Ethnic minorities in Chinese entertainment: part II

One of them is Han Chinese, can you tell who?

Since the first post on the diverseness of China’s stars, many new artists have came out with their own unique looks and cultural flair.  Several Uyghur artists have especially been taking on more mainstream roles recently, making the face of Chinese entertainment that much prettier.

Something to note amongst these stars is that very few of them are famous because of their ethnicity, but rather due to their general abilities. It’s also something that was brought to my attention in this year’s CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Despite the elimination of the usual group songs by ethnic minorities, this year’s gala had as many if not more ethnic minorities than usual in almost every category of performers, from host Sa Beining to singers like Jin Mei’er and Cai Guoqing and to pop performer Han Geng.

A roundup of Chinese artists who came into the spotlight (or at least my notice) since last post, per suggestion from Benji.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
(more…)

Ma Tianyu stars in first modern drama “Romance in the Kitchen”

Ma Tianyu

After adorable roles in historical dramas, Ma Tianyu returns in his first major modern role.

Pretty boy Ma Tianyu is finally leading in a modern drama. Based on the internet novel 妲己的任务, “Romance in the Kitchen浪漫满厨” is a romantic comedy where a magical ring makes the main character live as if she were a video game character, with assigned tasks and experience points popping out at her as she goes on her daily activity.

Her two major tasks?
1. Repay a 3 million RMB debt by learning a special dish from the  master chef  Mi Qing.
2. get married in three years.

As she secures an apprenticeship with Mi Qing and  moves in with him to learn the ropes, she might have also found hope for task 2 with her bickering friend, the wealthy business owner Tang Dong. Yet love is also baking with the odd apprentice-teacher relationship. …

The series stars Ma Tianyu, Deng Jiajia, Yumiko Cheng and producer/actor Jiang Bing. (more…)

New time-traveling detective series brings fresh air

November 17, 2011 | Posted in Mainland China,Television, Tagged ,
The Duet

Anyone else think the girl on the right look like Huang Ling?

The Duet 四手妙弹 is a fascinating detective/time-traveling drama that has the girls traveling to an alternate universe, interacting with the ancients in their modern clothes, and solving mysteries in both universes. Staring four new actresses as leads and a lot of cute, unknown guys and Ma Tianyu as the supporting actors, The Duet breathes some lighthearted fun into a genre filled with somber intrigue. The drama is produced by Nesound (Ugly Wudi) and really needs a more HQ trailer.

Ma Tianyu crossdresses to become the girl of his girlfriend’s dreams

October 27, 2011 | Posted in Mainland China, Tagged ,
Ma Tianyu

Ma Tianyu shows us that he's the most beautiful woman of them all

 

Following his most recent MV, where his fiancee (Deng Sha) ran away with her girlfriend at their wedding, Ma Tianyu returns in a new clip to try and win his girlfriend back. His method? Ma Tianyu crossdresses to go to a night club to seduce his girlfriend’s girlfriend, who looks more like she’s in drag than Ma Tianyu does. Will he be successful? Watch the clip below and find out:

Scar of Heaven stars Chinese Paladin 3 cast and newcomers

Liu Shishi for Scar of Heaven

Liu Shishi ready to fight again as the cold Tuoba Yu'er

Familiar faces from Chinese Paladin 3 will be starring in new Tangren Drama Sword of the Yellow Emperor : Scar of Heaven 轩辕剑-天之痕 . Hu Ge, Liu Shishi, and Tang Yan come together with Ma Tianyu (he did stunning crossdressing in Strange Hero – Yi Zhi Mei) and newcomers Jiang Junfu and Gulinazha for another drama based off of a popular computer game.

The composed character played by Hu Ge will be paired with a somewhat spoiled Princess played by Tang Yan. Meanwhile, Liu Shishi and new actress Gulinazha will via for love of Jiang Junfu,  Hu Ge and Yuan Hong’s shidi from the Shanghai Drama Academy who captured our hearts on Happy Camp. See his and Gulinazha’s photos on the thread here.

