[Ta Kung Pao, The Sun & Oriental Daily]

TVB's new series "Blossoming Hearts" held its blessing ceremony yesterday and in the first clash between 'housewife killers' Moses Chan and Michael Tao, Moses seems to have the upper hand at the moment as it was revealed that he will be singing the theme to the show and Michael will be duetting with fellow co-star Kenix Kwok for the subtheme.

Talking of the favour that producer Mui Siu Ching is showing toward him, Moses says: "I must thank God and Siu Ching as she has given me a lot of opportunities and since 'Where the Legend Begins' and "The Family Man", the turning points in my career have been from her. (Will you make other people jealous?) I am no better than other people, why would they be jealous? I can only say that I am luckier, but I hope that I can do even better in the future."

Moses adds that he has wanted to try singing themes all along, so this is like a dream come true for him, but he has no plans to become a singer. He says: "To be able to sing a theme song is enough for me, I am satisfied with this."

Also, as it was Flora Chan's birthday on 30th May, Moses says that he has already sent her a text message to say happy birthday, but he has not bought her a present. He says: "Being friends is enough already." Talking of Flora not taking part in the forthcoming "Healing Hands III", does he feel disappointed? He says: "Although I hoped that she could take part, we should have plenty of chances to work together again in the future. (Is it possible she turned it down because of the rumours between you?) Yeah! Maybe she finds me too problematic!" He believes that there will definitely be more rumours if they work together again, but in truth they are just good friends.

After so many years in the industry, Michael Tao is finally able to take part in singing the subtheme to a series together with Kenix and although strictly speaking he has just half a song, he is still very happy. Michael says: "I already have a show I can call my own, but I don't have a song, so getting half is not bad as I can humour myself and I am sure the process will be a happy one. However there is no chance for me to become a singing star, I am just giving it a try so even if it is just half a song, I will give it a go." When Michael was asked how he will be preparing for this, he laughs: "No preparation! When I get into the recording studio, there will be someone there to teach me and I am sure no one will give me a hard time knowing I am a beginner. (What do you think of your singing skills?) I can sing in tune, although I have sung in stage performances before, I just make sure that I don't embarrass myself."

Kenix has always been in support of artistes singing their own theme songs because this is the whole package, just like in the old days when Adam Cheng and Liza Wang would sing the theme tunes to their own shows. However, in the recent times when singers have fought over the rights to the theme songs, there didn't seem any point in fighting with them.

Kenix admits that she has wished to sing her own theme songs for a while and this is a great opportunity for her. In the future when she does stage performances, she will be able to sing her own song! Although she knows that singing is not her strength, she has confidence in herself and she often practises her singing at home karaokeing for five or six hours at a time. Later, Kenix will be filming for new series "Ten Brothers" together with husband Frankie Lam and she will be asking the producer if she can join with Frankie to sing the theme song as this would be very meaningful.

Also, Anne Heung was originally just a guest star in the show, but as the producer kept adding in scenes for her, she will be present throughout the show. Luckily she does not have any other work on at the moment, so the extra scenes have not proved a problem. This is the first time she has worked with Michael, but on the first day of filming, they were already good friends and she guesses this is because Michael is good friends with Bobby Au Yeung who knows her and so she treats Michael as a friends also. She also praises his friendliness because as well as giving her some acting tips, when they film close ups he will help her off camera to get the right results.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-6-1/UL-266616.htm
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-6-1/UL-266615.htm
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040601/20040601000517_0003.html
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a67cnt.html



[The Sun & Sing Pao]

The 18 Miss Hong Kong contestants have arrived and begun filming in Kenya, but during the blessing ceremony, 16 Emily Wong suddenly burst out crying and in an evening meal event, 8 Winnie Shum complained of severe stomach pains and had to be taken back to rest at the hotel. However, despite the tight schedules, there have been few complaints from the girls.

After the girls had arrived and freshened up, a blessing ceremony took place outside the hotel attended by representatives from sponsors Kenya Tourist Board and Kenya Airlines. During the ceremony, Emily Wong could not stop crying, but she later explained that her eyes were watering due to the smoke from the incense getting into her eyes and that she was not crying.

After the ceremony, the group then headed out to the giraffe centre and made close contact with the wild animals, that was quite exciting for them. However when 1 Queenie Chu found out that they had to feed the giraffes and wild pigs, she immediately complained that she didn't like these thing and was squealing as she fed them. Guest performer Gigi Leung on the other hand was indulging in the fun and kept on feeding one after another. Gigi laughs: "I have been to Kenya before, but last time I wasn't able to get so close to the animals, so this time it is great to get so near them." She adds: "The giraffes are like imperial ladies as they walk so confidently and elegantly. I find them to be very peaceful and loving animals. Coming back to Kenya is like visiting an old friend and we should do what we can to protect them." The next day, Gigi came up in a rash, possibly due to an allergic reaction to the animals, but as she loves them creatures so much, she doesn't mind a little discomfort.

Miss Flirtatious 7 Tiffany Leong was continuously wiggling her curves as she learned to play the traditional drums and was capturing the attentions of the locals as they grabbed her hands to play the drums. To this, Tiffany responded: "I was a little afraid, but they were just teaching me to play the drums." As the girls changed into their costumes for the location shoot, 18 Jacqueline Wong immediately showed off her assets that overshadowed the previous frontrunner 8 Winnie Shum.

There have also been rumours that with the new format of the contest and the seemingly lower quality of contestants, the contest's sponsors have held back on their sponsorship of prizes and TVB are having great problems securing the sponsorship for the apartment prize and thus leading the the lateness in announcing the actual prize list for the winner. When production manager Ho Lai Chuen was contacted regarding this, he indicated that the car, crown and cosmetics prizes had been confirmed and confirmed that they were still waiting to hear about the arpartment. He says: "There are still two months to go until the final and we are still in negotiations. Sometimes we have to make way for the advertising strategies and there is discussion going on with several real estate agencies in China and hopefully we will have a definite answer this week. I am confident that this year's prizes will be the same as last year worth over $3 million."

http://www.singpao.com/20040601/gossip/558906.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040601/20040601000601_0003.html