Xiang Liu and You (Yes, You)

 HeadInTheClouds:

How was Weibo night? Anything noteworthy?? 

Tan Jian Ci's livestream, even on the red carpet, was great!  He also walked the carpet with Dylan Wang, and the host was Yang Di, so it was a fun Hello Saturday reunion.

Atmospheres was right about Weibo King.  The others ...

LYF on being named one of the Dramas of the Year on Weibo Night.

Yang Zi winning and winning on Weibo Night!  WEIBO QUEEN!  One of the Most Anticipated Spring Festival Movies (Yolo), and Most Appealing / Influential Actor with Liu Shi Shi,

Tan Jian Ci on being named one of the Most Watched / Popular Actors along with Bai Lu, Zhao Lusi, Song Yi, and Dylan Wang.

Deng Wei was named one of the Rising Actors of the Year, along with Chen Zhe Yuan, Yu Shi, and Zhang Ling He.

 luv2bafangurl:

Financial wise it‘s also benefit him more to do idol drama and get as many high end endorsement than doing those serious drama like you explained before

I'm hoping he'll eventually transition into doing mostly film because that's where the big money (if you strike a chord with the general public) and critical acclaim/job security is. Also, it doesn't rely as much on you having to go to absurd lengths to maintain your looks the way staying in idol dramas requires. Film stars like Zhu Yilong and Yi Yangqianxi are raking it in, I'm sure they make more than any liuliang (except for Xiao Zhan, and Wang Yibo possibly), because they're famous and beloved by the Chinese general public which no idol fandom regardless how dedicated can compare to in size and monetary influence. And film stars get offered lots of prestigious endorsements too, more than liuliangs do, and paid more for them because brands know that they have mass public appeal not just niche appeal. It is a shame that international viewers don't have access to subbed versions of many of China's films or more prestigious high-end dramas, they get exposed to mostly the equivalent of media junk food. I think it's just because China has a population of over a billion people so films and serious dramas don't need international viewership because they're already being watched by the Chinese general public and they're not going to be geared to international audiences.  

 luv2bafangurl:

btw does anyone knows which brands of luosifen noodle he promotes? Recently I saw luosifen instant noodle in my local asian supermarkt and today I bought one. Now I‘m kind of scared to try it because I read that this noodle soup has pungent stinky smell, but TJC love this noodle soup, so count me in as one of his devoted fans who buy things because he promotes it

I've seen him promoting Human Happy Liuzhou luosifen before. It's worth a try, a lot of people really like it and snail noodles got very trendy during covid on Chinese social media which revitalized a lot of the industry in Guangxi region -- must've been a proud thing for TJC given he's a Guangxi guy. Let me know how you like it!

The row TJC was sitting in during Weibo Night was one of the most visually pleasing I've seen in a long while -- he was in between Yu Shuxin and Bai Lu with Zhao Lusi, Wang Hedi, and Wu Lei also in his row.

 nathsketch:

This height thing makes zero sense. People be thinking he's like 1.50m. Do they need giraffes for these fashion brands? LOLOLOL

But actually, that's a good thing, tho. "Chinese women like tall men". May they continue liking them, then :)

Well as Asian myself I kind of understand the obsession on men’s height though. I don‘t know if this is maybe tied to the thinking that: tall men=better nutrition in childhood thus well to do (wealthy) family background, as many of asian countries were quite poor not so long time ago, so a financially stable spouse family is quite important. Genes of course play a big role in how tall a person is, but I did read somewhere that the average height of the population did increase as a country became richer because the people can then afford better nutrition for their kids. 

From the point of personal preferences (or result of cultural brainwash), I do like my man to be comfortably taller than me even when I am wearing heels. But because I’m petite, TJC height is perfect for me LOL.  

 luv2bafangurl:

So based on your knowledge on the seating arrangement on weibo night, how far was TJC from creme de la creme of the industry? 