More of Hu Ge in CORNROWS and Liu Shishi below the cut.

(more…)

Ma Tianyu crossdresses as Kunqu singer for Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei

January 3, 2011 | Posted in Mainland China, Tagged

http://i55.tinypic.com/nmmigy.jpg

In Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei, Ma Tianyu plays the adorable disguise and secret weapons master He Xiaomei. As Xiaomei is also a Kunqu opera fanatic, Ma Tianyu again puts on the makeups of traditional Chinese opera to play female characters. You can watch up to ep. 19 of the new drama legally on tudou here. Photos are uploaded by the amazing AiShiShi@cfensi, who also uploaded episodes of the drama on youtube here.

(more…)

Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei releases opening theme by Hu Ge, combines manga with wuxia

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Wallace Huo, Liu Shishi and Ma Tianyu with their manga figures in the series

As time approaches the airing of Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei in January, its opening theme by Hu Ge was released. As mentioned before, one specialty of the series is its use of manga strips to illustrate the series, making the wuxia story somewhat like a Western super hero. This is actually the second time production company Tangren has done this, with the first time being Wallace Huo’s 2003 series Westside Story. Coincidentally, the Korean adaptation Iljimae was actually adopted from a Korean manga that took the Ming dynasty tale of Yi Zhi Mei and made him Korean.

Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei opening theme, thanks to MuNianCi@YouTube:

Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei proves its quality by airing movie trailer in theaters

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Wallace Huo plays Yi Zhi Mei's leader Li Gexiao, a former royal guard tricked into being an outlaw.

In addition to adding a comic book punch to the classic wuxia legend of Robinhood -like Yi Zhi Mei, Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei (怪侠一枝梅) furthered its originality by being the first TV series to release an in-theaters film as a 60-min trailer. The drama, starring Wallace Huo, Liu Shishi and Ma Tianyu and airing in January, did so to validate its claims of the high-production quality of the series, showing that its filming is so clear that it holds on the big screen.

Watch part 1 of the trailer below, thanks to Aishishi@Youtube

Liu Shishi

Liu Shishi: Hey babe, come with me and you'll have a prosperous life. Hot pot everyday! Ma Tianyu: But ... I'm so shy.

Ma Tianyu to Release New EP

November 23, 2010 | Posted in Mainland China,Music, Tagged

mty

Because of his busy filming schedule, it’s been two years since Ma Tianyu last released a new song or album, but he will soon be releasing a new EP, titled Zi Yan Zi Yu (自言自宇). The EP will contain five songs and is said to be a mix of four genres: lyrical, folk ballad, electronic, and pop.

Three of the song names have been revealed. The first, called “Ai Bu Zi Ji” (爱不自己) is a dynamic, upbeat song. Because the MV will require dancing, Ma Tianyu, who doesn’t have a very strong dancing background, gave up rest time in order to undergo intense dance training. “Gai Si De Wen Rou” (该死的温柔), the hit song from his 2007 album Beautiful Lights, will also be included in this EP. However, it will be a new edition, revised to include more Chinese national instruments, like the erhu and the yangqin, and will have more of a folk-song feel.

The third song, titled “Yue Guang Qing Lang” (月光晴朗), was released as a single in September, and was met with wide acclaim. The song is composed by Lü Sheng-fei and written by Yan Yunnong, both of whom worked on the award-winning movie Cape No. 7, which won Golden Horse Awards for Best Original Film Score and Best Original Film Song. Watch the song’s MV below. Screencaps from the MV are below the cut.

(more…)

Previews for Yi Zhi Mei/Iljimae and Heavenly Weaver

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Shanghai Tangren recently released clips for its two newest productions – the action-packed Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei, based on a Chinese legend (later popularized in a Korean comic book and drama, with the comic book author changing his nationality to Korean) starring Wallace Huo, Liu Shishi and Ma Tianyu and the palace intrigue series Heavenly Weaver, about legendary textile master Huang Da Po starring Janine Zhang Juning, Yuan Hong and Liu Shishi.

Strange Hero YiZhiMei:

Heavenly Weaver: