I had said earlier that I'm not going to do a full-fledged "predictions" post for the 2011 TVB Anniversary Awards and I'm still standing by my decision. The main reason for this is because I didn't like majority of the series that aired this year and was not impressed by most of the performances -- plus I only watched 1 series completely from beginning to end so far this year (goes to show how BAD this year's series were if I wasn't able to bring myself to sit through most of them). [As a means of clarification, when I say that I only watched 1 series completely from beginning to end, that means that I watched every single episode without distraction….the rest of the series I either didn’t finish watching, watched only a few episodes here and there, or was doing something else while watching so didn’t really pay close attention]. Therefore, it would be a waste of time for me to do a full predictions post in all categories when none of the performances really stood out.
With that said, the 'hype' this year among the general public seems to revolve around the TV King category and since that's the only category that I actually have a strong opinion on this time around, I figured it would be more appropriate for me to just write about that particular category and forfeit all the rest of them.
So far this year, here are some of the 'names' that I've seen come up the most often (in the Media as well as on discussion forums) in terms of potential candidates for TV King:
Note 1: I am just listing out names I’ve heard, regardless of whether they are truly in contention or not (some of the roles may actually be considered supporting roles – I realize that, but please keep in mind that this post is meant to be hypothetical only).
Note 2: This list is not all-inclusive by any means – there may be male artists you feel should belong on this list in addition to the ones I listed…that’s fine – if I missed anyone or you disagree with any of what I wrote, feel free to comment and state your argument.
Note 3: The numbers next to each name do not mean anything – numbering is my way of bullet-pointing in this post
List of 'potentials':
Steven Ma
Roger Kwok
Bowie Lam
Bobby Au Yeung
Sunny Chan
Wayne Lai
Bosco Wong
Raymond Lam
Michael Tse
Moses Chan
Kevin Cheng
Based on the above list as well as my knowledge of TVB, below is my assessment of what I think each candidate’s chances are:
1) Steven Ma
I already outlined in detail how I feel about Steven’s performance in my earlier review of “The Life and Times of a Sentinel”, so I’m not going to rehash all of that here (those interested can read the review at this link). As I stated in my review, Steven is definitely my number one choice for TV King this year, as his performance was truly phenomenal in my opinion (though some can argue that he’s just doing what he does best – either way, doesn’t matter to me – he still turned in the best performance so far in my opinion). So far, Steven has been the only one to move me emotionally with his performance this year. Of course, we all know that Steven’s chances of getting the award this year is pretty much ZERO given that whole fiasco with Virginia Lok a few months back and the early contract termination issue (plus add to that the fact that TVB traditionally frowns upon artists who are ‘disobedient’ and ‘vocal’ – two “sore spots” that, in TVB’s eyes, Steven has been ‘guilty’ of pressing recently). Even though he is the most deserving of the bunch and my vote goes to him for sure, I have pretty much resigned myself to the reality that he will once again be denied the award (unless by some miracle, Mona Fong intervenes and orders for justice to be done – not likely though). Nonetheless, I will continue to support him all the way!
2) Roger Kwok
Roger is actually my second choice for TV King this year, as his performance in “Wax & Wane” was truly awesome (despite the series itself being hugely mediocre). In fact, he was pretty much the only ‘saving grace’ to that series (in my opinion anyways) – if it weren’t for his steady performance, I doubt too many people would have bothered watching. Unfortunately though, his chances of getting the award this year is pretty much zero as well – for obvious reasons. First, with TVB’s focus on promoting their favorites the past few years, a lot of the veterans have pretty much been thrown by the wayside – Roger is already an established actor plus he already received the award twice, so from TVB’s perspective, how important is it to give him the award again? Plus in recent years, Roger has shifted his career to the Mainland and pretty much only films one series per year for TVB nowadays – so with a lot less exposure in the HK market (which translates to less audience exposure) and the fact that Roger will still work for TVB (when he’s in HK that is) irregardless of what happens, there’s really no incentive for TVB to give him the award. I actually don’t even think that Roger will get into Top 5 for that matter (remember that when it comes to awards, TVB is all about the politics, not about who is deserving or who is not). Regardless, I still feel that he turned in one of the best performances so far this year!
3) Bowie Lam
Bowie only has 1 series in contention this year – “River of Wine” – which just finished airing a week or so ago. Though he turned in a solid performance, the series overall was not well-received, as many people considered the cast ‘weak’ and also the storyline was way too draggy. Irregardless of what people thought of the series though, TVB is still not going to give him the award anyway because 1) he already left the company in May, and 2) he could care less about that particular award, since he already won the ‘Asia TV King’ award and that is WAY more prestigious than a stupid old TVB award. Also, it has already been made known (loud and clear in fact) that Bowie definitely has options – in Mainland China as well as other parts of Asia…so in comparisons, TVB is ‘small potatoes’ to him. There’s no point for TVB to give him the award because they are not going to get any return for their investment (except maybe his participation in the “War and Beauty” sequel next year – but if the schedule works out, he will probably still participate anyway regardless of the award).
** As a side note: I find it laughable that certain gossip mags placed Bowie in Top 5 contention for the TV King award based on his performance in “Heaven and Earth” (yes, I literally laughed out loud) – um, unless they got some sort of sneak preview that the rest of us audiences weren’t privvy to (which I doubt), there is no basis whatsoever for that ‘prediction’. I mean, come on now – that series isn’t even scheduled to air until mid to late November – which means that it’s not even going to finish in time for the awards ceremony! Besides, it makes no sense whatsoever to nominate someone for top 5 contention in an award category based on how they WILL perform in a series that no one has seen yet rather than how they ALREADY performed in a series that everyone has seen. All the more reason why people shouldn’t take what the gossip mags write seriously!
4) Bobby Au Yeung
Ah, dear ole Bobby – gotta love the guy (I certainly do..LOL)! He only has 1 series in contention this year (“Men with No Shadows”), but unfortunately, that series did not do too well in the ratings category. I actually see Bobby’s situation as similar to Roger’s in that there is no need to give him any awards because he’s pretty much already past that point in his career. Besides, he has a certain loyalty to TVB and has already said that he will make time in his schedule to film 1 series per year for them regardless of what happens – so then from TVB’s perspective, there is no need to reward him. For me, I’m at the point where I don’t care if TVB gives him an award or not because he already received the award a long time ago and it’s not like it’s going to change his status in our (audience’s) hearts anyway. Sort of off-topic, but I just wish that TVB would stop “using” him to promote their own biological sons and daughters….is that too much to ask?
