BEIJING — The silver scales of Hao Ge’s glam shirt glitter against his dark violet designer suit as a spotlight focuses on him. Female dancers in jumpsuits orbit him as he slowly begins to sing a sugary pop ballad and clenches his fist as if to invoke the gods of love.
The Nigerian Emmanuel Uwechue has become a pop star in China under the stage name Hao Ge.
Jimmy Wang for The New York Times
Emmanuel Uwechue, a k a Hao Ge, plays keyboards with his new band at a studio in Beijing.
Hao Ge was performing on “New Sights and Sounds,” a show on state-run television that showcases entertainers for hundreds of millions of Chinese viewers.
Hao Ge (pronounced How Guh) is perhaps China’s most unlikely pop star: he is Nigerian, and he sings in Mandarin.
His real name is Emmanuel Uwechue, though he is better known by his stage name, which sounds like the words for “good song” in Chinese. Mr. Uwechue, 33, has developed quite a fan base, particularly among the children and middle-aged women who watch “Xin Guang Da Dao,” the “American Idol” knockoff show, where he first gained notice a few years after his arrival here almost a decade ago. He has performed alongside a host of Chinese superstars — including Sun Nan, Na Ying and Han Hong — and has been enthusiastically embraced by the Chinese media.
“The African Who Searches for His Dream in China,” read the headline atop a 2006 article about Mr. Uwechue on QQ.com, a popular social networking site here. Articles by the state-run Xinhua news agency and in the Web-based magazine Sina Entertainment, as well as a television documentary, have similarly chronicled his unusual story. Mr. Uwechue even appears on bus ads: “Good Song Comes From Good Wine,” reads an advertisement for the Guan Gong Fang company, which signed him to represent its brand of wine.
The Nigerian Emmanuel Uwechue has become a pop star in China under the stage name Hao Ge.
Jimmy Wang for The New York Times
Emmanuel Uwechue, a k a Hao Ge, plays keyboards with his new band at a studio in Beijing.
Hao Ge was performing on “New Sights and Sounds,” a show on state-run television that showcases entertainers for hundreds of millions of Chinese viewers.
Hao Ge (pronounced How Guh) is perhaps China’s most unlikely pop star: he is Nigerian, and he sings in Mandarin.
His real name is Emmanuel Uwechue, though he is better known by his stage name, which sounds like the words for “good song” in Chinese. Mr. Uwechue, 33, has developed quite a fan base, particularly among the children and middle-aged women who watch “Xin Guang Da Dao,” the “American Idol” knockoff show, where he first gained notice a few years after his arrival here almost a decade ago. He has performed alongside a host of Chinese superstars — including Sun Nan, Na Ying and Han Hong — and has been enthusiastically embraced by the Chinese media.
“The African Who Searches for His Dream in China,” read the headline atop a 2006 article about Mr. Uwechue on QQ.com, a popular social networking site here. Articles by the state-run Xinhua news agency and in the Web-based magazine Sina Entertainment, as well as a television documentary, have similarly chronicled his unusual story. Mr. Uwechue even appears on bus ads: “Good Song Comes From Good Wine,” reads an advertisement for the Guan Gong Fang company, which signed him to represent its brand of wine.
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