Michael, Farrah were icons in Taiwan

In Taiwan, lots of people are talking about these two celebrities and remembering what they were doing when the two became household names.

Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett have long been out of the spotlight, and at first glance these two people seem to have very little in common.

But while they earned fame in completely different realms of entertainment and come from disparately different cultural backgrounds, they both broke through cultural barriers to become household names around the world, including here in Taiwan.

Even today, four decades since they first stepped onto the global stage, the names “Michael” and “Farrah” are instantly recognizable by anyone over the age of 35 living in Taiwan.

It is also true that both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett were unable to repeat their stunning successes in later years.

Many younger people in Taiwan have expressed amazement at the wall-to-wall coverage of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett by our domestic television news networks and newspapers.

Over the weekend, television networks dedicated hours to broadcasting old music videos of Michael Jackson's and discussing the impact of Jackson and Fawcett on Taiwan's popular culture.

Many young people surely do not realize that Michael and Farrah were just as famous here in Taiwan as they were in the United States, Europe or Australia.

Michael Jackson's fame in Taiwan dates back to the days when the radio station now known as ICRT was operated by the United States armed forces.

In the early 1970s, the Jackson 5 were frequently played on the radio, and bootleg records of the Jackson brothers were immensely popular here.

Michael Jackson's solo career was also very successful in Taiwan and eventually Jackson was persuaded by music magazine publisher and music promoter Yu Kuang to make a stop in Taiwan during his “Dangerous” tour in 1993.

Numerous performers in Taiwan have cited Michael Jackson as their inspiration, as have international stars such as South Korea's Rain.

1|2|Next Page>>

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email