Jan 9th, 2010
American Singer From Liquid Blue Reaches Top-10 of Pop Idol In China
(Fu Zhou, China) - Nikki Nova, an American singer from San Diego, has
qualified as a Top-10 contestant in Taiwanese Idol (officially called MN
Idol). Taiwanese idol is a global competition and Nikki competed against singers from all
around the world, each of them singing in the Taiwanese language. Nikki
is the very first American to reach the Top-10.
Taiwanese Idol does not subscribe to the Nielson ratings but they
estimate conservatively that there were over 50 million viewers tuning in
to each episode and many more for the finals. The hosts announced on the
air that over 100 million viewers tuned in to the finals. North American viewers
were able to watch the show if they had "Dish Network" and subscribe to "The Great
Wall" package.
Nikki performed at the finals on Jan. 9th, 2010 in Genting Highlands (located in the
mountains about an hour from Kuala Lumpur) at the "Arena of Stars" a 6,000 seat
musical amphitheater located at an outdoor theme park. Singers
that have performed there include Boyz II Men, Cliff Richard, and Olivia Newton-John.
Nikki sings in both Mandarin and Taiwanese and was the only
performer not of Asian descent in the entire competition and the
only contestant from the U.S. to make the Top 20, beating out
some Native Taiwanese.
Wang Su Jing, one of the judges who is a famous Taiwanese singer, said of Nikki's last performance:
"Looked like an Oscar performance". The other judge, Bow Xiao
Boa, who is a Taiwanese Canadian, said he "felt like he just
watched Celine Dion sing a Minnan song on stage.
Nikki sings in both Mandarin and Taiwanese and was the only
performer not of Asian descent in the entire competition and the
only contestant from the U.S. to make the Top 20, beating out
some Native Taiwanese.
Although Tai Idol is a "pop" singing contest patterned after American
Idol, Nikki is also a vocalist / keyboardist / guitarist with the rock band "Liquid Blue"
which was the first American band signed to a major Chinese record
label (Shanghai Audio & Video). Liquid Blue has performed in more than 100 countries, a world
record. Among their many performances in China, the band was featured at the 2008 Summer
Olympics Kick-Off event for CCTV in Beijing. For more information on
Liquid Blue in China, see this Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_Blue or their web site at
www.LiquidBlue.net.
