[Ta Kung Pao 20/11/04]

TVB 2004 Anniversary Award Winners

My Favourite Television Characters:
Jessica Hsuan (Fan Lei Fa - Lady Fan)
Kenix Kwok (Miss Wong - Shine on You)
Roger Kwok (Morning Sir - To Get Unstuck in Time)
Bobby Au Yeung (Headmaster - Shine on You)
Raymond Lam (Kau Chung - Twin of Brothers)
Bowie Lam (Suen Pak Yeung - War and Beauty)
Moses Chan (Hung Mo - War and Beauty)
Charmaine Sheh (Yee Shun - War and Beauty)
Ada Choi (Vivi Lee - To Catch the Uncatchable)
Gigi Lai (Yuk Ying - War and Beauty)
Dayo Wong (Inspector Mok - To Catch the Uncatchable)
Sheren Tang (Yu Yuet - War and Beauty)

My Favourite Male Lead: Bowie Lam (War and Beauty)
My Favourite Female Lead: Gigi Lai (War and Beauty)
My Favourite Ensemble (drama): Dayo Wong & Ada Choi (To Catch the Uncatchable)
My Favourite Ensemble (non-drama): Eric Tsang, Chin Ka Lok & Jerry Lamb (Super Trio Show Returns)
My Favourite Most Improved Male Artiste: Ron Ng (Twin of Brothers)
My Favourite Most Improved Female Artiste: Shirley Yeung (Angels of Mission)
My Favourite Extraordinary Male Artiste: Chan Hung Lit (War and Beauty)
My Favourite Extraordinary Female Artistes: Sheren Tang (War and Beauty)
Special award for Outstanding Achievement: Leung Shun Yin

TVB celebrated 'heading towards 38 years' with a host of stars gathering together for the anniversary extravaganza yesterday evening at TVB City , where Executive Chairman Sir Run Run Shaw opened proceedings with a lighting up ceremony. The artistes then split into groups representing the five main continents (Asia, North America, South America, Africa and Europe) to start the line up of variety acts.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the ten main categories of awards and with the strong presence of "War and Beauty", taking nine awards, it became the big winner of the evening. After the competition rife for the "My Favourite Female Lead" award, the intensity was heightened as it was left until the second to last award to be given up in a change from the past and it was eventually won by 'Lady Yuk Ying' Gigi Lai. She tried to hold back the tears as she received the award and spoke of her feelings one word at a time as she held her chest. She said: "I am finally reaping the rewards of eighteen years of hard work. I have not let down my grandfather ('Father of Cinema' Lai Man Wai) and my grandmother (Lam Cho Cho) and I have gained some pride for my family. From now on, I will work even harder to make more great series." After a pause, she continued: "You keep saying that Gigi Lai can't make it, but I can!" as she lifted her award up high. Later, Gigi indicated that it was all like a dream, but she will not take part in the after show party as she wants to go straight home and hug her parents.

As a hot favourite, Bowie Lam took the "My Favourite Male Lead Role" award and he said: "I have definitely sacrificed a lot and I had never thought that I would win this award." He played it very calmly all along and it was only when Catherine Tsang gave him a hug that the tears started flowing. He says that Catherine is his saviour and he has not yet agreed to sign for TVB management, so he has not exchanged a contract for the award, he has won it on his own strengths.

The programme launched straight into a high when it started by announcing the winners of the "My Favourite Television Characters" awards, of which there were twelve in total. The first group were Jessica Hsuan, Roger Kwok, Raymond Lam and Moses Chan, with Jessica and Roger taking awards after their success last year with "Square Pegs". The second group consisted of Dayo Wong, Ada Choi, Bobby Au Yeung and Kenix Kwok and the third group of Gigi Lai, Charmaine Sheh, Sheren Tang and Bowie Lam made clear the lead that "War and Beauty" kept to the end.

