Yao, Yi topping Forbes Chinese celebrity list

[sinobball]

While both are injured, Yao and Yi topped this year's Forbes China Celebrity List. It is the 5th consecutive year that Yao is China's most famous celebrity, while Yi jumped from 52nd to 4th in one year. Track star Liu Xiang and Martial Arts Movie Star "Jet" Li Lian Jie are #2 and #3 respectively.

[mvblair]

....while Yi jumped from 52nd to 4th in one year....

Does that mean he is the 4th most popular Chinese celebrity? I'm a little surprised, because he's good right now, but not great. There is plenty of potential, as everybody who says he's the next Rashard Lewis knows. But he's not there yet, so I'm surprised he's so popular.

[sinobball]

The point is, making the NBA is enough to make you a serious celebrity in China! Not too many can make it

The ranking is based on commercial endorsement and salaries. Yi was 53rd (not 52, my bad) last year (2007) and 80th a year before (2006).

In 2004 Wang Zhizhi was 17th (despite still staying in US and having 0 endorsement) and Mengke Bateer was 24th. So salaries definitely play a very important part in the list (credit goes to US Dollar for being $$$$$$ than Chinese Yuan )

Yao Ming topped the list since its inception in 2004 and doesn't look like he will lose the spot anytime soon.

[sinobball]

This year

2010 Forbes Chinese Celebrity List
For the first time, celebrities from Hong Kong and Taiwan are included -- and Yao Ming dropped to 4th. Yi had been somewhat disappointing performance-wise, explaining his drop from 2008 when his hopes were high. Female celebrities are colored, (except I'm not sure about #16 and #30 )

1. Jackie Chan (HK)
2. Jay Chou (TW)
3. Andy Lau (HK)
4. Yao Ming
5. Zhang Ziyi
6. Zhao Benshan
7. Jolin Tsai (TW)
8. Donnie Yen (HK)
9. Liu Xiang
10. Fan Bingbing
11. Lin Chi-ling (TW)
12. Eason Chan (HK)
13. Lu Chen (TW)
14. Nicholas Tse (HK)
15. Aaron Kwok (HK)
16. Li Yuchun
17. Sun Honglei
18. Zhou Xun
19. Huang Xiaoming
20. Vicki Zhao
21. Li Bingbing
22. Wang Leehom (USA)
23. Chow Yun-Fat (HK)
24. Jet Li
25. Zhang Yimou
26. Yi Jianlian
27. Dee Hsu (TW)
28. Shu Qi (TW)
29. Show Lo (TW)
30. Xiaoshenyang
31. Louis Koo (HK)
32. Jacky Cheung (HK)
33. Barbie Hsu (TW)
34. S.H.E. (TW group)
35. Guo Degang
36. Jane Zhang
37. Carina Lau (HK)
38. A-mei (TW)
39. Faye Wong
40. Angela Chang (TW)
41. Leung Chiu-Wai (HK)
42. Ge You
43. Chen Kun
44. Mayday (TW group)
45. Zhou Libo
46. Lang Lang
47. Betty Sun
48. Wilber Pan (USA)
49. Joey Yung (HK)
50. Guo Jingjing
51. Daniel Wu (USA)
52. Charlene Choi (HK)
53. Gong Li
54. Xu Jinglei
55. David Tao (TW)
56. Jacky Wu (TW)
57. Feng Xiaogang
58. Guo Jingming
59. Fahrenheit (TW group)
60. Zhang Guoli
61. Rainie Yang (TW)
62. Karen Mok (HK)
63. Li Yundi
64. Xie Na
65. Eric Tsang (HK)
66. Crystal Liu
67. Li Na
68. Hu Jun
69. Zhang Hanyu
70. Khalil Fong (HK)
71. Gigi Leung (HK)
72. Ethan Juan (TW)
73. Zheng Jie
74. Han Han
75. Lin Dan
76. Leon Lai (HK)
77. Jerry Yen (TW)
78. Yao Chen
79. Sun Nan
80. Jiang Wen
81. Chen Chusheng
82. He Jiong
83. Gao Yuanyuan
84. Yan Ni
85. Liu Ye
86. Zhang Jie
87. Ding Junhui
88. Vivian Hsu (TW)
89. Deng Chao
90. Joe Cheng (TW)
91. Vic Chou (TW)
92. Alec Su (TW)
93. Ekin Cheng (HK)
94. Zhang Yining
95. Bibi Zhou
96. Tang Wei
97. Wang Baoqiang
98. Huang Bo
99. Kevin Tsai (TW)
100. Wang Han

PS: Since Mengke Bateer starred in a movie with 10 (1/10) of the above listed, maybe it's time to see him on the list next year

[LordOfLeyte]

Its nice to see my Chinese Idols on the list:

Yao Ming

Yi Jianlian

Faye Wong

Zhang Yimou

Zhao Wei

I see, Vienna Teng did not make it this year.

[sinobball]

I see, Vienna Teng did not make it this year.

Honestly I did not even know who she is... but I think Forbes based the ranking in terms of influence in Greater China only, so it's unlikely for oversea Chinese to make the list unless they frequently perform in Greater China.

Do you like Faye Wong from her movies or from her songs? She had only 2 public performances in the past year, after almost 7 years of dormancy, but still managed to crack the top 40.... She is called "Asian Diva" for a reason

[LordOfLeyte]

I love Faye Wong for her songs which were recorded in English as part of her Western version of her album back in 99.

