[Ta Kung Pao, Oriental Daily & The Sun 21/01/05]

There have been reports in a magazine recently alleging that Yoyo has had to borrow money to pay for her apartment because her management company M8 owed her three months wages amounting to $300,000. Yoyo took part in the blessing ceremony for "Rouge and Powder" yesterday and she says that she was not angry at the report because this kind of news appears all the time. However, saying that she has no money to pay her mortgage is quite serious and she does not want her family to worry about her, so she has handed the case to her lawyers. She says that her management company is angrier than her and have made their own statement. She feels that if there is an issue, then she will meet them in private to discuss and she will still be negotiating her contract with them later. When Gigi Lai and Moses Chan handed out lucky packets during the ceremony yesterday, Yoyo joked: "Yes, I am getting paid now!"

Co-star Anne Heung's boyfriend is an executive at M8 and she says that she is not in a position to comment on this matter, especially as it is not directly related to her as she is a TVB-managed artiste. As for the financial position of the company, she is unclear because she is a third party and does not need to know.

As Gigi shared a piece of roast pork with the other female stars, she was asked about the news that her ex-boyfriend Tony Wong (Yuk Long) has been rumoured to have separated from his wife Ngai Sze Pui and she says that it is nothing to do with her and she does not know anything about it. She has not kept in touch with Wong and will not respond to any questions regarding him. Whilst filming for "Rouge", Gigi has been suffering from a sleeping disorder and as many of the crew are unwell, she has been going to sleep as soon as she gets home to build up her immune system.

Gigi comments that in "Rouge" there are plenty of beautiful costumes and beautiful people to see: "The producer has very high standards, so we always have to touch up our make-up and be very meticulous."

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2005-1-21/UL-356175.htm
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a65cnt.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050121/20050121004329_0003.html



[Ta Kung Pao 21/01/05]

TVB newcomer Charles Szeto and Nancy Wu have been chosen for their healthy images to become the 2005 Yau Tsim Mong Crime Fighting Stars, responsible for promoting young people to assist the police with their investigations and reduce crime. Nancy indicates that she has always been very careful with her possessions and rarely loses things. When she was at school, she was playing ball in the courts, but she left her bag at the side and when she went back, it had gone missing, leaving her very upset. She says: "We should all be careful in looking after our things as this can help to reduce crime already."

Charles celebrated his 26th birthday on 5th of this month and this is his first birthday since entering the entertainment industry, so he held a special party with twenty or so fans on that day. The fans presented him with a birthday cake and made some thoughtful gifts for him, including a photo collection and a hand knitted scarf. On the evening of his birthday, Charles took time out to celebrate with his family and his father gave him a lucky packet, whilst his mother bought him some clothes. His birthday wish is for his work to go well, have more jobs and receive the recognition from even more people. When asked if he was in a rush to start dating, he says: "I am not dating and am in no rush because I want to concentrate on my work. Once this is established, then I can start thinking about romance."

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2005-1-21/UL-356178.htm



[Ta Kung Pao, The Sun & Oriental Daily 21/01/05]

The 22 contestants from this year's Miss Chinese International Pageant went two separate ways yesterday and contestant numbers 8-11 and 17-22 visited Stanley, whilst the other girls stayed at TVB City trying on their Ming Dynasty costumes and filming. First they went to take photographs at Stanley Fort before heading into Stanley Market to go shopping. Afterwards, they enjoyed lunch at the Jumbo Floating restaurant.

After arriving at the market, they attracted many local traders and other tourists and although they were shopping, the trail of press following them made them rather unwelcome, with complaints coming from shopkeepers saying they were getting in the way.

No 20 Cecilia Liu from Montreal bought an angel headdress for No 22 Sawankwan Produbduen from Bangkok and as she was too happy, she slipped as she left the shop and as the press were too busy taking photographs of her, no-one bothered to help her up. Luckily she was fine and continued to shop away happily afterwards, buying a set of dragon-phoenix pictures for her family that signified "Safety in the Home". No 10 Fala Chen and No 12 Lena Ma [Em: this seems to be a mistake as No 12 wasn't there! Haha!] bought some doggy clothes, but the most prolific shopper was No 8 Patricia Hon from Calgary, who not only spent $600 on three pairs of shoes, she went on to buy a stone chop with her name on. Hot favourite Fala seemed rather chilly in her thin clothing and when they were having their photographs taken on Stanley beach, she was shivering with the cold. A warm hug from Kate soon warmed her up and Kate showed her friendship by helping to fix Fala's hair.

Hong Kong representative No 17 Kate Tsui played the photographer for the others throughout the trip, so she did not buy anything for herself. She laughs: "It doesn't matter because if I wanted to, I could come here any time. The most important thing is for me to be a good tour guide, group leader and interpreter because the main role of being Miss Hong Kong is to promote Hong Kong. (Some people thought you were just a tour guide and did not recognise you as Miss Hong Kong.) Really? Some people recognised me and called my name and even asked me to have my photo taken with them! (Some shopkeepers found you all obstructive and yelled at you to move on.) I did not hear them and did not notice. This trip to Stanley would have helped their business, so it is good publicity for them."

Meanwhile, five contestants were rehearsing in TVB City and were very excited about their Ming Dynasty costumes. Having been called 'ugly' by some tourists in Lantau Island the day before, No 16 Kimberley Chin from Taipei did not seem affected by this and said defiantly: "I am very confident in myself, this is not just about appearances, internal beauty is just as important." Vancouver's representative No 15 Leanne Li was asked if she was under any pressure after the previous successes of Vancouver in the contest and she said: "No pressure, as long as I do my best then that is fine."

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2005-1-21/UL-356176.htm
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a58cnt.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050121/20050121004839_0003.html