5) Sunny Chan
I’ve ranted about Sunny so much over the past 7 to 8 years, I’m starting to sound like a broken record! I’ve always liked Sunny (ever since the 90s) and he is definitely a great actor, but unfortunately, TVB hasn’t treated him too well all these years. It’s interesting that he actually has the most series on the air this year amongst the veteran first line male leads (“Wax and Wane”, “River of Wine”, “Curse of the Royal Harem”, cameo role in “The Life and Times of a Sentinel”), but yet he has the least chance of even making it to Top 5 (forget about winning)! Maybe he’s just unlucky or TVB just hates his guts – whatever the reason, he’s gotten very few ‘decent’ roles this past decade, as most of the roles were mostly forgettable ones in forgettable series (for example: the series "The Wintermelon Tale" -- I mean, really? TVB put him in THAT ridiculous series?). Also, a lot of his series that he did in the past 7-8 years had been warehoused (for example: “Strike At Heart”, “The Slicing of the Demon”, “Phoenix Rising”, “The Greatness of a Hero”, etc. “The Wintermelon Tale” was warehoused for 1 year before it aired). He's had the most series warehoused out of all the artists -- to the point that he's dubbed "Warehouse King" by some insiders). Since his return, I have not seen a single breakthrough role for him (and he had plenty of them in the 90s)....plus I don't see him getting promoted either (despite being a skilled actor). Oh, and he is currently a TVB managed artist, but obviously to TVB, he's less important than the others that they are promoting right now...In any case, I feel sorry for him because I know that he is pretty much going to stay at TVB forever now (he wants to remain in HK to take care of his wife and son and has no interest in re-locating), which means that he is going to continue to get crappy roles and waste all that talent of his. Such a shame!
6) Wayne Lai
I love Wayne and with his awesome acting skills, I’m confident he will deliver a great performance as he always does (after all, he’s known for being consistent and meticulous with his acting and so far, based on all the series that I’ve watched of his, I’ve never been disappointed). BUT, since “Forensic Heroes 3” just started airing yesterday, it’s still too early to tell whether his performance in the series will be ‘award-worthy’ (though I have no doubt that he will do a good job). Without commenting specifically on his performance in FH3 as of yet, l actually think that Wayne’s chances of pulling a ‘three-peat’ victory are extremely slim….now don’t get me wrong – the reason I think this way has nothing to do with his acting or even the series that he will be competing with…I’m basing it purely on the fact that he has already won 2 years in a row (the first year because he had tremendous audience support so they HAD to give it to him and the second year because he was the ‘safest’ choice given the ‘playing field’ at that time)….this year, the dynamics are a bit different -- because of all the negative publicity that TVB has been getting, there’s more incentive for them to use the awards as a political tool to further their agenda (plus the past 3 years or so, they’ve pretty much treated Wayne as a ‘cash cow’ anyway – as long as he continues to remain popular with audiences and business sponsors, then they will continue to benefit, so it’s not like it’s absolutely necessary to give him the award). Of course, if by chance Wayne does end up getting the award, I am totally fine with it (because the way I see it, TVB is making up for neglecting him for 20 years) – but I highly doubt it will happen.
7) Bosco Wong
One advantage that Bosco has is that all of his performances this year (as Bai Co in “Lives of Omission” and also his earlier performances in “Grace Under Fire” and “7 Days in Life”) were pretty well-received by audiences – in fact, some people even feel that his performance in LOO overshadowed primary lead Michael Tse. With that said though, Bosco is also the most ‘junior’ among the field of candidates and technically, he isn’t even considered a ‘first line’ siu sang yet – I honestly don’t think that it will sit well with people if he is given the award when there are others at a higher level than him in contention (TVB may be stupid, but not THAT stupid!). By the looks of things (i.e. a lot of the first line siu sangs leaving and TVB’s supposed focus on promoting the 2nd line to first line in the coming year, plus the fact that he is a biological son who is on the ‘favored’ list), Bosco will have a lot of opportunities in the coming year, so he still has time to refine his acting and gain more experience….there’s definitely no rush to give him the award right now.
8) Raymond Lam
Every year, TVB tries to push Raymond up onto the TV King throne and every year, it doesn’t work (that strategy is starting to get old now and TVB should seriously consider giving up on it! ). And honestly, this year, it’s not going to work either, considering both of his series (“Sister of Eternal Flower” and “Men with No Shadows”) pretty much tanked (in terms of ratings and word of mouth). Also, despite what people may say, the negative publicity he’s gotten this year with all those relationship issues (and the whole bed photos mess) truly did impact his image and reputation, which indirectly affected his chances. Of course, TVB could still give him the award if they wanted to, but I don’t think it would go over well because 1) the favoritism would be too obvious, especially if TVB is supposedly using the ratings of the series as a benchmark for the award – it’s too hard for them to justify why they would give him the award when his series flopped, and 2) it would create too much controversy due to the ‘Virginia Lok’ factor (I’m sure you all know what I mean) – VL has been ‘in the news’ a lot lately and not for ‘good’ reasons either…given all the bad press that she’s been getting (plus Raymond’s), it’s probably not a wise idea for TVB to pile even more controversy on top of that!
9) Michael Tse
I will be upfront right now -- Michael Tse isn’t even on my list of potential ‘contenders’ for TV King because, frankly speaking, he ISN’T WORTHY!! His acting is ‘mediocre’ at best and the only reason why he’s so ‘popular’ right now is because of the Laughing Gor persona – it’s unfortunate that he let the whole Laughing Gor thing get to his head and as a result, has been acting all arrogant and cocky. He’s definitely NOT lead actor material (um, yea, let’s see him carry an entire series by himself, without any help from anyone!) and his acting isn’t even that great, yet he has the audacity to go around thinking that he is the ‘next best thing since sliced bread’!! (yea, right – in your dreams, dude!). Anyway, I highly doubt that TVB is going to give him the award (even if they considered it previously), especially after how poorly he handled the Steven Ma situation – a lot of audiences have a bad impression of him now (the number one comment I’ve been hearing on forums is: “I don’t care who gets the award, as long as it’s not Michael Tse!”). TVB is in a precarious position right now (given everything that has happened to them the past year or so) and I doubt that they can afford to take on the type of ‘backlash’ (similar to what they got back in 2006) that will inevitably come if they give the award to an undeserving jerk like MT.
10) Moses Chan
What are Moses’ chances of being crowned TV King for the 2nd time? Well, to be honest, it’s really hard to say…I personally couldn’t stand him in “Yes Sir, Sorry Sir” (in fact, I couldn’t stand that series PERIOD), but he IS a somewhat ‘safe’ choice because 1) he’s a biological son, 2) he’s gotten the award before, so that does put him up a notch over others who never got that recognition, and 3) though his acting in recent years hasn’t been good, it hasn’t been horrible either (generally speaking). I used to have a certain appreciation for Moses’ acting when he first started, but after so many years of watching one OTT (over the top) performance after another, it has started to become annoying to the point of boring. I don’t know how I’ll feel if he gets crowned TV King again – I guess it’s one of those ‘better him than MT’ situations for me. Realistically speaking though – unless TVB really has no other choice, I doubt that they will give him the award again (at least not this year).
