Taiwan singer Jolin Tsai’s mainland concerts likened to ‘cult’ events; CCTV praises artistic merit
Mandopop queen’s stage set said to contain ‘dark elements from Western religions’; fans liken it to Olympic Games opening ceremony
Taiwan’s Mandopop queen Jolin Tsai’s new concert tour has been branded a “cult” event online.
But the singer has hit back and received support from fans, including mainland China’s state media.
Tsai unveiled her new world tour concert, Pleasure, at the Taipei Dome from December 30 to January 1.
As footage of the breathtaking stage circulated online, a mainland Chinese influencer with 400,000 followers, @celialiang, accused Tsai’s concert of being “cultlike”.
The influencer and her supporters said it featured “dark elements from Western religions” and claimed that a 30m long mechanical serpent puppet, which she performs atop, “sucked away audiences’ luck”.
The woman also reportedly led hundreds of netizens to report Tsai to Chinese city governments in a bid to get her tour, scheduled for 14 mainland cities starting March, cancelled.
On January 7, the company collaborating with Tsai on her mainland concerts, Yong Dao Xing, said it would hold the influencer legally responsible for spreading false information.