Superstars, Supergirls to grace festival party
By Yuan Wu (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-23 05:44

China's most famous figures from 2005 will come together for a Spring Festival party tonight, produced by Hunan Province's satellite television station, the Hong Kong-based Dakungpao has reported.

The top 10 contestants from Supergirls, including winner Li Yuchun, the astronauts of the Shenzhou VI space mission, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, and the Korean actress Lee Young-ae, who plays the main character in the popular Korean soap opera Dao Jang Geum, will attend the party, according to the report.

The report also said that Hunan provincial satellite television would establish a sub-venue of the party in Jiuquan, the Satellite Launch Centre in North China's Gansu Province, which has usually shut its doors to the media and remained mysterious.

"The Supergirls and Lee Young-ae will appear at our party," Huang Ren, one of the organizers of the party, confirmed. But asked about the attendance of Fei and Nie in Jiuquan, he declined to give more information.

Hunan TV's Supergirls, following the style of the British reality show Pop Idol, inspired a national craze in China, and even aroused international interest.

Li Yuchun, a 21-year-old music student from Sichuan Province, won with the support of 3.5 million viewers voting with mobile phone text messages.

Li is a controversial figure: Recently, she adopted a panda and supported its living costs, but was criticized for bringing it on stage with her, causing the animal considerable stress due to the loud noise and camera flashes.

Fei and Nie won national and worldwide respect for their successful achievements in the Shenzhou VI space mission.

(China Daily 01/23/2006 page2)