As hard as it is to believe, China really isn't that bad. Take it from a guy who has lived there, traveled there, and knows people who have lived and been in a bunch of parts of China.
That's one of the reasons I hope it won't really get much better..(at least not until the West gets it together again) because it's not that bad in a lot of instances and has much superpower potential.
No, he actually quit the show of his own free will and became a fairly acclaimed singer and musician. I've never heard his music, nor do I care, but he received almost universally positive responses from the alternative/independent music media.