[Ta Kung Pao]

The ratings for TVB's "To Catch the Uncatchable" continue to rise as it averaged 31 points last week, peaking at 34 points. A promotional event was held yesterday where the artistes took part in basketball and climbing games as well as celebrating with champagne. Leading stars Dayo Wong and Ada Choi were in high spirits and as they played ball, they were both hit on the head by the ball. Dayo even fell over when he was hit and complained about being in pain, but this did not affect his mood at all. Acting as the judge, Woo Fung was joined by his granddaughter for support and as Dayo and Ada raised their champagne glasses, Dayo laughed that this was like their wedding day, with Woo Fung's granddaughter as their flower girl, causing everyone to laugh.

The arrival of American Idol star William Hung in Hong Kong has sparked off a new craze with various comments being passed around, some praising his spirit and others saying he is being disrespectful to the Chinese race. Dayo says that he supports William wholeheartedly and feels that he has the right outlook on life and that is giving his best to what he does. Although some people find William rather odd, Dayo says that when he first started in showbiz, people found him to be quite odd too and even his own little sister told him to stop dreaming, but he did not take any notice of what people said and stood by his ambition. Then when he joined the drama group in the hope of making it onto the stage, his colleagues would not help him, saying that his looks weren't good enough and urging him to stay backstage. Dayo feels that if you do not give things a try, then you will never know if you can succeed. If you really do not succeed, then you can let go and try something else, but at least you will have no regrets. This is the belief that William holds dear as well as the truth of the hard work he has put into it. As for the foreigners picking up on William's oddities and using it to ridicule Chinese people, Dayo believes that things should not be complicated in this way, the foreigners like William's spirit and give him space to thrive, in return, William brings amusement, so what's wrong with that?

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-8-5/UL-290367.htm


(File Photo)

[The Sun]

With the release of TVB's Jade Solid Gold specials on VCD earlier, bringing a series of criticisms about the problem of copyright, there has recently been a series of Taiwanese 'candid camera' show VCD's realeased and on sale for only $19. Since its launch, this series has sold over 100,000 copies and the reason for this is because the stars of this hidden camera footage are well known stars, including some from Hong Kong such as Roger Kwok and Jordan Chan.

In Roger's clip, host Jacky Wu arranges for a very sexy lady extra to do some very provocative moves around him and the worst thing was that his partner Jessica Hsuan was also in the joke, leaving Roger speechless. As for Jordan, faced with the seduction from a 'pork chop' and an older housewife, his frustration caused him to lose his temper. It is planned to release even more of these clips on further VCD's due out late. When Roger was asked about this, he says: "I know about it and every day when I go to work, I get told that the show is very funny. Although I never thought this would become available in the Hong Kong market, but seeing the response makes me realise that I can do comedy and I am quite happy about this."

Roger reveals that when he was over in Taiwan last year promoting "Square Pegs", he was asked to be a guest on this show and at first he was a little cautious about the show's setup: "However, it was just a bit of fun! I did know what they had arranged beforehand, so I just played along to create a funny scene. If I had known how well it would sell, I would have invested in it myself!" As for Jordan, he does not mind the show being on sale in Hong Kong, after all the copyright issues have been dealt with by his record company.

As for Miss Wong who was responsible for the production of this disc, she says: I bought the copyright from the Taiwan company. I know this show was very popular, so I had wanted to release it since last year. (Are you afraid that artistes will be upset by it?) It is just for a laugh, as long as we believe they are good people, then it doesn't matter."

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040805/20040805014908_0003.html



[Net Ease Entertainment News]

After 'A Step in the Past' and 'Twin of Brothers', TVB is now filming another of Huang Yi's martial arts novels 'Tossing Rain Turning Cloud' with leading females Charmaine Sheh and Sonija Kwok starring opposite young stars Raymond Lam and Bosco Wong. At noon today, the cast and crew held a blessing ceremony to mark the start of filming at Beijing's Huayou Film and Television Studios.

The story is based at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty in a story following the adventures of Feng Xinglie (Raymond Lam), who is of Mongolian descent and his blood brother Han Pai (Bosco Wong). One wants to overturn the Ming Empire, whilst the other is the right hand man of Ming's founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and the two move from being brothers to sworn enemies. Currently appearing in the TVB aired series 'Twin of Brothers' as Kou Zhong, Raymond will be taking the lead again and Charmaine and Sonija will be playing the friend forever by his side Qin Mengyiao and the girl who betrays him Jin Bingyun respectively. The 'Tossing Rain Turning Cloud' title refers to the Mongolian 'Tossing Rain Sword' and the Central Plain's top weapon 'Turning Cloud Sabre' as Feng and Han's destinies are entwined in that of these two items of weaponry.

