[Ta Kung Pao, Oriental Daily]

Kenix Kwok, Michael Tao and Moses Chan were filming on location in Tsimshatsui East for "Blossoming Hearts" yesterday. The scene tells of them going for lunch in a restaurant, where Moses and Kenix are a couple, but there are rumours that Michael is secretly dating Kenix. Moses does not believe this, but in fact, Kenix's affections belong to Michael.

When Moses was standing and talking to the reporters, a man came over suddenly and pointed at Moses saying: "He has his ear pierced, he is quite obviously gay!" To this, Moses replied smiling: "If you pierce your right ear, it indicates you are gay, but if you pierce your left ear, then you are straight." When the man heard this, he understood and went away. Moses then said: "When I had my piercing done, I was told that gays had their right ear done. As for why I had both my ears pierced, it was because I didn't want to waste the other earring!"

When Moses was asked if he had been harrassed in the past, he admits that when he was in his teens in Australia, someone tried to touch his bottom in a disco. He adds: "I have had personal items stolen from the gym, but I can't say what it was. I have a friend who found a rose in front of his locker and believes it was someone wanting to show their love." However, since returning to Hong Kong, he has never met with these incidents.

The weather yesterday was rather warm, but Moses was wearing his suit and was asked if it was hard work. He laughs: "But I look really handsome! (Would you rather be wearing a suit in the summer than filming ancient dramas?) I still like doing ancient dramas, because the final product gives me a greater feeling of success and satisfaction."

Also, there was a mother and daughter who asked for a photograph with Kenix, who showered the child with praises of how cute she was. When asked if she would be having one of her own, she said smiling: "My sister's son is very cuit, but this does not make me want to have kids just yet because my career is most important for now, especially now when I have a show that I really like, the more I film, the better I feel, so after this show, I will be taking on new series 'Ten Brothers'."

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-5-21/UL-262916.htm
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a17cnt.html



[Ta Kung Pao]

Gigi Lai was joined by Taiwanese singer Wong Ban Yuen to do a casino show in America in return for a six-figure fee. When asked if she had tried her luck in the casino, she says she doesn't gamble because she doesn't like counting and finds it tiresome. As for the slot machines, she finds them a waste of time.

Although it has been a while since Gigi has been singing, she still enjoyed her performance on the stage. The most touching moment for her was a 70 year old grandmother who took the flowers that her son had bought her for Mother's day and presented them to her. She says: "This granny had not seen her son for a long time, so he had bought her some flowers for Mothers Day. I was so touched, so I decided to give the flowers back to the granny."

As well as the granny, there were also a few Caucasian fans who presented Gigi with flowers and shook her hand. Gigi says: "As I was singing Chinese songs, they probably didn't understand the lyrics, but still came to support me and I am very happy about that." She also hopes that she can do more of this type of show, because she can have a free holiday as well as make money!

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-5-21/UL-262917.htm



[Ta Kung Pao & Oriental Daily]

The Wai Yin Women's Association will be holding a charity ball at the Hyatt hotel on 3rd July to raise money for elderly services. At the press conference, there were appearances from Wai Yin's members and this year's Miss Hong Kong winners. Mandy Cho is not yet a member because she can only join after she completes her role in August this year, however she is taking the opportunity to understand the operations of the society.

Mandy will be taking part in TVB's Olympic show this weekend and she will be playing African drums. She says that she does not know how to beat a rhythm, but she has been practising hard in the hope that she can give a good performance. When asked whether she will be wearing African dress, she says she does not know yet and will wait for arrangements from the company. Later, Mandy will be shooting some wedding photos with Kevin Cheng becuase they are currently working together on new series "Fight for Every Moment" and they have been offered a handsome fee for the job. This is the third time that Mandy will have worn wedding gowns, but she is not worried that she will be too accustomed when it comes to her real wedding in the future as she will be choosing her own dress and the feeling will definitely be different. Despite her Westernised appearance, Mandy would still very much like to wear the Chinese wedding dress and when asked when she would get married, she says that 30 is a suitable age and doesn't feel this is late. She says: "Not late at all. I don't have a boyfriend yet, but when I meet one, I will have to get to know him first, so it is about right." As for her earlier joke about meeting some eligible bachelors at balls, she says: "I haven't met any yet and no-one seems to be chasing me, so just have to go with fate, I was just joking anyway."

