Top 10 newsmakers

Gillian Chung (L), a member of the popular female singing duo Twins, chats with the other member of Twins Charlene Choi as they meet fans in Hong Kong February 11, 2008.[Agencies]

1. Jet Li has finally been admitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which picks the annual Oscar nominees and winners.

The good news: The Forbidden Kingdom will have a shot at the Oscars. The bad news: The other 5,999 members may not go along.

2. Zhang Jizhong was praised in England for his vision of the Monkey King remake.

The tough thing is, how to make the Chinese audience love him.

3. Han Han has been lambasted for denouncing the writing style of the last century's great Chinese writers.

We have a tradition of turning literary criticism into shouting matches and drama-queen grandstanding.

4. Chen Chusheng, the superboy winner of the last season, is trying to break free from his agent, the company that made him a superstar.

Who said entertainment marriages end in happily ever after?

5. Rumors say Gillian Chung, the disgraced pop singer from the Hong Kong sex photo scandal, will be paid $3 million for a photo album.

But wait a second - didn't she take more explicit photos for Edison Chen for free?!

6. The fourth season of Prison Break has just released its first trailer.

That's enough of a signal for the volunteer subtitle translators here to end their vacations.

7. Rhinoceros in Love, an off-Broadway-type play, is given lavish treatment by the press for its 10th anniversary restaging.

No wonder Shakespeare wants to fall in love, too.

8. China is importing a production of the Italian opera Aida from Egypt, where the story originally took place.

What's next? Butterfly from Japan, Samson and Delila from Palestine, or Swan Lake from the National Zoo?

9. Actress Wang Ji has been complaining about Air China for preventing bumping her mentally handicapped child from boarding the plane.

If she decides to turn the episode into a TV drama, she should not seek advertising from the airline.

10. Pretty boy Chen Kun bought an expensive bag for his mom, who, without knowing its value, used it as her shopping bag.

There goes his chance of acting as LV's spokesman.

(China Daily 06/26/2008 page18)