Alien Huang
Alien Huang, also known as Xiao Gui, was a Taiwanese singer, actor, television presenter, illustrator and fashion designer.
He was a member of Japanese TV Asahi's disbanded boy band HC3 in 2002 and Taiwanese Rock Records' disbanded boy band in 2003. He went on to release five solo albums and acted in movies and television dramas. He was known as the host of popular Taiwanese variety entertainment show 100% Entertainment, which he left in early 2016.
Huang was the founder and designer of AES, a clothing brand which he established in 2008. He also published three illustration books.
Early life
Alien Huang was born in Taipei. He grew up living with his father, younger sister and paternal grandmother. Although he lived separately from his mother due to his parents' early divorce, they still maintained a close relationship. Ever since primary school, his talent in arts and crafts had been evident as his grades were always within the top three ranks in poster-designing projects. When he was in middle school, his father intended to train him to become a professional golf player. However, due to his interest in performing, he decided to apply to HuaGang High School of Performing Arts, where he was accepted after achieving first place out of thousands of applicants. There, he met classmate Rainie Yang, and they dated for three years. Their relationship ended when Rainie made her debut in the entertainment industry and dropped out of high school. He also put his hosting talents to use by serving as the MC of all major events held at school. In his spare time, he even worked in a fast-food restaurant. He obtained a lifeguard licence at the age of 18, and a swimming coach qualification when he was 20 years of age.Huang chose his English name "Alien" because he hoped to be an indefinable and unique character, like aliens are, full of creativity and not confined to normality. He previously also had various other English names, including "Janson" when he was in high school and "Harry" when he was in primary school.
Career
In high school, Alien Huang was chosen to take part in a pre-casting training course for the film Blue Gate Crossing. While he did not participate in the film, it was during this time that he was discovered by his first manager, and had officially entered the entertainment industry at the age of 18.In 2002, he began hosting a nature-discovery show for children named Follow Me, Go!. He then joined the Japanese-Taiwanese boy band HC3. They released their debut single "We Are Friends"《我們是朋友》, but disbanded not long afterwards.
In 2003, he became part of the boy band Cosmo, but due to a problem with the contract of one of the members, Richard（綠茶）, they disbanded after releasing their debut album《關東煮》.
In 2004, he played one of the main roles in the film Holiday Dreaming《夢遊夏威夷》.
In 2005, he started hosting various entertainment shows, and in 2006 he officially became a fixed host of the show 100% Entertainment《娛樂百分百》.
In 2007, he released a duet, "The Melody of Love"《愛的主旋律》, with co-artist Genie Chuo. He also released his first book《搞什麼鬼?!》the same year.
In 2008, he starred in the drama series Mysterious Incredible Terminator《霹靂MIT》 as one of the main roles, 747黃輝宏. He also released his first single "Fooling Around"《鬼混》 along with his second book《鬼怒穿》that year.
In July 2009, he released his first mini album Disdain《不屑》 and in December of the same year he released his first full album titled Love & Hero《愛&英雄》.
In 2010, he released another single, "Heart Amulet"《御守之心》, along with his third book,《赤鬼流》.
In 2011, he took on leading roles in the drama series Love You《醉後決定愛上你》 and "Lin Bei"《珍愛林北》, as well as the Singaporean film Already Famous《一泡而紅》. In August, he released the single "Transformers Cuz of You"《金剛變形》. In December, he released his second full album Break Heart, Black Heart《黑心傷品》.
In 2012, he starred in Taiwanese film Din Tao: Leader of the Parade《陣頭》, which earned a box office of NTD 315 million, as well as the highly rated Singaporean drama series Joys of Life. He also starred as the lead role in the Taiwanese television drama Sweet Sweet Bodyguard《剩女保鏢》, which gained high local popularity. His debut Asia concert tour G·host Tour 2012 also took place towards the end of the year, starting in Taiwan on his birthday and continuing to Hong Kong and Singapore.
In 2013, he released his third full album, Make Sense《超有感》. He also held concerts in Taipei and Shanghai in the latter part of the year. He won “Most Popular Male Artiste” at the 2013 Singapore Hit Awards, as well as “MeRadio Top Downloaded Hit Award, for which the winning female artist for the same award was Singapore singer songwriter Serene Koong. He also won two awards at the 2014 HITO Radio Music Awards, namely "hito网路首播人气” and “hito舞台演绎”.
In 2016, as his focus in the entertainment industry shifted to musical and acting careers, Alien left 100% Entertainment, the only show he was hosting at the time.
