[Ta Kung Pao & The Sun 02/11/06]

"Pearl of the Orient" Promotional Event

TVB Anniversary Grand Production "Pearl of the Orient" will begin airing on Monday and a group of cast members including Roger Kwok, Charmaine Sheh, Lai Lok Yi, Sharon Chan, Mimi Chu and Albert Lo joined together on stage at two promotional events yesterday. The other main lead Liza Wang was absent as she is currently working on the "Golden Songs of Our Century" concerts.

When Lok Yi and Sharon came on to talk about their characters, there was some heckling from Mimi who told them to kiss, however they just posed for the press to take photos. Afterwards, when Evergreen Mak and Akina Hong went onto the stage, Mimi indicated that Evergreen is a villain in the show, who is always 'raping' his wife Akina. She also jokes: "I have been with TVB for over ten years and no-one dares to come onto me, but I am such great quality!" The cast joined together to crack open the champagne to wish the show success in ratings and producer Tong Kei Ming also gave an early congratulations to Charmaine to win the Best Actress award.

Charmaine has a speech impediment in the show and also has to sing in Russian, but she would not give any demonstrations yesterday because she says she has forgotten it all now. She says that during filming, she listened to Russian songs for a whole week to accustom herself to it. As for the producer's indication she will win the award, she smiles: "Thanks to him!" Talking of working opposite TVB Big Sis Liza, she says that there is no pressure and she finds Liza is very friendly and professional and because she has such high standards in herself, she has a good influence on all her juniors around her. Charmaine also smiles: "I have had good fortune this time because Liza likes to eat her own food, so she often brings her own food to filming and Suzanna Kwan also often brought a lot of food made by her mother to share with everyone, so we often stuck around for meals."

Roger was recently filming in Zhanjiang for film "One Mission", where he has to stab his co-star Ken Lo. Roger says it is an honour to work with kung-fu star Ken, who has worked opposite the greats such as Jackie Chan. Asked about his expectations for the new show, Roger says: "This is an anniversary show, so I hope that it will have good ratings and be the highest of the year. This would be a great birthday gift to the company from the viewers." Talking of them losing out by missing this year's anniversary nominations because the viewers will have forgotten about them this time next year, Roger says: "I am not afraid, next year I will have even better productions, take 'Curious Detective' that begins filming at the end of November, this has been increased now to 25 episodes, so it is quite a big production." This show will also feature rumoured couple Kenneth Ma and Margie Tsang, but Roger and Margie will play brother and sister roles. He laughs: "With me there, there will be no romance!"

Lok Yi explained his refusal to kiss Sharon, saying that they had already kissed in the series. Asked if he would rather kiss Sharon or Mimi, he laughs: "Of course it would be Mimi! She is so beautiful! It would have been good for us to play lovers!!" He feels very fortunate to have the chance to work with so many great actors in this show and says: "They are all amazing, everyone can sing and I have learned so much." He also reveals that he will be turning the tables and dressing up as a girl to perform a song and dance routine at the Anniversary.

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/06/11/02/UL-644687.htm
http://the-sun.orisun.com/channels/ent/20061102/20061101234217_0000.html



[Ta Kung Pao 02/11/06]

Fiona Yuen's $10,000 Make-up Budget

Fiona Yuen was the guest model for a Christmas cosmetics promotion yesterday and she says that after Halloween, she is looking forward to Christmas now. Fiona reveals that she spends a five figure sum on make-up every month and she feels that a girl looks more energised after putting on her make-up, so she will always have it on when she goes out. Asked if her boyfriend likes to see her without make-up, she clarifies that she does not have a boyfriend at the moment and in the past her boyfriends have not mentioned anything.

Fiona joined Eunis Chan earlier on a trip to England to film for food and drink programme "Eating East and West", where she stayed for about ten days and made 'Ginger Juice with Baked Egg Pudding' and 'Lamb in XO Sauce' for the local chefs. Asked if she will have a foreign romance, Fiona says that her impression of British gentry is only so-so and even though Prince William is handsome, there is little chance of meeting him, so she would rather put her efforts into releasing her book.

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/06/11/02/UL-644682.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 02/11/06]

Andy Hui Longs for 'Fat Tin' to reach 40 points

Andy Hui, Denise Ho, Rain Li and Justin Lo were among the singers rehearsing yesterday for the "Jade Singers Celebrate TVB Anniversary" show, where they picked up some tin lids, metal bins, screwdrivers and kitchen utensils to make music with. However, there was not very much harmony and they were out of time with each other, so the beautiful tunes were just a big noise and even Andy gave a big frown at the result.

Andy was very excited about the results of his series with Myolie Wu "To Grow with Love" and hopes that it will continue to improve and reach 40 points. What would he do if it did? Andy smiles: "If it did reach 40 points, I will do whatever you ask me to!" However, when the press suggested he should wear some skimpy swimming trunks, he laughed: "I have put some weight back on, so I can't do that!"

Denise was drinking herbal remedies and eating preserved fruit during the rehearsals and she explained that she was still suffering a little from flu. As she was in concert earlier, she had been on antibiotics all along and she lost sleep because she was so nervous, so the mixture of medication and sleeping pills has left her needing a little balance from the Chinese herbal remedies. When she was urged by the reporters to eat a little more and gain some weight, she says that many of her friends have said this to her: "Every year, I will abstain from eating meat for two months in memory of my mentor [Anita Mui], so this will not change. (So get more rest then?) I can't rest because my boss has too much work lined up for me, as for what it is though, I will have to let you know later."

There have been rumours on the internet that a leak from a CRHK employee has indicated that Denise is lined up for their Gold Award this year, with Joey Yung and Fiona Sit in silver and bronze positions. In response to this, Denise smiles: "So soon? There are still two months to go yet! (Would you like to win the Gold Award?) I don't mind, I am already very happy at the success of my concert."

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/06/11/02/UL-644673.htm



[Wen Wei Po 02/11/06]

Fala Chen caught up in More Gossip

Currently being heavily promoted by TVB, Fala Chen was reportedly sighted with a Karaoke owner in a car by tabloid reporters who also suggested that they had met in a karaoke bar.

Following this, Fala appeared with Angela Tong, Sharon Chan and Kenny Wong at the Artistes Association Halloween Ball earlier. This is her second time at this event. Asked about the rumours, she seemed prepared and gave a very simple response: "I have nothing to comment, I still have to go out and as I am on my own in Hong Kong, I don't get the chance to meet many friends." Asked if the man in the reports is her boyfriend, she denies it as usual, saying: "I don't want to talk about it, he isn't." She says she does not have many men courting her and after the reports appeared, her manager was straight on the phone asking her about it. Has her rumoured boyfriend called her? Fala did not respond directly.

http://www.wenweipo.com/news.phtml?news_id=EN0611020012&cat=011EN