11) Kevin Cheng
Very honestly speaking, I think that Kevin actually has a very good chance at the award this year (I know what you’re thinking.…I can’t believe I’m saying this either, but to be fair, I do have to give credit where it’s due). His acting definitely improved a lot in “Ghetto Justice” (and he wasn’t too bad in “Only You” either) and the ‘Law Ba’ role was a breakthrough for him – plus the feedback from the general public for his performance in that series has been overwhelmingly positive. Also, don’t forget that his popularity has soared in recent months due to his latest Mainland series "Bu Bu Jing Xin" (with Nicky Wu, Damian Lau, etc.) being a HUGE hit over there – he actually received much acclaim for his portrayal of the 8th Prince (I have yet to watch the series, so not going to pass judgement on the validity of those praises) – to the point that he now officially has a fan club with thousands of fans in the Mainland. True, it can be argued that the Mainland series shouldn’t have anything to do with the TV King award, but the point I’m trying to make is that the stars could potentially be aligned for it to be Kevin’s year this year. For the record, I am known for being ANTI-Kevin Cheng and to some extent, I still am (and yes I'm still adamant that TVB made a really BAD BS decision by giving him the award back in 2006 when he wasn't anywhere near deserving of it), but even I have to admit that his acting has improved in the past year or so. (And just to be very clear for people who may misunderstand….no, I'm not ‘suddenly changing course’ -- I'm merely giving an honest assessment of who I feel has the best chance based on how things look so far this year).
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Concluding Thoughts
With the above, I tried as best I could to give an honest assessment and analysis of some of the actors who were mentioned at some point this year as a ‘possible candidate’ for TV King. Of course, with more than a month left until the awards show, pretty much anything can happen at this point.
One point that I do want to emphasize is that I pretty much stopped caring about the awards years ago – therefore, no matter who wins TV King this year, I probably won’t have any reaction to it from an emotional standpoint (that is, unless Steven wins….)
LL's Musings 小賢角落
Showing posts with label Steven Ma 馬浚偉. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steven Ma 馬浚偉. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Follow up post to TVB Rant #12: Steven Ma's (馬浚偉) Interview with Mingpao Weekly
As a follow up to my earlier rant about TVB's double standard (see TVB Rant #12), below is a great article that gives insight into what inspired yet another rant from me against TVB.
The article is an interview that Steven Ma had with Mingpao Weekly that was just published this weekend. In it, he outlines very clearly his reasons for why he is leaving TVB -- and does so in a manner that is gracious yet revealing.
Also included is TVB's Artist Department Head Virginia Lok's response to Steven's interview...compare her 'accusatory' response with Steven's gracious one, and you will see why I loathe Virginia Lok so much.
After the article, I also included some comments that I posted regarding this article in AF.
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Article originally published on 09/17/2011
Source: Mingpao Weekly Issue 2236 (as posted on HKChannel)
Translated by: tamaya @ steven ma fanblog
Admitted that He has “Weak Affinity” with Lok Yi Ling; Steven Ma Reveals the Reasons for Tendering his Resignation.
Steven Ma, who has worked in TVB for eighteen years, shockingly requested termination of his contract. I sought confirmation from the horse’s mouth and he candidly admitted its veracity. “I’m not asking for an increase in salary, or for the tv king award, it is just that I am at the bottleneck now, and that I just can’t see any further growth, which makes me uneasy.”
The year before (2009) Steven had already decided to leave the nest but general manager, Stephen Chan, personally persuaded him to stay back, and promised him lots of opportunities to grow in different areas, and so he decided to stay. But with the changes in the higher management, after Apprentice Chef, things came to a halt. The steadily accumulating anxiety and anger ignited by the company's rejection of the Mainland grand tv series production, "The Founding of Yuan Dynasty", finally exploded. “I want to exert it is not that TVB is bad to me but that I often met with unhappy issues….” Is it because of someone’s suppression? “If you want me to answer “no”, I can’t do that!” Naturally, it brought to mind the persistent widespread rumors that Steven and Virginia Lok do not get along. For the first time, Steven speaks out what he had suppressed in his heart for a long time, “Virginia Lok and I, weak affinity!”
For the past few years, Steven has been standing firmly as a first line siu sang, and the series he leads in have high ratings, however, his name never appears in grand productions or in Mainland tv series, either. Moreover, the commercials and advertisements, stage performances and other side jobs all have to depend on himself too. Finally in June this year, he was invited by Tsui Siu Ming to shoot a 50-episode epic historical grand production, "The Founding of Yuan Dynasty", which greatly elated him. “Siu Ming Gor approached me to portray Liu Bingzhong (劉秉忠). He was the founding minister who assisted Kublai Khan (Hu Jun) to found the Yuan Dynasty. Though not a first lead,his role has lots of room to elaborate, moreover, I can also learn from the veteran actors, plus the series will premier next year on CCTV1 on prime time. It will help to further my career. It’s a very good opportunity.”
Without even discussing the fee, he had already indicated his interest to Siu Ming gor his acceptance of this series (reported fee was 1.5 million rmb). He handed the offer to his tvb manager, Hillman, to follow up. Very quickly Hillman responded that Virginia Lok had rejected the offer. The reason being his contract prohibited acceptance of series that will not air on TVB. I recalled distinctly that Myolie Wu’s Mainland tv series was broadcasted early this year on cable tv, and also that Ron Ng snagged the Cable tv king award with his role in another mainland series, why not Steven?
“I don’t know other people’s contracts. I know that my contract has such a clause. Honestly, very regretful but what to do?” He told Siu Ming gor his situation and politely declined the series. Who knows two months later, he received a message that Siu Ming gor was still waiting for him and urged him to vigorously fight for it . At that moment in time, Steven was so touched he felt like tearing up. He forwarded the text message to Ms. Lok to ask her to reconsider. The return text message came with the same previous response: “All artists in this company are subject to this provision in their contract stipulation.”
Afterwards was the most difficult twenty four hours. All that he had gone through in TVB, the happy and unhappy fragments all floated before his eyes. “No matter how hard I continue to shoot series, the outside jobs are truly not many. I believe Hillman is already very diligent in helping me but unfortunately the outcome is always less than satisfactory.…The year before when negotiating with Stephen Chan, I didn’t request salary raise, I’d only wanted to have more opportunities to experience new things. It's only when Stephen Chan agreed to them that I signed up. In the beginning there was Apprentice Chef but when management went through changes, I was back to square one again! I know I’m in a better situation than others, but after 18 years as an artist, one hopes for improvement, right? Can you allow me space to pursue a longer term artistic life?”
Mulling over it he evoked that notion that had been stored for a long time in the back of his mind and activated it. He sent an official letter style text message to Virginia Lok requesting an early release from his contract. (The contract terminates June next year.)
“To make this decision was not easy. I thought of Zhan jie (Catherine Tsang), Uncle Choi (Leung Choi Yuen), they've been good to me. Even Stephen Chan, though the days of our interactions are not long, but these two years I can see that he has been trying very hard to fulfill his promises to me. I’ve the utmost respect for him.”
