TVB Ladies Compete at New Series Press Conference

TVB will be releasing three new prime time series on Monday, that are the new sitcom "Collegue Relationships", "War and Destiny" and "Life Art". A press conference was held yesterday to promote the three shows and most of the cast members were present at the grand affair. As female lead from "War" Myolie Wu was absent, the focus was placed on Gigi Lai and Esther Kwan. Gigi wore plenty of designer gear and her close fitting blouse stole the limelight from the 'housewifey' Esther.

Artistes present at yesterday's event included Esther, Alvina Kong and Elaine Jin from "Colleague", Sunny Chan and Ron Ng from "War" and Kevin Cheng, Gigi and Ben Wong from "Life". The turnout for "War" was a little disappointing as both female leads Myolie and Leila Tong were not able to attend. As yesterday was also International Women's Day, some of the male artistes presented the ladies with flowers. Kevin and Gigi were particularly active and Kevin even complied with the reporters requests as he kissed Gigi three times on the forehead.

Gigi was wearing some new designs from designer label Celine, with a white blouse over a bright red skirt. Gigi also wore a Cartier watch, showing off her gear. She indicated that her outfit was sponsored and she says that each time she takes part in an event, she will receive clothing sponsorships and this saves her a lot of money. She has sponsors for her hair and her household items, so she is just looking for an lingerie sponsor now. When the reporters suggest that she will increase the value of any lingerie that she wears, she laughs: "Don't be so disgusting!". She says that maybe she does not have sponsors because they don't know her measurements. As for ratings, Gigi is not too nervous because she has done her best and she thinks the producer will be more nervous about this.


With all three shows being promoted together, does Esther feel the pressure? She says that she is well accustomed to this industry, so she is not too concerned. However, her husband Nick Cheung laughs that she spoke in her sleep earlier saying: "Is that okay?". She smiles that she does not usually speak in her sleep and the last time was just after she had her daughter, when she was laughing out loud, so maybe she is not showing her nerves, but on the inside she is still quite worried. She says she is most worried about the reaction from the audience to her performance. She also wants to know if her appearance has changed after having her baby.

Asked if she has been dressing up intentionally, Esther says she has not and she is just wearing the costume from the company and she has done her hair herself. Only her trousers are her own because she just wants to be comfortable. When the reporters mentioned that many of the ladies show their own accessories off for promotions, Esther says she does not have any items of her own. Asked if she has now changed her mindset into a new transition, she says: "Don't put it like that, maybe I am more casual or maybe I am more housewifey, but after having my daughter I have not really dressed up much."

Kevin has been linked with Niki Chow as being the top TV couple, so is he worried that the audience will find it hard to accept him with Gigi in his new series, Kevin says that for an onscreen couple to be popular, then they cannot be paired up forever. As an artiste, then you have to try many different combinations, otherwise the audience will get bored. After appearing with Niki in "Under the Canopy of Love", he has been paired with Nnadia Chan in "Trimming Success" and there were no problems then. This is all down to the taste of the viewers and is beyond his control, so he can only do his best.

Kevin has been rehearsing recently for the forthcoming Pok Oi Charity Show, where he will be doing a song and dance routine with Kate Tsui. Asked if he is afraid of being accused of taking advantage of her, Kevin says that when you dance, there is already a lot to think about and he will not take any notice of where his hands land. If he makes a mistake, then there will not be a problem. He sasy that after this dance routine, it has roused his interest in the stage again.

With Ron representing "War and Destiny" yesterday, does he feel they are losing out without their two female leads? He smiles: "There is nothing we can do, we will lose out a little." With this series having been filmed over a year ago, the series was not aired because of concerns over the sensitivity of the historical background, but when the producer found out that it is the 70th Anniversary of the Rape of Nanjing this year, then he felt it is the right time to air the show. Ron says that he also has a series "Guts of Man" that is yet to air, so he hopes it will be aired soon.

Asked if he has been to support Charmaine Sheh by watching her new movie "Lady Iron Chef", Ron smiles: "Well that will depend if she gives me any tickets! (Buy them yourself!) I don't mind, I will buy it myself then." As for the attendance at the premiere earlier by Virginia Lok and some of his TVB colleagues, he says that he did hear about it and was invited to go along if he was free, but unfortunately he was working that night. As for Charmaine's comments that if he appeared the focus would be moved towards their rumours, Ron says that every artiste wants the focus to be on their work and of course they don't want people to just talk about their gossip.

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