'Tossing Rain Turning Cloud' will be following the TVB tradition of old stars leading the new and apart from all the new and promoted youngsters, there will also be some veteran character actors in the casting line-up, such as John Chiang, Ko Hung, Suet Nei, Kwok Fung and Gordon Liu.

[Other cast members of the show include: Sharon Chan, Lee Tin Cheung, Sherming Yiu, Akina Wong, Jimmy Au, Derek Kok, Mimi Lo and Power Chan.]

http://ent.163.com/ent_2003/editor/news/starnews/040804/040804_272542.html
For more pictures:
http://ent.163.com/ent_2003/editor/media/pic/040804/040804_272859.html



[Oriental Daily & The Sun]

The 18 Miss Hong Kong contestants were in TVB City yesterday in a blessing ceremony for the 'Beauty Graduation Ceremony' show in the evening. At the same time, the organisers also revealed some of the contest prizes that total $5 million, a record in the value of awards and prizes.

Among the valuable items exhibited yesterday was the winner's crown and a seven seater car and draws were held to select some contestants to model them. As a hot favourite to win the contest, Number 2 Irene Yu was drawn to model the winner's crown, so was this a good omen? She says: "It is just coincidence, but I am confident and I hope that I will do well on the night." When asked if the crown was her favourite prize, she says: "The crown is really very beautiful and every girl would like to wear it like being a princess and even to have just a photo taken would be worth it." Talking of the prizes totalling 5 million, she laughs: "If I win, I will be rich!"

Number 5 Cecilia Yeung seemed to be the most impatient as she rushed forward to take a seat in the car. Afterwards, she praised the quality of the car and as for whether she was confident in gaining an award, she says that she will try her best. Number 8 Winnie Shum also felt that the prizes were very attractive, but she says that she did not know about it beforehand and thought that the prize was just the crown.

Producer Wai Sai Fai revealed that on the night of the final, there will be a knockout competition in the race to the crown and confirmed guests include Gigi Leung and Hacken Lee. He also says that the rise in the prize fund value is down to an upturn in the economy making the sponsors more generous.

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a21cnt.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040805/20040805012344_0003.html



[Ta Kung Pao & Oriental Daily - brief summary]

Ada Choi, Lawrence Ng, William So, Dave Wang, Wayne Lai and Jackie Lui were among the cast members filming in Yuen Long for former TVB producer Tang Tak Hei's independent mainland production "Heroic Doctor Legend" yesterday and although the temperatures were still in the thirties, the cast donned thick winter costumes for a cemetary scenes, leaving them sweltering underneath. Fortunately, Lawrence brought with him an icebox, towel, fan and other 'keep cool' essentials to bring down their temperatures. He says that he often has this handy when he is filming in the summer, but points out that it was not as bad as filming an ancient drama. Although Lawrence has said before he does not want to film ancient dramas any more, he did take on "Heavenly Sword Dragon Sabre" earlier and he says that as long as he does not have to wear a wig, then he does not mind filming them. Maybe this is because he is very interested in history books and loves the martial warrior world.

Despite the heat and the absence of rumoured boyfriend and co-star Zhang Jin, Ada was in high spirits and even when the reporters jokingly referred to her as 'Mrs Zhang', she responded in a sweet tone as she said: "You are taking things too far now, do you want me to hit you?" Ada is pleased to be working with these old partners again and indicates that she will soon be heading out to Xinjiang to shoot her new movie "Seven Swords on Tianshan".

Dave Wang had been filming through the night, so he was rather subdued and did not speak to anyone during the shoot. He said: "Although the weather in Hong Kong is better than Shanghai, it is still very hot and I have lost 12 lbs since filming this series. Luckily we all get on fine and are not finding it as tough." Not having had a record out for a while, Dave says he would like to refocus on his musical career, but he is busy working on a number of series at the moment. He says he would rather be putting his all into his music like David Tao, but sometimes these things can't be helped. As for the recent TVB requirement to sing live on Jade Solid Gold, Dave says this is not a problem for him because he does not know how to mime anyway.

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a13cnt.html
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-8-5/UL-290368.htm
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-8-5/UL-290366.htm
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-8-5/UL-290369.htm