But to pursue better growth he, in the end, still sent out his text message. The day was August 21. It was rumored that the finale of 'The Life and Times of Sentinel' peaked at 40 points, but the company showed not reaction to it; however it held an ostentatious celebration for Life of Omission that had the same peak rating, and that this had so enraged Steven that in a fit of anger he decided to terminate his contract, this clearly does not hold water as it was not until August 26th that ‘Sentinel’s finale was aired.
“Do you think it's little kids playing toys? If I want a celebration I can pay for one out of my own pocket. I’ve done that many times already.” About Michael Tse's upfront upbraiding him for being “immature”, Steven smiled and said: “I’m not very familiar with Michael. I believe he was just kidding. Steven,I, will never carry out any action because of not having a celebratory event.”
Because talks are still in progress, Steven cannot reveal his rationale for terminating the contract. He can only say that after sending out that text message, on the very next day, Run Run Shaw’s secretary, Chan Fai Kong Run, contacted him to investigate his situation, and soon after, Virginia Lok through Hillman arranged for a meeting with Steven in tvb city. They talked for a while, and shortly there was news that Stephen Chan and Mark Lee had both agreed to exempt that clause from his contract, and permit Steven to accept “The Founding of Yuan Dynasty”. The contract (tn:series) is almost complete now. When finished with shooting “Prosperous Father, he will head up north; it seems like a happy ending.
But Steven says his wanting to terminate his contract has not wavered. “I guess lots of people must be thinking how come Steven is being so audacious. I want to take this opportunity to say, outwardly I’m very strong, I'm used to confronting life and death separation, but it does not mean that I don’t have feelings. When I submitted my request to be released from my contract, it wasn't on a whim. From the moment I sent out that text message, my decision to leave was resolute.”
There are rumors that there are many artists management agencies in Hong Kong and Mainland beckoning him to their companies. Have no choice but to leave, is it because of him be suppressed by a certain person? "If you want me to answer you with a “no”, I can’t do it! Company has many talented people, no need for you to especially do anything for me, but at least, be a little bit fairer!” When brought up the rumors that he has never gotten along with Virginia Lok, he quipped: “Virginia Lok and Me, weak affinity. Don’t know why but we just can’t communicate. And after a while, feel very distant. Some people (tn:tvb human resource department) I can’t even remember. TVB is my management agent.” (tn: as opposed to solely VL)
Virginia Lok's Response to Steven's news article
Responding to Steven Ma’s “weak affinity”, Virginia Lok say: “I hope all artists understand whether have weak or strong affinity with me is not important, what’s important is to have affinity with TVB! Artists are the company’s resources, of course, I will work hard to help everybody fight for opportunities. But not everything, I, Ms. Lok, say is fine then it’s fine. To be successful, also has to depend on opportune timing and favorable conditions.”
She admitted that she does not have much contact with Steven other than business. “ TVB has so many artists, there’s not way I can have contacts with each and every one of them. Unless like Xu Ting Keng (許挺鏗) signing the records company or Fook Lu Sau held a concert, only then will have more mutual contacts. Sometimes when an artist want to make a request and talk personally to me, only then will set up a private meeting to eat together, like Charmaine Sheh.”
Steven claims he has signed contract with TVB for six years, but stage performing, commercials and ads, and other side jobs are far in between, everything has to depend on himself and his colleague to fight for. Ms. Lok say: “I also have asked Hillman (Steven’s manager) why Steven’s jobs are not many? Hillman said that many clients had asked about fees, schedules, but clients are fickle, one minute like this the next like that, so maybe in the end picked another artist. For this I truly feel it is a bit regrettable but you know, there’s supply and there’s demand.”
Talking about “The Founding of Yuan Dynasty’s” contract woes, what came out of Ms. Lok’s mouth was a different version from Steven’s. She said that day she received Steven’s text message, only then did she know about this situation. “That was a Sunday. I immediately called up Hillman to ask what happened? Hillman told me it was because company couldn’t accept certain clauses in the contract. I knew Steven truly wanted to shoot this series. I had helped him ask the company if it could cooperate with him. But during the meeting, they all did not want to waive the clause on the contract. Moreover, he is not even the first lead in the series.”
This stipulation, is it true that all mainland series that the artists participated in must be aired on tvb? “No. Actually, Siu Ming gor and I are very familiar to each other. We once worked together in Rediffusion Television (RTV). If he had truly wanted Steven to shoot in this series he would have called me but he didn’t. Through Hillman I contacted Steven . And we discussed the matter again. Steven expressed that he truly wanted to shoot this series. So I called up Siu Ming gor to ask him to help, to ask the producers to be more accommodating. Consequently the other party accommodated, and we successfully resolved this matter.”
She remembers that it was after successfully resolving this matter with Siu Ming gor that she received Steven’s text message to terminate his contract. “I don’t consider that is an official letter style. In his message, he seemed dispirited, like the company does not care too much about him. But then this is not the first time he expressed his unhappiness. He has expressed his unhappiness to Stephen (SC) and to Zhan Jie (Catherine Tsang). Once in a dinner, after consuming some wine he related his grievances to Executive Deputy Chairman, Norman Leung, and became quite teary as he spoke. Everybody hurriedly comforted him."
“I feel that maybe it is almost year end, and close to the anniversary awards ceremony so he threw some tantrums! Usually prior to and after the anniversary ceremony we seldom negotiate contracts with the artists, too sensitive. Steven’s contract will end next year. We had intended to discuss his contract after the anniversary ceremony.” Steven has expressed his wish, will Ms. Lok make gestures to retain him? “Of course want to retain him. Steven has achievements and has put in efforts, even if does not want to sign management contract, can also stay back to shoot series….but, can he terminate his contract early?"
.*******.
My response to the article:
.-- Great recap of the REAL story....I like how Mingpao presented both sides so that people can decide for themselves who they want to believe.
.-- I personally found Virginia Lok's comments insulting -- especially the part where she practically "accuses" Steven of trying to use his contract thing to gain advantage at the awards ceremony. What a tactless (and stupid) thing for someone in her position to say! As a manager myself, I'm disgusted by VL's blatant bias and lack of professionalism...she's definitely not a good manager -- that's for sure!
.-- Also, I almost threw up when VL tried to make herself sound like a "hero" because she 'supposedly' helped Steven get his Mainland China series back...she's so "full of it", it's not even funny....
.-- The other thing I found interesting with this interview is the issue regarding the contract. It behooves me that TVB would put a stipulation in their artists' contracts stating that TVB artists are not allowed to participate in a Mainland series unless that series airs on TVB....The question I have is: Really? I would be curious to see if the contracts for the other TVB managed artists who filmed series in the Mainland the past couple years (i.e.: Charmaine prior to her contract ending, Kevin, Tavia, Ron, Myolie, Raymond, etc.) had that same stipulation -- if so, then TVB is definitely limiting the growth of their artists, since that greatly narrows the options for their artists in terms of series that they are allowed to film in Mainland (since not every Mainland series will end up airing on TVB).
