an episode from the Taiwanese entertainment show called 男人搞什麼 where really sexy built men were brought in to talk about what its like to be muscular men and also strip dance for the obviously overwhelmed host here called 羅 碧 雲 。I want to introduce to readers the world of Taiwanese entertainment. As half-Taiwanese, i am obviously proud of things Taiwanese and so will introduce some things on Taiwan including Taiwanese entertainment...for those who aren't aware, in the Chinese-speaking world, Taiwanese entertainment shows are THE most popular and Taiwanese music is also the most widespread amongst the Chinese speaking population. Some who are unfamiliar with the Chinese scene may be surprised to know that it is Taiwan and NOT China which produces the most popular and high quality TV dramas, variety shows and pop music. In China, Taiwanese music and entertainment shows as well as celebrities enjoy a much higher profile and regard as compared to the local Chinese ones. In fact, the Chinese authorities had to issue a directive banning 'taiwanese-style mandarin and accent' on their local productions in 2005 as it was getting very popular for mainland Chinese hosts and tv programs to emulate and copy their more welcome Taiwanese counterparts....
Many shows are not shown in China due to the open and progressive (sometimes too much!!!) nature of the shows as compared to the relatively dull and bland nature of mainland Chinese ones.......it is well known that many, i would say millions of mainland Chinese download Taiwanese variety shows such as the immensely popular, though banned, Kang Xi Lai Le (康 熙 來 了 ) as well as a variety of other programs....
The reason for the prominence of HK and Taiwan music and films in China is due to historical reasons like China opening up and creating its own pop culture in the 1980s and thus much later than the others. However, Chinese celebrities and pop culture is catching up fast too...for the moment though, HK films and Taiwan music and entertainment shows still rule in both China and overseas Chinese communities such as Malaysia, Singapore, Australia,USA,Canada,etc thru Chinatown rental shops or cable TV...
Taiwan's entertainment shows are immensely popular due to: (1) the fact that they are in Mandarin which is the official language of Chinese ppl as compared to HK's cantonese (2) they are very creative and come up with new ideas all the time unlike China and HK's more conservative approach (3) they are very liberal and discuss ANYTHING including sex, molesters, affairs, pretty girls going on shows in sexy attire,models and anything and everything as long as it sells....
In fact, they are so inventive that cos pretty girls have been going on shows for so long now, there was even a recent wave of getting male models to go on shows for a change cos it was thought to be boring if every episode was on girls...n it was shocking to see how they made the models dance sexily (see pic) and every show would get cameras into changing rooms as the male models were changing...i even saw guys in speedos dancing in towels in one episode and muscular guys shaking their hips provocatively in another...then there was one which was TRULY shocking, a male model search contest whereby one middle aged man even kissed one of the half-naked models on the nipples in front of the cameras in the middle of Ximenting (Taipei's busiest and hippest section)this was even more daring than anything i ever saw in American shows....very obviously directed at the female and gay male audience if i may say so myself!...for those in Melbourne, the rental shop in Chinatown's mid-city arcade rents the latest Taiwanese shows on DVD (they used to only have them in VHS so i was overjoyed when i found out that they have DVD versions this yr!!)....go see them!
Its times like this when I am grateful that i understand Chinese, i mean those who don't know Chinese really miss out on all these fantastic shows and have to be satisfied with only the american shows which, frankly, aren't much fun!
2 comments:
From that picture alone, you make me want to watch more Taiwanese variety programs already! lol. ;)
executorlouis: i purposely chose one which would attract the girls and gay men, there are more pics on my online photo album..do visit often n leave comments! So sad...no one is leaving comments..sniff,sniff..
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