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Kevin Tsai

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(Redirected from 蔡康永)
In this Chinese name, the family name is Tsai.
Kevin Tsai
蔡康永
Tsai in 2020
Born (1962-03-01) 1 March 1962 (age 62)
Taipei, Taiwan
Other namesTsai Kang-yong
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Television host
  • Writer
AgentHT Entertainment (2009-2023)
TelevisionKangsi Coming (2004-2016)
I Can I BB (2014-2021)
PartnerLiu Kunlong (1994–present)
FatherTsai Tien-duo

Kevin Tsai (Chinese: 蔡康永; pinyin: Cài Kāngyǒng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chhòa Khong-éng; born 1 March 1962) is a Taiwanese television host and writer. He is best known for co-hosting Chung T'ien Television's Kangsi Coming (2004–2016) with Dee Hsu.

Early life

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Tsai was born in Taipei to a once-prominent family with Shanghai roots. His father, Tsai Tien-duo, was a Fudan-educated lawyer who co-owned Chonglian Steamship Company, then China's largest shipping company, until the sinking of the Taiping Steamer in 1949 forced the company into bankruptcy.[1]

Tsai attended Taipei Private Tsai Hsing School from preschool through high school, a span of 14 years. In high school, he served as the president of the student union and editor-in-chief of the school magazine, where he published then politically sensitive articles about the February 28 Incident and communism, risking expulsion during his senior year. He entered Tunghai University in 1984 to major in social work before switching to English. Tsai then went to pursue a master's degree at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Theater, Film and Television, where he helped Taiwanese writer Pai Hsien-yung to adapt his short story about the Taiping into a film script, which would become The Last Aristocrats directed by Xie Jin. In 1990, upon graduation from UCLA, Tsai moved back to Taiwan.

Career

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Tsai started his career as a columnist and film critic for the China Times. He then wrote several film scripts, including Fong Sai-Yuk (1993) and Ming Ghost (1999). He has since become a best-selling author, known for his self-help book series Ways of Speaking.

In 1996, Tsai had his career breakthrough as he became the creative director of Voice of Taipei radio station,[2] the first editor-in-chief of GQ Taiwan and the host of his first TV show, Fanshu Chudian Wang, all in the same year. Tsai continued to host a series of critically acclaimed TV shows such as Zhenqing Zhishu and Two Generation Company. Since 2004, Tsai and Dee Hsu co-hosted the talk show Kangsi Coming, which gained enormous popularity across the Chinese-speaking world. Additionally, Tsai was a frequent host of award shows, including twice at the Golden Bell Awards and seven times at the Golden Horse Awards. In 2009, Tsai co-founded the management company HT Entertainment.[3]

After Kangsi wrapped in 2016, Tsai wrote and directed his first feature film, Didi's Dream (2017), starring Hsu. The film received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office. Since then, Tsai has mainly been involved in mainland Chinese productions, frequently collaborating with Ma Dong and Ma's shingle Mewe Media, such as I Can I BB and Temptation of Banquet (Fanju de Youhuo). Tsai reunited with Hsu in 2018 for the mainland China-produced variety show Zhenxiang ba! Huahua Wanwu for three seasons, but they failed to replicate the popularity of Kangsi Coming.[4]

In July 2023, HT Entertainment, the management company co-founded by Tsai, was disbanded.[3] In 2024, on the 20th anniversary of Kangsi Coming, Tsai and Hsu considered reviving the show for three special episodes. However, the producer, James Chan, negotiated with the TV station to create a full season, which exceeded the hosting duo's original plan and ultimately fell through. Later that year, following his appearance on the Kangsi-inspired web talk show Mao Xue Woof, Tsai announced his retirement,[5] though he still makes appearances on variety shows afterwards.

Personal life

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In 2002, during an episode of Sisy's Show guest-hosted by Li Ao for Sisy Chen, Tsai came out after being asked by Li if he was gay, making him one of the first openly gay celebrities in the Chinese world.[6][7][8]

Bibliography

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Tsai has written seven books, including:

  • Chinese: 流浪記
  • Chinese: 痛快日記, published 1996
  • Chinese: 再錯也要談戀愛, published 1996
  • Those brilliant things the guys gave to me (Chinese: 那些男孩教我的事), published 2004

Filmography

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Film

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Year English title Mandarin title Role Notes
1989 The Last Aristocrats 最后的贵族 Co-screenwriter
1990 Song of the Exile 客途秋恨 Associate Producer
1993 Fong Sai-yuk 方世玉 Co-screenwriter
2017 Didi's Dream 吃吃的愛 Director, co-screenwriter

Hosting

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Awards ceremony

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Year Event Notes
2001 38th Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Carol Cheng)
2002 39th Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Carol Cheng)
2003 40th Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Carol Cheng)
2004 40th Golden Bell Awards Co-host (with Dee Hsu)
41st Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Chiling Lin)
2005 China Fashion Awards Host
2006 43rd Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Patty Hou)
2007 42nd Golden Bell Awards Co-host (with Patty Hou)
2010 47th Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Dee Hsu)
2013 50th Golden Horse Awards Host

Variety show

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Year Title Role
1996-1997 翻书触电王 Host
1998-2003 真情指数 Host
2002-2005 今天不读书 Host
2003-2005 Two Generation Company 两代电力公司 Host
2004-2015 Kangsi Coming 康熙来了 Co-host (with Dee Hsu)
2005 View 360 观点360 Host
2005-2006 志永智勇电力学校 Co-host (with Chiling Lin)
2006-2007 Happy Saturday 幸福星期六 Host
2014-2020 I Can I BB 奇葩说 Mentor
2018-2020 真相吧！花花万物 Co-host (with Dee Hsu)

Music video appearances

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Year Title Singer Notes
2011 "陷阱 Trap" Cindy Yen
2012 "你存在 Existence" Xin

Awards and nominations

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Golden Bell Awards

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Year Nominee / work Award Result
2003 Zhen Qing Zhi Shu Best Host in a Culture & Education Programme Nominated
Two Generation Company Best Host in a Variety Programme Nominated
2004 Nominated
2005 Nominated
Kangsi Coming (康熙来了) Won
2006 Nominated
2007 Nominated
2008 Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Historic sea tragedy revisited - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 2005-01-27. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  2. ^ "先求生存，再造理想－台北之音 | 遠見雜誌". 遠見雜誌 - 前進的動力 (in Chinese). 1996-05-15. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  3. ^ a b "海灘娛樂有限公司". www.twincn.com (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  4. ^ "Kevin Tsai, Dee Hsu's new variety show fails to impress". 8days. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  5. ^ TVBS. "蔡康永突「宣布引退」！ 驚拋震撼彈：我已經做夠了│TVBS新聞網". TVBS (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  6. ^ http://gsrat.net/news/newsclipDetail.php?ncdata_id=3963 Title: "The First LGBT TV show in Mainland China, Kevin Tsai as Guest Host" News wired By Gender/Sexuality Rights Association Taiwan
  7. ^ http://www.castro.com.tw/news/t040322.htm Archived 2008-02-08 at the Wayback Machine Title: "Madam Wenying Wants to come out of closet?! Kevin Tsai voices up about unfairness in LGBT." News wired by TVBS - Taiwan 03/22/04
  8. ^ http://mail.nhu.edu.tw/~society/e-j/22/22-09.htm Archived 2008-02-08 at the Wayback Machine Title: "Double Standard: Media throws mud over LGBT." Article by 郭明旭 Forwarded by Nanhua University - Taiwan
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