Manly matters

When male bonding turns suspiciously intimate, people turn on the spigot of gossip. Little do they realize that human relationships may not fit into neat categories and, in most cases, it is none of their business if a twosome becomes soul mates or bedfellows.

CCTV's Spring Festival gala is no ordinary variety show. It's watched by a billion people and every number is rehearsed to death. Though a live show, a performer who launches into improvisation will be preempted by a pre-recording of the same number. Yet, Louis Liu, the de-facto resident magician of the gala, ad-libbed a line during this year's illusion by making pianist Yundi Li, his collaborator, disappear and appear. When Li assumed the look of searching for something, Liu blurted out: "Looking for Leehom?"

That turned into what many in the audience say was the "funniest moment in the show". It was not a joke per se, but rather, an allusion to the supposed romance between Leehom Wang and Yundi Li that had not long ago intrigued a nation of tabloid news fanatics.