Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Lee Wei to star in Monga tv series

Despite CTS' "花月艋舺" (roughly Moonlight Flowers Monga) previously being touted as the TV version of the 2010 hit film, "Monga", it seems that it will actually be an adaption of an extremely popular Taiwanese drama from 24 years ago, "花月正春風" (roughly Spring Breeze Through Moonlight Flowers.) It's been having a few casting problems, but the most recent news is that Li Wei will be picking up the baton along with female lead, Liang You Lin.

The original screenplay of "Spring Breeze Through Moonlight Flowers" was written with such a brilliant underworld boss that he immediately became the dream lover of all Taiwanese housewives, back in the day.

Lee Wei has already had experience acting as a "godfather" to positive applaud in previous series. This time he will be acting as a young gangster who enters into the criminal underworld. It's clear that he would not object to the roles of being the underworld boss as "Being in the criminal underworld has always been a man's favorite suject." Because of his family, Lee Wei has always been exposed to "brothers" of the underworld and has admited to being familiar with them. To this new role, he says, "I hope it can be a bit more realistic."

Source: UDN
Translated by: Zahra @ CpopAccess

G.E.M Tang gets off beat when she dances, cries for help


Yesterday GEM Tang attended the Asia Games Show, where she was to play dancing games with fans. However, GEM was getting off beat as she danced and cried for help. Compared to the fan next to her, he was doing very well. Asked if she isn't adapted dancing? GEM laughed and said that she has recently been rehearsing for her new song and dance, getting better than before.

GEM expressed she didn't give a Christmas gift to Yoga Lin, they don't keep in touch? GEM said: "This is for us to know, that is enough. (Broke up?) Regarding relationships, I really don't want to say too much, I just want to focus on my work."


Source: Oriental Daily
Translator: aZnangel@AEU

Steven Ma gets swarmed, bruised and swollen fingers


The two series starring Steven Ma Ghost Writer and Links To Temptation did not get a broadcast period that gives people a good feeling and TVB does not give too much attention to them. However, Steven felt that the not so good broadcast period is not important. To be able to get good TV ratings during the 'ashes broadcast period', Steven will be even more proud. Steven felt that no matter what is done, there is always going to be losses and gains, it is enough to do best on own part. He believes that hardwork will definitely pay off. Ghost Writer got good response from Mainland audience, so this proves that many people know what's good and a good sense of comfort for himself.

Mandarin ducks thumbs

Steven is currently shooting a new series Thunder in the Forbidden City and he plays a big imperial guard. After over a month of shooting, Steven has been fighting day and night, getting bruises all over. Just his thumb was injured 3 times already. Steven said: "My thumb on my right hand is swollen like a block and turned into Mandarin duck thumbs. I have to wait until the shoot completes before I have time to go see a doctor."

Self Claims as "Hard Life Steven

Steven discovered that if he as to shoot fighting or difficult scenes, the weather will definitely turn cold. Like earlier when he was shooting a scene where he was getting beat up in the ancient prison and the scene where he was escaping from the prison. Initially that day it was very nice warm day, but after he finished putting on the injured makeup, the temperatures suddenly dropped a few degrees. Getting injured and bruised fingers, Steven is still strong and not discouraged. He said: "A big man need to withstand suffers and have a good spirit. Even if it's a hard life, still have to stay strong for a change of life!"


Source: Mingpao
Translator: aZnangel@AEU

'Show Me the Happy' Rating Drops Again 'Show Me the Happy' Rating Drops Again

Is Christmas weekend the one to blame for bad ratings?

Rating of TVB sitcom "Show Me the Happy" dropped again compared to the previous 23 points, receiving only 21 points last week. The series debuts with an average 24 points rating in the first week and once peak 25 points in the second week. However, perhaps due to the holiday season, ratings have be declining.

It is rumored ratings dropped because Bernice Liu, who is one of the leads in the sitcom, has many negative news recently. Male lead of the sitcom Roger Kwok supports the actress, saying both things are not related.

"There are many things that affect ratings, like exams and long vacations," says the actor.

In addition, TVB series "Twilight Investigation" ended last Friday and its finale received an average rating of 27 points. Five comments are received regarding to the series, praising leads Wong He and Linda Chung is a fresh new pair and the plot has new ideas. But the Broadcast Authority received 1 complaint, saying the human vs. ghost battle is bad for children to watch.

Source: Mingpao
Translated by: Kay's Entertainment

Edison Chen Hopes Everyone Can Forget the Past

Once said he will retire from showbiz indefinitely, Edison Chen has made his comeback this year. The singer continues his fashion business and is releasing a new album soon. He expresses he first need to forgive himself, then seeks forgiveness from the society, lastly from Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung.

Thanks to his girlfriend Vincy's support, Edison is able to be himself again. He said: "She's a superwoman. We've been together for more than 4 years. Although she's younger than I'm, but she has mature thoughts. I learned a lot from her. Need to thank her for many things. (Plans to get married?) I thought of it. If it was 4 years ago, I would have this impulse to do so. But now I have so many things to do. It's more important to be happy everyday."

Edison spent 8 months to gather himself back: "I need to forgive myself first. If I don't do it, others won't forgive me. (What would you do if you meet Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung?) I'm prepared for it, definitely would have a chance to meet up, but will react naturally, will also talk to them, won't avoid them."

