黑人女孩娄婧的东方天使梦

It started with the lure of glitz, the glamor, the dream of being China's next pop star. But Lou Jing's instant fame had its consequences.

She was born in Shanghai to a Chinese mother and an African American father who she's never met. Growing up with a single mon, 20-year-old Lou Jing says she had a normal life, good friends and only rarely felt out of place.

"Sometimes people on the street would ask me, why do you speak Chinese so well. I'd say, because I'm Chinese."

When Lou Jing stepped into the national spotlight on the Chinese show called "Go Oriental Angel", she got attention not necessarily because of her talent, but because of how she looked.

Hosts fondly called her "chocolate girl" and "black pearl", the Chinese media fixated on her skin color. Angry netizens vented online, saying she never should have been born and telling her to get out of China, sparkling a bitter debate about race.

-In many respects, China can be considered a very homogeneous society. More than 90% of the population is Han Chinese. So people who look different stand out.

"At first I cried a lot." She says. "Then I got angry and finally I just started to ignore it."

Lou Jing's background became national gossip. Show producers convinced her mom to appear on air, the most private details of her life becoming painfully public.

"Lou Jing didn't ask me about her dad until she was 16." She told the audience. "I cried and she never asked me again."

But as the show went on, so did Lou Jing--listening to Beyonce, her favorite artist, hanging out with classmates and going to school.

"I was so angry," says her drama teacher. "But she said she wasn't letting these things get to her heart."

Fans continued to vote for her. The judges praised her confidence. Lou Jing was eliminated before the finale, but not without a powerful parting message.

"I think I'm the same as all the girls here, except for my skin color. We share the same stage and the same dream. "

Emily Chang, cnn, Shanghai.