Show Lo


Show Lo is a Taiwanese singer, actor and host. He is commonly known by his nickname Xiao Zhu . Lo is recognized for his trademark dance music and comedic talent. He has over 50 million followers on Chinese micro-blogging platform Weibo as of June 2018.
Show Lo debuted as a member of Taiwanese boy group in 1996 after winning a singing and dancing competition, and began his solo music career in 2003 when he released his first studio album Show Time. His successive albums were commercially successful; he achieved best-selling album of the year in Taiwan for four consecutive years from 2010 to 2013. He holds many records in the Taiwanese music industry, including being the first pop singer to hold a concert in Taipei Arena in 2005, and the first pop singer to hold three concerts within twenty-four hours in Taipei Arena in 2010. As of May 2018, he has gone on four world tours. His 2010 ran for two-and-a-half years, visiting forty-two cities and attracting 600,000 spectators. Lo is fluent in Japanese and released his first Japanese single EP Dante in 2012. The song clinched 5th place in Japan's Oricon daily charts on its first day of release and remained at 10th place in the Oricon weekly charts, making him the first Taiwanese male singer to place on the chart.
Besides his singing career, Show Lo is a successful television host and entertainer. He has been hosting 100% Entertainment since 2001. In 2017, he won the Best Host for a Variety Show Award in the 52nd Golden Bell Awards for 100% Entertainment, with co-host Linda Chien. He is also recognized as a member of the cast for the popular Chinese reality show, Go Fighting!, and as a judge on China's Produce 101 and .
Show Lo was nominated thrice for Best Male Actor in the Golden Bell Awards. In 2013, Lo was handpicked by director Stephen Chow to play the guest role of Prince Important in the movie , which broke Chinese box office records. Chow cast Lo again in a supporting role, Octopus, in his 2016 movie The Mermaid, likening his comedic talent onscreen to a formidable explosive. The movie once again broke existing Chinese box office records.
In 2006, Show Lo created fashion brand STAGE which currently has branches in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. STAGE sponsors clothing for many Taiwanese entertainers, and the brand is often seen on Taiwanese variety shows.

Early life

Show Lo was born in Keelung City, Taiwan. His father is ethnically Han Chinese of Shandong descent and his mother is a Taiwanese Aborigine of the Amis people. He is an only child, and his parents held multiple odd jobs to support the family when he was growing up. They primarily put up entertainment shows for grassroots events such as weddings, in which his father hosted and his mother sang. Show participated in these entertainment shows as a child, playing the drums onstage when he was just three.
Show is nicknamed Xiao Zhu because he was really chubby when he was young, weighing over 100 kilograms. He was bullied by his classmates for his weight, which made him determined to slim down. During the summer break of his first year in middle school, Show swam and played basketball everyday, shedding weight and reaching 80 kilograms within two months.
Show picked up street dance when he was in middle school and was a member of a street dance group, participating in many dancing competitions in Taiwan. He auditioned successfully for Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School, but was only enrolled there for one school term as his family was unable to afford the school fees. He returned to Keelung and enrolled in Pei De high school's media production course.

Career

Debut (1996–2002)

In 1996, Show entered and won a singing and dancing competition, impersonating Aaron Kwok. He debuted as member of boy group Four Heavenly Kings with three other contestants who impersonated the other Hong Kong Four Heavenly Kings. The boy group disbanded in 1998 as two members left for compulsory military service, which Show was exempted from because he has Gluteal Fibrotic Contracture. He also suffers from Mitral insufficiency and hence cannot consume food containing caffeine. That same year, he formed a new boy group Romeo with Ou Di. They released two albums, but the group soon disbanded too.
From 2000 to 2002, Show's singing career was stalled by a lawsuit with his former management company. He was forced to transit from a teen idol to a variety show entertainer, performing gags on variety shows. His transition into hosting comedy game shows was successful, and he earned the "Triple Crown" title for hosting the three most popular variety shows at one point in time. The sudden cancellation of these variety shows left him jobless for three months, which he refers to as the bleakest moment in his career. During this time period, he also played the male leading role in the idol drama Hi Working Girl, co-starring with Jolin Tsai. The two formed a lasting friendship from this collaboration.