The award for "My Favourite Ensemble (drama)" was given to Dayo and Ada for "To Catch the Uncatchable" and Ada said: "Thanks to God, I love Dayo!". Dayo replied with: "I love Ada Choi!" As for the non-drama ensemble award, this went to the "Super Trio Show" hosts Eric Tsang, Chin Ka Lok and Jerry Lamb and the award for outstanding achievement went to veteran Leung Shun Yin who said emotionally: "Thank you to my old partner, I love you!"

The array of MC's hosting the show was impressive, with Liza Wang, Lydia Shum, Carol Cheng, Priscilla Ku, Sonija Kwok, Kate Tsui, Eric Tsang, Nat Chan, Tang Chi Fung, Derek Li and Johnson Lee leading the proceedings. Also, the company's artistes were split into seven teams, each taking part in a different act for the celebration to compete for the Anniversary Performance award and this was judged by John Chiang, Rebecca Chan, Pak Yan, Lo Hoi Pang and Chan Hung Lit.

Dayo Wong appeared on stage wearing a Charlie Chaplin costume and winning the award for "My Favourite Ensemble", he says he must thank Ada Choi. He also found out yesterday that the highest ratings for the year was generated by his show "To Catch the Uncatchable" and not by "War and Beauty" as he had previously thought. After receiving the award, he was happy to have his photo taken with Ada backstage and they even pretended to kiss each other. Ada responded to the other female artistes diamond jewellery, saying that she is already priceless, because her outfit and jewellery were designed by her sponsors especially for her and are very precious indeed and the most important thing is that she looks good. Dayo supported her saying: "I'm not just saying it, you are the most beautiful!"

Having taken the "Most Improved" award last year, Raymond Lam took a character award for the first time this year, but he says that he never thought he would win anything, so when he went on stage, his mind was blank and he forgot to thank his family and his manager. He dare not say his next target is the male lead award, but to be able to make the top five, he is already very happy. He also hoped that Ron would follow in his footsteps and take the Most Improved award this year. (And he did!)

Chan Hung Lit took the award for "Extraordinary Male Artiste" for his role in "War and Beauty" and this veteran actor said that he had spent more than half of his life in acting, but this was the first award he had ever won, so he was very happy and even Sheren Tang who presented him with the award was very happy for him. Having just presented an award, Sheren was soon back on stage as she was awarded the "My Favourite Extraordinary Female Artiste" for the second year running. She smiled rather awkwardly though as she was the favourite to take the female lead award all along. However she insists that she is not disappointed because she feels that talent and skill is more important. Everyone else seems to put a lot of emphasis on the awards, but she just sees it as a game and to take an award every year is already not bad and she is proving her 'extraordinariness' by winning this for a second year.

Dressed in a purple outfit, Shirley Yeung was in her prime as she was awarded "Most Improved Female Artiste" and although she was a little disappointed at not being able to perform due to her injury, to be able to sit beside the two female executives was an honour for her. Winning the award was a great surprise and she was in floods of tears as she received the award and unable to speak. Everything seemed to turn out fine for her in the end.

On the stage, there was much excitement about the awards, but off stage, all the ladies tried to outshine each other with their jewellery and sexy outfits.

Kenix Kwok showed off her $100 million worth of jewels, starting first with a set of pink diamonds worth $40 million and then two sets of diamond jewellery worth $60 million. She also brought out her own $300,000 diamond watch and topped the league for the outfit value. Kenix revealed that this watch is kept in a safety deposit box and is only brought out for special occasions. Anne Heung was also not weak as she wore a diamond necklace worth $3.9 million, 13 carat yellow diamond ring worth $6 million and a pair of $400,000 diamond earrings, bringing the total of her collection to $140 million.

