[Ta Kung Pao & The Sun 27/12/04]

Cast members from TVB's new series "Shades of Truth" took part in a Boxing Day promotion in a shopping mall yesterday, playing games with members of the audience and handing out souvenirs.

As there were no surprises in the ratings for "The Last Breakthrough", female lead Gigi Lai was especially enthusiastic yesterday as she appeared in an off the shoulder dress and one child who went on stage for the games stuck to her and would not leave the stage, showing how attractive she was to the fans. As she will be pitting her acting talents against Tavia Yeung in the show, they caused quite a stir by posing with a pretend kiss to catch people's attention. Also, when Gigi went to hand out gifts to the audience, many fans rushed forward to take the items from her and caused some chaos. When Gigi saw a rather cute child, she bent over to give a peck on their cheek, but the situation lost control at this point and security had to step in to push back the crowd and let her move away.

When asked what expectation she has for the show, Gigi says that she is very confident and says that if the show breaks 40 points, then she will hand out lots of lucky packets for Chinese New Year. She says that as she has never handed them out before, then she will prepare $10,000 to share with everyone. She also says that she hopes the next time she hands them out will be after she has got married. When Julian Cheung heard this, he said cheekily: "You wish!" When the press asked Gigi if she has a boyfriend, she responded rather strongly, asking in return: "Do you have his surname? Will I wear a bikini if the ratings are good? I don't think so." Julian immediately laughed: "If there are 40 points, then I will reveal four points: eyes, ears, mouth and nose."

With Julian being photographed with Eric Tsang in the red light district in Thailand earlier, Gigi suddenly took this to joke with him: "Why don't I pretend to be a female 'bather' and Chi Lam can be the male 'bather'." Julian laughed along with the joke and was not angry with Gigi, but of course she went on to support him, saying: "He is old enough and seeing these places is no big matter, but the reports did exaggerate things. I have been there before too!" As for the 'PR girl' making revelations about Julian's sexual prowess, Gigi says that Julian is not that kind of person and she supports Anita Yuen speaking out for him.

Julian seemed prepared for the questions regarding the matter from the press and after playing hard in the games with the audience, he voluntarily joined the press to answer their questions.

Firstly, Julian addressed the issue of the prostitute by saying: "Eric has already responded and I have nothing more to say. It is Christmas time, so I hope that everyone has a happy time and with the series beginning to air on 27th, I hope that everyone will watch 'Shades of Truth'." When asked whether he is being seen in a diferent light when he walks out in the street, he says: "Everyone knows what is going on and sometimes we just have to laugh it off. The topic will be around for three or five days and I don't want to comment to make the matter more serious as saying nothing is better. (But a very private matter is being discussed?) I will not respond to anything that was written in the article because my work is more important right now." How did his girlfriend Anita respond to the article? He says: "Not much really, she has already responded and it is old news now." Will you marry Anita after this incident? Julian says it is unrelated and they are very separate matters.

Eric has openly supported Julian , saying he is a 'good boy' and taking all the blame himself. Julian agreed with what Eric said: "He is telling the truth. We were very happy during filming and the three of us played cards together all the time. In Thailand, we often had to work until 3am and did not have much energy or time to go shopping. Usually we just played cards and this was my first co-operation with Gordon Lam. Later, we will be working together on a new TV series."

When asked if he had visited any bath houses in Thailand, Julian admitted that he had been to a spa, bt he understands that as a celebrity he has to be careful when he goes to these places to avoid gossip from spreading. With Eric saying that he will reserve the right to seek legal action, Julian says: "This is just a topic for a few days, just have to laugh at it."

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-27/UL-346687.htm
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-27/UL-346686.htm
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20041227/20041227002139_0003.html



[Ta Kung Pao 27/12/04]

'Anti-domestic violence ambassadors' Cutie Mui and Louis Yuen were at a promotional event yesterday, where they were presented souvenirs by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow.

Cutie says that for her and Louis to be chosen as ambassadors for the event, they had been contacted last year for it, but as she was too busy with work, then she could only spare the time ths year. Cutie says that she does not hope to just have her name on the list and not have any practical contribution. After being appointed, she and Louis will be working together with the public advertisement campaign and go to visit affected families in the area.

Louis says that at the beginning of the year, there was a tragic event in Tin Shui Wai and he knows that there are families who depend on public funds to live and if they have arguments with family and their patience is stretched, then it is easy for a sad event to occur. Cutie hopes that with their happy and ever changing image, she can film a number of promotional clips to bring a little happiness to everyone. Cutie says that her family is very warm because there are seven brothers and sisters and they will never fight over things as they all get along very well.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-27/UL-346677.htm



[The Sun 27/12/04]

'Big sister' Liza Wang and Myolie Wu play a mother and daughter-in-law in the new series "My Sassy Mother-in-law" and it would appear that they are taking it in turns to have tricks played on them in the story by the scriptwriters. With Myolie earlier having to endure being drenched and then carry Liza up a hill, this time it was Liza's turn and on Christmas Day too! The scene tells of Myolie pretending to be a sedan chair carrier and together with some ruffians, they make Liza, who is sat in the chair, rather dizzy. Liza seeks her revenge by chasing Myolie down the street, but she has a bucket of dirty water thrown over her and is mocked by people in the street.

Before filming, Liza seemed rather relaxed and joked: "Whoever wants vengeance can have it (throw the water) now!" Finally an experience crew member was given the task and the scene was completed in one take, but Liza was left with vegetable scraps over her and water in her eyes and nose, looking rather miserable in her drenched costume. After filming, she did not even bother with any interviews and rushed into the dressing room to get changed.

As for Myolie, she says: "In this series, there are many scenes where we are battling against each other. Just yesterday, we had a scene where we were slapping each other and at first I did not dare to hit Liza, but she told me to do my best and it was okay." Working with Liza for the first time, Myolie says that she feels a lot of pressure and adds: "Liza is very serious about her work and I must learn well from her. (Are you very afraid?) She is actually very nice, for example on Christmas Eve, she brought three turkeys into the studio to share and it was a lovely Christmas atmosphere."

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20041227/20041227014531_0003.html



[The Sun 27/12/04]

Christmas is the prime oppportunity for artistes to make some money, but Sheren Tang has let this chance pass her by and did her Christian duty by appearing in a "Christmas Music and Variety Evening" where she discussed with [Former Miss Hong Kong winner] Mary Cheung about their religious experiences. She also revealed that when she was five years old, her parents separated and she was brought up by her grandmother and so over these past thirty years she has never spent Christmas together with both her parents.

After becoming a Christian, Christmas has become very important to Sheren and despite the popularity she has gained from her performance in "War and Beauty", she has decided to use this time to spread the gospel. This sacrifice of Sheren's has immediately resulted in a return as her father has come to Hong Kong from the mainland to visit and spent Christmas Eve with her and her mother. Seeing her father's appearance and for him to be able to sit peacefully with her mother at the table after over thirty years apart, Sheren feels extremely comforted: "If I was out busy making money, I would have missed this Christmas Eve that I have been waiting for in the last thirty years." Sheren also indicates that if she has to do a Christmas stage show, then she would have to dress rather sexily and to avoid conflict, she would rather go and spread God's word as this is much more meaningful.

At the event, Sheren also used her "Yu Fei" character to describe the sin and struggle for fame and fortune in life and says candidly that she does not care much for fame, fortune, power or popularity as the only things she yearns for are peace and happiness: "Fame and fortune cannot be retained: like a firework, they are over in a flash."

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20041227/20041227014700_0003.html