[Ta Kung Pao]

TVB's new entertainment show "Happy Club" will begin airing tonight and yesterday show hosts including Sammul Chan, Chan Hoi Yee and Lo Koon Fung were wearing funny costumes at the Star Ferry harbour and handing out promotional flyers. Wearing a bright costume, Hoi Yee went down well with some Western men and one of them followed her blowing bubbles whilst another chased her to the escalator to have a photo taken with her. Although they put their arm around her shoulder and waist, Hoi Yee didn't mind because Westerners tend to be more affectionate. The bravest was a lady who ignored everyone as she pulled Hoi Yee over to the harbourside for a photograph, before the security staff stepped in. Hoi Yee says she was not scared because there were staff to look after her. As for the show, it is primarily to introduce some unusual hobbies of Hong Kong people, for example yesterday's guest who liked to dress up as a doll to go out. When Hoi Yee was asked what special interests she has, she says that her hobbies are more traditional, such as playing the Chinese zither, which she has been learning for two years now.

As for Sammul, he says that he is very normal and does not have any strange hobbies. However he has dressed up as a girl on two occasions. The first time was his kindergarten graduation ceremony and once was when he was a DJ for Metro Radio. He laughs: "I had to wear a chipao school uniform and I realised what a pain it is to wear a dress because it is quite cold and draughty down under." Sammul also reveals that TVB originally arranged for him together with Ron Ng, Bosco Wong and Raymond Lam to go to Athens to film a promotional clip for the Olympics, but the others have to film and could not fit it into their schedules, so it is still under discussion. He would very much like to visit Athens, because he has never been and would like to visit the Olympic village.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-3-9/UL-236773.htm



[Ta Kung Pao]

"Jade Starbiz" is moving to new studios and arranged yesterday for hosts and special guests such as Roger Kwok, Moses Chan and Lau Fung Ping to attend a blessing ceremony. As this coincided with International Women's Day, the show had arranged for a batch of flowers to present to all the ladies present.

Moses Chan had earlier appeared on the 'Kitchen God' part of the show to cook steak, becoming the highest scoring guest star. Today, Roger will be demostrating Chiu Chau food and he is confident that he will beat Moses' score. When asked if he has good cooking skills, he laughs: "I am a visionary chef, each time I eat some good food, I will ask how it is made and I will imagine myself cooking the food. Luckily I have a good memory, so after I hear the recipe once, I know how to cook it."

Has Roger cooked for his girlfriend? He says: "Less now, because I am busy, but her cookery skill is not bad." Will Roger be celebrating women's day with his girlfriend? He laughs: "She is not a woman yet! (Have you given her a present for the occasion?) Maybe I will give her some kitchen utensils, so she can cook for me." In the last six months, Roger has been filming in the Mainland and after a short break back in Hong Kong, he will be heading back to Wuxi next week for another series. He plans to return to TVB in July: "My work plans are six months working away and six months at TVB, so when people want to book work, I don't have time until 2005 and they will pull faces because they don't know what they will be filming then."

Although Roger is often away for work, he is also making some money so he has revealed he will be buying some property in Hong Kong. When asked if he will be choosing a place on this trip back, he says that he will wait until the prices fall. Although the prices have gone back up, Roger feels that there are too many investors in the market, so he will hold on for now.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-3-9/UL-236775.htm



[Ta Kung Pao, Oriental Daily & The Sun]
[Report: Ta Kung Pao]

The 2004 Olympic games will be taking place in Athens and begin on 13th August. TVB has invested over $40 million to air this event that only happens every four years.

The six Olympic stars will be singing the theme song for the promotional events and the Miss Hong Kong winners were present to host a flag raising show yesterday where the show's chief organiser Wong Ka Leung officially named the six stars who are Raymond Lam, Ron Ng, Sammul Chan, Bosco Wong, Kenneth Ma and Chris Lai who will be singing the theme song. The hosts for the Olympic coverage will be including Andy Hui, Vincent Kuk, Michelle Ye, Myolie Wu and Joe Ma who all appeared as guests at yesterday's ceremony. There were rumours suggesting that TVB are using their own artistes to cut the cost of hiring in external stars such as Hacken Lee, Nat Chan and Eric Tsang and using the relatively cheaper Andy Hui instead. Wong indicated that this is not the case and he will be inviting them to join in as guest hosts. As for who will be sent to do live reports from Athens, this is yet to be decided as the event is still some time off and there is an element of briefing, but everyone is ready to fly out if it is needed.

