[Ta Kung Pao & The Sun 04/01/07]

Steven Ma's Alluring Dance Wins Praises from Fans

TVB's new series "The Entire City Dances" was filming a dance carnival scene at Olympian City yesterday, with cast members including Steven Ma, Bernice Liu, Fala Chen, Kate Tsui, Claire Yiu, Wayne Lai and Mannor Chan. They attracted a large audience to watch them all dancing together in the scene.

Steven indicates that with so many pairs of eyes watching him dance, then if he can get over his fear, then he will never be afraid again. He also laughs that as he has to shake his bottom during his dance, some of the audience commented: "Wow, he can move! And so sexy!" and this boosted his confidence. Later, he will be filming some competition scenes with Bernice and those will be even more difficult. Although he has only been filming for two weeks so far on this series, the company has checked the film and they have praised their performance, indicating an early air date, putting some pressure on Steven.

In the series, Steven will have two topless scenes, one showing his fat and the other showing his abdomen. As the two scenes will be filmed within days of each other, he will not have time to adjust his weight, so it will be down to computer imagery to show the difference. He will also be doing some sexy dancing with Bernice, where she leads and he smiles: "When I twist my legs around hers, I end up in a mess." He admits that this series is very different from his role in "Safe Guards", because there are more girls and they often compliment his good looks, making him very happy and he agrees that he has had some good luck with the ladies recently.

Yesterday was Bernice's 7th day filming on the run and she has practically not slept, so she was feeling very tired. Fortunately, she has a chance to rest after yesterday's filming. Talking of her sexy dance with Steven, she says: "It's not really sexy, but it is a very emotional dance." Asked if she will feel embarrassed, she says she is not afraid because Steven is very professional and conscientious. Although she has been learning ballet from an early age, the latin dancing is very different. She smiles: "Ballet is about keeping your body entirely straight, whereas latin dance is about twisting your hips and I don't know how to do this very well." In the show, she also has to wear a lot of sexy dance outfits. Fala also has to do some dancing in the show and she smiles that even though she didn't know how to do it to start with, then she will know by the end of this show. When she was young, she took ballet and Chinese dance.

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/04/UL-673775.htm
http://the-sun.orisun.com/channels/ent/20070104/20070103233506_0000.html



[Ta Kung Pao 04/01/07]

Joe Ma shows his Support for Sonija Kwok

Joe Ma appeared on a radio interview yesterday to promote his second album "The Conquest" and his cookbook.

With his series "The Conquest" only gaining ratings of 25 points, he says he is not disappointed because he understands that ratings are beyond his controle and with so many festivals recently, the the public are too busy doing other thanks. He hopes that the ratings will start to climb because this is a 40 episode series. Talking of net comments about Sonija's portrayal of Xishi looking too old, he says he has heard about this, but the series spans a storyline of over ten years, so a younger artiste may not have been as suitable. He feels that playing Fu Chai at his age is not ideal either. Asked if Sonija has been unhappy about this, he says that she understands that not everyone will agree with her, so she will just put the focus on her own performance.

Although Joe is married and has a son, he is still always causing gossip. Asked if he feels his rumours are affecting the ratings, he says he does not feel this because many other artistes have rumours, but this does not affect the viewing numbers. As for the reports suggesting that his wife has returned especially from France to help rescue him from the 'playboy' image portrayed, Joe says that his wife and son have returned to Hong Kong recently, but he says with resignation about the rescue rumours: "Why waste breath? They can write whatever they want. If I go to France, they say I am going to make up with my wife, if I don't have time to go, then they say I am having a divorce. It is all written by them but after so many years nothing has happened and my friends and family are clear about this."

Joe also reveals that his parents have been followed around recently by the paparazzi and he is angry about this: "My parents are in their seventies and if they are injured or frightened, I don't know what I would do. This is not right and over the top. Can they not have some morals? (Do they want to ask about your wife?) She had not come back at the time. (Will you move house?) They will follow me wherever I go and this is just about their work ethic. (Has this affected your family life?) No, I will continue to live life normally and I will not avoid it, but I feel it is an intrusion."

