[The Sun 21/01/05]

Bernice Liu's innocent princess image has been forged deep into people's hearts and as we enter the new year, she openly admits that she wants to shed the crown of the princess and learn to become a mature and skilful artiste because she does not want to seem as naive as she was before. She indicates that a lot of things have happened in the past year and after so many 'firsts' in her life, it has forced her to become more mature.

Bernice laughs that now she has a home in Hong Kong and a 'son' (her dog), then her responsibility has increased and she has to work even harder to earn money to pay for her home and keep her son. She says: "When I first arrived in Hong Kong, I could not even speak Chinese properly and a lot of things were not so easy to take on board. I did not understand the scripts and just simply recited my lines when acting, with little emotion and wooden expressions. Now I have learned to understand Chinese and realise what acting is about."

Although Bernice wants to change her image, she will never change her personality: "I am a very happy character and I will not remember any unhappy things. Take the reports last year that said that I lost my temper whilst filming, I will not intentionally go and explain myself because that will just make things worse. In this industry, you are prepared for people to write about both good things and bad things." She emphasises that she is concentrating on her work and does not have the time nor inclination to start dating just yet.

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050121/20050121005202_0001.html



[The Sun 21/01/05]

After the news broke of Fiona Yuen's younger sister Lena dating Sam Chan, the two people in question have kept a low profile, preferring not to talk about it. As the elder sister, Fiona reveals that she was responsible for bringing the couple together. She says: "Last year, I introduced Lena to him and never thought that they would end up dating. (Did Sam Chan get in via the big sister then?) Not at all, but I do have a good impression of him and he is a good guy. They have been progressing well." Lena has returned to Germany to continue her studies now, so Fiona smiles they are having a long distance relationship.

This matchmaker does not seem to be having much luck herself though, after breaking up with her boyfriend, it seems she has not managed to find anyone else yet. She is worried that her romance luck for 2005 is not that great, so she laughs that she will have to buy some plum blossom [traditional Chinese love flower] at this year's New Year flower market to help with her romance.

Talking of the men in pursuit, Fiona says: "I have been to several wedding banquets lately and every time someone has introduced a man to me. One friend introduced an American Taiwanese to me and after becoming friends, we are getting on quite well, but he will be heading back to America soon, so I don't think we will have time to develop anything."

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050121/20050121004458_0003.html



[The Sun 21/01/05]

Nancy Sit helped out in the promotion yesterday for Korean series "Jewel in the Palace" that will begin airing next week. Normally, wearing the Korean traditional dress does not require a bra as the sash ties everything together, but Nancy revealed that she was very embarrassed because at first, she did not dare not to wear a bra, but after a long time they could not get the dress right, so in the end she had to give in. Nancy joked that she has sacrificed a lot to promote the show because she was afraid of something "sticking out".

TVB will begin airing the show as of next week and as each episode is an hour long, shows such as "Friday Variety" will be cut down to half an hour. As one of the show's hosts, Cutie Mui says that she does not mind as she will still put as much effort into preparation for it.

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050121/20050121005230_0003.html



[The Sun & Oriental Daily 21/01/05]

TVB's progressing female artistes Mandy Cho and Shirley Yeung were at an event yesterday presenting some awards and Shirley wore a strappy dress that showed off her shoulders, stealing the limelight somewhat from the well covered up Mandy. Shirley says that this was not intentional as the dress had been prepared by the organisers. Mandy indicated she did not mind at all.

Mandy has been watching the progress of this year's Miss Chinese International and as well as being biased and supporting the local contestant Kate Tsui, she also thinks that Bangkok, New York and Amsterdam are very good. With the suggestion that Kate's relationship with the other girls is only so-so and her chances to win 'Miss Friendship' are slim, Mandy supports her successor, saying: "Maybe they have just not warmed up yet. Kate is a very direct and open person, but she just takes time to warm to people." When asked if she has passed on advice to Kate, Mandy says: "For fairness, then I will not. If have to teach them, then I will teach them all." As for the reports of the Taiwanese representative being criticised and called ugly, Mandy believes that until the day of the final, you cannot say who is better than who, so she should not mind this too much.

Shirley says that she does not need to work over the Chinese New Year, so she can go and visit friends and family and collect lucky packets. When asked if she is worried about being nagged to get married by her family and friends, she says: "No, I will tell them that I prefer to receive lucky packets more!" [Chinese tradition: When you get married, you no longer receive lucky packets and have to hand them out instead!]

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a69cnt.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050121/20050121004936_0003.html



(File photo)

[Oriental Daily & The Sun 21/01/05]

After Bowie Lam and Gigi Lai took the male and female lead role awards at the TVB Anniversary last year for "War and Beauty", there have been endless rumours that they secured the award for signing a contract with TVB. Although later on Gigi revealed that she has actually signed a management contract with TVB, Bowie has always kept his situation to himself. Recently, Bowie's contract with M8 has officially ended and with Bowie invited to take part in a Chinese New Year event alongside TVB managed artistes in presenting New Year wishes to Sir Run Run Shaw, this has fuelled new rumours that Bowie has actually signed with TVB after all.

The Chinese new year celebratory show will feature a comedy sketch, where the four stars of last year's hit drama "War and Beauty", Bowie, Gigi, Moses Chan and Charmaine Sheh will join with the stars of the forthcoming "The Legend of Ah Wong" Roger Kwok and Jessica Hsuan in greeting Sir Run Run for the new year.

In response to the suggestions that he has signed for for TVB, Bowie responded on the telephone, saying: "I know that appearing alongside all the managed artistes in the show will cause people to jump to conclusions, but it is an honour to perform for Sir Run Run and I am very happy, so no matter what I am doing, I will take time to appear. However I really have not signed for TVB yet. I won the award with my own ability and I will not be as secretive as Gigi, who did not even tell me." Bowie reveals that his contract with M8 has just expired and as well as TVB, he is also discussing new contracts with Beijing and Taiwanese companies. If there is no success, then he may not sign another manager and manage his own affairs.

Bowie says: "I have been in this industry for nearly twenty years and I have never been afraid of negotiating a price, so I have the ability to arrange my own work. My ambitions are very simple and I do not have any great expectations for my singing, so it will be mainly centered around acting and making some real money with external productions. My schedule this year is already quite full, with two series for TVB because Catherine Tsang is my saviour, so if she needs me, then I will do it. I can always postpone the money-making schemes until the end of the year." With such regard for his roots, little wonder that Bowie is well loved by TVB.

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a64cnt.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050121/20050121002504_0003.html