Avex Taiwan (2003–2007)

In 2003, Show signed with Avex Taiwan and launched his solo career with the release of his first album Show Time, selling over 80,000 copies.
His second album, Expert Show, was released in 2004. The leading dance track "機器娃娃", is a hip hop number about the prevalence of electronic pets and on-line relationships. He collaborated with his co-host Xiao S on the duet "Love Expert".
Show released his third album Hypnosis Show in 2005. He collaborated with Jolin Tsai for the first lead dance track "Destined Guy".
The year after, he released his fourth album SPESHOW on November 17, 2006. The lead track, "Dance Gate" is a cover of "James Dean " by Daniel Bedingfield. The Music Video features Show Lo's iconic 椅子舞 and him showing off his versatility, performing various dance styles. For the album, he sang a full length English song for the first time, "Twinkle", with Japanese singer Koda Kumi.
Show released his fifth album Show Your Dance on November 16, 2007; he sang the duet "Defeat in Love" with Elva Hsiao.

Pony Canyon (2011–present)

In 2011, Show signed with Pony Canyon Japan. His first Japanese single "Dante" was released on February 15, 2012. This song made it to the 5th place in Japan's Oricon daily chart during its first day of release, and hit 10th place in the Oricon weekly chart. This record made Show the first Taiwanese male singer to be on the Oricon chart after Teresa Teng.
On June 20, 2012, his second Japanese single "Magic" was released.
His Japanese studio album "THE SHOW" was released on September 19, 2012. However, the planned trip to Japan to promote his album was not eventuated due to political uproar over the Senkaku Islands between Japan, Taiwan and China.

Gold Typhoon (2008–2013)

In 2008 Show joined forces with Gold Typhoon and released his sixth album Trendy Man.
On September 19, 2009, Show represented Taiwan and performed at the 6th Asia Song Festival, held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in South Korea.
The seventh album, Rashomon, was released in 2010, which held the number one spot on G-music, and the album sold 150,000 copies.
Show released his eighth studio album, Only for You, on February 18, 2011, which the album sold more than 150,000 copies.
Show's ninth album, 9ood Show was released on April 6, 2012. For this album, Show and his partner Rainie Yang teamed up with Tourism Australia to film a short romance film featuring tourist attractions in Melbourne, Tasmania, and Sydney.
In November 2012, Show announced his new world tour "Over The Limit", starting from January 2013 at Taipei Arena.

Sony Music (2013–2014)

In August 2013 Show had joined Sony Music along with Elva Hsiao. He went on a Japanese Tour with partner Rainie Yang to make up for the cancelled tour in 2011. He also released the tenth album Lion Roar, which became the fourth consecutive album to reach over 150,000 copies. In the album, he wrote Taiwanese lyrics for the love song "You Are Mine", which is his first Taiwanese hip-hop song. In his words, the song is about the kind of love that never ends and continues beyond this life, written based on his own experience of a love as deep as that of his parents.
In December 2013, Show announced his new encore world tour of "Over The Limit — Dance Soul Returns", starting from January 2014 in Kaohsiung Arena.

EMI Music Taiwan (2014–present)

In 2014, Show joined EMI Music Taiwan along with Rainie Yang and A-mei.
In 2015, he joined the famous Chinese variety show Go Fighting! with Zhang Yi Xing, Sun Honglei, Huang Lei, Huang Bo and Wang Xun.
Show Luo's eleventh album "Reality Show?" was released on November 20, 2015. The title is derived from Show's personal reflection on his persona, commenting that what he presents has elements of both 'Reality' and of putting on a 'Show'. He co-wrote the music and lyrics for the leading track, "Let Go", which discusses the issue of cyber-bullying. The music video depicts three subjects representing the demographics most vulnerable to cyber-bullying.
Show also created his artist management company, Creation, signing on Linda Chien, his co-host on 100% Entertainment, re-branding her from a children's television presenter to a singer.

Discography

LocationVenueDateSpecial Guests
Shanghai, ChinaShanghai Grand Stage2007/06/09Twins — 戀愛達人
Nanjing, ChinaOlympic Sports Center2007/06/30Jolin Tsai
Taipei, TaiwanTaipei Arena2007/11/17Karen Mok
Jolin Tsai — 天空
Taipei, TaiwanTaipei Arena2007/11/18Rainie Yang
Elva Hsiao — 敗給你
SingaporeSingapore Indoor Stadium2007/12/01Rainie Yang
Wuxi, ChinaWuxi New Sports Stadium2007/12/18
Hong Kong:zh:西九龍中天地|Pop TV Arena2008/02/23Lollipop
Hong Kong:zh:西九龍中天地|Pop TV Arena2008/02/24Rainie Yang
Guangzhou, ChinaTianhe Sports Centre Stadium2008/12/27Energy — 一起走吧
MacauVenetian Arena2009/05/02Rainie Yang — 戀愛達人
Connecticut, USAMohegan Sun Arena2009/11/26Rainie Yang — 戀愛達人
Tokyo, JapanShibuya-AX2010/04/24

Filmography

Television series

Feature film

Short film

Host

Books