Chinese singer-songwriter Yu Kewei poses on the red carpet as she arrives at the Kugou Music Awards ceremony in Beijing, China, on May 22, 2014. [Photo/IC]

Yu Kewei releases new album

Chinese singer-songwriter Yu Kewei recently released her latest album, Warm Water, in Beijing. At a live concert, the 32-year-old performed six new songs from the album, including an English number called Invisible Love, composed by renowned producer-songwriter Zhang Yadong, who produced Yu's new album. Born and raised in Chengdu, Sichuan province, Yu studied English language in university and started out as a singer in bars before participating in reality TV competitions. Her career took off soon after she achieved fame in an earlier season of Super Girl on Hunan TV. Taiwan's Rock Records signed her in 2009 and launched her first album Blue Shorts in 2010.

Swedish star leads alien drama

Peter Stormare, a Swedish film, stage and television actor known in China for playing the villain John Abruzzi in the American TV series Prison Break, leads the cast in a Chinese film titled Poseidon Code. In the film, which premiered on June 27, Stormare plays an FBI agent who is involved in a case surrounding a mysterious deep-sea alien found in China. Mainland actors Ren Zewei and Peng Bo also appear in the film. Stormare has starred in a few China-US co-productions such as Inseparable that starred Kevin Spacey and Man of Tai Chi where Keanu Reeves and Stormare's kung fu mentor Chen Hu were present.

Hit Internet show back for encore

Leading video-streaming website Youku.com launched the second season of Never Ever Expected, a mini comedy co-produced with Uni Media on July 1. Protagonist Wang Dachui is a typical diaosi, Chinese slang for "loser". With a poker face and funny monologues, he embarrasses himself often. Actor Bai Ke has built a solid fan base among young Internet users through the series, the first season of which was viewed 800 million times on Youku.com since last August. Bai will lead the second season, too, with 15 episodes, each lasting five minutes.

Chinese art on display in France

China Artists Association, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Daily and the Alps Water-Ink Foundation based in Switzerland have jointly launched an art exhibition in the French town of Chamonix to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. The exhibition shows 40 works by 20 contemporary Chinese artists, including Liu Dawei, Wu Changjiang and Xu Qinsong. The works depict life and scenery of the Alps region. The show, called Summer of Mont Blanc, is held at the local Alps Museum. According to the artists' association, it hopes to introduce Chinese culture and art to the French public, and thus enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples.