[Ta Kung Pao & Wen Wen Po 31/07/06]

Raymond Lam and Sharon Chan took part in an event for vision charity Orbis yesterday as guest judges and prize giving guests for a children's talent competition. They also took part in a symbolic gesture along with four children, breaking through some black balloons with short swords - symbolising 'bringing children out of the darkness of blindness'. Sharon has about 1000 degrees short sightedness and she laughs that this was down to watching too much TV and doing homework lying down as a kid.

Sharon says: "I really regret not looking after my eyes when I was younger and although I can wear contact lenses, sometimes when my working time is very long, it is very hard on my eyes. Once when I was driving, my eyes were so dry that the contact lense fell out." To accommodate her work, Sharon did think about having laser eye surgery and had prepared for this, but it was cancelled in the end because she had to film. Sharon adds: "Although I have heard from my doctor that there are some side effects from laser surger, but I think this will be later in life. At the moment I still have to work in this industry, so I would rather take the risk and do it. At least it will benefit me in the immediate future."

With the recent news that TVB Chairman Sir Run Run Shaw has been admitted into hospital and the possibilities of a change of ownership of the company, Raymond says that someone had mentioned this to him before and he feels that a change of management may not be a bad thing because new investment would give more opportunities and a fresh approach. Moreover this would have little effect on the artiste department anyway.

As for the news that TVB has signed Taiwanese idol Mike He, is Raymond worried about this new threat? He says that he will just do his own work and the company will promote newcomers all the time anyway and Mike is not the only newcomer they have signed. He says: "Every artiste already has their work arranged up to next year, so it will have no effect on my work." As the reporters complimented Mike on his looks. Sharon tried to make things less uneasy for Raymond by saying: "No matter how good looking, he is never as good as 'big brother' Raymond."

Raymond adds that it is a good thing for the company to sign more people because he has worked with most of the artiste department already and some fresh faces wouldn't go amiss. Although Mike He is very popular in Taiwan, Raymond has never seen him because he rarely watches Taiwanese series . He feels that the differences between Taiwan and Hong Kong are very great because the Taiwanese series are very idol-centred, whereas he is currently working towards becoming a true character actor.

Returning to the subject of eyes, Raymond says that he has short sight in one eye and long sight in the other, which he inherited from his parents. He jokes: "It's a good balance." He says that sometimes when he is filming and has not had enough sleep, then he has to put plenty of eye drops in to reduce the redness and swelling. He knows this is not good for the blood vessels, but he has to put up with it.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/06/07/31/UL-600918.htm
http://www.takungpao.com/news/06/07/31/UL-600921.htm
http://www.wenweipo.com/news.phtml?news_id=EN0607310003&cat=011EN&PHPSESSID=6ecc196d94f94e3ffb4c01e77316cb4f



[Ta Kung Pao 31/07/06]

Kevin Cheng joined Nancy Wu, Natalie Tong and Elaine Yiu at a charity T-shirt selling event and as well as taking part in the selling, he also played games with the public. The proceeds for the sale will be donated to Orbis. For Kevin who suffers from astigmatism, but not short sightedness, he has found his vision a little blurry lately and he thinks he might be suffering from long sightedness due to old age, so he will need to take steps to protect his vision.

As for reports that Taiwanese star Mike He will be coming to film in Hong Kong for TVB, is Kevin worried about this threat? He says lightly: "He speaks Mandarin and I speak Cantonese, so our roles are different and our cultures are different. He will probably play a Mandarin speaker, so there isn't much conflict." Kevin also feels that everyone should show their own talents and he has worked with Thai and Singaporean artistes in the past and this has gained him a lot of experiences. Who is more handsome in comparison? Kevin laughs: "Haha! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, my mother thinks I am better looking!"

Talking of the news of Sir Run Run Shaw's health and the changes at the TVB top, Kevin says that this is not his concern because it will not affect him.

Nancy performed a song on stage, but seemed a little out of tune. She says that it was because she has been busy lately and has not had time to practise her singing, but she hopes she will have the chance to sing a theme song in the future.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/06/07/31/UL-600919.htm



[Wen Wei Po, The Sun & Ta Kung Pao 31/07/06]

The Miss Hong Kong Pageant is not far away and th sixteen contestants took part in a talent event yesterday at Olympian City, where each of them had to perform a talent act. The range of acts included singing, playing a musical instrument and ballet dancing. The public were then invited to vote for their favourite and Number 13 Aimee Chan Yan Mei's piano piece won their hearts and took the award for "Audience's Favourite" as she played Beethoven's 'Fur Elise'. Even though her microphone fell during the performance, she calmly continued without a glitch.

Number 3 Florence Li Wing Sze performed some ballet and showed off her 'elephant legs' in the process. As for some reports that she revealed part of her nipple during the performance, she said that this was not true because she had taken preventative measures with tape to avoid any accidents. Number 8 Suki Chui Suk Man, Number 11 Zurine Cheng Wing Sum and Number 12 Tiffany Tse Wing San each had their supporters present and many of the contestants' families where there to show their support. Some of the girls who chose to sing seemed a little out of breath and were often out of tune. Although Suki did not win this time, she still praised Aimee's musical talent and said she will continue to work hard.

http://www.wenweipo.com/news.phtml?news_id=EN0607310004&cat=011EN&PHPSESSID=6ecc196d94f94e3ffb4c01e77316cb4f
http://www.takungpao.com/news/06/07/31/UL-600912.htm
http://the-sun.orisun.com/channels/ent/20060731/20060730234434_0000.html



[The Sun 31/07/06]

With the earlier reports that Sonija Kwok had some bodyguards on the set of her earlier movie, possibly due to the eagerness of a suspected pursuit, she appeared on the set of "Cadets of the Beat" recently, without her escorts as she laughed: "TVB are my bodyguards." Filming at a streetside restaurant and eating some local dishes, Sonija did not seem to mind at all. As for her rumours with her 'shell' tycoon, she said she did not want to say any more on the matter: "You have your way of reporting. Later when I am filming with Louis Koo again, you will dig out our rumours from the past again, but there is nothing between us and we still chat when we see each other. Nothing special really!"

http://the-sun.orisun.com/channels/ent/20060731/20060730234629_0000.html



[The Sun 31/07/06]

Ron Ng filmed "War and Destiny" earlier opposite Myolie Wu and although the series is yet to be aired in Hong Kong, it is already available for download illegally from the internet. Asked about whether the company will be affected by this, TVB external affairs assistant chief Tsang Sing Ming responded: "We have always discouraged viewers not to partake in these illegal activities that violate the rights of the copyright owners. If they are found to do this, then we will instruct our legal teams to contact them and start proceedings against them."

http://the-sun.orisun.com/channels/ent/20060731/20060730232846_0000.html

You have been warned!!!
TVBspace actively discourages illegal downloading.



[The Sun 31/07/06]

The multi-talented Bernice Liu has recently been invited to be the face of Lipton teas in their latest advertising campaign opposite newcomer Nicky Hung. Bernice has been working too hard lately and her old hip injury has resurfaced, so she was in a lot of pain, but she kept on going and had to perform some quite difficult yoga poses, showing true professionalism. After the shoot, Bernice was picked up by her chauffeur father and she left quickly, forgetting to pick up her wallet and having to return for it later.

http://the-sun.orisun.com/channels/ent/20060731/20060730233441_0000.html