[Ta Kung Pao 02/09/04]
(Additional images from The Sun & Oriental Daily)

On Sunday night, a host of stars including Gigi Lai, Michelle Ye, Yu On On, Shirley Yeung, Leo Ku, Mandy Cho, Christine Au Yeung, Marsha Yuen, Nancy Wu, Natalie Tong, Lily Lei and Sheila Chan took part in the "International Stylists Competition 2004" Hong Kong Contest Final as models for the entrants, each displaying a highly inspired hair creation by the entrants.

Among them, Gigi's green explosion was very eyecatching, but did not spark as much attention as her revealing dress on the stage. Leo Ku and Mandy Cho appeared in wedding outfits, seeming very in tune and well matched. Leo indicated that after filming the music video for his song 'Special Move' with her earlier, this is the second time he has worked with Mandy and with only one rehearsal earlier in the afternoon, it is fortunate that they have a good understanding. Leo describes his appearance as a prince from a Greek legend and says laughingly: "If I look so good, then I'd better get married soon."

Mandy's hairstyle took eight hours to create and luckily she earned the praises from many, with some people even saying she made a 'perfect couple' with Leo. She explains that this was arrangement by the organisers and not Leo's choice, making it clear that she does not know him very well and has never met with him in private. However, she praises Leo for being very chivalrous, giving her a hand when he saw her nearly falling over on the stage.

After becoming the 'Headline Gossip Queen' during her coverage of the Olympic Games, Michelle Ye returned to Hong Kong on Sunday and immediately took part in the event. Not only did she not seem tired at all, but full of vitality. Talking of all the news that arose whilst she was out in Athens covering the games, first with her argument in front of the camera with Alex Fong and then snatching words from her co-hosts and going on to flirt with Prince of Diving Tian Liang whilst she interviewed him, Michelle asked in return with some frustration: "When did you see me 'flirting' with Tian Liang?" She admits that she lacked experience in this her debut appearance as a host and she accepts the criticisms, but she was not totally without merit and there have been good reports as well as bad. Producer Lee Hon Yuen has praised her privately for doing a good job and believes that she has made leaps and bounds in the short time, so she should have plenty of opportunities come the next games in 2008. Michelle says candidly that even the company executives have offered her encouragement and support and it is the negative reports from the press that have left her feeling wronged.

Michelle does not agree with the critics' suggestion that she seemed more like a fan than a reporter when she spoke with the athletes and says that she was just entering the spirit, following the requirements from the company, giving the reaction that a Chinese person should have and showing the excitement and pride in the athletes' success. As for giving Tian Liang a massive teary hug when he lost the gold medal, Michelle explains that it was also his birthday on that day and everyone was very disappointed that he did not win gold, so she was feeling rather sad. However, she did not respond directly about the hug and evaded the question about whether she found him to be good looking, saying that she just wanted to say 'Happy Birthday' to Tian at the time and with emotions running high, everyone was hugging, whether it was with joy or disappointment.

As for the reports that she had been 'kicked out' of next Tuesday's athlete's celebrtion show, Michelle says that she has never heard about this job and from what she knows not all the hosts will be taking part in this show. As she has already been booked to do a show in the mainland for those days, then she cannot take part anyway and although it is a shame, she will respect the arrangement by the company.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-9-2/UL-301041.htm
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-9-2/UL-301042.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 02/09/04]

Next Tuesday's celebratory extravaganza for the Chinese athletes "The Pride of the Chinese" will be held at the Hong Kong Stadium and TVB Jade have secured the exclusive live presentation from 7 to 9 pm, when "Jade Starbiz" and "Virtues of Harmony" will be cancelled for one evening. This has led to criticisms from ATV executive Kwan Wai in a paper that as this is about Chinese pride, then TVB should not have the exclusive rights to air the show, but TVB General Manager Chan Chi Wan explained yesterday that TVB were responsible for the production of the show and the organisers were the Public Affairs Office. Other electronic media are allowed to edit up to three minutes of footage to air on their news programmes.

The hosts for the show have been confirmed as Nat Chan, Winnie Yeung, Derek Lee, Kate Tsui, Chung Chi Kwong and Lily Lei, among which are many fluent English and Mandarin speakers. As for performers, these will include Alan Tam, Hacken Lee, Kelly Chen, Miriam Yeung, Alex Fong and Joey Yung. Athletes taking part will include Liu Xiang, Luo Xuejuan, Wang Yifu and Zhang Guozheng. The Chinese Women's volleyball team are confirmed to be singing a rendition of "The Sunshine after the Rain".

[Snippet]

There were reports yesterday that Kenix Kwok and Frankie Lam had an argument whilst filming together for "Ten Brothers" so they did not sit together when they stopped for a meal break and in order to make it up to his wife, Frankie had bought Kenix a new car. When asked about this yesterday, Kenix seemed relaxed and laughed: "If I get a new car every time we have an argument, then why not argue more? We were prepared for these reports even before we started filming, but in truth, we are getting along very well and as for the new car, I had wanted to buy it for a long time just for the sake of it."

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-9-2/UL-301036.htm