However, I actually have a feeling that there is no such stipulation in the other artists contracts and TVB is just using this as an excuse to hold Steven back from further opportunities (which means that TVB is trying to play favorites again by allowing their favored artists to film in the Mainland but not others). I mean, it really doesn't make sense to me that they would put such a stipulation in the artists contracts, especially considering how big the Mainland market is and knowing how it's virtually 'impossible' for TVB to try to control that market by buying the broadcast rights for every single series. If that's truly the case, then it's no wonder that majority of the artists in HK don't want to sign management contracts with TVB....heck, if I were those artists and knew ahead of time that the opportunities would be so limited, I wouldn't sign with them either!
.-- And of course, this makes Michael Tse's comment even more insulting and shows more than ever how arrogantly and stupidly he (Michael) answered. Hey, if Steven could respond with such grace and help Michael "save face" by saying that he was probably only joking, the least Michael could have done was just shut the hell up!
The article is an interview that Steven Ma had with Mingpao Weekly that was just published this weekend. In it, he outlines very clearly his reasons for why he is leaving TVB -- and does so in a manner that is gracious yet revealing.
Also included is TVB's Artist Department Head Virginia Lok's response to Steven's interview...compare her 'accusatory' response with Steven's gracious one, and you will see why I loathe Virginia Lok so much.
After the article, I also included some comments that I posted regarding this article in AF.
.--.
Article originally published on 09/17/2011
Source: Mingpao Weekly Issue 2236 (as posted on HKChannel)
Translated by: tamaya @ steven ma fanblog
Admitted that He has “Weak Affinity” with Lok Yi Ling; Steven Ma Reveals the Reasons for Tendering his Resignation.
Steven Ma, who has worked in TVB for eighteen years, shockingly requested termination of his contract. I sought confirmation from the horse’s mouth and he candidly admitted its veracity. “I’m not asking for an increase in salary, or for the tv king award, it is just that I am at the bottleneck now, and that I just can’t see any further growth, which makes me uneasy.”
The year before (2009) Steven had already decided to leave the nest but general manager, Stephen Chan, personally persuaded him to stay back, and promised him lots of opportunities to grow in different areas, and so he decided to stay. But with the changes in the higher management, after Apprentice Chef, things came to a halt. The steadily accumulating anxiety and anger ignited by the company's rejection of the Mainland grand tv series production, "The Founding of Yuan Dynasty", finally exploded. “I want to exert it is not that TVB is bad to me but that I often met with unhappy issues….” Is it because of someone’s suppression? “If you want me to answer “no”, I can’t do that!” Naturally, it brought to mind the persistent widespread rumors that Steven and Virginia Lok do not get along. For the first time, Steven speaks out what he had suppressed in his heart for a long time, “Virginia Lok and I, weak affinity!”
For the past few years, Steven has been standing firmly as a first line siu sang, and the series he leads in have high ratings, however, his name never appears in grand productions or in Mainland tv series, either. Moreover, the commercials and advertisements, stage performances and other side jobs all have to depend on himself too. Finally in June this year, he was invited by Tsui Siu Ming to shoot a 50-episode epic historical grand production, "The Founding of Yuan Dynasty", which greatly elated him. “Siu Ming Gor approached me to portray Liu Bingzhong (劉秉忠). He was the founding minister who assisted Kublai Khan (Hu Jun) to found the Yuan Dynasty. Though not a first lead,his role has lots of room to elaborate, moreover, I can also learn from the veteran actors, plus the series will premier next year on CCTV1 on prime time. It will help to further my career. It’s a very good opportunity.”
Without even discussing the fee, he had already indicated his interest to Siu Ming gor his acceptance of this series (reported fee was 1.5 million rmb). He handed the offer to his tvb manager, Hillman, to follow up. Very quickly Hillman responded that Virginia Lok had rejected the offer. The reason being his contract prohibited acceptance of series that will not air on TVB. I recalled distinctly that Myolie Wu’s Mainland tv series was broadcasted early this year on cable tv, and also that Ron Ng snagged the Cable tv king award with his role in another mainland series, why not Steven?
“I don’t know other people’s contracts. I know that my contract has such a clause. Honestly, very regretful but what to do?” He told Siu Ming gor his situation and politely declined the series. Who knows two months later, he received a message that Siu Ming gor was still waiting for him and urged him to vigorously fight for it . At that moment in time, Steven was so touched he felt like tearing up. He forwarded the text message to Ms. Lok to ask her to reconsider. The return text message came with the same previous response: “All artists in this company are subject to this provision in their contract stipulation.”
Afterwards was the most difficult twenty four hours. All that he had gone through in TVB, the happy and unhappy fragments all floated before his eyes. “No matter how hard I continue to shoot series, the outside jobs are truly not many. I believe Hillman is already very diligent in helping me but unfortunately the outcome is always less than satisfactory.…The year before when negotiating with Stephen Chan, I didn’t request salary raise, I’d only wanted to have more opportunities to experience new things. It's only when Stephen Chan agreed to them that I signed up. In the beginning there was Apprentice Chef but when management went through changes, I was back to square one again! I know I’m in a better situation than others, but after 18 years as an artist, one hopes for improvement, right? Can you allow me space to pursue a longer term artistic life?”
Mulling over it he evoked that notion that had been stored for a long time in the back of his mind and activated it. He sent an official letter style text message to Virginia Lok requesting an early release from his contract. (The contract terminates June next year.)
“To make this decision was not easy. I thought of Zhan jie (Catherine Tsang), Uncle Choi (Leung Choi Yuen), they've been good to me. Even Stephen Chan, though the days of our interactions are not long, but these two years I can see that he has been trying very hard to fulfill his promises to me. I’ve the utmost respect for him.”
But to pursue better growth he, in the end, still sent out his text message. The day was August 21. It was rumored that the finale of 'The Life and Times of Sentinel' peaked at 40 points, but the company showed not reaction to it; however it held an ostentatious celebration for Life of Omission that had the same peak rating, and that this had so enraged Steven that in a fit of anger he decided to terminate his contract, this clearly does not hold water as it was not until August 26th that ‘Sentinel’s finale was aired.
“Do you think it's little kids playing toys? If I want a celebration I can pay for one out of my own pocket. I’ve done that many times already.” About Michael Tse's upfront upbraiding him for being “immature”, Steven smiled and said: “I’m not very familiar with Michael. I believe he was just kidding. Steven,I, will never carry out any action because of not having a celebratory event.”
Because talks are still in progress, Steven cannot reveal his rationale for terminating the contract. He can only say that after sending out that text message, on the very next day, Run Run Shaw’s secretary, Chan Fai Kong Run, contacted him to investigate his situation, and soon after, Virginia Lok through Hillman arranged for a meeting with Steven in tvb city. They talked for a while, and shortly there was news that Stephen Chan and Mark Lee had both agreed to exempt that clause from his contract, and permit Steven to accept “The Founding of Yuan Dynasty”. The contract (tn:series) is almost complete now. When finished with shooting “Prosperous Father, he will head up north; it seems like a happy ending.
