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Saturday, January 28, 2012 Hong Kong
Source: Mingpao Weekly, Issue 2255
Translation: llwy12@ http://asianfanatics.net
Despite this past year’s JSG Top Ten Awards Ceremony results being heavily criticized by practically the entire nation, there was one particular highlight of the entire show that was welcomed by all audiences – former Canto-pop Queen Sally Yeh (葉蒨文) leading the group BOY’Z and singer/dancer Tat Dik in a special performance of her classic hit “Believe in Yourself” 《信自己》. Not only did her performance cause all the artists present to give her a standing ovation, it also provided HK music fans with a treasured memory.
Entering the year of the Dragon, many former music industry ‘kings’ and ‘queens’ will be returning to the stage to perform for HK music fans – Sally Yeh will be among them! During this exclusive interview with Mingpao, Sally took the opportunity to officially announce that in September of this year, she will be collaborating with Peter Lam’s East Asia Entertainment Group (EA) to hold a concert at HK Coliseum. After her last concert in 2005 (which she collaborated with the HK Philharmonic Orchestra), Sally has been ‘hibernating’ for the past 7 years, rarely appearing at public events – even during the times when rumors about her marriage to singer George Lam being ‘on the rocks’ were especially strong, Sally never bothered to come out and explain or respond to the rumors. This year (2012), HK music fans got the rare opportunity to once again enjoy the Canto-pop Queen’s beautiful voice – not only that, Mingpao Weekly also had the rare ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
Times have changed. Playing pure, innocent girls may not win the audience’s heart; rather hateful characters may forge a new path instead. Portraying a pregnant spitfire who scolded everyone in sight in L’Escargot <缺宅男女>, “Kwan Yi So” Mandy Wong (黃智雯) successfully leaped forward. Twenty-nine-year-old Mandy was so convincing in her hateful role, in which costar Michael Miu (苗僑偉) noted that she had the potential to become a true bat por (八婆)!
Filming non-stop at TVB, Mandy in fact already has her own business, investing in a beauty operation with her parents. Mandy was well versed in finances and often dropped by beauty stores to test products and discover new trends. After visiting the flower market the other day, Mandy went shopping in Causeway Bay. She paid special attention to beauty and skincare stores, often testing products.
When Mandy received the script for L’Escargot last year and realized that she will be portraying the extremely hateful character of “Kwan Yi So,” she pondered how to deliver her onscreen performance. Mandy stated, “The character is deplorable. If the performance is convincing, I am afraid that the audience will scold me. I was a bit unwilling at first and did not wish to accept the role.” Since Mandy was not a first-line fadan with the ability to choose her roles, she had to take whatever opportunity TVB offered.
A contestant in the 2007 Miss Hong Kong Pageant, Mandy Wong possessed a weak and gentle voice, the complete opposite of “Kwan ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
27/01/2012
The cast of the movie, including Ethan Ruan, Shu Qi and Zhao Wei, are all delighted with the nomination
Taiwanese movie Love had its first taste of success when it was selected for the Berlin Film Festival recently. The movie has not been released in cinemas.
This is movie director Doze Niu's second feature film to make it into the festival after his 2010 movie Monga.
When told of the good news, the director excitedly said, "I'm very happy that Love is selected for the Berlin Film Festival, because it's a commercial film that talks about love. I really feel that heaven has been good to me, and I'm grateful to the cast and crew for their hard work."
Doze later informed the cast the good news via his microblog.
Actor Eddie Peng replied happily, "Good omen in the year 2012. [I'm] setting off the firecrackers."
Shu Qi also wrote, "Awesome."
While the production team is doing their best to coordinate everyone's schedule, only Mark Chao has confirmed that he will attend the festival on Feb 16.
Ethan is due for military enlistment next month. If he does attend, the Berlin Film Festival will be his last event before entering the army.
Love is scheduled to open in cinemas in Taiwan on Feb 10, and four days later in China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Cast members are expected to begin promotion of the movie abroad for a week, beginning Feb 9, before flying straight to Berlin for the film festival.
Source
Ayumi Hamasaki imposes gag order on ex-husband?
Jan 27 2012
27/01/2012
The singer allegedly paid ex-hubby, Manuel Schwarz, 200 million yen (S$3.2 million) to sign a confidentiality agreement after their divorce
Japanese diva Ayumi Hamasaki wedded Austrian model-actor Manuel Schwarz on 1 Jan last year.
