[Ta Kung Pao 22/01/07]

Smiles All Round at Astro Wah Lai Toi Drama Awards

A group of TVB artistes including Ron Ng, Raymond Lam, Moses Chan, Myolie Wu and Bernice Liu headed over to Malaysia on Saturday to take part in the 2007 Astro Wah Lai Toi Drama Awards Ceremony. They took away with them a vast array of awards including Favourite Lead Roles, Favourite Characters, Favourite Couple and Favourite Theme Song in what was a rewarding event.

After returning to Hong Kong yesterday, the artistes attended a celebratory party at the Regal Airport Hotel to mark their success at taking TVB dramas overseas. At the awards, Myolie Wu and Moses Chan took the leading role awards for their roles in "War of In-Laws" and "The Gentle Crackdown" and Myolie indicated excitedly that this was the first time she has received such an award and it made her extremely happy. Asked if this was a consolation to her losing out to Charmaine Sheh at this year's TVB Anniversary Awards, Myolie disputed this, saying: "They are two different matters and cannot be compared to each other. The tastes of the viewers in the two countries are very different."

Myolie has been filming alongside rumoured couple Ron and Charmaine in the new series "The Drive of Life" and asked if Ron has ever given her a lift in his 'chariot', she says that he has, but never alone because he also gives other colleagues lifts. Asked if she believes the two are dating, Myolie smiles: "It could happen? They are both still single, so it is all perfectly normal."

For Moses who took the male lead award and then went on to take the Favourite Couple award with rumoured girlfriend Bernice Liu, he was still modest as ever as he said: "Fortunately Ah Wong (Roger Kwok) wasn't there, otherwise my chances would be frozen! Haha..." Talking of him being recognised as a couple with Bernice by the Malaysian viewers, he did not respond directly, but just complimented her, saying: "Bernice is very hardworking and has done very well. I believe that she will do well in the future, because she is a natural performer on the stage. (If she does better, then the difference between you will be greater?) I don't want to talk about rumours."

Bernice graciously congratulated Moses and is happy for him. As for him complimenting her, she says: "I am thankful for his praises and I really do love singing, dancing and entertaining the viewers on stage." As for her being recognised as a couple with Moses, she says: "I don't mind working with Moses as a celebrity couple, if the company organises it, I will do it."

After his rumours with Ella Koon fade, Ron was immediately linked with Charmaine after filming together in "The Drive of Life". Ron denied the rumours again at yesterday's event: "These stories were made up based on the photographs and I don't want to respond."

Asked if he had given Charmaine a lift in his black Audi, he says frankly: "Yes, that day, were had finished filming for 'Drive' and I gave her a lift as it was on the way. (The schedules suggest that you did not finish at the same time?) You cannot always rely on the schedules, usually they just call to tell us what we are filming on each day. (The reports suggest that she left from your home?) It was all made up." Continuing the questions about whether he would develop a relationship with Charmaine, he mocks himself saying: "Charmaine is a Best Actress, how can I reach up to her? (Each time you give a girl a lift, you start gossip. Will you be more careful in future?) Taking a female colleague home is a very ordinary thing and if there was something there, then why would I do this in the light of day?"

Raymond received a Best Character and the Best Theme Song award. Asked if the song award has increased his confidence in singing, he says directly: "A little, for a TV artiste to be accepted on a different level by the viewers is a good thing." Talking of the rumours that he will be signing for EEG as a singer, he says that he was in contact with them at the end of last year, but everything has been left to the company to decide. If this goes ahead, he will have to wait for "Drive" to finish filming first.

After winning the supporting actor award, Raymond Cho was asked if he will now marry his fiancee, but he just said: "We have an understanding that I will be concentrating on my work for the next few years."

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/22/UL-681838.htm
http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/22/UL-681839.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 22/01/07]

New MCI Winners Join Shirley Yeung at 3D-Gold Prize Giving

The freshly crowned Miss Chinese International 2007 winners headed from Foshan to Guangzhou yesterday, where they received some of their prizes from jewellery sponsor 3D-Gold. Shirley Yeung appeared as the guest and was also presented with the latest design jewellery, making her shine even more.

Shirley says that she rushed to Guangzhou in the morning and complimented the girls for their beauty. As for the Hong Kong representative Aimee Chan going home with nothing, Shirley says with experience: "Winning an award is down to many elements and the right time and place, so it is nothing to be disappointed about." Shirley also feels that not winning an award does not mean you had a bad performance, as long as you have worked hard, then it doesn't matter and the fans will continue to support you. There will be a lot of opportunities in the future and Shirley believes that they will be as fulfilling. As for her new jewellery, she says it has made her feel very elegant and although she rushed over, the fee is very satisfactory and she was happy to be able to work with the company representatives in Guangzhou.

Miss Chinese International winner Sarah Song only managed to get 3 hours sleep the night before, but this did not steep her excitement. Her parents were at the event to support her, so they knew the result straight away and she received a string of congratulatory phone calls afterwards. She received a gold staff at the ceremony yesterday and she said it felt very heavy. She plans to keep it as a souvenir. Asked if she will be remaining in Hong Kong to further her career, she says she has not thought about it, but if she has the opportunity, she would like to give it a try. However, she is studying commerce in Sydney at the moment and still has two years before she graduates.

