2007: Rise to fame

In May 2007, Hsiao was accepted to the first season of a TV show, One Million Star 超级星光大道. This show was the Taiwanese equivalence of American Idol. The show's production unit recognized his talent and wanted him to appear as a challenger in the already unraveling first season. Hsiao was arranged to be in a player knockout(PK)[further explanation needed] style singing match against the show's 10 best remaining contestants. He won the first two rounds. Although he lost in the third round, the show's rating shot up to a historical high. He became the third most searched celebrity in Yahoo! Taiwan, and his name the second hottest keyword for Taiwan Show Business in Google.

His brief appearance on the show captured the attention of the music industry at that time and the restaurant he was singing at was full house whenever there was his shift. Even though at this time he was not signed with any music record company, Hsiao received many invitation to go on variety shows.

Hsiao's powerful vocal and sudden popularity got A-Mei 張惠妹's attention. A-Mei is known as Taiwan's Queen of Pop and she invited Hsiao to sing with her in the duet "Moment of the First Sight" (一眼瞬間) in her 2007 music album Star. It became the instant No. 1 hit. In December 2007, Hsiao performed a medley of four nominated original themes in the Golden Horse Award, the most significant event for film industry in Taiwan. At this time, Hsiao was still an ordinary 20-year-old student and freelance musician. Needless to say, many record companies fought to recruit this young and fresh talent.