As for former girlfriend Gillian Chung still sees him as a friend, Edison said: "The incident is years ago, we've grown up. Hope everyone can forget the past!"

Source: Mingpao
Translation: Kay's Entertainment

Justin Lo tears up as he says goodbye to the HK Music Industry

Yesterday Justin Lo announced at his press conference that he'll be heading to Beijing in March 2011 to start his official development in Mainland. In the recent year, Justin has been surrounded by negative news, and in addition to meeting his Korean girlfriend residing in Beijing, he is starting his departure away from the Hong Kong music industry and into the Beijing market. Yesterday his record company, Gold Label held a press conference for him to announce his temporary hiatus in the HK music scene.

As soon as Justin saw a group of fans who has always loved him, tears instantly came flowing out on his face. He charged off the stage embrace to his fans. At the press conference, a ceremony was in place for Justin to sign with the Gold Label situated in Mainland. Gold Label's CEO gave Justin a key and said: "Relax, already helped you find a house in Beijing."

Justin frankly said that his values has changed a lot, he said: "My family and lover is now in first place. I'm fine with having enough money to use. It is time for me to leave Hong Kong to take a breath. (Are you leaving the HK music industry?) No, it is just temporarily. I have jobs in HK, if want me to write or produce songs, I will come back. (Not singing anymore?) Don't say it like that, just temporarily leave from HK music industry. (When are you going to Beijing?) After my concert ends, I will use a month to prepare. I'll be living in a hotel-styled apartments for 3 months before buying a house."

Crying so much he had nose water coming out, Justin used a tissue to wipe them all away, he said: "Today I have a strange mood, I am happy and unhappy at the same time. Very confused." He stressed that he has been planning to go to Beijing for half a year, asked if he's doing it for his girlfriend? Justin admitted that the majority of the reason is because of his girlfriend. He said that he's often causing misunderstandings with the media, he said this is the last time he'll be meeting the media: "Actually there is slight misunderstanding between us, I know there is one newspaper that has a bias towards me. (Because the newspaper that you want to leave?) 20% of it is, 40% is for music, 40% is for love and I do hope to start a family."

Source: Oriental Daily
Translated by: aZnangel @ AsianEU

Eason Chan big winner with 5.5 awards at Metro Radio Hits Music Awards

At tonight's Metro Radio Hits Music Award Presentation, 130 awards are to be given out. According to reliable sources, Eason Chan won 5.5 awards and is the big winner of the night. Hacken Lee won the "Asia Singer Award", but he is going to be absent. Joey Yung, Eason Chan, and Miriam Yeung won the "Hits Global Singers Award". The "Hits Male Singer Award" initially had 4 winners including Leo Ku, Hins Cheung, Justin Lo and Raymond Lam. Because Raymond has to attend his younger sister's wedding, he will be absent and loses the award! As for "Hits Female Singer Award" there is Denise Ho, Janice Vidal and Jade Kwan. The duo Twins won "Metro's Most Hit Group Chosen In the Country Award". Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung also each won their own awards.

G.E.M pockets 3 awards including the "Singer-Songwriter Award", "Outstanding Performance Award" and "Big Album Award". It was said that JW (Joey Wong) will be the newcomer queen at tonight's award show, giving pressure to all the other female newcomers.

The couple Charlene Choi and William Chan also won their awards on the stage together, while rumored 'close friends' Denise Ho and Joey Yung were arranged to sit in the first row.

Source: Oriental Daily
Translated by: aZnangel @ AsianEU

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Wilber Pan Risks Hair Loss For New Look

Wilber Pan puts on a new futuristic look for his new album "808." Not afraid of hair loss, he allows white sprays on his hair and the whole process takes 2 hours. Then wearing a black fashionable goggle makes him cooler more mysterious and . Besides that, the singer is hang on wire for 4 hours to pose for promotion photos. He even has to do different poses in such difficult position.

The name of Wilber's new album "808" contains different meaning. Not only it represents 80s hip hop style, the singer was also born on August, 1980 (1980.8). Matching the 8 pattern, his record company will also arranged to play a 15-second commercial on 8 different channels starting 8:08PM on December 28. The album to be released in January 2011.

Source: NowNews
Translation: Kay's Entertainment

Patty Hou Confirms Wedding in April

Patty Hou finally confirms she's getting married in April, 2011.

The anchor-turned-actress got engaged earlier this year and plan to tie the knot in September. But it was postponed due to her grandma's illness. Now April of 2011 is the solid date for her big day. Exact location and date isn't confirmed; the actress/host only says the location would be outside of Taiwan and it would be a small wedding.

The 33-year-old expresses she's not in rush to have babies and will think about it 2 years later.

Being the former girlfriend of singer Jay Chou, Patty faces Jay-related questions often from reporters. She generously praised Jay's ex Jolin Tsai's concert was amazing but she couldn't attend. She would give her blessing to Jay if he dates again.

Source: UDN
Translated by: Kay's Entertainment

Whoohoo appears as special guest at Jolin's concert

Jolin Tsai completed her extravagant concert at the Taipei Arena from 24 to 25th. After all her hard work in preparing for the concerts, Jolin was moved to tears three times on the final night. She couldn’t stop her tears from flowing as she sang her KTV hit song, “Rewind”, and called out, “My goodness! I need some tissue.”

