So tonight's Jade Solid Gold will probably be a great check to see whether TVB has thrown Soler in to the freezer. TVB has posted the page from last Wednesday's Jade Solid Gold which includes video of the acoustic medley performed by Soler and 呂珊 {Leui Saan}. After Sunday night's Jade Solid Gold Awards show I'm not expecting to see Soler back on TVB for a looooong time.

They seem to have upset the powers that be for speaking out of turn about success outside the entertainment system in Hong Kong. There will be those that refer to Soler's comments that they will bring Cantonese music to America as hubris for singers, who haven't paid their dues to Hong Kong's entertainment rulers. The awards for best new male singer included a bronze to Kenny, formerly of Boy'z, and a silver to a TVB stringer turned singer. Also notable was the bronze in the best new female singers, which went to the daughter of a ranking TVB official and the gold in the best/most popular male singer, which went to Hacken Lee. Hacken Lee, of course, is far more talented than the other three, who couldn't hold a tune if you bribed or threatened 'em, but as the favourite son of TVB obviously held the inside track in an awards ceremony noted for its cronyism.

As for Soler and making the crossover in to the US market, I'm not talking about doing concerts in Las Vegas or Atlantic City as some Hong Kong/Taiwan stars do for the US Asian market. We're talking full blown Shakira-style crossover, though Dino humourously shaking his pat-pat might not elicit the same sort of squeals that Shakira does when she shakes it. I've contemplated sneaking some mp3s to various American blogger/commenters, one of whom is a well-respected long-time music critic in the US, just to get some feedback on their thoughts on a crossover and palatability for the US market.