[Oriental Daily]

Damian Lau's "Point of No Return" has not only had good ratings, his acting talent has been highly praised and earlier after the anniversary celebrations, his co-star Julian Cheung has mentioned it is unfair to him that he didn't get an award. Yesterday when Damian was told about this, he just replied gently: "Well, it has been like this for several decades where I haven't had an award, but I really don't know about these things and I am not too bothered. I am just concerned with my performance, I don't know about any rules of the game or anything like that."

As an experienced actor, Damian is already very happy with the excellent ratings and the good reception to his performance, but with critics saying that the story follows 'Meteor Garden' or Korean film 'My Sassy Girl', Damian says he doesn't know because he rarely watches these shows. As fore whether he will make another series with TVB, he says: "At the earliest it will be the end of next year because I have a lot of series that I need to film in China first."

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a09cnt.html




[Oriental Daily]

Francis Ng will soon be directing an advertisement film and he has been busy in meetings to discuss the project. Yesterday he took time out to take part in TVB's celebratory party and with his rise in popularity thanks to the series "Triumph in the Skies", he wore an army style jacket to the event yesterday and despite the weather being quite warm, he said that for the sake of looking stylish, he has no other choice. Often appearing with this look recently, Francis has become the spotlight wherever he appears and even Liza Wang asked to be photographed with him.

"Triumph" has had a good reception and TVB immediately asked Francis to make another series for them as a doctor in a "Medecins Sans Frontiers" type series. Originally he was very interested, believing that this would help raise the profile on the third world, but unfortunately he has no time in his schedule and he has to wait until he finishes several years of movie contracts before he can make the show. TVB have suggested that maybe he takes part in the sequel, but Francis has never been interested in making sequels because it is hard to build on the success of the first series.

However, Francis is still very interested in making TV series and says that if he meets with the right script, he will consider it. Just like "Triumph" has proved that his choice was not wrong as he laughs: "It is every man's dream profession to be a pilot and it also attracts many women, so many people say I am good looking now, but I have never considered myself to be linked with the word 'handsome'." As for many people saying he was putting on an attitude in this show, Francis says he is concerned that this might affect the image of pilots.

Also there have been reports that his wife has been out spending tens of thousands of dollars on Bird's Nest and wasting money. Francis reveals that he instructed her to go and buy it and he says that as the news is not too negative, as long as everyone is happy, he will not mind too much.

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a08cnt.html



[Oriental Daily]

This year's Miss Hong Kong winner Mandy Cho has been snapped up by a slimming company to be their spokesperson within three months of her winning the contest and has been filming out at sea with Tiffany Lee for their new ad, wearing a rather revealing bikini. This has broken the past image of Miss Hong Kong who have been rather conservative during their reign, but she has received permission from TVB not to keep her great figure under wraps any more.

Mandy spoke excitedly about yesterday's experience on the yacht: "Yeah, I wore a total of six swimsuits and they were all bikinis." As for the thin straps and little cloth on the bikinis, she immediately protested: "Don't describe it like that, it is all just in line with the advertisement to show off my figure. They are all just swimsuits for swimming in, the company feels they are okay and there is no problem."

She also denies that TVB agreed to the ad because the fee was very attractive and thus allowing her to wear a bikini. Mandy laughs: "You will have to ask the company how much money they made, but I am pleased with my fee, of course, any money in my pocket is good."

Mandy also says that the sexiness of this shoot is her limit: "It's almost there, I won't take it any further." She even joked: "I am only responsible for slimming, breast enhancement has nothing to do with me because I feel I am already well endowed."

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a03cnt.html


[The Sun]

Jessica Hsuan and model Sofia Lee took part in an opening ceremony for a diamond store yesterday and in response to her 'arch rival' Maggie Cheung's controversy recently, Jessica replied with reservation: "I have been through all this and if A and B are talking and C joins in, it will cause a lot of confusion. (Will you try and talk to her?) I don't know Maggie very well and I have never worked with Kenix before so the best thing is No Comment! (Do you think Kenix has a representative role?) I rarely watch series, apart from my own!"

As for reports that Jessica has asked for a rise in her fee for a skincare advertisement, but this has only been adjusted by a token ten to twenty thousand dollars, she says: "I don't think so. Normally the company will negotiate fees for me and will not ask my opinion! My fee is very reasonable and I feel that someone is making all this up. If I wanted to raise my fee, I would not get so unhappy about ten thousand dollars and upset the boss."

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20031128/20031128004141_0003.html