Like her last concert, Jolin dazzled the audience with more difficult gymnastic moves. Her company even bought a hundred million dollar insurance in case of any accidents. Fortunately, Jolin completed her shows with perfection. On the second and third night, Jolin’s dog Whoohoo was the special guest; fans couldn’t help but shout, “Kawaii!” as Whoohoo walked along the stage like a superstar. Jolin’s manager was initially afraid that Whoohoo would get scared, but Jolin confidently said, “Whoohoo has been to the big stage before.” Jolin later laughed, “It did pretty well on the second night, but on the third night, it kept running to the back as if it wanted to have a race with me. I don’t know what it was thinking.”


Jolin’s boyfriend Vivian Dawson was also spotted at the concert on the third night.

Source: UDN, NOWnews, Appledaily
Translated by: fufu @ CpopAccess

Van Ness Wu spotted with on-again, off-again girlfriend…again?

Stylish people are hard to miss, aren't they? The paparazzi team from Libertytimes was hard at work on Christmas day; they caught Van Ness Wu and his on-again, off-again girlfriend Arissa leaving the Taipei Airport together. The couple was said to have broken up back in September, but on the 25th, they were seen returning from Hong Kong on flight CX450 at around 11:41 am. Along with his assistant, they left in a black Mercedes before the two were dropped off at Wu’s home. According to the report, they spent Christmas Eve in Hong Kong before leaving for Taipei on the next day since he was due on the set of “Material Queen”. Van Ness Wu's manager Katie confirmed the two have remained friends but they won’t respond to other personal questions. As for whether Arissa is staying at Wu’s place, she said that is impossible and his older sister is already staying there anyway.

So where were you, Appledaily?

Source: Libertytimes
Translated by: PA @ CpopAccess

Sunny Chan's Son Doesn't Talk

Sunny Chan brought wife and his 3-year-old son to enjoy "Walking With Dinosaurs" last night. His son was kinda scared when he saw the dinosaur. Sunny said: "I brought him out on purpose, so he would be more lively. He doesn't talk much at home, only listen to teachers, eat breakfast, and sing. He talks often before, but not recently. Maybe because I talk too much that he doesn't have a chance to talk." Whether he would allow his son to enter the showbiz, he said he won't think about it on purpose. The actor likes kids a lot and he plans to go for another kid within the next year or two.

Source: Mingpao
Translation: Kay's Entertainment

Mingpao Interview: ‘Golden’ scriptwriter Cheung Wah Biu loses faith in TVB

Wayne Lai and Sheren Tang both repeated their TV King and Queen wins at the Anniversary Awards this year, however the one ‘blemish’ in an otherwise perfect night was that their series "No Regrets" did not win Best Series. Unfortunately, there would not be another chance to win for "No Regrets" scriptwriter Cheung Wah Biu, as he has already left TVB and will be starting his new job in Taiwan with Jimmy Lai’s Next TV. The week of the Anniversary Awards, Cheung Wah Biu purposefully made a trip back to Hong Kong (from Taiwan) to be there as his former employer passes out their yearly ‘report cards’, still feeling ‘connected’ somehow.

After all, Wah Biu had worked as scriptwriter for TVB for over 30 years and was the ‘literary mind’ behind many of the stations highest rated series. Starting with the Felix Wong / Barbara Yung version of "Legend of the Condor Heroes" back in the 80s, to the scripts for "Journey to the West" and "Time Before Time" in the 90s (both series broke ratings records that decade), and most recently, the triple success of Best Series winners "Heart of Greed", "Moonlight Resonance", and "Rosy Business", Cheung Wah Biu has built up his repertoire over the years – no wonder he is known as the TV industry’s ‘Golden Screenwriter’.

Even though he now works for a different company, Cheung Wah Biu still has some ‘words’ for his former employer (TVB): “TVB is the place where I grew up and spent most of my life – why would I leave? Actually, I’ve lost faith in them.”

Spends $10,000 taxi money per month

Cheung Wah Biu resigned in April of this year, however the thoughts of leaving TVB actually started 2 years ago at the Anniversary Awards ceremony [TN: The year that "Moonlight Resonance" won Best Series].

Wah Biu: “When we won Best Series that year, the company wanted both the producer as well as the scriptwriters to go up on stage to say a few words. As the producer gave his speech, I started to wonder when it would be our turn to speak? I stood a few steps behind him (the producer)…he thanked his wife, his son, his father, his mother, and a whole bunch of other people – none of whom had anything to do with the series – however, those who actually wrote the script (the entire scriptwriting team) were not even mentioned. At the time, I really felt like walking off the stage and back to my seat – it’s that moment that I started to think in my heart: ‘It’s definitely time to leave this company.’”

The countless ‘golden phrases’ that became such a huge hit with HK audiences after "Heart of Greed" and "Moonlight Resonance" aired were the result of Wah Biu and his scriptwriting team’s creative thinking – one would think that credit alone at least deserved to be on par with the producer in terms of recognition is concerned. But in Wah Biu’s case, he deeply felt that his team’s contributions were overlooked and credit was taken from him.

