Kevin Tsai (; born 1 March 1962) is a Taiwanese television host and writer. He is known for co-hosting the Chung T'ien Television talk show Kangsi Coming (2004–2016) with Dee Hsu and for his self-help book series Ways of Speaking (2010; 2014).
Early life Tsai was born in Taipei to a once-prominent family with Shanghai roots. His father, Tsai Tien-duo, was a Fudan-educated lawyer who had co-owned Chonglian Steamship Company, then China's largest shipping company, until the sinking of the Taiping Steamer in 1949 forced the company into bankruptcy.
Tsai attended Taipei Private Tsai Hsing School from preschool through high school, a span of 14 years. In high school, he served as the president of the student union and editor-in-chief of the school magazine, where he published then politically sensitive articles about the February 28 Incident and communism, risking expulsion during his senior year. He entered Tunghai University in 1984 to major in social work before switching to English. Tsai then went to pursue a master's degree at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Theater, Film and Television, where he helped Taiwanese writer Pai Hsien-yung to adapt his short story about the Taiping into a film script, which would become The Last Aristocrats directed by Xie Jin. In 1990, upon graduation from UCLA, Tsai moved back to Taiwan.
Career Tsai started his career as a columnist and film critic for the China Times. He then wrote several film scripts, including Ming Ghost (1990) and Fong Sai-Yuk (1993). He has since become a best-selling author, known for his self-help book Ways of Speaking (2010), followed by a sequel in 2014.
In 1996, Tsai had his career breakthrough as he became the creative director of Voice of Taipei radio station, the first editor-in-chief of GQ Taiwan and the host of his first TV show, Fanshu Chudian Wang, all in the same year. Tsai continued to host a series of critically acclaimed TV shows such as Zhenqing Zhishu and Two Generation Company. Since 2004, Tsai and Dee Hsu co-hosted the talk show Kangsi Coming, which gained enormous popularity across the Chinese-speaking world. Additionally, Tsai was a frequent host of award shows, including twice at the Golden Bell Awards and seven times at the Golden Horse Awards. In 2009, Tsai co-founded the management company HT Entertainment.
Since the 2010s, Tsai has been active in mainland China, where he found success in co-hosting the popular iQIYI debate show I Can I BB (2014 –2021) and often collaborated with his I Can I BB co-host Ma Dong and Ma's production company Mewe Media. After Kangsi wrapped in 2016, Tsai wrote and directed his first feature film, Didi's Dream (2017), starring Hsu. The film received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office. Tsai reunited with Hsu in 2018 for the Youku variety show Zhenxiang ba! Huahua Wanwu for three seasons, but they failed to replicate the popularity of Kangsi Coming.
In July 2023, HT Entertainment, the management company co-founded by Tsai, was disbanded. In 2024, on the 20th anniversary of Kangsi Coming, Tsai and Hsu considered reviving the show for three special episodes. However, the producer, James Chan, negotiated with the TV station to create a full season, which exceeded the hosting duo's original plan and ultimately fell through.
Personal life In 2002, during an episode of Sisy's Show guest-hosted by Li Ao for Sisy Chen, Tsai came out after being asked by Li if he was gay, making him one of the first openly gay celebrities in the Chinese-speaking world.http://gsrat.net/news/newsclipDetail.php?ncdata_id=3963 Title: "The First LGBT TV show in Mainland China, Kevin Tsai as Guest Host" News wired By Gender/Sexuality Rights Association Taiwanhttp://www.castro.com.tw/news/t040322.htm Title: "Madam Wenying Wants to come out of closet?! Kevin Tsai voices up about unfairness in LGBT." News wired by TVBS - Taiwan 03/22/04http://mail.nhu.edu.tw/~society/e-j/22/22-09.htm Title: "Double Standard: Media throws mud over LGBT." Article by 郭明旭 Forwarded by Nanhua University - Taiwan Tsai has been in a relationship with George Liu Kunlong, an English professor, since 1994.
Bibliography Tsai has written seven books, including:
, published 1996 , published 1996 Those brilliant things the guys gave to me (), published 2004
Filmography Film Year English title Mandarin title Role Notes1989 The Last Aristocrats 最后的贵族 Co-screenwriter 1990 Song of the Exile 客途秋恨 Associate Producer 1993 Fong Sai-yuk 方世玉 Co-screenwriter 2017 Didi's Dream 吃吃的愛 Director, co-screenwriter
Hosting Awards ceremony Year Event Notes 2001 38th Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Carol Cheng) 2002 39th Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Carol Cheng) 2003 40th Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Carol Cheng)2004 40th Golden Bell Awards Co-host (with Dee Hsu) 41st Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Chiling Lin) 2005 China Fashion Awards Host 2006 43rd Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Patty Hou) 2007 42nd Golden Bell Awards Co-host (with Patty Hou) 2010 47th Golden Horse Awards Co-host (with Dee Hsu) 2013 50th Golden Horse Awards Host
Variety show Year Title Role1994-1995流行都市Host 1996-1997 翻书触电王 Host 1998-2003 真情指数 Host 2002-2005 今天不读书 Host 2003-2005 Two Generation Company 两代电力公司 Host 2004-2015 Kangsi Coming 康熙来了 Co-host (with Dee Hsu) 2005 View 360 观点360 Host 2005-2006 志永智勇电力学校 Co-host (with Chiling Lin) 2006-2007 Happy Saturday 幸福星期六 Host 2014-2020 I Can I BB 奇葩说 Mentor2015The Million Second Quiz 百万秒问答Host2017Desserts Club 男子甜点俱乐部Host2017The Temptation of the Meal S2 饭局的诱惑（第二季）Host 2018-2020 真相吧！花花万物 Co-host (with Dee Hsu)2023The Echo of Life 众声Host
Music video appearances Year Title Singer Notes2011 "陷阱 Trap" Cindy Yen 2012 "你存在 Existence" Shin
Awards and nominations
Golden Bell Awards
| rowspan=2 |2003 | Zhen Qing Zhi Shu | Best Host in a Culture & Education Programme
| rowspan=3 |Two Generation Company | rowspan=7 |Best Host in a Variety Programme
| 2004
| rowspan=2 |2005
| rowspan=4 |Kangsi Coming (康熙来了)
| 2006
|2007
|2008 |
References
External links Kevin Tsai's Sina Microblog （蔡康永 新浪微博） KangXi Lai Le’s Official Website Kevin Tsai related Videos on YouTube