In 2018, he returned to hosting when joined Jacky Wu as hosts of Mr. Player. In 2019, he joined Shiny Zhang as hosts for I'm the Best In Taiwanese, an educational program about teaching Taiwanese to the public. At the time of his death, the show finished airing its second season, totaling 26 episodes.
Death
At 11:27 a.m. on 16 September 2020, the police received a call from Huang's father, who reported that Huang was unresponsive. Huang was discovered lying between the bedroom and bathroom in his Beitou District apartment, with external injuries to the head. The paramedics who arrived at the scene pronounced Huang dead, with the body reported to already be at the stage of rigor mortis. The preliminary results of an autopsy suggested that Huang had cardiovascular disease. The autopsy concluded that Huang died of aortic dissection, but found no history of cardiovascular disease and no external injuries.Personal life
Huang dated Rainie Yang, the daughter of his godmother, for two years while they were both students at Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School, although he clarified that they were not each other's first loves. Their relationship ended after Yang entered the entertainment industry and dropped out of the school, but they remained close friends thereafter.In 2016, Huang was reported to be in a relationship with NueNue, a member of the girl group Weather Girls, who was spotted staying overnight at his home. Huang admitted that she was "the type I like" and briefly updated his Facebook relationship status to "in a relationship." The relationship came to an end after three years in 2019.
At the time of his death, Huang had been dating Wu Han-chun, a member of the cheerleading team The Passion Sisters, for a year and a half. Their relationship had been rumored, but was not confirmed until Wu made an Instagram post acknowledging Huang's death.
Filmography
Television series
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | Freedom of Half Grown-Ups 《半成年主張之搞個自由式》 | Xiao Gui 小鬼 | |
| 2005 | KO One 《終極一班》 | Cai Yi-Ling 蔡一零 | Cameo |
| 2005 | Detective Story A.S.T. 《偵探物語》 | Ah-Jun 阿君 | Cameo |
| 2006 | Tokyo Juliet 《東方茱麗葉》 | Lu Yi-Mi 陸一彌 | |
| 2006 | A Child from Heaven 《天堂來的孩子》 | Zhong Da-Gui 鍾大規 | |
| 2006 | 《》 | Ah-Zhong 阿忠 | |
| 2007 | Corner With Love 《轉角*遇到愛》 | Ah-Yi 阿義 | |
| 2007 | Summer x Summer 《熱情仲夏》 | Chen Lang-Zhu 陳朗竹 | |
| 2008 | Mysterious Incredible Terminator 《霹靂MIT》 | Huang Hui-Hong 黃輝宏 | Taiwan |
| 2009 | Letter 1949 《我在1949，等你》 | Li Wen-Xiong 李文雄 | |
| 2010 | Rogue Principal 《流氓校長》 | Wang Tuo-Hai 王拓海 | |
| 2011 | Love You 《醉後決定愛上你》 | Geng Shuo-Huai 耿爍懷 | |
| 2011 | Lin Bei 《珍愛林北》 | Kong Yun-Qing 孔雲青 | Taiwan |
| 2012 | Joys of Life 《花样人间》 | Zhao Ming-Xing 赵明星 | Singapore |
| 2012 | Sweet Sweet Bodyguard 《剩女保鏢》 | He Zhong-Qi 何仲祈 | Taiwan |
| 2014 | Lovestore at the Corner 《巷弄裡的那家書店》 | Li Ze Xuan 李澤暄 | Taiwan |
| 2017 | Running Man 《逃婚一百次》 | Hsu Da-cai 许达才 | Taiwan |
| 2019 | Without Her, Even Hero is Zero 《我是顧家男》 | Brian | Cameo |
| 2019 | Someday Or One Day 《想見你》 | Du Qi-min 杜齊閔 | Cameo |