Wah Biu: “The producer is only good at producing, doesn’t mean he is good at scriptwriting, however he ends up representing both. A script is supposed to be the ‘root’ of a series [TN: Chinese characters for ‘script’ is 劇本, which translated separately mean ‘drama’ (劇) and ‘origin’ (本)] – sure, everyone knows how to ‘say’ it, but not very many truly understand the meaning of it.”

What upsets Wah Biu the most is that some producers never participate in the creation of the script, but yet, they still ultimately have the final ‘right’ to edit the script.

Wah Biu: “One time, we wrote a particular dialogue that was supposed to show someone apologizing to an elder – the dialogue as written was supposed to be: ‘Please forgive me, I will never expose a person’s private matters again.’ The producer ended up changing it to ‘I will never expose a person’s false mask again.’ – this was obviously a misuse of words, as exposing someone’s falseness is a righteous act, not one that requires forgiveness – so the entire dialogue ended up not making sense. At the time, our team had 2 script editors and 5 scriptwriters, so first we sent 2 female scriptwriters to try and persuade the producer not to make the changes, however the producer refused, so next we sent our 2 script editors, but that didn’t work either. In the end, I had to personally approach the producer and after a heated argument, I had to throw in the threat ‘Don’t ask me to write another script!’ before I was able to get what I wanted, which was merely for the producer to not change the script. It made me realize that at the end of the day, the producer is the ‘final ruler’ and when that ‘ruler’ solely holds all the power, he/she can just do as he/she pleases without giving a reason, even if the action does not make any sense.”

Another time, Wah Biu was writing a ‘happy’ scene for "Moonlight Resonance" and wanted to complement it with Teresa Teng’s song 《甜蜜蜜》however the producer disagreed, saying: “Teresa Teng is dead, how can her song complement a happy scene?”

Wah Biu: “That’s the life of a screenwriter! We usually only get 4 days to complete 1 episode of a series – with these arguments, 1 day is already wasted. For 4 days a week, the whole team is up until 2am in the morning working on the script – every month, I spend about $10,000HKD on taxi fees for the female scriptwriters so they don’t have to worry about their safety working so late.”

Phone call from Jimmy Lai

Not too long after he had thoughts about leaving TVB, Cheung Wah Biu got the opportunity to work with a different producer, Lee Tim Sing, on the 2 highly-rated series "Rosy Business" and "No Regrets". Wah Biu describes the experience (working with Tim Gor): “Very lucky to encounter such a good person.”

Wah Biu: “Tim Gor always helped us with the creation of the script, discussing with us constantly – completing the script was always a mutual project involving both Tim Gor and our team. During the script writing process for "Rosy Business" and "No Regrets", we did not work any O.T. at all – in fact, we would be off work by 7 or 8 pm every night. Not only that, but Tim Gor would also act as chauffeur, driving us to the subway station every night – it was a pleasure riding with him!”

Despite Wah Biu’s pleasure working with Tim Gor, the fact of the matter is that Tim Gor is already close to retirement age and every year, there are talks of him not renewing his contract – from Wah Biu’s perspective, it’s not every day that he would be lucky enough to encounter such a good person. In fact, Wah Biu agreed to write the script for "No Regrets" so that he could collaborate with Tim Gor one last time before his retirement. It was during this time that he received the phone call from Next Media’s chairman, Jimmy Lai.

Wah Biu: “It’s very interesting..he’s in such a high position, so I asked him: ‘Are you sure you have the right person? I’m only a small television screenwriter, not famous at all.’ Mr. Lai replied, ‘I definitely have the right person. Why are some people so stupid? Don’t they know that the script is the most important part of a series?’ After hearing this, I thought about it for 3 minutes, then made the decision to leave the TV station that I serviced for 30 years. I was amazed that the person who truly respected creativity wasn’t one of my colleagues and was not a producer, but rather an ordinary business person.”

There were rumors that Jimmy Lai made an offer of 3 times the salary for Cheung Wah Biu to work for his company – the screenwriter denied this, stating: “It’s not true – industry people made that up. When I agreed to join, we hadn’t even talked about salary yet.”

His only regret is that he would be leaving behind his team of young screenwriters and editors, to whom he truly apologizes.

Wah Biu: “The writers who worked with me on "Heart of Greed" , we endured so many 2am shifts together. Most of them may be young college graduates, but they are very responsible and take their work seriously – unfortunately though, in their positions, they get very little pay (starting position is about $9000HKD) and are often ridiculed by others as ‘lowly’ positions. It’s sad that even with my position as a senior screenwriter, I’m not able to do anything for them – can’t say a word or help them better their lot in any way…this is the biggest regret I have in my 30 years in the industry. In reality, only 1 or 2 of the young screenwriters who worked with me on "Heart of Greed" still continued in the industry – it’s a sad case indeed.”

Regrettable situation at the hospital

TV audiences are getting smarter and smarter – any type of refutable storyline or copying does not escape their eyes. To this, Cheung Wah Biu expresses: “In HK, there are only a few dozen screenwriters -- this is quite a ‘hated’ profession, as there is hardly a profession where you’re scolded by so many people. When I was little, I would go watch ball games and see the players get yelled at by thousands of people – screenwriters, however, are yelled out at by millions of people…it’s a deplorable job.”

Several years ago, Cheung Wah Biu’s father was diagnosed with incurable cancer and lived at a hospital long-term, so he would go to visit every night.

