[Sing Pao & The Sun]

Earlier, TVB held a major press conference, but their top ladies Liza Wang, Lydia Shum and Dodo Chen were not present. As MC at the Ming Oi charity show on Sunday, Liza was asked about this and she replied that there are a lot of artistes at TVB, so not everyone could take part.

Liza made her appearance at the show with a walking stic and she said: "It is because I injured the cartilage in my knee when I was doing Latin dancing, so I need to stick to just help with my strength. I don't have to use it, but when I go up and down stairs, it hurts." When asked about why she, Lydia and Dodo were not present at the press conference last week, Liza says: "It doesn't matter, the company has nearly a hundred artistes and they can't all take part, you will have to ask the company." As well as hosting the show, Liza also had a duet with Hacken Lee in a Cantonese Opera piece, when asked how Hacken's performance was, she praised him, saying he was not bad at all, but then she added that her own voice had been affected by the weather and was slightly scratchy. Also, Liza's series "Blade Heart" reached 33 points in the final week, gaining 11 points on the previous week.

Performing Cantonese Opera for the first time with Liza, Hacken admitted he was very worried, because this was also the first time he had tried opera so seriously and he was afraid of affecting Liza's performance. However, Liza had given him encouragement and lent him some books about the story behind the piece, so after a few days practice, Hacken hopes that he will do his best and not be a disappointment. After the show, he breathed a sigh of relief! Originally Hacken was to fly to Beijing with Alan Tam to judget a competition, but as Hacken had to take part in this show, Alan travelled alone and Hacken will catch up with him on 30th for a press conference. In response to the SARS reports, Hacken laughs: "It doesn't matter, I have already sent Alan to check it out for me!"

After two years without a public performance, Ekin Cheng returned to the stage for the show on Sunday and was a little nervous. When he was asked about leading the show despite performances from other superstars such as Hacken and Jacky Cheung, he says: "It's okay, my singing is already very good, just my feelings are a little complicated. The last time I appeared as a singer was with Joey Yung and with my comeback I am working with Joey again, but I think she has grown up a lot." How about Ekin himself? He laughs that he is still very young. Although this is his first appearance after his return, he could not sing live because of technical problems, so he can only hope that he can next time.

As for whether Sam Hui has invited him to help with his own comeback, Ekin says: "I don't know, you will have to ask Sandy Lam, but from what I know, he is looking for girls. Sam will be holding his show in June and I really want to see it, but I may not be in Hong Kong at that time." Ekin adds that he did some promotional work for the charity earlier and went to visit a lady who was 102 years old. He laughs that although he was doing voluntary work, he was still given a few thousand dollars expenses, so if he becomes unemployed in the future, he can do this instead.

http://www.singpao.com/20040427/gossip/544055.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040426/20040426001403_0003.html