A date with DT

DT did not appear in Million Stars on 7/17. Apparently he only records once a month so he will probably appear in next mth episodes. Sry will only post the vid when he appear, here's an uninterrupted vid of the 2nd epi on Youku. If you have cable in Singapore, the first epi started showing last Sunday on Cable 825 & 826. He was quite the Simon Cowell in the second half & really hurted one of the contestants when he criticised her for being 'flat'. Hope he will be more considerate next time as the girl cried for a whole nite. However really loved his camaraderie with Lin Xi when they high-fived after mowing down Xiao Pang for insulting a male contestant for not singing 'manly'. Probably will not watch any of the epis without him judging as honestly I am not really interested in these kind of shows.
DT being the busy bee again running around in China to appear in various largescale concerts boasting zillion of 'heavenly kings & queens'. Although still not too enthusiastic abt this hired singer gig, it does seem to be getting vry popular with other Taiwanese & HK singers as more & more of them are appearing in largescale concerts. I suppose it must pay well as the tickets are not cheap & also an extremely great way of getting in touch with your fans without the huge expense of a solo concert.
On 7/17, DT went for a recording of A Date with Lu Yu. He had appeared in this interview program once before. His fans reported that he looked extremely slim & charming. Lately a lot of his chinese female fans kept saying that he is 'shuai', maybe his older masculine charm is overwhelming them *_* Anyway he sang an acoustic version of Regular Friends still sounding exactly like in his CD. He then said that he was extremely moved by his mainland fans filming his birthday vid & reminding him that his music is still very much in their lives making him determined never to give up music (very emotional after hearing that, GO DT!). The chinese artist who has a great influence in his life is still Luo Dayu & his favorite song is still from the Beatles - All you need is love. He also talked abt his dad, his childhood, his guitar. He would like a simple wedding ceremony where he & his fans sing Marry Me Today together -- vry sweet! He also showed a music video he directed for another artist when he was twenty. Wow look forward to that. This program is usually on Phoenix Cable 805 so I will look out for it but hopefully it will be posted online soon.

Happy Birthday David Tao!

Second episode of Million Stars watch here

1 day to DT's birthday

This birthday vid by his mainland China fanclub, davidtao.cn, should bring tears to DT's eyes. It certainly brought tears to mine. He has vry dedicated mainland fans even though he doesn't really go all out to woo them. Certainly his mandarin has improved a whole lot but he still peppered his speech with english phrases. His chinese fans really appreciate his western style of music & his thinking. DT has chosen a path where instead of more fame, more sale & more awards, he settles for less publicity & less limelight. He chooses to do the things he wants, compose the music he wants and live the life he wants. He is happier this way and is glad that he still able to support himself and his loved ones. I think his fans like me are so dedicated because they can feel his sincerity and passion. He has given us so many years of good music and we are grateful & willing to wait for what else he still has to give us.

2 days to DT's birthday

DT looking seriously like a judge but also extraordinarily cute. The bespectacled man next to him is the master lyricist from Hong Kong, Albert Leung. He writes under the pen name of 林夕 & his most famous collaboration was probably with Faye Wong. I really like this panel of judges as they all seemed vry earnest and fair in their judging without being too critical. Here's another look at DT's monster bike. I think it's a Harley Davidson. Anyway, eagerly anticipating the next episode of Million Stars & also DT's birthday. Wonder where will he be to celebrate? Here's a really nice birthday vid done by one of his mainland fan:

3 days to DT's birthday

DT will be 42 not 44, thanks Henny for pointing out mistake. Probably cos his birthdate is 7/11 so I type 44 instead of 42 so sorry. But he still looks young for his age. He has been vry active in his Weibo posting that he was performing in Lvliang in Shanxi Province on 7/6 where he has never been. Currently he is in Dongtai in Jiangsu Province, another place he has never been in China. Since he is managing himself, guess he can choose the places he perform. He also posted a really cute pix of himself in a car using his notebook & claiming that it was his mobile office. Then only a few hours ago he used Twitter to advertise 2nd hand furniture for sale. So anyone interested in getting a piece of David Tao's furniture?

4 days to DT's birthday

Doesn't he look like a music producer here? Yeah, this is one of DT's many roles now as he has his own independent company called 伟大音乐 which has offices in three countries. I am guessing Taiwan, Singapore & China. Not sure the english name but roughly translated it would be Brave or Courageous Music. Interestingly the phonetics of the chinese name, Weida, when reversed sound like David - Dawei - in chinese. Not sure if that's deliberate. These gorgeous pixs appeared in this online article abt David. There's not much new abt his past history but at the end, it talked abt David's new company which is a music management company as well as film and television production. During his interview for Million Stars, he did say that he will be looking for new talents to sign up. So being a judge for 华人星光大道 looked like a right move for him as it would be thru his company & most likely a partnership with Million Stars to sign up & release album for the winner. Also it looks like the rumour that he signed up rock band The Mushrooms may well be true
The Mao show has The Mushrooms, Shanghai's breakout band that were signed to David Tao's indie label.
So now he can add 'indie music producer' to his curriculum vitae & probably soon 'indie film producer/director' *__* He seems to be managing The Mushrooms in China vry nicely too with quite a few live performances & already garnering recognition without even releasing an album. I do think it's a smart move on his part to start his own film production company seeing as the huge success of Nic Tse's film production company in Hong Kong would probably have raised interest among many investors. Clever of DT to get in early into this lucrative market. It would also be easier for him when making his own movie & hopefully releasing another album in the future. His performance in 华人星光大道 was I think quite good. He was probably the most 'businesslike' of the judges approving contestants he felt could sing quickly as it was only the first round. I think he will get more critical in the later rounds. His comments were also vry realistic, to the point & usually centering around the contestants' ability to sing as this is first & foremost a singing contest. He got a bit testy with one of the judges giving the last chance to a contestant who cannot sing to save her life only because she is a songwriter. In that case, shouldn't she enter a songwriting contest? David of cos kindheartedly gave the contestant who could actually sing his saving star although being David, he did chastised her for not giving her all when singing a song with soul. So DT!

DT & million stars

DT arriving in style for the recording of 华人星光大道, Taiwan version of American Idols. Love those sunnies. Here's another pix: Watch the first episode here or here Really enjoyable. David was surprisingly the most lenient of the judges being often the first to press the buzzer. Love watching him being all serious & judgemental hee hee Can't wait for the second episode. Here's a promo pix: He looked incredibly young although he will be 42 in a few more days our birthday boy. There's a recent fabulous interview with him, will post that soon as it has quite interesting news of what he has been doing lately & gorgeous pixs. Here's an interesting article of President Ma making the effort to present GMA award to Taiwan's aboriginal singer. It mentioned that he shook hands with R&B musician David Tao. Also nice vid abt how best new artist William Wei was disappointed at not meeting DT during GMA & was delighted when David posted msg for him in Weibo to "keep in touch!". I gonna watch 华人星光大道 again cos it's just so great to watch & listen to DT on the screen. Add oil, dear David.