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-5-21/UL-262926.htm
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a10cnt.html



[Sing Pao Special Report]

Leila Tong's Enjoyment of Swimming and the Feelings of Floating and Sinking

Last summer, TVB aired the popular "Aqua Heroes" and as well as a group of singer stars, such as Bobo Chan, Edwin Siu and Stephy Tang, the show was also led by some fresh young actors such as Bosco Wong, Lai Lok Yi and Leila Tong. Leila, who played a swimming star in the show alongside her screen sister Bobo returns to the beach after a year and talks of the hardships and pleasures of the filming.

Leila remembers that when she was filming for "Aqua Heroes", she was 'swimming to death'. She says: "Every time we filmed, we had to do swimming practice beforehand with a coach, who taught me how to swim in all four styles, even backstroke that I couldn't do before. Although it was hard work, I found that I was a lot healthier afterwards." With the summer approaching, it is time for swimming again and Leila loves to swim and also the feeling of floating and sinking in the water, no sweating and very unnoticeably using up the body's energy, so that you only feel tired after you leave the water. As an artiste, time for resting is usually never enough, so swimming is a good way of doing some exercise, but not tiring out too much that it will affect your work.

This year, Leila's target is to learn wakeboarding and she will be seeking advice from her friends in the industry. As long as she is careful, then there should be no problems. However, it turns out that Leila only truly learned how to swim two years ago and she says: "I learned to swim when I was young, but I kept feeling that I didn't know how and when I reached the point when I couldn't touch the ground with my feet, I would be very scared. Two years ago, I started to learn to swim seriously and that came in useful for 'Aqua Heroes'. I remember that in the few years before, my brother would take me swimming and using a float, he would pull me out to the jetty and catch a sea cucumber for me to play with. That was very memorable."

Leila has been in the acting industry since she was eight years old and still in primary school. She says that this had a definite effect on her education. "Of course it affected my schoolwork and it even affected my ability to make friends because their reactions were very extreme, some people would ostracise me whilst others were overly friendly and want to play with me. When you are young, you get unhappy but the adults will think it is nothing. I would think that if I wasn't an artiste, then having an artiste schoolfriend would be very curious and maybe I would react in the same way. (Have you any regrets about entering the industry?) No regrets! I have learned a lot of things and have experienced things that people my age will never have seen. Many people say that showbiz is like a giant staining pot, but I don't feel this way."

In her adult showbiz life, Leila's rumours have been ever present and men she has been linked with include Edwin Siu, Ron Ng and even the married Stephen Au. Although they have all been proved to be false, they still bring troubles for her. "The first time I had to face it, I would be unhappy, but after thinking it through, every artiste has to pass through this stage, so rather than let it affect my work, then why don't I take it calmly as this is better than making myself unhappy. The most important thing is knowing what I am doing, then the unhappiness will soon pass by."

On the day of the shoot at the beach, there appeared away from the camera, a rather strange paddling man with a cigarette in his mouth. Leila probably didn't notice as she was too absorbed, but when it was mentioned to her, she called out: "So scary! He was so odd." It looks like Leila will have to be more observant next time she goes down to the beach!

http://www.singpao.com/20040521/gossip/554158.html



[Oriental Daily & The Sun]

Some information about forthcoming production of 'Ten Brothers'

TVB's ancient dramas with special effects have always been popular and guaranteed ratings, so TVB will begin filming for a remake of the popular classic series "Ten Brothers". The intention was to arrange for newly-weds Frankie Lam and Kenix Kwok to play a married couple and lead roles in the show and reports indicate that Frankie and Kenix have decided to break their evasion of this situation over recent years and take on the roles.