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/04/UL-673765.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 04/01/07]

Hacken Lee Hopes to Find Success with JSG

Hacken Lee came away with nothing at the recent CRHK Chik Chak Music Awards and fans have written to the papers expressing their displeasure. Appearing at yesterday's press conference for TVB's Jade Solid Gold awards yesterday, he responded to this graciously and said: "They should respect the calculation of results that CRHK uses and should not be too angry. I feel that writing to the papers is not a good method of airing views, the best thing would be to put their comments on the internet." There have been suggestions that the reason for his blank sheet was down to his poor relationship with CRHK, but Hacken clarifies this and says: "There is no animoscity between CRHK and me, just that we have different directions. I have a lot of friends at CRHK, but this does not mean it helps the broadcast rate of my songs because our directions are different."

Although Hacken did not appear at the Chik Chak awards ceremony, he did watch the show and seeing his good friends winning awards made him feel happy. When Hins Cheung showed his emotions, Hacken smiled: "I will have to go and ask him later if it was real. (About Hin's rumours with Ivana Wong)." As for the forthcoming TVB and RTHK awards, Hacken says he will be making an appearance, but he explains that because he had to film for his movie on New Year's Day, then this was the reason he did not have time to appear at the CRHK ceremony. He hopes that there will not be too much speculation and he hopes that there will be a higher broadcast rate for him this year.

Hacken says that the focus for the JSG awards will rest with Leo Ku and Eason Chan and he will be following behind them. He is prepared to be in the background this year and let them take the hot potato. Hacken calls himself the 'dark horse' because he feels he has the talent and he is a sales chart topper, but he does not know why sales and popularity are not balancing each other. As for the suggestions that record company executive Duncan Wong has been fighting for Eason to win the 'Most Popular Male Singer Award', Hacken feels that awards are not for fighting over and they are presented by the organisers, so he will go in with a peaceful heart. Of course, people have emotions and reactions, so if he does not win, then he will be disappointed, but he will be gracious whatever happens.

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/04/UL-673767.htm



[The Sun 04/01/06]

Miss Chinese International Contestants Arrive in Hong Kong

The twenty-one contestants from around the world taking part in the Miss Chinese International Pageant 2007 have arrived in Hong Kong and will compete for the title on 20th in Foshan. Missing from the contestants was the winner of the "Homeland Beauty" pageant Zhao Ying Ying from Nanning, who was having problems with her visa and unable to make it in time for the first gathering. Her application details are still being verified now.

Hong Kong representative Aimee Chan joined the other contestants at TVB City yesterday to have their measurements taken and to pick their numbers. They were then sent off to stylists in Causeway Bay and Festival Walk for image consultancy. There were plenty of pretty girls among the contestants, who were quite tall and of a high quality. One contestant resembles Race from the girl group 2R. Aimee indicates that she is on good form.

http://the-sun.orisun.com/channels/ent/20070104/20070103233309_0000.html



[The Sun 04/01/07]

Charmaine Sheh Crying in the Rain

At around 3am yesterday, Charmaine Sheh was filming for Wong Jing's new movie "Beautiful Food Goddess" in Kowloon Tong in a raining scene. Before the shoot, Charmaine studied the script attentively and prepared her emotions for the scene, so when the cameras rolled, she immediately screamed and cried out, wearing just a short skirt and then breaking down on the street.

When the director called 'Cut', a soaking Charmaine was so cold that she was shivering, but the crew were extremely concerned and immediately wrapped her in towels and passed her a hot drink to keep warm. There were no complaints from Charmaine though despite the rain and cold and she joked and laughed with the other people. This TV Queen's has kept her professionalism in her crossover into film and is fully worthy of her awards.

http://the-sun.orisun.com/channels/ent/20070104/20070103232110_0000.html