Compiled by C.ARUNO and BENJAMIN LEE
SINGER Rainie Yang (pic) was dropped from a list of artistes set to perform during a New Year’s Day event in Sichuan, China, after making what was seen as a distasteful joke during one of her concerts in December, China Press reported.
Sichuan Satellite TV had first announced on Dec 12 that the 39-year-old Taiwanese was one of the artistes invited to perform during New Year’s Day.
However, fans were shocked to see that her name had been dropped from the list on the day itself.
Many speculated that Yang is now cancelled in China after making a joke at the expense of people living in the Henan province.
“Even though Rainie Yang has already apologised, the repercussions were so severe. It is so sad to see,” one fan wrote.
Even the Weibo social media platform removed all search results for topics relating to Yang and the New Year’s Day programme.
> The daily also reported that a music festival in China’s Sichuan province caught the attention of the Internet after its decorations were described as looking like a “funeral hall”.
Photographs of the event showed white tents erected across an open field, with banners hung in the area filled with Chinese characters written in calligraphy.
The two most prominent banners outside the main tent read “Mysterious Power” and “Five Elements Social”.
The white-themed decorations gave the place a sombre mood, with many thinking a wake was being held.
A visitor who stumbled onto the place later found out that it was actually a music festival organised by students from 30 universities to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
“When I walked in, I thought I was in the wrong place. The decorations made it seem like it was a funeral hall,” he said.
The visitor took photos of the festival and posted them on social media, saying he did not understand why students would pick such sombre decorations for a music festival.
