Life of Guangzhou - Japanese Competes in Guangzhou "Happy Girl"

More and more foreign contestants are competing in the televised singing show "Happy Girl," the Chinese version of "American Idol" produced by China's Hunan Satellite Television. Females from any nationality that are over the age of 18 have been allowed to participate.

Wakabayashi Aki in an interview after the contest (hunantv.com)

Wakabayashi Aki (若林亚希) was one of the thousands who performed at the Guangzhou regional competition of the nationwide star-making phenomenon, singing an adaptation of a Mandarin song called "Sweetness" by Taiwan diva Teresa Deng.

"Teresa Deng has gained huge popularity in Japan, where many people, including me, can sing all of her songs."

An editor at a Guangzhou-based magazine who has lived in the city for almost nine years, Aki speaks fluent Chinese and even has a good hand at writing Chinese characters.

The Japanese singer is also an enthusiast of Chinese culture, saying, "I love Chinese culture, especially Gongfu. Jet Li and Jackie Chan are my idols."

(By Jessie Hwang, Stephen Roach)