Now just barely over a year later, the two have called it quits.
Ayumi had issued an official statement on her divorce days ago, citing that the distance between Manuel and her, as well as her unwillingness to leave Japan for the reasons behind the split.
According to overseas media reports, the singer has reportedly signed a 200 million yen (S$3.2 million) confidentiality agreement with Manuel, where the latter is not allowed to leak any inside information pertaining to their divorce.
Other conditions of the agreement include not being allowed to pose for a nude pictorial, work for any Japanese publishing house, discuss anything about her with anyone or ask for more money in future.
If Manuel does not adhere to the agreement, he would face a huge penalty.
When asked, Ayumi's management company denied the existence of the agreement, but her lawyer, however, did not refute the rumour.
On the other hand, the singer, who recently returned home to Japan after working in Dubai, refused to make any comments when she was approached by reporters at the airport.
It was only when Ayumi heard one reporter ask about what she had to say to her fans that she responded.
"I'm sorry to have caused anyone to worry," she said.
She later left a cryptic message on Twitter which seemed to be about her divorce with Manuel.
"I have no regrets because it was what I wanted at the time!" the singer wrote.
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S.H.E shoots commercial without Selina
Jan 27 2012
27/01/2012
Ella and Hebe poses sensually for their new advertisement
All three members of S.H.E have been working on their solo careers for some time now while fellow member Selina recuperates from her onset accident.
Earlier, the trio had reunited for a commercial much to the delight of fans.
However, in a most recent commercial shoot, Selina was left out.
In a photo shoot for a Chinese clothing label, Ella and Hebe were seen dressed in a bright shade of red, posing sensually.
The set of photos were released during the Lunar New Year, causing a stir amongst fans. While some complimented Ella and Hebe for spreading the "festive joy" in the photos, others lamented that "without Selina, it doesn't seem perfect."
In particular, Ella, who had recently announced that she was in a relationship, was lauded for her femininity.
The group's label, HIM International, have yet to respond if Selina will be doing a separate shoot for the advertisement.
Source
Myolie Wu will consider getting married
Jan 27 2012
The Hong Kong actress complimented boyfriend Bosco Wong's cooking skills
Last year was a bountiful year for Hong Kong actress Myolie Wu, who broke records when she bagged three awards at the TVB Anniversary Awards. She also went public with her relationship with longtime boyfriend Bosco Wong.
At a recent event, Myolie admitted that she felt stressed when her first drama of the year Wish and Switch was aired during the Lunar New Year. However, the actress should have nothing to worry about now, since the drama achieved high ratings.
In the drama, Myolie's character could exchange stuff through a magical website.
When interviewed, the actress smiled and let on that she hoped to turn into Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, because she is pretty and well-liked by people. However, Myolie only wanted to be Kate for a day, because it is best to be herself.
Myolie's upcoming projects include Triumph in the Skies 2, which begins production in May.
When asked if she is confident of clinching the Best Actress award again, the actress replied humbly, "[Winning] didn't cross my mind. I'm already very happy winning it once. What the award had given me is more important, and that's confidence."
Myolie, who has enjoyed success in her career and love life, is full of smiles whenever she talked about her boyfriend.
She complimented Bosco's cooking skills and added that she did not have to wash the dishes after meals. The actress also shared that she would only make carrot cake during the Lunar New Year.
When asked if she would pay Bosco's mother a visit during Lunar New Year, Myolie expressed that she would be "filming in China, and would not be able to do ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
Sammi Cheng Runs To Save Louis Koo
Jan 27 2012
courtesy of mingpao.com
courtesy of takungpao.com
Sammi Cheng Sau Man and Louis Koo Tin Lok's most memorable scene in ROMANCING IN THIN AIR (GO HOI BUT JI LUEN II) took place in 6 degrees below zero Celsius. One ran while the other one drowned. In the scene Sammi saw Koo Tin Lok from afar and thought her long lost husband returned home. Seeing Goo Jai soaking in the spring, she immediately ran over, pulled him up and saved his life.