“There were a lot of patients at that hospital. Every night, when it came time to watch series, they would be very happy and would all gather in the common room to watch together, so I would go sit in and watch with them. A nurse told me one time: ‘Your dad told me that you’re a screenwriter. Thanks for putting so much heart into what you do and keep it up! The happiest time for these patients is right now, when they get to watch series, though unfortunately, many of them pass away before they get the chance to finish a 40 episode series.’ These words really shook me and made me realize how many HK audiences ‘chase’ series. The one thing I would like to tell newer generation screenwriters: ‘Your jobs are very important because it has the potential to bring a lot of joy to many people.’”

On the other side of the spectrum though, the most complaints about TVB series in the past several years have been about plagiarism and copying others. To this, Cheung Wah Biu admits that the creativity ‘soil’ has changed in substance at TVB.

Wah Biu: “When a person in charge of production is held up as a ‘master of drama’ but the person writing the script is a ‘no name’ whose primary responsibility is to make that production head look good, what type of fool would be willing to invest energy wholeheartedly? If the producer was not once a screenwriter himself, when he becomes ‘the boss’, the person responsible for creativity becomes his ‘guts’ and so needs to be in harmony with his likes – if he (the producer) wants to copy overseas series, the writer can only do as he is told…this type of ‘soil’ will not yield good screenwriters.”

Counting off the few TVB producers who actually started as screenwriters, Cheung Wah Biu names Kam Kwok Leung and Wai Kar Fai as top level talents; after that are Gary Tang and Ella Chan. As for himself, he says that he is only second level when it comes to screenwriting talent.

Regrets not becoming a producer

Cheung Wah Biu entered the television industry back in 1976 after graduating from high school. He started his career with the now defunct Rediffusion TV [TN: which eventually evolved into ATV] as a manuscript writer for commercials, then switched to screenwriting – some of the others in the same class as him include Lawrence Cheng and Clifton Ko.

Wah Biu: “At that time, the way things worked is that we actually did not have to come up with any ideas – our seniors would recite and we would write it down. Plus there was usually some dialogue in existence already, so we would just go home and do some editing. Though they did not exactly ‘teach’ us screenwriting at that time, we still learned a lot just from being around them and doing manuscript for them. I dare to say that in those 2 years, I learned enough to last me a lifetime.”

During that generation, it was very quick and easy to get promoted and within 3 years, he became senior script editor. Not long after that, he followed in the footsteps of his friend Siu Sang and left RTV for TVB – almost immediately, he was given the opportunity to write the script for the "Legend of the Condor Heroes" trilogy.

Wah Biu: “We changed a lot of the events from the book because if we were to film exactly according to the book, it would be impossible to have that many episodes. However Lau Tin Chi (TVB’s Production Manager at the time) was afraid that Jin Yong (the author) would be upset, so he gave us a lot of advice and would help in the discussions with the author.”

In 1990, Cheung Wah Biu produced his one and only series – the series that started Leon Lai on the path to popularity: "The Challenge of Life".

Wah Biu: “At that time, Tim Gor (Lee Tim Sing) was the Head of Production. He really wanted me to try my hand at being a producer, but I kindly refused. I remember vividly that when I turned over the script to the series "The Challenge of Life" to him, I had put on there ‘Producer: Lee Tim Sing, Screenwriter: Cheung Wah Biu’. When Tim Gor returned the script to me, he had changed it to ‘Producer: Cheung Wah Biu, Screenwriter: Cheung Wah Biu’. When I gave the script back to him again, changing the ‘producer’ field, he again changed it back – so I decided I would give it a try then. I found out then that being a producer at TVB is actually very easy because there are too many departments supporting you behind the scenes. For me though, I discovered that throughout the process, I spent about 90% of my time on writing the script and only 10% on actually producing, so I told Tim Gor: ‘Why waste that 10% of the time on producing when I can spend 100% of the time on writing the script instead?’ Therefore, I went back to being a screenwriter.”

Wah Biu continues: “So many years later, if you ask me whether I regret not going on the producer path, I would have to say yes, I do have regrets. In the beginning, I naively thought that as long as I put my heart into writing a good script, the producer will similarly put his heart into turning that script into a great series, however over the years, I discovered that many producers aren’t able to follow through – those producers who enjoy exerting their ‘power’, in the end becomes a hindrance and even causes the script to lose quality.”

High blood pressure from creating the script

In 2003, the series "Perish in the Name of Love" (for which Cheung Wah Biu wrote the script) failed miserably in terms of both ratings and word of mouth, which impacted him deeply. His boss (at the time) Catherine Tsang told him: ‘You have not rested in the past 20 something years, why don’t you give yourself a vacation?’

These words were like a hit on the head – he was a workaholic and for so many years, he put all of his energy in script writing, sacrificing his personal life in the process. He was already in his forties, didn’t have a girlfriend and never married. It was during this time that he started going to Church, where he eventually met his wife – they married 5 years ago, when he was already 49 years old.

From that moment on, Cheung Wah Biu’s script creation process changed drastically – when he wrote "Heart of Greed", he utilized a more interactive approach, acting out the dialogue with his team of screenwriters and copy editors.

