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.
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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. He was recently made
The Cultural ambassador of Nigeria in China by the Ambassador
Of Tourism.
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Mr. Uwechue is not the first foreigner to have made a
name for himself in China, but he is the first African to
have reached widespread success here. Some music
industry experts in China credit part of his fame to the
close economic and cultural ties — including friendship
and exchange programs and other joint ventures — that
have long existed between China and some African
countries. In a recently televised public performance,
Mr. Uwechue dressed up as an oil rig worker and sang
alongside a Chinese fellow laborer.
Among nations with close Sino-African ties, Nigeria in
particular has benefited from Chinese capital. China has
invested more than $7 billion in energy,
communications and infrastructure in the country,
which exports some $4.7 billion in crude oil to China
each year, according to a recent statement by Li
Yizhung, China’s minister of industry and information
technology.
“This is not just about Hao Ge,” said Long Hu, 38, a
music producer and talent scout in Beijing who
cultivates young musical talent. “It’s about China and
Africa.”
Mr. Uwechue got his start singing in the choir at House
on the Rock Pentecostal church in Lagos, Nigeria. After
receiving a degree in engineering, he decided to pursue
music against the wishes of his father, who “disowned
me for a while,” Mr. Uwechue said, adding, “He thought
I was throwing my life away.”
A Chinese friend, Li Yayu, who was working in Lagos at
the time, was aware of Mr. Uwechue’s interest in
singing. When Mr. Li moved back to Henan Province in
2001 to open a hotel, he called Mr. Uwechue and asked
him if he wanted to visit.
Mr. Uwechue accepted in 2002, and eventually started
performing in bars and hotels in Henan and Hebei
Provinces. He got his big break when Liu Huan — a top
producer in the music industry here who helped pioneer
pop music in China by performing and composing for
television — discovered him singing one night at the Big
Easy, a bar in Beijing that has since closed. With Mr.
Liu’s backing, Mr. Uwechue became a devoted student
of Mandarin and eventually gained a following. It was
his performance in 2007 at the wildly popular Lunar
New Year Gala, seen by hundreds of millions of people
on television, that made him a star. It’s the Chinese
equivalent of the Super Bowl and China’s highest-rated
broadcast event of the year.
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