Zhao's executive decision may win him comic relief

The country's comic laureate, Zhao Benshan (pictured), quietly enrolled at Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Graduate School on Monday in order to become a qualified CEO. It's no joke. The "King of Sitcom" is paying up to HK$550,000 ($71,000) for an 18-day course that will also have classes in leafy Lausanne, London and New York.

Zhao can afford it, according to daqi.com, which lists him as China's richest comedian. Among his many earners are TV and film appearances, numerous product endorsements and a company with a stable of well-known comedians.

"I feel great," the website quotes him as saying. "I'm not well educated and I hope to learn how to manage an enterprise in a scientific way." "Insiders" say Zhao intends to make errenzhuan (singing and dancing with red hankies, followed by earthy skits) a global phenomenon. Good luck, he'll need it.

The master's brightest pupil, Xiao Shenyang, meanwhile, is learning that fame is a double-edged sword. Last month gossip hounds discovered him and his party dispute a bill for 1,100 yuan ($160) at a restaurant in Changzhou, Jiangsu province. Portal Vodone had a 10-minute segment this week on the late-breaking news, poring over who said what. Xiao Shenyang eventually paid up.

Someone difficult to understand, or indeed underestimate, is Internet blogger Song Zude, who's taken aim at Red Cliff actress and supermodel Lin Chi-ling. Savaging a dead sheep comes to mind, but Song's attack is not for the fainthearted. First he calls Lin a "public toilet", an old "joke" that refers to her impending marriage to a man whose company makes urinals. Then Song goes for the jugular and claims Lin is being treated for infertility because she had sex while menstruating as a younger woman. Sordid speculation with no sources.

Hong Kong singer Jill Vidal (pictured below) has plumbed the depths of despair and addiction but is finding a way out on a diet of strawberries and milk. She got caught in possession of marijuana and a packet of heroin on a jaunt to Tokyo earlier this year. Arrested and held for more than 60 days, she got off with a suspended sentence of two years in jail. Vidal's celebrity sister Janice told journalists at an awards ceremony this week that Jill is also making jewelry, learning to play the piano and practicing Mandarin - all good for recovering addicts.

Finally, some good news for Cecilia Cheung, who was involved in the Edison Chen sex scandal. A singer called Xu Song, from Anhui province, has found fame for her shanzhai (copycat) performance as the ex-Twins star and recently made a promotional trip to Taiwan. She narrowly missed meeting Cheung, who also happened to be visiting. The Taipei Times quoted Xu as saying: "It's a pity. We would have enjoyed the thrill of seeing each other's mirror image."