Although Wong Jing has recently made a movie version of the show starring Kenny Bee and Cheung Man as a couple, the TVB version will be using the classical storyline starring Cheung Ying and Lo Yim Hing as a blueprint. Set in the early Nationalist period, the story tells of a couple who swallows ten pearls, leading to the birth of ten brothers. In the blast of a wind, the ten brothers grow big and they each have a special power and from the eldest, become 'Thousand Mile Eye', 'Following Wind Ears', 'Strong Number Three', 'Thick Skinned Four', 'Flying Five', 'Metal Head Six', 'Long Leg Seven', 'Tunnelling Eight', 'Big Mouth Nine' and 'Crying Ten'. Working together with their special gifts, they fend off danger and evil.

The ten brothers will be played by newcomers, such as Lai Lok Yi as the eldest brother, Jack Wu as Strong Three, Lo Koon Fung as Flying five and Matt Yeung as Long Leg Seven. As they will each have superhuman powers, TVB will be adding a large element of computer generated imagery and surely with the technology available today, this batch of 'Ten Brothers' will be the most appealing yet.

It is reported that for Frankie and Kenix to take on the role, it required a while for them to decide, because since they appeared together ten years ago in the show "Down Memory Lane", where the couple met and fell in love, they have not worked together since as they did not want to be so close in public. Now that they are married, then Frankie and Kenix feel that this role is right for them to work together again, so they have agreed to do it. When asked if she was worried about working with so many fresh faces, Kenix says: "Not at all, many of them are from the acting classes too." It is suggested that another reason for the couple's decision is the guaranteed overseas market for the show that will help them gain international exposure.

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a07cnt.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040521/20040521001808_0003.html



[Oriental Daily]

TVB will be holding another Olympic special on Sunday and memebers of the six 'Olympic Stars' (Ron Ng, Bosco Wong, Lai Lok Yi, Sammul Chan, Raymond Lam and Kenneth Ma) were supposed to be rehearsing yesterday. As well as passing over the Olympic flame, they will also be appearing in a short musical performance entitled "The Birth of a Gold Medal". As they each have their own busy schedules and Kenneth is still filming in Guangxi for "Wandering Hero Medics" unable to return for rehearsals, then only Bosco and Lok Yi could be seen rehearsing the dances for the musical.

Whilst Bosco and Lok Yi were rehearsing, Sammul and Ron also popped in on a break from their other filming work to make the most of their time to practice. As there is a certain level of difficulty in a song and dance routine, Bosco says that he is not finding it easy, but with Ron being from a dancer background, then he should be able to lead them all. As for Lok Yi, he admits he is very nervous about he company giving him such an important role and he is particularly worried about the passing of the torch, in case it goes wrong. Bosco says: "We all have a part to play in passing the flame and the last person will be Raymond. We don't know if we will be lighting the flame together or just Raymond on his own, but we will remember that we are holding the sacred flame torch and will not let everyone down."

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a14cnt.html



[Oriental Daily & The Sun]

With the finalists for the "2004 Miss Hong Kong Pageant" revealed, TVB began filming their individual promotional clips yesterday and although the girls have met the press officially already and should be well versed with dealing with the media, when 9 Lulu Ng met the press and was asked for a photograph, her attitude was less than generous and the more she was called, the more she ran away, ignoring the press. It was only later when she was told off by her chaperone that she returned and apologised, explaining: "I am sorry, I was rushing to the washroom. I am nervous and not used to this, so I hope you will forgive my rudeness."

As the clips are yet to be aired, the girls had to wear a big overcoat to cover their costumes when they left the studios. Among them, 2 Irene Yu came out in a big coat that completely covered her figure, but her beaming smile still managed to capture the attentions of hte press. She says that this is her first day of filming and she doesn't find it hard work at all.

Dubbed as 'Miss Flirtatious', 7 Tiffany Leong was the only one to pull down the zip to her coat and show off her great figure to satisfy the press and displaying a great attitude by answering any questions they had for her.

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040521/20040521004257_0003.html
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a13cnt.html