But Steven says his wanting to terminate his contract has not wavered. “I guess lots of people must be thinking how come Steven is being so audacious. I want to take this opportunity to say, outwardly I’m very strong, I'm used to confronting life and death separation, but it does not mean that I don’t have feelings. When I submitted my request to be released from my contract, it wasn't on a whim. From the moment I sent out that text message, my decision to leave was resolute.”
There are rumors that there are many artists management agencies in Hong Kong and Mainland beckoning him to their companies. Have no choice but to leave, is it because of him be suppressed by a certain person? "If you want me to answer you with a “no”, I can’t do it! Company has many talented people, no need for you to especially do anything for me, but at least, be a little bit fairer!” When brought up the rumors that he has never gotten along with Virginia Lok, he quipped: “Virginia Lok and Me, weak affinity. Don’t know why but we just can’t communicate. And after a while, feel very distant. Some people (tn:tvb human resource department) I can’t even remember. TVB is my management agent.” (tn: as opposed to solely VL)
Virginia Lok's Response to Steven's news article
Responding to Steven Ma’s “weak affinity”, Virginia Lok say: “I hope all artists understand whether have weak or strong affinity with me is not important, what’s important is to have affinity with TVB! Artists are the company’s resources, of course, I will work hard to help everybody fight for opportunities. But not everything, I, Ms. Lok, say is fine then it’s fine. To be successful, also has to depend on opportune timing and favorable conditions.”
She admitted that she does not have much contact with Steven other than business. “ TVB has so many artists, there’s not way I can have contacts with each and every one of them. Unless like Xu Ting Keng (許挺鏗) signing the records company or Fook Lu Sau held a concert, only then will have more mutual contacts. Sometimes when an artist want to make a request and talk personally to me, only then will set up a private meeting to eat together, like Charmaine Sheh.”
Steven claims he has signed contract with TVB for six years, but stage performing, commercials and ads, and other side jobs are far in between, everything has to depend on himself and his colleague to fight for. Ms. Lok say: “I also have asked Hillman (Steven’s manager) why Steven’s jobs are not many? Hillman said that many clients had asked about fees, schedules, but clients are fickle, one minute like this the next like that, so maybe in the end picked another artist. For this I truly feel it is a bit regrettable but you know, there’s supply and there’s demand.”
Talking about “The Founding of Yuan Dynasty’s” contract woes, what came out of Ms. Lok’s mouth was a different version from Steven’s. She said that day she received Steven’s text message, only then did she know about this situation. “That was a Sunday. I immediately called up Hillman to ask what happened? Hillman told me it was because company couldn’t accept certain clauses in the contract. I knew Steven truly wanted to shoot this series. I had helped him ask the company if it could cooperate with him. But during the meeting, they all did not want to waive the clause on the contract. Moreover, he is not even the first lead in the series.”
This stipulation, is it true that all mainland series that the artists participated in must be aired on tvb? “No. Actually, Siu Ming gor and I are very familiar to each other. We once worked together in Rediffusion Television (RTV). If he had truly wanted Steven to shoot in this series he would have called me but he didn’t. Through Hillman I contacted Steven . And we discussed the matter again. Steven expressed that he truly wanted to shoot this series. So I called up Siu Ming gor to ask him to help, to ask the producers to be more accommodating. Consequently the other party accommodated, and we successfully resolved this matter.”
She remembers that it was after successfully resolving this matter with Siu Ming gor that she received Steven’s text message to terminate his contract. “I don’t consider that is an official letter style. In his message, he seemed dispirited, like the company does not care too much about him. But then this is not the first time he expressed his unhappiness. He has expressed his unhappiness to Stephen (SC) and to Zhan Jie (Catherine Tsang). Once in a dinner, after consuming some wine he related his grievances to Executive Deputy Chairman, Norman Leung, and became quite teary as he spoke. Everybody hurriedly comforted him."
“I feel that maybe it is almost year end, and close to the anniversary awards ceremony so he threw some tantrums! Usually prior to and after the anniversary ceremony we seldom negotiate contracts with the artists, too sensitive. Steven’s contract will end next year. We had intended to discuss his contract after the anniversary ceremony.” Steven has expressed his wish, will Ms. Lok make gestures to retain him? “Of course want to retain him. Steven has achievements and has put in efforts, even if does not want to sign management contract, can also stay back to shoot series….but, can he terminate his contract early?"
.*******.
My response to the article:
.-- Great recap of the REAL story....I like how Mingpao presented both sides so that people can decide for themselves who they want to believe.
.-- I personally found Virginia Lok's comments insulting -- especially the part where she practically "accuses" Steven of trying to use his contract thing to gain advantage at the awards ceremony. What a tactless (and stupid) thing for someone in her position to say! As a manager myself, I'm disgusted by VL's blatant bias and lack of professionalism...she's definitely not a good manager -- that's for sure!
.-- Also, I almost threw up when VL tried to make herself sound like a "hero" because she 'supposedly' helped Steven get his Mainland China series back...she's so "full of it", it's not even funny....
.-- The other thing I found interesting with this interview is the issue regarding the contract. It behooves me that TVB would put a stipulation in their artists' contracts stating that TVB artists are not allowed to participate in a Mainland series unless that series airs on TVB....The question I have is: Really? I would be curious to see if the contracts for the other TVB managed artists who filmed series in the Mainland the past couple years (i.e.: Charmaine prior to her contract ending, Kevin, Tavia, Ron, Myolie, Raymond, etc.) had that same stipulation -- if so, then TVB is definitely limiting the growth of their artists, since that greatly narrows the options for their artists in terms of series that they are allowed to film in Mainland (since not every Mainland series will end up airing on TVB).
However, I actually have a feeling that there is no such stipulation in the other artists contracts and TVB is just using this as an excuse to hold Steven back from further opportunities (which means that TVB is trying to play favorites again by allowing their favored artists to film in the Mainland but not others). I mean, it really doesn't make sense to me that they would put such a stipulation in the artists contracts, especially considering how big the Mainland market is and knowing how it's virtually 'impossible' for TVB to try to control that market by buying the broadcast rights for every single series. If that's truly the case, then it's no wonder that majority of the artists in HK don't want to sign management contracts with TVB....heck, if I were those artists and knew ahead of time that the opportunities would be so limited, I wouldn't sign with them either!
.-- And of course, this makes Michael Tse's comment even more insulting and shows more than ever how arrogantly and stupidly he (Michael) answered. Hey, if Steven could respond with such grace and help Michael "save face" by saying that he was probably only joking, the least Michael could have done was just shut the hell up!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
My ‘TVB Rant’ # 12: Another Example of TVB’s ‘Double Standard’ (the argument of ‘peak ratings’ versus ‘average ratings’)
Note: ‘Sentinel’ refers to the series “The Life and Times of a Sentinel” and ‘Omission’ refers to the series “Lives of Omission”.
I’ve been reading the various articles in the entertainment news portals as well as a variety of posts and comments on forums, blogs, etc. regarding the whole Sentinel vs Omission situation as well as Michael Tse’s comments criticizing Steven Ma….