On Vienna Teng, she's a musician / pianists / poet and song-writer based on California and her performances even draws generous crowds and she is also a regular performer in some selected New York venues. I love her songs and I have all three of her albums.

[sinobball]

Just listened to a bunch of Vienna's songs on YT, beautiful voice. I think her song-writing could improve, but she's already talented to begin with (Stanford computer science major? ) I see her real surname is "Shih" but I think I know why she uses "Teng" as her stage name in the English world...


I'm a big fan of Faye's music... she sometimes sounds like she's about to die, but it is precisely this dreamy quality in her voice that made her such a superstar... It's also impressive that a Beijing local who grew up speaking Mandarin can go on to dominate Cantonese pop, and has almost no accent in all her English songs:

[LordOfLeyte]

Once I get my credit card back, I'm going to purchase Faye Wong albums online. I'm building an all Asian music library. While I know now why my daughter loves Faye Wong's song "Eyes On Me" because it was a sound-track for a video game. Thank you.

I got hooked on Vienna Teng on 2004 on her debut album Waking Hour.

I also miss Leslie Cheung, before his untimely death; he was on the Forbes list as well.

[Phantim3dx]

In 2004 Wang Zhizhi was 17th (despite still staying in US and having 0 endorsement) and Mengke Bateer was 24th. So salaries definitely play a very important part in the list (credit goes to US Dollar for being $$$$$$ than Chinese Yuan )
.

i dont know if there was some hidden pun or form of sarcasm to this statement. i saw the words "credit", "us dollar" "$$$$$$$" "chinese yuan"

it reminded me of the joe wong special about a chinese american being bilingual and president of america

[satria_muda]

that list was rigged!
how come the like of eason chan or nicholas tse above Chow yun fat? and now way ekin cheng beaten by such creature as karen mok

[sinobball]

how come the like of eason chan or nicholas tse above Chow yun fat? and now way ekin cheng beaten by such creature as karen mok

Simply it's based on the past calendar year, not all-time. And what do you have against Karen?


For those of you who don't know what Phantim3dx is talking about:

I don't hate on my people with bad accents, but I didn't really laugh at that. He has clever jokes but the delivery was too monotonous (speed-wise and expression-wise). I wish him well but I think I prefer Danny Cho or Peter Russell for Asian jokes.


@LordOfLeyte
Leslie was WAY before my time. I watched some of his movies and his songs but I don't pay attention to male artists... Who else will be in your "All-Asian music library"? Just curious

[LordOfLeyte]

So far, my all Asian Music Library consists of 1 album from Faye Wong, Kyu Sakamoto's Sukiyaki carrier album, The Best of Timi Yuro, Lea Salonga's rendition of love songs

and my daughter's Jolin Tsai album.

That's it so far and I will be researching and purchasing online for more contemporary Asian Artists.

[sinobball]

and my daughter's Jolin Tsai album.

Oh heavens I never understood why she's popular... I think I'm more of the old-school-ballad type, can't stand those "singers" who dance all the time... but that's just me of course

I just checked out Lea Salonga... I see she is the original Mulan singer. Wow powerful voice


And thanks to you I probably watched/listened to ~40 of Faye's songs since yesterday...(LOL I have no life)... Brought out lots of memories from my teenage years... Maybe you haven't seen her "comeback performance" 2 months ago @ Chinese New Year with this song, appropriately titled "Legend":


I remember when MJ came back to the NBA in 2001 the league's best guards were Vince, Stackhouse, Kobe, Iverson etc. but still nobody dared to compare them to Jordan. It's the same with Faye; she may be 41 (although looks like 31) and unknown to the younger generation (e.g. Jolin fans ), but a legend is a legend and not to be compared

Faye Wong appeared on the cover of TIME magazine in 1996.

An encore for Faye Wong
By Chen Nan (China Daily)
Dec 11, 2009

Faye Wong's comeback, after 6 years, seems to have been confirmed this time.

Since the pop diva announced her retirement in 2003, rumours about her possible comeback have been trailing behind her. For her fans throughout Asia, the singer has always been an icon without equal.

"She is a legend," says Chen Tao, 28, a DJ on Hit FM, part of China Radio International. "It's like Americans talking about Madonna, she represents a certain era of pop music, a certain trend, and a vision of being unique."

Wong moved to Hong Kong with her family from Beijing in 1987, where she began her career as a model. Soon, she signed with a music company and released numerous albums containing classic Cantonese pop songs such as Fragile Woman and No Regrets. In 1994, the album Sky garnered many awards and she was given the title "Best Female Singer" in Asia.

She made 20 albums by 2000 and sold a reported 9.7 million units. She was the first Chinese singer to appear on the cover of TIME magazine.

"When you listen to Faye Wong now, you see that her songs bear no resemblance to what we hear today. When we miss her, we look for her through the songs," says Zhang Yadong, who has been working with Wong since 1994. "She is irreplaceable in the hearts of many fans, though lots of female singers have emerged over the years."

Her comeback will be a huge event.

"She has been an icon all the time. It would be a great event if she could make a comeback this time," Zhang says. "She has all her greatest hits, some of the greatest hits in the history of Chinese pop music, after all."

Pardon my self-indulged nostalgia... Anyway, to return to topic , expect Faye Wong in the top-10 of this Forbes list next year. Yao Ming would probably return to #1 after injuries. Not sure what the future holds for Yi though

[LordOfLeyte]

Indeed, Yao would be number #1 again.

I just want Vienna Teng on the list even if just #99.