Wah Biu: “I like the big group argument scenes; when we worked on the script, we would each become one of the characters and act out the scene – I would yell at you, and you would yell at me, and another person would be writing the dialogue down right that moment rather than waiting until we got home to write it. So when it came time to create the script, my blood pressure would get really high.” Many of Louise Lee’s ‘golden phrases’ from the series (for example: ‘I don’t need evidence – my eyes are evidence enough!’) came from these ‘practice argument sessions’ between the script writing team.

Newer generation screenwriters love to watch foreign TV series and would often use these series as ‘reference’ for their own work. Cheung Wah Biu would often tell them that if they want to ‘reference’ something, they should ‘reference’ real life instead.

Wah Biu: “In real life, there are a lot of ‘bad’ people (villains) – I’ve encountered enough of them that now, when I write these villain characters, the accuracy is quite high. For example, Susanna’s character from "Heart of Greed", Michelle’s character from "Moonlight Resonance", Pierre’s character from "Rosy Business", even Evergreen’s character from "No Regrets" were all pulled from real life.”

Some people feel that the storyline for some of his series are a bit ‘preposterous’– there may be some truth to this, but that’s because real life itself is that way. Cheung Wah Biu has worked at a big company for 30 years – everything he has seen and heard during that time, surely would make for a good script in and of itself.

Respect for intellectual property rights

The next day after the interview, Cheung Wah Biu had to return to Taiwan. Nowadays, he returns to HK 4 or 5 times a month – for him, it’s quite a sacrifice, as his wife continues to live in HK.

The new TV station in Taiwan has not officially started yet, however Cheung Wah Biu is already working on a script for a new series that will start filming in January. The series will be a modern cop drama and the producer as well as actors/actresses will all be Taiwanese, not to mention that the dialogue will all be in Mandarin – for Cheung Wah Biu, this will definitely be a new challenge in a new work environment.

Another familiar face who will be working with Cheung Wah Biu in Taiwan is former TVB colleague and fellow screenwriter Chu Jing Chi. Upon hearing the mention of his name, Wah Biu could not help but speak out at the injustice: “He is the screenwriter who created ‘Laughing Gor’ [TN: Michael Tse’s character in "E.U."]. So many people in Hong Kong know who ‘Laughing Gor’ is, but I must ask, how many people actually know that Chu Jing Chi created ‘Laughing Gor’? From this you can see how little value is placed on intellectual property rights in that place!”

Cheung Wah Biu always says that he is a shy person, yet whenever he opens his mouth to speak, it’s as though the righteous indignation of his characters comes upon him.

***

A few of Cheung Wah Biu’s representative works at TVB (not all-inclusive):

"The Fortune Teller", 1983
"Legend of the Condor Heroes" trilogy, 1983
"The Challenge of Life", 1990
"The Big Family", 1991
"Down Memory Lane", 1995
"Journey to the West", 1996
"Time Before Time", 1998
"Road to Eternity", 1999
"Point of No Return", 2003
"Safeguards", 2006
"Heart of Greed", 2007
"Moonlight Resonance", 2008
"Rosy Business", 2009
"A Fistful of Stances", 2010
"No Regrets", 2010

Source: bbs.163.com (Original Source: Mingpao)
Translation: llwy12 @ AsianFanatics

Denise Ho went deaf caring less about fans calling out for Joey Yung

Denise Ho's first of 4 shows HOCC HOMECOMING LIVE 2010 concert kicked off last night at Wan Chai House. The atmosphere was very lively as many entertainment circle friends went to support her including Liza Wang, Anthony Wong and Wyman Wong. Though Joey Yung wasn't seen at the concert, but Denise clearly started her concert the Joey way. Every show she will sing different songs. Besides singing, her own Cantonese and Mandarin songs, Denise also sang Taiwanese Pop Queen Jeannie Hsieh's electronic song Beep Beep Beep. For the holidays, Denise also sang several Christmas songs, afterwards she said: "Thinking about Christmas songs, reminds me of an idol." The fans then shouted: "Joey Yung", but Denise didn't hear it and revealed that the idol she was reminded of was Aaron Kwok.

Recently she suffered in pain from losing two cats. Near the end of the concert, Denise wanted to express her feelings: "In the last half year, I left HK for a moment and went to find a new start for myself. When there are down times, I would feel I am loved from my surroundings, gives me some strength to move on and know that I have lost somethings." At this point, Denise started have sobs in her voice: "Facing lost, what to do? Be unhappy? Grief? Or move forward? This is a class one must certainly have in life. I hope that my experiences can enter my songs, when one is unhappy strength can be given to them." After the show, Denise went on with an Encore and often anxiously looked at the time to avoid having to pay extra fees to the venue. Asked why Joey didn't come support her? She said: "I think she's not in HK."

When she thought about her cats that passed away on stage, Denise wanted to cry, she was helpless that she was so busy she didn't even have time to grief. She said: "The night before was difficult, when GUTGUT left, there was a lot of things that needed to be done. Had to calmly get through the period. Two days ago, I had a headache and neck pains, so I went to get acupuncture to get better for today."

Source: Mingpao
Translated by: aZnangel @ AsianEU

Selena Li will not choose a magician as a boyfriend

Yesterday afternoon, Selena Li was dressed in a sexy strapped dress to attend the "BLING Snow Dream Christmas --- Dream Flashing Magic Show" event. She served as the assistant to magician Louis Yan. Selena said that there have been lots of guys who performed magic for her, she also does not really like guys doing that because then he will not treat her well.

