Acrush three years ago? She got even more attractive. This is an appreciation for Lu Keran, leader and lead dancer of Fanxy Red (the revamped version of Acrush) and the embodiment of the undefined and unlimited X factor of girl group survival show Youth With You 2.
Lu Keran exudes a sensuality that can be defined as neither masculine nor feminine, but uniquely hers. She is confident but sensitive, childish but mature beyond her age, traditional but a rule-breaker, sweet but aloft. In every performance she’s in, she is able to mend her style to fit the song without ever losing her uniqueness. The only thing that defines her is perhaps her intro to the song No Company, “if you try to define me, you’ll find no company.”
I know iQiyi videos doesn’t let you watch it embedded but this is really my favorite performance of hers yet and probably my favorite performance of the season so far:
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