When they shot the scene in Shangri-La, the temperature was only six below zero. For such an icy and snowy feel, director Johnnie To Kei Fung deliberately chose the coldest time to shoot in. Sammi earlier in the shoot has already entered her character. In this scene her emotions completely flooded out. Sammi said, "Actually my first take already had a lot of explosiveness. After that I already felt like I was going to collapse." Finally the director still wanted Sammi to make ten more takes. Poor Sammi had to run, cry, yell and pull Goo Jai from the hot spring.
Goo Jai did not have an easy time either because he had to wear layer after layer of clothing and soaked his entire body into the spring water. Although that was a hot spring, with all the wet clothing Goo Jai was still fine in the hot spring. As soon as he left it the feeling was unusually hard to take as it was frighteningly cold. Actually he did not soak in the ..... (article cut to save bandwidth)
Wheat Bread Leads Viewer Appreciation
Jan 27 2012
courtesy of on.cc
Mak Cheung Ching, Mandy Wong Chi Man, Eliza Sham Lai Heung and two directors Chung Shu Kai and Wilson Chin Kwok Wai yesterday appeared in Kwun Tong for I LOVE HONG KONG 2012 (NGOR OI HK HEI SEUNG GA HEI) viewer appreciation. They announced that the film's Hong Kong box office has already reached 10 million, which truly was joy upon joy!
Wheat Bread looked bigger. He said that over the dozen or so days of promoting, he ate like crazy every time. He has already gained 15 or 16 pounds. After the Lunar New Year he will start losing weight, but since he was "fat to begin with" he did not mind.
With another box office hit, Chung Shu Kai revealed that Eric Tsang Chi Wai during the last Lunar New Year promised to take everyone to Japan if the film reached 20 million at the box office. No one expected that the promise has yet to be fulfilled still. Chin Kwok Wai said that this year if they do not go to Japan then at least they have to go to Korea; Wheat Bread joked, "For stuff like this of course I would wait until the directors speak up first, then all we have to do is chime in. however earlier at the Malaysia premiere, the response was decent. Hopefully if the box office performs well we can go again for viewer appreciation." Wheat Bread was asked how it felt to lead the promotion, Wheat Bread said that everyone was busy and he had time. On the Lunar 8th when Chi Wai will return to Hong Kong, they will celebrate again.
Source
Higashino Keigo’s bestselling mystery novel “Platina Data” is getting a movie adaptation, starring Arashi’s Ninomiya Kazunari (28). Otomo Keishi (“Ryomaden,” “Hagetaka,” “Rurouni Kenshin”) will direct, and actor Toyokawa Etsushi (49) will play a supporting role.
“Platina Data” was serialized starting in 2006, and it was released in novel form in 2010. The novel has sold approximately 210,000 copies so far.
The story is set in 2017, at a time where the government is aiming to secretly control the genetic data of the population. Ninomiya plays the role of Kagura Ryuhei, a brilliant DNA specialist who works at a special DNA analysis institution established by the National Police Agency. One day, the developer of a DNA analysis system is murdered, and Kagura’s DNA is discovered at the scene of the crime, making him the prime suspect. With no recollection of what happened, he is forced on the run.
Toyokawa will play Asama Reiji, the persistent veteran police detective in pursuit of Kagura. This will be his first detective role since”Hannin ni Tsugu” in 2007. It will also be his first time acting together with Ninomiya.
Filming will take place between February and April. Toho plans to distribute the film in theaters in 2013.
Tokyograph
Shinwha Ready for Comeback After 10-Year Hiatus
Jan 27 2012
Shinhwa, one of the most popular boy bands of the late 1990s, are returning to the stage in March after a four-year absence.
CJ E&M and Shinhwa Company said the group will hold their comeback concert at Olympic Park Gymnastic Stadium from March 24 to 25 after releasing their 10th album in the middle of March.
The six members of the group -- Kim Dong-wan, Shin Hye-sung, Andy, Eric, Lee Min-woo and Jun Jin -- became teen idols after their debut in 1998, which led to a decade of stellar success and enduring popularity. They released several hit songs and gained a huge following in China and Southeast Asia.
After they stopped performing as a band in 2008, many went on to enjoy successful solo careers, with Eric and Kim Dong-wan becoming recognized as actors, and Shin Hye-sung and Lee Min-woo producing hit solo albums.
They founded their own management agency, Shinhwa Company, last year, and plan to tour Asian countries including Japan after their concert in Seoul this spring.
Chosun Ilbo
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