[Ta Kung Pao]

Jessica Hsuan and Joe Ma were guests on Nancy Sit's radio show promotiong new series "A Handful of Love" and a group of fans waited outside the radio station for them. After the interview, Jessica showed her friendliness as she posed for photos with each of them.

Talking of Joe's fans who had come over especially from Japan to say happy birthday to him. Jessica says that she also met some Japanese fans earlier and although they had a language barrier, they were all still very happy. It turns out that she does keep in touch with her fans on the internet and they are mostly female like Joe's fans, however there are some male fans who tend to be more shy and reserved, who just watch her from afar when they come to her events. Even at fan meets, they will never approach her for photographs and Jessica has to approach them instead. Jessica laughs: "They are both faithful and obedient, to have some fans who silently support me is a great thing."

As her parents have settled in Beijing, Jessica will call her father every year on Father's Day, but this year will be special because her father asked for a gift of some household items that they have bought in Beijing. Jessica says that her father does not put much importance on special occasions, not even his birthday.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-6-19/UL-273327.htm



[Ta Kung Pao]

Sherming Yiu appeared at a promotion for the new series of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" on TVB pearl wearing a long shoulderless dress and high heeled sandals, but her right ankle seemed swollen and it turns out that she had been bitten by a mosquito and she had been worried about being infected by the Japanese encephalitis after it has recently been detected in Hong Kong.

Sherming says that she was taking her dog to the beach for a swim , but as dogs are not permitted on the beach, she took it out before the lifeguards were on duty at half past nine and was bitten by a mosquito on that day. When she returned home, she found that the bite had become inflamed and one part was as big as an egg. As she had to head up to Shunde for a performance, she was worried that she might be incubating a mosquito borne disease that would mean she would not be able to attend and so she immediately went to see a doctor to ask whether this was a diseased mosquito. The doctor's attitude was not very good and he suggested she try and catch the mosquito to ask it. She didn't know how to respond and just went away fuming. The doctor gave her some ointment and told her that she should not use this for more than a week. The swelling has gone down now, but the $430 for treatment was rather expensive.

After the promotion, Sherming will be heading up to the mainland for another show before returning in the evening. She laughs that as her show is currently airing, she needs to take advantage of the chance to make some money. The new series of "Queer Eye" will be dubbed by quirky DJ's Sam Mei and Siu Yee and also joining in the promotion were Carrie Lee and Lai Lok Yi, who took part in a mini catwalk show hosted by Sam Mei and Siu Yee.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-6-19/UL-273315.htm



[The Sun]

Jacky Cheung didn't take part in the last Jade Solid Gold Quarterly awards and therefore did not receive any awards. His fans have later criticised TVB for being unfair and exercising double standards, leaving the relationship between parties rather bitter. Jacky has returned this treatment by taking part in a music special filmed for Cable, leading to a statement from TVB that says: "We will have to re-negotiate our future co-operation."

TVB has a leading position in Hong Kong's music industry and many singers will offer their co-operation when it comes to working together. Even superstars such as Alan Tam, Andy Lau and Leon Lai will avoid appearing on the other channels, never mind taking part in music specials. Andy Lau is so insistent on keeping to the rules that he will always give interviews to Cable in Mandarin only and refusing to speak into a Cable TV microphone. Jade Kwan earlier experienced the consequences of breaking the rules after passing a promotional video of herself in Japan to Cable to air.

However, Jacky has just finished filming a three part Cantonese music special for Cable and although he has had interviews with them before in the past, they were mainly related to his films, so he managed to get by. With such an open gesture of defiance to TVB, it has come as quite a surprise to everyone.

The problem stems from the last quarterly awards ceremony for TVB's Jade Solid Gold, where Jacky had made it clear that he would not be attending and this meant that his latest release "Telling You" was unable to enter the final selections. However, Gigi Leung was also absent from the ceremony, because she was filming with Miss Hong Kong in Kenya, but still managed to gain an award. This caused outrage among Jacky's fans and a breakdown in the working partnership. Even before this incident, Cable had asked Jacky to work with them many times, but he had turned them down on the grounds of keeping on good terms with TVB. However, after the awards, Jacky immediately accepted the interview and talked openly about his music, seeming to deliberately provoke TVB on this sensitive issue. Obviously the biggest winner in this was Cable TV, who is always out to recruit singers away from TVB.

When Variety and Music Senior Manager Chan Ka Yeung was asked about this incident, he said: "Basically, Jacky does not have a contract with us, so it doesn't matter what he does. As for the issue of respect, then this has to come from both sides. As I have not seen this show, I have to get a further understanding first." When asked if he was worried that other singers would follow in Jacky's footsteps, Chan continues: "This is a personal choice, TVB cannot control it. How we work together in the future will have to be negotiated, but those who have a contract should not challenge TVB." As for Cable TV Entertainment News Channel Director Yu Wing Shan, she says: "We first contacted Jacky about the interview and he has never let us down. We at Cable have always been very open, as long as the singer does not have a contract with TVB and they have something they want to say about music, then we will talk to them and welcome them." When asked if they want to break through the monopoly that TVB is holding over the singers, Yu says only: "We are not focusing on TVB, we just want to help the music industry together."

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040619/20040619010058_0003.html



[Oriental Daily]

After the 'TVB Olympics' (Number 1 Track and Field Games), TVB continues with its promotional shows as it prepares for the Water Games to be held on 17th July at the pool in Kowloon Park. As the artistes must wear swimsuits to take part in this show, most of the female artistes have been 'protecting themselves' and refusing to take part. The only female artistes agreeing to join in the games at the moment are Linda Chung and Lily Lei and as for top class stars, there is only Leon Lai on the list at teh moment and TVB can only push the 18 Miss Hong Kong contestants in as a selling point. As the girls showed off many of their less appealing body parts whilst filming in Kenya, they have been instructed by the organisers to get fit and practise swimming to avoid embarrassing themselves.

With the lack of big names signing up, this event seems rather disappointing at the moment. Among those agreeing to take part so far are Leon, Ella Koon, EO2, E-kids and 2R. As two of the 'Six Olympic Stars' Raymond Lam and Bosco Wong will be filming in Beijing, there will just be the remaining four stars taking part. Producer Chin Kwok Wai indicates: "It is not going to be quiet, there is still a month to go and there are a lot of people taking part, such as 2R who have agreed to MC and many of the Miss Hong Kong contestants. Leon Lai has also agreed to take part. (Will Leon be wearing swimming trunks?) He will be getting in the water, but we have not discussed the details of the event yet. We also have the four great swimmers Tang Ho Kwong, Wong Chak Fung, Lee Kai Gam and Szeto Shui Kei taking part."

As for the events, there will be the Men's 100m Individual, Men's and Ladies' 25m and 50m Freestyle and Breaststroke, low platform diving, bridge racing and float balancing. There will also be a celebrity water polo match, but the guests for this event are still being confirmed.

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a68cnt.html