Amid rumours that Andy Hui is working for TVB at the cut price of $2000 per show as Olympic host, he says that he has not discussed his fee with TVB yet. He says that he has three things that he has always wanted to do, one is to take part in a sponsored fast, second is to watch the World Cup live and the third is to watch an Olympic opening live to leave him with some memories. At the moment, he is only worried that he will not have the time in his schedule. Is Andy worried he will be compared to Hacken Lee? He says that he doesn't need to think about these things because he will have his supporters and his non-supporters and the most important thing is for him to do his best. Just like when his albums are released, there will be those who say it will not sell, but in the end the results are good, even if people still say bad things, then he will not worry about it. It would seem that Andy can see through it all, but Andy says this is not the case. He just understands that he cannot please everyone. He says that for a man, it is easy to handle things when they go well, but the real challenge is when things don't go to plan then it is a real challenge to turn things around. He also says that constructive feedback will be accepted, but destructive feedback will be shrugged off.

Ron Ng's sister has recently appeared nude with her back to the camera in a magazine with the reports casting suspicion on her ability to buy expensive cars on her nurse's salary. Ron responded yesterday, saying he has seen his sister's photo and there is nothing wrong with it as it is quite tasteful. As for her Mercedes, there are different standards and there are even some that cost as little as a few tens of thousandds of dollars. He points out that his sister is now married with a child.

Ron says that this news has prompted reporters to dress as security guards to gain access to his parents' home after misleading the Philipino maid. As a result, he has told his family to be more careful. As for his sister, she is not upset by the news because she is married now and will not be entering the showbiz industry.

Ron and Myolie Wu were taking part in TVB's Olympic games promotion and they took part in a 50m sprint, during which Sammul Chan was injured by the finishing tape as he shot across the line. Myolie says that she used to do gymnastics when she was at school, but her mother was worried that she would have broad legs and a flat chest, so she put a stop to it. However, she was able to do the splits, cartwheels and forward flips when she was around six or seven years old. Many years later, she is only able to do a cartwheel. The Olympic event she likes watching is the 100m and diving and she praises the Chinese diving prince Tian Liang for being handsome. As for TVB using artistes for hosts this year, she feels that this is because the company has good resources and supports its own staff and using them well.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-3-9/UL-236779.htm
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-3-9/UL-236778.htm
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a14cnt.html
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a15cnt.html
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a16cnt.html



[Ta Kung Pao & The Sun]

Michelle Ye will be appearing as a guest star at a slimming showcase programme and with a rather plump figure in the past, she has had to use careful camera angles to make her look slimmer, but after taking part in a slimming course recently, she has lost 17 lbs and now weighs just 106 lbs. Her waist has reduced from 29 inches to just 24, so no matter if she is wearing a seethrough top or even just a camisole, she is full of confidence.

The guests on the show will include Wong Chak Fung, Rain Lau and Mok Ka Yiu who will be studying footage of Michelle before slimming as well as finding out the reason for her full figure. In the end, Chak Fung and Rain both draw the conclusion that the reason is Michelle likes to eat hot pot. Having filmed with Michelle, Ka Yiu adds that she is too busy filming to eat hot pot now so it must be the meals that she is eating at the TVB canteen that is causing her to put on weight. However, Michelle reveals the reason and laughs at Ka Yiu as she says: "You are wrong, I did sneak out to have hot pot without telling you!"

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-3-9/UL-236780.htm
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040309/20040309003839_0003.html



[Ta Kung Pao]

"Blade Heart" began airing last night and some cast members including Shirley Yeung, Gregory Lee, Mimi Lo and Carlo Ng were interviewed on a Metro Radio show. As Shirley and Gregory are publicly dating, Mimi and Carlo mocked them during the show pretending to kiss and hold hands before talking them into holding hands to have their picture taken, but they were obviously very embarrassed and flushed.

As Shirley and Gregory fell in love whilst filming this show, it has become their matchmaker. Shirley laughs: "Many thanks to Catherine Tsang for giving me this opportunity to take part in this show, I would never have dreamed that I would have met Gregory." At this point, Carlo grasps the chance to make a joke and says: "People say thank you when they get an award, why are you saying thank you? Are you saying thank you for finding a good date for you? Ha ha!"

Talking of the end of "Lady Fan" gaining a high of 31 points and then "Blade Heart" taking over, are they worried about having to carry on the good ratings? They all say that they are confident because this show has Liza Wang and Adam Cheng and they will guarantee support. Carlo adds that the first two weeks will have a lot of Liza and Adam's scenes so they will have good ratings. If Shirley and Gregory announce their wedding then it will be even better news, but the two say it is not time to get married just yet.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-3-9/UL-236782.htm