[Ta Kung Pao 03/12/04]

Dicky Cheung, Yoyo Mung, Rain Li, Emme Wong, Natalie Ng, Jerry Lamb, Anson Leung, Wong Yat Fei and Siu Ding Yat were at the press conference for "Kung Fu Soccer" that will be aired on TVB after "The Conqueror's Story" as of next Monday.

At the event, Dicky was bombarded with flirting from the ladies as Yoyo using her eyes, Emme showing off her beautiful legs and Natalie giving a birdsong rendition, but when it came to Rain, Dicky turned to her and said: "I don't need it from 'big sister in law'. I treat her like a mother, so I respect her a lot." When Rain heard this, she said: "Hey, don't mess around!" and in the end she passed the test without having to do anything.

When she was joked with on the stage, Rain seemed rather shocked, but responding to remarks that she seemed rather angry, she explained: "I was rather embarrassed actually, because I don't want this title and I still have plenty of opportunities." When she was asked to pose for a photo with rumoured boyfriend Siu Ding Yat, she tried to delay it and would not stand next to him, at which point Siu turned to the press and said: "Don't force her! Give us a way out!!" When the press asked Rain to be more gracious about it, only then did she stand next to Siu and said accusingly: "What's wrong? You did not come over to me?" Siu explained tht he wanted to have the photo taken on the stage in front of the promotional boards, so they went onto the stage for the picture.

Rain also announced yesterday that she has changed her Chinese name back to the original character for her "Wah". She says: "On my ID card, it uses this 'Wah', but my first management company changed it to 'Wah' (with a 'wood radical). My new manager Mrs Lam has checked it with a fortune reader and they have told me to change it back because the other 'Wah' represents a type of tree that grows and dies quickly, but the other 'Wah' means the region of China that suggests I will make good progress there."

Also, when Rain was filming in Hengdian earlier for "Lady Wang in Exile", she was given a necklace by a director and hopes that this will bring her good luck. When asked why she was given this, she smiles that maybe because she was playing Lady Wang. Asked if her boyfriend knows about this, she immediately said that she does not have a boyfriend. Then when she was asked if Siu knows about this, she says that the whole company and her assistant knowns. Asked if she was afraid that Siu would be jealous, she says it is nothing to do with him. She adds: "This director is well versed in the I-Ching and philosophy, so he read my fortune and says that I will have great luck in the future." Since wearing the necklace, she has won a few hundred dollars on the Mark Six lottery.

After letting slip about Rain and Siu's relationship and embarrassing the couple, Dicky went on to announce loudly: "Haven't they been together for a while? Only joking, what is there to be shy about, men and women dating is a very common thing and they go well together. I hope they start a family soon!"

As for his own relationship with his girlfriend, Dicky says it is stable and laughs that he is waiting for his fox spirit to apepar. Later he adds: "I will look after myself. (When will you be starting a family then?) Don't talk about this!"

As for his production "Kung Fu Soccer" being aired on TVB, what hopes does Dicky have for the show? He says that he hopes to bring up TVB's ratings again and do better than "War and Beauty" because the series has taken over $10 million to make. However, he says that he will not pin too much on the ratings otherwise he may become crazy with the pressure after so long. As for this show being aired at the same time as Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu", he denies that this is an intentional arrangement and actually he had hoped for the show to be aired simultaneously with Japan and Taiwan next year, but as the show has been sold to TVB now, he cannot control this.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-3/UL-337182.htm
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-3/UL-337183.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 03/12/04]

Mainland production "Happy Fields" is currently in the thick of filming in Guangxi and stars Roger Kwok, Zhang Qian and Mickey chu have been making sparks with Chinese superstar Liu Xiao Qing. Liu has finished her scenes in the show now and she feels that happy times have flown past as the crew arranged a simple goodbye party for her as they all cannot bear to part.

Liu has had many scenes with Roger and Zhang in the show and as they have been spending a lot of time together, they are very sad that she has to leave. After the filming on the last day, everyone joined Sister Liu for a photograph and everyone said that this was a precious opportunity and one that 'cannot be bought for any money'.

Roger was asked how he felt about working with Liu and he said: "She is very professional and really develop her character in a short time. This makes me respect her so much. There was one scene that was particularly memorable and that was when she had to push me. Around me were a lot of props and reflectors and when she pushed me hard, not only did I nearly fall over, I even broke some of the reflector boards around me. Thinking back it was so funny!"

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-3/UL-337179.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 03/12/04]

Michelle Ye was invited earlier to a Golf Awards Presentation and she seems to have lost a lot of weight recently because of her cough. She hopes to learn to play golf because exercise will improve her health. Michelle was rumoured to be dating Chinese Athlete Xiong Ni after hosting the Olympics and yesterday she also revealed that she was also good friends with fellow guest at the event Li Xiaoshuang. She says: "I hope he recognises me because we have just met once, when I was at a cosmetics promotion in Shenzhen. After my friend introduced us, we went to karaoke." She also said secretively: "It doesn't matter who introduced us." After saying this, she indicates that Li sounds like Andy Lau. When asked if she has been in touch with Xiong Ni, she says she does not want to talk about him because this is boring to the viewers now.

Afterwards, when Li arrived with his wife, he was asked if Michelle was his good friend and he said: "I have only seen her once before." After this, he did not mention her at all.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-3/UL-337185.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 03/12/04]

The Youth AIDS Education Centre held a special Band Show and Candle light show on Hong Kong's Avenue of Stars earlier to mark World AIDS Awareness Day and Sheren Tang, Lily Lei and Chapman To were among the guests.

Sheren is the president of the Artistes Group of the centre and she says her duty is to contact fellow artistes to join in the events and help with fundrasing. She choses to help with the youth centre because she feels that sex education among young people is very important.

Also, there have been rumours that Gigi Lai has kicked out Sheren to take her role in the forthcoming epic "Powder and Rouge" as lead female. Sheren explains that as she has taken on a lot of stage shows lately, shen she could not fit the show into her schedule. If she were to accept the role, she has to do her best for it. Is she suggesting that it is Gigi who is taking her cast offs? She emphasises that she did not know that Mui Siu Ching would ask Gigi to take the role and when she found out that Siu Ching had found someone, then this put her mind at rest. As for reports that Sheren would be more suited to the role than Gigi, Sheren says that everyone has their own way of portraying the character and there is always a chance of changes to the arrangements from the sales presentation. Take "War and Beauty" for instance, this was supposed to have Ada Choi in it, but because of scheduling problems, then she did not appear. She says that people should not be overly sensitive about these things and she believes that Gigi will have a very beautiful role in the show. She also says that she will not feel awkward about this because they all understand that the gossip does not originate from themselves.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-3/UL-337190.htm