Well, I’ve pretty much made my position clear already in terms of what I thought about Michael Tse’s ‘immature’ response....here’s the comment I posted in the AF forum that pretty much sums things up:
What an arrogant and cocky response from Michael! I don't know what it is, but ever since he became popular with the Laughing character last year, it seems to have gotten to his head.....as I've said before, I've never understood the hype over Laughing anyway and I consider Michael 'lucky' that his character happened to appeal to majority of the audiences...instead of reacting with grace, he starts to take on a cocky attitude? WTH? Sorry, but based on everything I've read so far, I feel that the 'immature' one in this situation is Michael, not Steven...
(For those interested in reading more, you can visit this thread in Asianfanatics: “Michael Tse criticizes Steven Ma is being immature”
After reading the various posts in tamaya’s blog as well as lizzy’s most recent post about the situation, ), I felt the urge to do another one of my ‘TVB rants’ about the topic (plus there were quite a few points brought up in lizzy’s post that got me thinking about a few things that I’ve ranted about before and are now coming back to the surface again).
For the purposes of this post, I am going to focus mainly on the ‘ratings’ argument, since that seems to be the primary ‘justification’ that TVB makes for why they should pay more attention to Omission and not to Sentinel (plus some netizens are trying to use the ratings thing to ‘justify’ Michael Tse’s criticism of Steven – which, for the record, is a bunch of BS in my opinion). So what exactly is the ‘ratings argument’? Well, when TVB’s spokesperson Tsang Sing Ming was asked about Sentinel’s peak ratings of 40 points, he “conveniently” used the average ratings of the series to answer the question, inadvertently pointing out that Sentinel’s overall ratings were low and it ended up in 10th place compared with Omission’s 1st place – in a sense, stating that it’s not the peak ratings that matter but rather the average ratings. When Michael ‘criticized’ Steven, he actually made the exact same argument about the average ratings versus peak ratings (that can’t be a coincidence…I sense a major ‘kiss up’ attempt here). Ok, so let me get this straight….according to TVB and Michael Tse: the peak ratings shouldn’t matter, as the overall average ratings of a series is the important part. Even though both Omission and Sentinel hit the 40 point mark in peak ratings (Sentinel actually hit that number first), that’s less important in the scheme of things, because it’s really the average ratings that counts – so since the overall average ratings for Omission consistently exceeded the 30 point mark whereas the average ratings for Sentinel was consistently under 30 points (except for finale week), it ‘goes without saying’ that more attention should be paid to Omission and the series should be acknowledged / celebrated / given special treatment.
In my opinion, lizzy does a good job of explaining the average ratings thing in her post (see above link), so I’m not going to rehash all that in this post. Rather, I’m going to respond to TVB (and Michael Tse)’s argument about the ‘average ratings counting more than the peak ratings’….
First of all, by making this argument, TVB is totally being contradictory because there have been numerous instances in the past where TVB has emphasized peak ratings over average ratings and made a ‘big deal’ out of their series ‘peaking’ at certain points. So for them to say now that the peak ratings don’t mean much and it’s the average ratings that counts is absolutely HYPOCRITICAL! This just goes to show that TVB has an integrity issue and also proves that one of the ‘problems’ that I’ve been complaining about them is true: TVB blatantly ‘uses’ certain situations to their advantage when it suits their needs, but then brushes off (ignores) other situations when they know it’s not favorable toward them, then they’ll make up any ‘lame’ excuse that they can to defend their foolish actions (especially when they are ‘called out’ on it).
For those who think that I’m being too ‘harsh’ on TVB once again (yes, there are quite a few people out there who think this), here’s a recent example of how TVB placed more emphasis on peak ratings rather than average ratings:
Last year, when TVB’s ‘favored’ series “Can’t Buy Me Love” supposedly peaked at 51 points during its finale (the key word here is SUPPOSEDLY….see TVB Rant #5 for details on why I use this word), they made such a big deal out of it, they even dedicated a ‘spread’ to it in one of the issues of their TVB Magazine (the title of that particular article reads: “Can’t Buy Me Love breaks 50 points”…with that kind of title, I’m sure you can figure out the content of the article) – plus all the ‘attention’ it got in the Media (the average ratings for CBML overall was in the low 30s). Ok, so help me understand this – if the peak ratings really don’t matter, then WHY THE HELL did TVB put so much emphasis on CBML breaking 50 points last year? Is it because CBML starred mostly TVB’s own biological sons/daughters that they are heavily promoting and so the series has to succeed no matter what otherwise TVB will lose face (compared to the other 2 ‘big’ series from that year, “No Regrets” and “Gun Metal Grey”, whose main leads were non-contracted artists)? Whatever the reason, the fact of the matter is that for TVB, the ‘peak rating’ was important last year for CBML, but this year, for Sentinel, it’s all of a sudden ‘not important’ (anyone disagree with me that TVB is applying a ‘double standard’ here?)
Note: I can think of a few other examples as well, but since the CBML thing is probably still fresh in a lot of people’s minds, I chose to only use that issue as an example.
From everything that has been made known so far, it’s obvious that TVB favors Omission more than they do Sentinel – not surprisingly, TVB’s ‘blatant favoritism’ rears its ugly head once again! As I read through all the stuff about Omission versus Sentinel, I’m getting a huge sense of déjà vu – TVB did the exact same thing last year when they (heavily) favored “Can’t Buy Me Love” over anniversary series “Gun Metal Grey”, resulting in GMG star Felix Wong’s ‘outburst’ toward TVB (see TVB Rant #6 for details). Oh, and how about the year before that (2009) when TVB over-hyped / over-promoted “Beyond the Realm of Conscience” and pretty much ‘neglected’ the other anniversary series “Born Rich” as well as the unexpected hit “Rosy Business”? Come to think of it, there’s another example right there – when BTROC peaked at 50 points back when it aired (again, during the finale episode only), there was much fanfare and ‘commotion’ over the ‘amazing accomplishment’, whereas when RB peaked at 47 points (on its own, without any special promotion or hype), the only people who seemed to notice were the audiences and the Media. Hmmm, I already see a pattern….I don’t think I need to go further back through the rest of the decade (or at least through the Virginia Lok era) to prove my point, right?
Ok, so now that I let off my steam, I’ll end with some final words: When it comes to TVB, some things never change!
I’ve been reading the various articles in the entertainment news portals as well as a variety of posts and comments on forums, blogs, etc. regarding the whole Sentinel vs Omission situation as well as Michael Tse’s comments criticizing Steven Ma….
Well, I’ve pretty much made my position clear already in terms of what I thought about Michael Tse’s ‘immature’ response....here’s the comment I posted in the AF forum that pretty much sums things up:
What an arrogant and cocky response from Michael! I don't know what it is, but ever since he became popular with the Laughing character last year, it seems to have gotten to his head.....as I've said before, I've never understood the hype over Laughing anyway and I consider Michael 'lucky' that his character happened to appeal to majority of the audiences...instead of reacting with grace, he starts to take on a cocky attitude? WTH? Sorry, but based on everything I've read so far, I feel that the 'immature' one in this situation is Michael, not Steven...