| 2020 | Dream Raider 《獵夢特工》 | 特勤隊長 | HBO Asia Cameo |
Music video appearances
Acting in music videos of songs by other artists:| Year | English song title | Original song title | Artist |
| 2002 | Love Starts from Zero | 「愛從零開始」 | Stefanie Sun 孫燕姿 |
| 2003 | To See You | 「來看你」 | Jeffrey Kung 孔令奇 |
| 2003 | Tomorrow | 「明天」 | Faith Yang 楊乃文 |
| 2004 | Never Back Down | 「永不退縮」 | Richie Jen 任賢齊 |
| 2006 | Lately | 「最近」 | Sam Lee 李聖傑 |
| 2007 | Trying Hard | 「很用力」 | Olivia Yan 閻韋伶 |
| 2007 | The Melody of Love | 「愛的主旋律」 | Alien Huang & Genie Chuo 黃鴻升 & 卓文萱 |
| 2008 | Fly Together | 「一起飛」 | Various Artists 群星 |
| 2009 | Let Love Spin the Entire Universe | 「讓愛轉動整個宇宙」 | Various Artists 群星 |
| 2010 | Tomorrow Will Be Better | 「明天會更好」 | Various Artists 群星 |
| 2010 | Happy New Year – It's All Good | 「Happy New Year 這個讚」 | Playboyz |
| 2012 | Solicitude | 「牽掛」 | Alien Huang & Rui En 黃鴻升 & 瑞恩 |
| 2013 | Habitual Hibernation | 「慣性冬眠」 | Gillian Chung 鍾欣桐 |
| 2013 | After Returning Home | 「回家以後」 | Gillian Chung 鍾欣桐 |
Show hosting
| Year | English title | Original title | Location |
| 2002 | Follow Me, Go! | 《下課花路米》 | Taiwan |
| 2004 | Entertainment Oh My God | 《娛樂歐MyGod》 | Taiwan |
| 2005 | Survival Bus | 《生存巴士》 | Taiwan |
| 2006 | Cool Army | 《蓋酷兵團》 | Taiwan |
| 2005, 2006 → 2016 | 100% Entertainment | 《娛樂百分百》 | Taiwan |
| 2008 | Xiao Gui at Home Alone | 《小鬼當家》 | Taiwan |
| 2009 | The Winner Is | 《得獎的事》 | Taiwan |
| 2011 | China Love • Music Show | 《中国爱•大歌会》 | China |
| 2014 | CityColor | 《:zh城彩名人堂》 | Taiwan |
| 2017 | 《》 | Taiwan | |
| 2018 | 《:zh:綜藝玩很大》 | Taiwan | |
| 2019 | Best At Taiwanese | 《台語我上讚》 | Taiwan |
| 2020 | 《聊聊大明星》 | Taiwan |
Books
| Year | English title | Chinese title | Category |
| 2007 | Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die | 《搞什麼鬼?!》 | Illustration book |
| 2008 | Gui Nu Chuan | 《鬼怒穿》 | Illustration book |
| 2010 | Chi Gui Liu | 《赤鬼流》 | Illustration book |
Awards
- 2010 Singapore Entertainment Awards（新加坡E樂大賞2010）:
- 2010 Channel V:
- 2010 Hong Kong Metro Radio Mandarin Hit Music Awards（香港新城國語力頒獎禮2010）：
- 2010 Singapore Hit Awards（新加坡金曲獎2010）:
F&N Fruit Tree Fresh Greatest Improvement Artiste（大躍進歌手獎）
- 2011 Malaysia MY Astro Music Awards（馬來西亞 MY Astro 至尊流行榜頒獎典禮2011）:
Golden Melody Song（至尊金曲獎）《地球上最浪漫的一首歌》
- 2011 Singapore Entertainment Awards（新加坡e樂大賞2011）:
Hottest Web Celeb（omy 網絡紅人獎）
- 2011 China Music Radio Top Chart Awards（MusicRadio中國Top排行榜頒獎禮2011）：
- 2012 Singapore Entertainment Awards（新加坡e樂大賞2012）:
Most Popular Male Singer（e樂人氣男歌手獎）
Most Popular Music Video（e樂人氣MV獎）：《六十億分之一》
- 2012 Hong Kong Metro Radio Mandarin Hit Music Awards （香港新城國語力頒獎禮2012）：
Best Mandarin Song（國語力歌曲）：《澀谷》
- 2012 Singapore Blog Awards（新加坡部落格大獎2012）：
- 2013 Taiwan PixNet Entertainment Awards（台灣痞客邦娛樂丸咖獎2013）：
Best Album of the Year – Silver Award（年度專輯 強力放送丸 – 銀獎）
- 2013 Singapore Entertainment Awards（新加坡e樂大賞2013）:
Most Popular Cover Celebrity（e樂人氣封面人物）
- 2013 Singapore Hit Awards（新加坡金曲獎2013）:
MeRadio Top Downloaded Hit Award （MeRadio下载率最高金曲（男歌手）:《超有感》）
F&N Fruit Tree Fresh Stylish Artiste Award（F&N Fruit Tree Fresh 时尚歌手奖）