I think he was in row 3 or 4 from the front, so about where I expected him to be -- upper mid-tier liuliang status. Top tier liuliangs were in row 2 like Wang Yibo, Yang Zi, Dilraba, Yang Mi, and weirdly Zhu Yilong (Chinese media still refers to him as a liuliang even though he's mainstream but sometimes they use that term for any celebrity who is popular online).

 atmospheres:

I think he was in row 3 or 4 from the front, so about where I expected him to be -- upper mid-tier liuliang status. Top tier liuliangs were in row 2 like Wang Yibo, Yang Zi, Dilraba, Yang Mi, and weirdly Zhu Yilong (Chinese media still refers to him as a liuliang even though he's mainstream but sometimes they use that term for any celebrity who is popular online).

I believe he was sitting behind the row with Hu Ge, Tang Yan and Xiao Zhan - so 3rd row? Who sits in the first row?

 atmospheres:

Zhou Dongyu's criticized turn in Ancient Love Poetry -- idol drama viewers thought she was too ugly to headline and get romanced by Xu Kai's character even though she's a critically acclaimed film star)

I remember when Ancient Love Poetry was airing and the comments in certain forums were about how ugly Zhou Dongyu was - too ugly to be a diety and to be romanced by Xu Kai. Her acting ability and critical acclaim far exceed his, and yet, for these idol-drama viewers she's not good enough. 

I'm like @luv2bafangurl I enjoy and tend to watch these tropes-filled, easy-to-digest idol dramas as it doesn't require too much thinking. For more serious, thoughtful topics I go with movies - 2 hours give or take are all my brain can manage to focus on at a time :-).

 H19279:

Her beauty is unconventional for xianxia beauty standard but her acting was excellent. Thus, I don’t understand the criticism and bashing by huge amount of audience. And the drama got hurricane of 1 star rating on douban.

From my observations, there are incredibly strict beauty standards in Asia in general. This is amplified 100x in the entertainment industry and gets even more over the top with these idol/Xian Xia style dramas. My idea of beauty is broad and unless beauty is a defining trait of the character - say Xi Shi or Helen of Troy - then I don't typically care. These actors are all well above average in looks; and these works tend to have such other-the-top descriptions of beauty - who the heck can live up to that? I think Zhou Dongyu is lovely and her acting hits the mark the majority of the time, which is more than can be said for many of these liuliang actors.

I don't know much about Douban; I've heard of inflated ratings by fans or deliberate rating-bombing practices going on that don't have anything to do with the actual quality of the work. Like the whole hoopla with Firework of My Heart last year. It reminds me of the occasional drama on Goodreads when an author gets bombed with 1-star ratings because of their conduct. It's fascinating to witness. I don't rely on ratings or reviews to pick what to watch - unless it's from someone whose tastes I trust.

 H19279:

@HeadInTheClouds

I remember when Ancient Love Poetry was airing and the comments in certain forums were about how ugly Zhou Dongyu was - too ugly to be a diety and to be romanced by Xu Kai. Her acting ability and critical acclaim far exceed his, and yet, for these idol-drama viewers she's not good enough.

Although I like Xu Kai, I watched Ancient Love Poetry because of her. Her beauty is unconventional for xianxia beauty standard but her acting was excellent. Thus, I don’t understand the criticism and bashing by huge amount of audience. And the drama got hurricane of 1 star rating on douban. This mainly resulted from hateful fans. Honestly i don’t trust Douban score anymore. It seems that many just care for actors’ appearance most. Many poor dramas attract a lot of attention due to the top traffic actors. Thus many good dramas are neglected.

I haven’t watched Ancient Love Poetry and I don’t know who Zhou Dongyu is but I’ll be adding this drama to my watchlist. I cannot believe how shallow and small-minded people can be. So they prefer those pretty girlies who can’t act/sing to save their lives instead of some actual actress who can?

Lol that’s why we end up with things like LMLMV. I’m of the same opinion as Atmospheres. I hope Tan stays away from those idols dramas. That’s just an euphemism for a nice-looking product with zero substance. He can and should do better than stuff like this. Plenty of other pretty dudes with less talent to fill these roles.