Rain Li's diamonds were worth $8 million and she says that they were lent to her by a friend and not sponsored. Sonija Kwok's two sets were worth over $800,000 and the sponsor was arranged through the company. Although the value was not as great as Kenix or Charmaine, but wearing a super low V-cut dress revealed a third of her breasts and this brought her back a lot of the attention. For another MC Priscilla Ku, this will be the final year she will be taking part in an anniversary celebration because she has decided not to renew her contract with TVB when it expires. In order to part on a high note, she wore her own jewellery to the show, including 10 carat earrings, a 6 carat ring, over 100 carat necklace and over 20 carats of blue diamonds, with the set having a value of over $300 million. For her safety, she was accompanied by four people wherever she went and one of these was a security guard. It was for Priscilla that TVB first arranged jewellery sponsorship for many years ago in her first anniversary and this is what has given rise to the trend in jewellery sponsorship for the show.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-11-20/UL-331936.htm
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[Ta Kung Pao 20/11/04]

After Shirley Yeung's earlier accident during rehearsals for the anniversary show, Ellesmere Choy landed with a loud crash after descending from a wire. He immediately went to Tseung Kwan O Hospital for an X-ray and stayed in for a night. He was discharged yesterday afternoon and headed back to TVB City to discuss with the producer whether or not he could continue. He said that the doctor gave him a set of knee pads to protect the injury, but there is still some pain when he walks. Ellesmere said that as they had rehearsed for two weeks and there is a lot of wire work involved, then it is difficult to find someone to take his place that would know exactly what needed to be done, so as he felt that his joints were fine and he had just injured the soft tissue, then despite the doctor's orders to rest for a few days, the truth is that his work still has to be done.

Also, Shirley Yeung headed back to the doctors for a check up yesterday and was urged once again not to take part in the performance, so her place was taken by Nancy Wu instead. Shirley still attended as a member of the audience to watch the show. Nancy was supposed to take part in two events already and ended up being in three, so as soon as she received notice, she immediately started rehearsing and learning Shirley's routines. When asked if she was afraid of being assigned as reserve, she says she is not because she gets on well with Shirley and hopes that she will get better soon.

A final rehearsal for the opening was arranged yesterday afternoon and all the leading artistes and the 'big brothers and sisters' were arranged to stand in the front row, but the recently popular Sheren Tang and Bobby Au Yeung were arranged to stand on the steps together with some veteran actors. When Sheren was asked why she had been arranged to stand there, she explained that she has a problem with her hip, so she cannot dance and those standing in the front row need to dance, so she would rather stand at the back. When asked if she was afraid that this arrangement was an indication of her dropping a grade, Sheren laughed: "I have not thought about that, but I usually stand a little distance away. I have been like that since the "War and Beauty" days."

A magazine did a Tarot reading for Sheren yesterday and it suggested that she would get married within the next nine months. Sheren says that she is not superstitios and she has not thought about getting married in the near future as this is not a priority for her. If she had to choose between getting married and winning an award, she would rather have the award, because if she could win, then she can take it away with her there and then, but marriage is not something that can be done on her own.

However, Sheren indicated that if she did not win, she would not be disappointed because there has to be a reason for it. She says that if her luck does not come this year, then there is always next year and the year after that. She says that she will face it with her own optimistic attitude and many friends around her have sent her SMS messages to support her, but she has not arranged any celebratory parties because she has to work the next day and it will be very late after the show.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-11-20/UL-331946.htm
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-11-20/UL-331943.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 20/11/04}

Bondy Chiu's boisterous character Kelly Lam in "Virtues of Harmony" is deeply engrained in viewers hearts and she has also caught the attention of the advertising sponsors who have invited her to shoot an ad for a herbal remedy and be their spokesperson. In the ad, they will be 'seeking justice' for her as they will design a young, extroverted and lively image for her as the creative director takes inspiration from the late movie star Audrey Hepburn. Currently busy filming, Bondy could only start the shoot at 10 pm, but she was still in high spirits and pulled $2000 from her own purse to buy supper for the crew. Although the sponsors had prepared two beautiful outfits for her, including a court dress and a backless lace dress, Bondy also brought along her own lilac short dress and she had to change into all three outfits, but she was very professional and was not bothered by this.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-11-20/UL-331949.htm