Yesterday night was Christmas Eve, she invited a group of male and female friends to celebrated. Is she taking the opportunity to meet a guy? She smiled and said that she won't do it purposely, but she is very willing to meet new friends. She hopes to find a boyfriend in the upcoming new year. Also, her make-up school will have even more developments and become perfect. She reveals that she personally demonstrated a make-up from plain eyes to first meeting eyes. The clip was placed online and had great feedback. Selena said that at first she was worried the eye make-up, fortunately it got good praises and gave her even more confidence.

Source: Mingpao
Translated by: aZnangel @ AsianEU

Monday, December 27, 2010

Jolin Tsai Flirts With Vivan Dawson At Concert

Jolin Tsai's "2010 myself Concert" at Taipei Arena held its last show and new beau Vivian Dawson finally appeared to support girlfriend. But to avoid excessive attention, he did not entered the venue at the VIP entry and watched the show in low profile.

Knowing new beau is here, Jolin sent a sweet message to him when singing "Real Man." She did not say anything when singing "Real Man" in the first two shows but last night she added: "Where's my real man?" It seems the dancing queen was openly flirting with her new boyfriend at her concert.

Last night was the final show and everyone was emotional. When singing "Rewind" written by ex Jay Chou, Jolin even had a emotional break down. She told fans after singing "What Kind of Love" that her nickname is "Tsai Shi Fei" (Disputes Tsai) because she has encountered many challenges over these years. She then said: "Already about 11 or 12 years now. Doesn't matter when did you start to support me, I'm very happy that I'm able to keep performing on the stage."

Source: Liberty Times
Translation: Kay's Entertainment

Mike He's Birthday Wish is to Have a Girlfriend

Mike He is celebrating his 27th birthday on December 28 and his fans held an early celebration party for him on the 25th. His good friend Dylan Kuo made a special appearance and brought a bottle of aged wine for him, signifying their friendship is long-lasting ["jiu" is the homophones of alcohol and long].

Been single for 4-5 years, the Taiwanese idol's birthday wish is to have a girlfriend. He dated a gril several years before but their relationship ended after he went to film in Mainland. As for his requirements for girlfriend, he hopes she can understand him and it is okay if she works in the showbiz: "I'll admit it if I got photographed, but must be agreed by her."

The "Calling For Love" star is currently shooting 2 idol dramas: "幸福最晴天" with Janine Chang and "美樂,加油!" with Cyndi Wang. Although he has intimate kiss scenes with the two actress, but the actor actually complains he is hurt by these girls. First, he gets hit by Janine during filming; then Cyndi once kicked on his important private part. Cyndi even said she did not feel it at all, making Mike lose face.

Source: China Times & UDN
Translation: Kay's Entertainment

Ady An is willing to lose everything for love?

In contrast to her fragile and pitiful character in “Autumn’s Concerto”, Ady An is an outgoing and generous person in real life, surrounded by a group of friends. Ady rarely talks about her family, but she revealed to Appledaily that she was raised in a single-parent family. She and her mom stopped seeing each other when she was very little, and she was raised in a strict manner by her dad and step-mom. She recalls that her dad had once threatened her boyfriend to take her to the obstetrics and gynecology department to ensure her virginity; she was even forbid of going to school at the time. The experience greatly affected her perspective on love. Ady, who’s willing to lose everything for love, said, “I once observed a guy for three years, and in the end, he suddenly got married with someone else.” Upon saying this, everyone suspected that her crush was Wang Xiao-Fei, but she laughed, “Of course not, we’re buddies!”

Ady grew up living in an expensive house at Yangmingshan. She was once mistaken as a daughter of a triad. She explained that her dad manages a security company; before she was 16, her dad would send a car to pick her up after school every day. However, Ady expressed that she did not have a happy childhood. Her parents divorced when she was 4 and both of her parents got remarried. Her mom later gave birth to two more daughters and a son, while her dad and her step-mom had another son. Since she lived with her dad, she could only send her mom cards during the holidays to maintain their relationship. She didn't reunite with her mom until she was 20.

Since she was little, Ady would only call her step-mom, ‘auntie’ and not ‘mom’. Her auntie had been very strict; whenever she did not pass on a test, she would get hit once for every mark she missed. She always had to pay special attention to make sure all the dishes were washed thoroughly; if she didn’t wake up after the alarm clock goes off, her auntie would charge right into her room and begin to smash things. Going out with friends was simply an impossible dream. Due to this, Ady decided to run away from home after graduating from high school. But she was like ‘Monkey King’, unable to escape from the palm of her dad’s hand. She ended up calling home to inform of her safety and her dad immediately scolded, “You’d better get home in half an hour!” As for the ten years of unhappiness that she has been through, she expressed, “I know that auntie did all the things for my good. A few years ago, she cried while apologizing to me, but actually, I understood her reasons long ago.”

Inheriting her father’s straightforward personality, Ady's friends are mostly guys; Barbie Hsu’s husband Wang Xiao-Fei is one of her buddies. They met at her birthday party five years ago and love just didn’t spark between the two, “If I've decided that he’s going to my friend, then it’s impossible for us to go any further than that.” As for rumors of her having a crush on him, it made her extremely mad. She described Wang Xiao-Fei as a very generous and caring person where he would pay for dinner when eating with friends. He would call a driver to take him home if he drank more than a glass. Ady commented, “I’ve never seen him get out of control when drinking.” He also once wished that Ady would become more feminine and bought her a pink Prada purse as a birthday gift. Barbie also showed her thanks to Ady for being their matchmaker and even promised that she will “definitely get Ady married!”