Asked if she realised that she revealed herself a little whilst doing the hula hoop routine, she says that she did not know because she only had one minute for the routine and didn't have time to think about this. Originally, she had planned to do a Chinese dance, but too many others were doing this, so she chose to do the more active hula hoop routine, because she had done this before when she was younger. Sarah reveals that she was born in Guangzhou and moved to Sydney when she was five, but every year, she will return to Guangzhou.

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/22/UL-681841.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 22/01/07]

Sheren Tang Shows Interest in Theatre

The Hong Kong Theatre Awards Ceremony took place on Saturday evening and was attended by many artistes, including Lee Heung Kam, Michael Miu, Sheren Tang, Joe Ma, Stephanie Cheng and Xiong Dailin, many of which have never actually taken part in a stage production before.

As well as presenting an award, Sheren was also a nominee for Best actress in the category for Tragedy/Positive Drama and although she did not win, she says that she was just here to show her support for theatre because the supporters of stage drama in Hong Kong are not very numerous and it is very difficult to become famous in this field. However, the actors still insist on continuing their art and should be respected for this. She asks whether all these singers and actors would still work if they were not paid. As an artiste for so long, she has never been referred to as a true 'artist' until she worked with Chung King Fai in his production last year and he actually called the group of artists onto the stage for a photograph.

Stephanie turned down an invitation to Kay Tse and Louis Cheung's marriage to attend this event and she feels that it was a shame, but she has prepared a gift for the couple and for the baby. She reveals that she has bought a set of Mozart CD's for her to start teaching in the womb. She says that when she has attended events with Kay, she has been worried that the baby may be affected by the loud noises, but she has heard that by listening to Mozart as a baby, then children will grow to be more intelligent. She hopes to attend the baby's full month celebration.

Joe is currently filming for "The Drive of Life", but he seemed unaware that his screen brother Ron Ng has been rumoured to be dating Charmaine Sheh, but he was aware of Charmaine's date with Ma Ching Wai and he says in support of Charmaine: "Even I know that Ma Ching Wai is Charmaine's 'uncle' because I have dined with Ma before and as we are both Ma's from Chiuchow, then he might even be my uncle and I might find him in my family tree."

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/22/UL-681842.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 22/01/07]

Dayo Wong to Clear the Name of 'Evil Kin'

Movie "House of Mahjong" held a promotional event in Mongkok yesterday, attended by cast members including Dayo Wong, Sam Li, Candy Lo, Raymond Wong and Elanne, attracting many members of the public.

Dayo will soon begin filming for TVB series "Evil Kin", with Lam Ka Wah playing Kin's traditional arch rival Wong Fei Hung. He says that as his memory of the traditional Evil Kin character is still vivid in his memory, he has no intention of visiting the original actor Uncle Shek Kin to ask for tips, nor will be revisit the films. He smiles: "I even remember in dreams the devious smile of Evil Kin and the biggest dilemma for me is over how to play the role without tarnishing the name of Uncle Kin. I will try to convey this in a way that will justify the actions of Evil Kin and show his more lovable side."

The Evil Kin in this modern rendition will have a girlfriend, but Dayo does not yet know who has been cast in this role. However, his character will not let go of any female, because he is an expert in chatting up the girls and he says that this feels like fun. When the reporters asked if this was because he cannot do it in real life, he smiles: "This is the only reason I act." Dayo says he has looked at the script and he feels that this character is villainous to the bones already. Asked if he is worried he will be beaten up after playing this character, he laughs: "So I am in a quandry, if I don't spoil my image, I cannot play this role, because only by doing this can I be another person and in order to carry off this role, then I can only sacrifice myself."

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/22/UL-681850.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 22/01/07]

Niki Chow: Kissing and Hugging Kevin is Pretty Normal

Niki Chow and Charlene Choi joined together to attend Kay Tse and Louis Cheung's wedding banquet on Saturday and they chipped in to buy some baby products for the couple. Charlene says that their gift is very beautiful, but also quite expensive. Asked if they felt the desire to get married after seeing the happy couple, they both put the onus on the other to marry first.

Whilst Niki was away in Nagoya filming with Kevin Cheng, there have been reports that they have been sighted being very intimate with each other and sticking together a lot. She responds that all the photographs in the magazines were scenes from the show and as it is a love story, then hugging and kissing is quite normal really. The director says that there were no kiss scenes in the storyline though? She says: "These scenes were added in at the last minute by the producer and the director and when they went through it with us beforehand, we were happy about it and it was not forced in. (The reports suggest that you spent nine days together and this has brought you closer together and you would go shopping together on your own?) Wherever we went there was a big group and we did not break away. The whole group gets along very well."

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/22/UL-681848.htm



[The Sun 22/01/07]

Linda Chung Suffers Food Poisoning in Japan

Linda Chung took a trip to Japan earlier with her mother and suffered a scare with a case of suspected Norwalk virus. She recalls: "When I got to Japan, I was already suffering from vomiting and diarrheoa and I was like that for five of the seven days there. I would feel weak after just an hour out and had to return to the hotel. I have lost 10 lbs in the process." As Linda's symptoms were very similar to the recent cases of Norwalk virus in Japan, she immediately sought medical attention after returning to Hong Kong. She says: "I was so thin you could see my cheekbones and my mother was very frightened. Fortunately, the doctor told me it was just flu and gastroenteritis and this put her mind at ease." Asked if he had eaten any sushi or shellfish, she smiles: "Yes, I did. You can't worry about so much and a lot of things are meant to be, but I never imagined my first trip to Japan would be like this. I hope I will have a happier time next time."

http://the-sun.orisun.com/channels/ent/20070122/20070121232330_0000.html