Lucrative Stardom Using a Webcam and a Voice
David Barboza at the New York Times looks at live karaoke performances on YY.com, a popular...
Internet stars
Virtual Roses and the Rise of YY.com
David Goldenberg at The New Yorker looks at a relatively recent social media phenomenon in China...
Netizen Voices: No Place Is Outside the Law
When CCTV aired V for Vendetta, uncut, last Friday, netizens thought it was a sign that reform is truly on its way. They were a bit crushed, then, to read a signed article in Tuesday’s People’s Daily entitled “The Internet...
China: Defending its Core Interest in the World – Part II
Yale Global has posted Part II in its series China: Defending its Core Interest in the World, by Yang Guobin. Read Part I, by Orville Schell, here. From Yang Guobin’s essay: Media reports on Google’s redirecting internet...
Types within the Fifty Cents Party
ChinaGeeks translates a post by Xiao Han describing the various types of “Fifty Cent Party” members. From ChinaGeeks’ introduction: Xiao Han, an outspoken intellectual at the Chinese Politics and Law...
Online Video Stars Changing the Face of China’s Media
CNN looks at how video-sharing sites are changing the lives of a few talented individuals in China: While the bulk of the content on popular Chinese video sites consists of domestic and foreign movies and television programs, a...
Video: Backdorm Boys’ New Video Clip – A Public Affair
Do you still remember the backdorm boys who video themselves singing along to Western pop songs? Below is their new video clip to Jessica Simpson’s new single “A Public Affair,” carried by Toutube: More of their videos here via CDT
Video: New video clips of Backdorm Boys
From Youtube: Do you still remember the two funny young students who lip-synch songs? Enjoy the following two videos: (The second one is a Beijing opera)
Web stars blossom in China – Li Qian
From China Daily: Web stars blossom on the Internet over night. The legend of their paths to popularity presents itself every day. How did the Tianxian sister, or the Goddess sister, make millions after she was found in a remote mountain village only 10 months before and pushed to the front of the public eye? […]
Chinese World Cup blogger racks up 10 million hits – Nick Mulvenney
From Reuters: Beijing blogger and podcaster Dong Lu registered his 10 millionth hit on Friday morning, racing to the landmark on the back of China’s obsession with the World Cup. The 36-year-old’s irreverent take on soccer’s showpiece, produced with the help of three friends in the living room of his apartment on the northeast outskirts […]
Chinese BBStars appeal to commercial trend – Sam Flemming
From China Daily: Last November, Chinese ‘net stars like the Backdorm Boys (ÂêéËàçÁî∑Áîü)were getting picked up by companies like Motorola to be spokespersons. 1010job.com picked up JuHua Jie Jie (ËèäËä±ÂßêÂßêÔºâthe William Hung for China) for a series of TVC’s earlier this year. You can see the video that made her a star here and two […]
China ‘net stars commercial trend continues – Sam Flemming
From China Word of Mouth Blog (link): Last November, I wrote that Chinese ‘net stars like the Backdorm Boys were getting picked up by companies like Motorola to be spokespersons. The trend continues. Not only have the Backdorm Boys picked up more steam recently, other stars have come into play. 1010job.com picked up JuHua Jie […]
China’s Online Ad Boom – Dexter Roberts
From BusinessWeek (link) When Motorola Inc. launched a new line of youth-oriented mobile phones in China last year, it didn’t bother advertising on TV or in newspapers and magazines. Instead, it hired a pair of college students from the southern city of Guangzhou who had become an Internet sensation with their homemade videos of themselves […]
Celebrity in China: Out of the dorm – Economist
From the Economist (link): Huang Yixin and Wei Wei, two students at the Guangzhou College of Fine Arts, were hanging around their dormitory last summer and decided”as one does”to turn on their webcam, put on their Houston-Rockets jerseys and lip-synch a few of their favourite songs by the Backstreet Boys. They uploaded the clips to […]
China Net Star Cries Censorship – Kaiser Kuo,
From The Red Herring: Internet phenomenon Sister Hibiscus’ claims of a government clampdown touches off a debate on the impact of new media. Are you a Chinese Internet phenomenon whose 15 minutes are nearly up, but who isn’t quite ready to go gentle into that good night? Just cry “censorship!” to members of the international […]
As blogging blooms in China, firms aim to cash in – Sophie Taylor
From Reuters: Blogging is blooming in China as the country’s vast pool of Web users clamour to make their mark online and ambitious local start-ups battle foreign heavyweights for a piece of the market. China now boasts a 14.2 million-strong “blogosphere”, with a new blog — a form of online diary whose name is a […]
Edward Cody: In Chinese Cyberspace, A Blossoming Passion
From The Washington Post: BEIJING — Suddenly this summer, Sister Lotus is all over China. Hotly debated onChinese-language websites, her saucy photos get millions of hits. National magazines dote on her, and China’s television crews are taping away. Late to catch on, Communist Party censors now officially frown on her. Some sociologists warn that Sister […]
Wendy Liu: Plain Jane to Plain Popular
From City Weekend: Beginning early this year on the Qinghua and Beijing University BBS, a girl named ‘Frjj’ (Furong Jiejie) began to upload her photos. Accompanying each photo was a brief diary entry. At first read they proclaimed, “I’m pure and noble (this is how my classmates describe me, which isn’t my fault).’ Harmless enough. […]
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