Perhaps it’s due to her family background; Ady has always been independent and likes to keep her personal life private, where even her female friends don’t have a clue about her love relationships. Ady explained, “If it’s not a friend that I’ve known for 5 to 6 years, I wouldn’t invite him or her to visit my home.” She admits that she doesn’t act girly, but she is willing to give up everything she has for love, “What I like is probably the guy version of Ady An. This person has to be stronger than me.” Her thought on marriage is rather pessimistic, “I believe that there are couples that love each other for a lifetime, but it won’t happen to me.”

It’s been nine years since Ady debuted and she has very little rumored boyfriends. At most, her rumored boyfriends are the ones for promoting her dramas or movies such as Dylan Kuo and Huang Xiao-Ming. She expressed, “Actually, I mind a lot about privacy. For the past few years, I’ve never dated someone from within showbiz. I won’t go public with a love relationship. I might even get married secretly one day.” In other words, no matter whom she’s dating, she will never admit it.

Source: Appledaily
Translated by: fufu @ CpopAccess

Aimee Chan not after Moses Chan in order to avoid "incests"

Yesterday Aimee Chan attended a shopping mall event and was very welcomed by the children there. One of the boys wouldn't let go of her hand, making a very funny scene. When speaking of Christmas, Aimee said that she spent it at work, but on Christmas Eve she took some time out to spend with her father who made a special trip back to HK from Canada to celebrate with her.

Although she spent Christmas at work, Aimee expressed that it was very enjoyable: "We exchanged gifts at the recording studio. I hope to continue to have jobs in the new year, that's what called good luck." Also, it was said that after Moses Chan and Bernice Liu broke up, Moses was 'targeted closely' by all the female artists on TVB. Aimee reveals that she and Moses play brother and sister in the new series The War at Heart, she joked and said that they developed a sibling relationship. She generously praised him: "He's a very good person, and a gentleman. He also gives me advice too. (Lots of girls are after him?) Often lots of girls are after good men. (Is he the type you like?) Never thought about that, he's my older brother in the series, I don't want cause a confusion in the relationships. In reality I'm just focusing on my work."

Source: Oriental Daily
Translated by: aZnangel @ AsianEU

ATV gives up on HK$3 million TV rating report fees annually in 2011

In order to avoid the embarrassment of getting zero TV ratings again, ATV has opted out of 'buying misery' and gave up on paying a fee to get TV rating reports starting January 1, 2011. The TV rating reports were initially the responsibility of TVB, ATV and a group of advertisement companies. The TV rating reports not only provides feedback on series and other TV productions, but also serves as a voting source for advertisers to who they will sell their Ads to. As TVB dominates the majority of the TV rating report fees, ATV is responsible for HK$3 million annually.

ATV CEO (Yip Ka Bo) admitted to the news, he explained: "Nowadays, majority of the people use LED, Plasma and other new style TVs which does not connect with a receiver to get the TV ratings. The TV ratings are not complete anymore, so we aren't doing it anymore! We will be using another media research method that will be even more complete." As Producer Gary Tang will be starting two ATV series next year, he was rather disappointed in this news: "I have heard too, I can only do well on the public praises for the series. ATV ratings are following a different method anyway."

Also, as ATV is giving up on the TV rating reports, the media research fees will be left in the responsibility of TVB. It was said that TVB was not satisfied with this issue, however a response from TVB was not obtained before the deadline.

Source: Oriental Daily
Translated by: aZnangel @ AsianEU

Joyce Cheng clarifies misunderstanding, Lydia Shum did not do drugs

Earlier Joyce Cheng exposed that her late mother Lydia Shum had tried doing drugs before, but yesterday afternoon when she was at a Citywalk event, she clarified there was a verbal misunderstanding. She stressed that her mother does not have a habit of doing drugs. Reporters pursued and asked her about her mother doing drugs. Joyce said: "I'm fortunate that you all are asking me the question again. I wanted to say that it is really shocking, the reports said I exposed my mom does drugs. I really want to clarify that she does not have a habit of doing drugs, absolutely no such thing, it is a verbal misunderstanding. I was very unhappy about this issue. (Then what was your initial meaning?) I don't want to say too much otherwise the situation will get even worse, more and more misunderstandings. In the future, I will practice my Chinese, don't want to have any more misunderstandings. If I had hurt anyone, I am really sorry, I didn't want to hurt my mom even more."

Joyce was asked if her father Adam Cheng had any reaction, she said that she talked to him on the phone earlier, but didn't really talk about the issue. She only asked about Adam's condition after his injury. Joyce said: "He also asked me about the progress of my new music album and he will come support me when he has time off." How did she spend her Christmas? Joyce laughed and said she celebrated with more than 10 other friends with turkey. She also received a gift of a calender with brand name shoes on each page. Asked if her boyfriend gave her anything? She said: "Before I got a handbag, I personally wasn't willing to buy it, cost about 5 figures."

Source: Mingpao
Translated by: aZnangel @ AsianEU

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