Inspirational pianist, 81, who lives with dementia 'came alive again' fulfilling dream of conducting an orchestra

Vivienne Chow Controversial Malaysian singer-songwriter Namewee, who has been accused of insulting China and Chinese people with his recent viral hit ballad “Fragile,” and advocating independence for Hong Kong and Taiwan, says that those were not his intentions.

Last Week Tonight.Cena came under fire in May after calling Taiwan a country during an interview. The actor, who was promoting Fast And Furious 9, said that Taiwan, an island separated from mainland China by the Taiwan Strait, would be the first “country” able to watch the film.“I made one mistake,” Cena said afterwards on Chinese social media network Weibo (as per South China Morning Post). “I love and respect China and Chinese people.

On Sunday’s “Last Week Tonight,” host John Oliver used awkward apologies given to China by actor John Cena and clothing company The Gap to highlight just how intense the country’s government feels about its claim of ownership of Taiwan. “China insists that Taiwan, an independently operating entity, with its own democratically elected leaders, armed forces and constitution is actually part of China, and in no way a separate country,” Oliver said.

Rebecca Davis editorThe initial excitement and relief among Chinese fans that “Dune” passed government censorship was soon tempered by outrage that the initial release plan didn’t include an Imax 2D version of Denis Villeneuve’s keenly anticipated sci-fi thriller.Hundreds flooded the comments section of Imax’s official Weibo and online message boards last month to vent their frustration, while a few dozen took part in an email campaign to the company.Some said that if there was no Imax 2D

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver tackled the topic of Taiwan on Sunday night which made for the perfect opportunity to mock John Cena.

Rebecca Davis editor“Dune” didn’t quite manage to spice up its China open after a middling $6 million first day in the country on Friday. The film grossed just $21.6 million in its debut three-day weekend, according to studio estimates.The result is more or less in the ballpark of its $41 million weekend tally in North America, where it released day-and-date simultaneously on HBO Max.

Rebecca Davis editor“Dune” was unable to surpass Chinese propaganda war movie “The Battle at Lake Changjin” to take the top spot on its China opening day Friday, coming in second with just $6.45 million (RMB41.2 million) according to Maoyan data, despite a protracted charm offensive to raise awareness about the film in the increasingly sci-fi hungry country.As of the early hours of Saturday local time, the Maoyan platform now estimates that it will mine a total of just $30.9 million (RMB197

Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune hit China today with an estimated RMB 42M ($6.5M) on 28,274 screens and a 34.3% share of the market. While we do not yet have a social score, Friday’s estimate would portend a weekend in the $20M+ neighborhood as we noted coming into the session.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Dune,” Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi film of epic proportions, opened solidly in China on Friday and is forecast to attain a gross box office of $35 million (RMB224 million) in the country.The forecast was made by Maoyan, one of China’s leading online ticketing agencies, which also reported that the film had grossed RMB23.8 million ($3.7 million) by 2pm Friday local time.The $3.7 million haul was only good enough for second place, behind “The Battle at Lake

China’s capital Beijing say famed international pianist Li Yundi is a suspect in a prostitution case.A message on the force’s microblog said a suspect had been placed in administrative detention and an investigation opened on Thursday involving a woman identified by her surname Chen and a man named as “Li di," with the first part of his personal name deleted as is standard in police cases.The post was followed by another message depicting a piano keyboard and the words “one must definitely see

Enes Kanter and the NBA’s Boston Celtics opened ESPN’s regular-season schedule with a dramatic, double-overtime game won by the New York Knicks. But social media posts by Kanter before the game wound up being much more consequential.

Scarlett Moffatt has spent nearly a year doing up hers and her boyfriend's dream home, and the results are breathtaking.The presenter and TV personality, 31, and partner Scott Dobinson moved into the gorgeous County Durham property at the end of 2020.

EXCLUSIVE: In a very competitive situation with eight bidders, Sony Pictures Television’s TriStar has won the television rights to author Kirstin Chen’s upcoming novel Counterfeit. Chen will executive produce the series adaptation alongside Ben Smith of Captive Entertainment and Kay Cannon and Laverne McKinnon through K&L Productions. The producers have started a search for a writer to pen the project.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Busan International Film Festival will be a homecoming of sorts for Zhang Lu. The celebrated art-house director was born in China, but is of Korean ethnicity, and has enjoyed many of his successes in Busan, at the festival or through the project market.Zhang’s new film “Yanagawa” has its world premiere in Busan’s Icons section and will next travel to the Pingyao festival where it is set as the opening title.

Nick Cannon was really into Kim Kardashian.The 40-year-old actor and TV presenter opened up about his previous relationship with the reality star and admitted that she «broke my heart.»«People didn’t know, they were just like, ‘Who’s that chick with Nick? She’s bad,'» Cannon recalled during an interview on the podcast.