Mixed reactions

He actually has a moderate outlook, which is reflected in the opinion pieces he writes for the Shenzhen Daily newspaper and the Pearl River Delta community website thenanfang.com.

"People nowadays have some ridiculous stereotypes, and I go straightforward with these silly ideas to make my songs funny," he says.

Jennie Li, a 29-year-old PhD candidate in Hong Kong who McGeary says is his first self-proclaimed fan, applauds his humor and clever parodies of social phenomena and cultural mentalities.

Some find his songs offensive and post "mindless spite" online, calling him a "talentless hack" and "shameless self-promoter".

"Some dislike McGeary's songs because he sings their hidden thoughts out loud," Li says.

"Some are not used to such straightforward expressions. After all, critical songs about reality are rare in China.

"McGeary stands out among the growing group of foreigners singing Chinese songs. Many just play covers, while he sings original pieces with thought-provoking insights about Chinese society."

McGeary is one of a growing contingent of foreign musicians taking their acts to talent shows and online.

He's not as well known as people like Liberian Uwechue Emmanuel, better known as Hao Ge, who gave up his engineering job in 1996 to become a singer. Hao Ge finally realized the dream in 2006 when he won second place at China Central TV's singing competition Avenue of Stars. American Martin Papp ranked in the top 30 on Hunan Satellite TV's popular talent show Super Boy in 2010.

American Aventurina King, better known as Jin Xiaoyu, is a singer and TV anchor whose performances on Jiangsu Satellite TV's popular Stars in Danger this year won her 120,000 fans on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like micro blog service.

McGeary's most popular video on Youku.com, one of China's biggest video websites, has gotten about 700 clicks in the past three months.