(For those interested in reading more, you can visit this thread in Asianfanatics: “Michael Tse criticizes Steven Ma is being immature”
After reading the various posts in tamaya’s blog as well as lizzy’s most recent post about the situation, ), I felt the urge to do another one of my ‘TVB rants’ about the topic (plus there were quite a few points brought up in lizzy’s post that got me thinking about a few things that I’ve ranted about before and are now coming back to the surface again).
For the purposes of this post, I am going to focus mainly on the ‘ratings’ argument, since that seems to be the primary ‘justification’ that TVB makes for why they should pay more attention to Omission and not to Sentinel (plus some netizens are trying to use the ratings thing to ‘justify’ Michael Tse’s criticism of Steven – which, for the record, is a bunch of BS in my opinion). So what exactly is the ‘ratings argument’? Well, when TVB’s spokesperson Tsang Sing Ming was asked about Sentinel’s peak ratings of 40 points, he “conveniently” used the average ratings of the series to answer the question, inadvertently pointing out that Sentinel’s overall ratings were low and it ended up in 10th place compared with Omission’s 1st place – in a sense, stating that it’s not the peak ratings that matter but rather the average ratings. When Michael ‘criticized’ Steven, he actually made the exact same argument about the average ratings versus peak ratings (that can’t be a coincidence…I sense a major ‘kiss up’ attempt here). Ok, so let me get this straight….according to TVB and Michael Tse: the peak ratings shouldn’t matter, as the overall average ratings of a series is the important part. Even though both Omission and Sentinel hit the 40 point mark in peak ratings (Sentinel actually hit that number first), that’s less important in the scheme of things, because it’s really the average ratings that counts – so since the overall average ratings for Omission consistently exceeded the 30 point mark whereas the average ratings for Sentinel was consistently under 30 points (except for finale week), it ‘goes without saying’ that more attention should be paid to Omission and the series should be acknowledged / celebrated / given special treatment.
In my opinion, lizzy does a good job of explaining the average ratings thing in her post (see above link), so I’m not going to rehash all that in this post. Rather, I’m going to respond to TVB (and Michael Tse)’s argument about the ‘average ratings counting more than the peak ratings’….
First of all, by making this argument, TVB is totally being contradictory because there have been numerous instances in the past where TVB has emphasized peak ratings over average ratings and made a ‘big deal’ out of their series ‘peaking’ at certain points. So for them to say now that the peak ratings don’t mean much and it’s the average ratings that counts is absolutely HYPOCRITICAL! This just goes to show that TVB has an integrity issue and also proves that one of the ‘problems’ that I’ve been complaining about them is true: TVB blatantly ‘uses’ certain situations to their advantage when it suits their needs, but then brushes off (ignores) other situations when they know it’s not favorable toward them, then they’ll make up any ‘lame’ excuse that they can to defend their foolish actions (especially when they are ‘called out’ on it).
For those who think that I’m being too ‘harsh’ on TVB once again (yes, there are quite a few people out there who think this), here’s a recent example of how TVB placed more emphasis on peak ratings rather than average ratings:
Last year, when TVB’s ‘favored’ series “Can’t Buy Me Love” supposedly peaked at 51 points during its finale (the key word here is SUPPOSEDLY….see TVB Rant #5 for details on why I use this word), they made such a big deal out of it, they even dedicated a ‘spread’ to it in one of the issues of their TVB Magazine (the title of that particular article reads: “Can’t Buy Me Love breaks 50 points”…with that kind of title, I’m sure you can figure out the content of the article) – plus all the ‘attention’ it got in the Media (the average ratings for CBML overall was in the low 30s). Ok, so help me understand this – if the peak ratings really don’t matter, then WHY THE HELL did TVB put so much emphasis on CBML breaking 50 points last year? Is it because CBML starred mostly TVB’s own biological sons/daughters that they are heavily promoting and so the series has to succeed no matter what otherwise TVB will lose face (compared to the other 2 ‘big’ series from that year, “No Regrets” and “Gun Metal Grey”, whose main leads were non-contracted artists)? Whatever the reason, the fact of the matter is that for TVB, the ‘peak rating’ was important last year for CBML, but this year, for Sentinel, it’s all of a sudden ‘not important’ (anyone disagree with me that TVB is applying a ‘double standard’ here?)
Note: I can think of a few other examples as well, but since the CBML thing is probably still fresh in a lot of people’s minds, I chose to only use that issue as an example.
From everything that has been made known so far, it’s obvious that TVB favors Omission more than they do Sentinel – not surprisingly, TVB’s ‘blatant favoritism’ rears its ugly head once again! As I read through all the stuff about Omission versus Sentinel, I’m getting a huge sense of déjà vu – TVB did the exact same thing last year when they (heavily) favored “Can’t Buy Me Love” over anniversary series “Gun Metal Grey”, resulting in GMG star Felix Wong’s ‘outburst’ toward TVB (see TVB Rant #6 for details). Oh, and how about the year before that (2009) when TVB over-hyped / over-promoted “Beyond the Realm of Conscience” and pretty much ‘neglected’ the other anniversary series “Born Rich” as well as the unexpected hit “Rosy Business”? Come to think of it, there’s another example right there – when BTROC peaked at 50 points back when it aired (again, during the finale episode only), there was much fanfare and ‘commotion’ over the ‘amazing accomplishment’, whereas when RB peaked at 47 points (on its own, without any special promotion or hype), the only people who seemed to notice were the audiences and the Media. Hmmm, I already see a pattern….I don’t think I need to go further back through the rest of the decade (or at least through the Virginia Lok era) to prove my point, right?
Ok, so now that I let off my steam, I’ll end with some final words: When it comes to TVB, some things never change!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Review of “The Life and Times of a Sentinel (紫禁驚雷)”
Over the past decade, I’ve pretty much lost faith in TVB’s series and in the last 5 to 6 years especially, I’ve given up on watching TVB series as ‘religiously’ as I used to because the quality just isn’t there. And it’s not just about the scripts being mediocre or the acting being horrendous in some cases, it’s more the overall feeling of insincerity that I get from TVB when they try to stick similarly-themed series with the same artists in our faces over and over again (if the script and acting were good, then I could still tolerate the repetition – but seeing that both have been lacking, it has become an “annoyance” over the years). I will honestly say that out of all the series that either aired or were scheduled to air this year, there wasn’t a single one that I was looking forward to – either the storylines didn’t sound interesting or I didn’t like the cast. Or perhaps I got so jaded from the many mediocre series that had aired up to this point, I just wasn’t expecting anything ‘good’ from TVB anymore.
A week or so before TVB’s newest series “The Life and Times of a Sentinel” was to start airing, the previews to the series had already started up – even as I watched the previews, I knew that the series would be different from some of the other series that had aired recently, but I still didn’t really feel a sense of excitement for the series. But since I like the cast (especially the male side) and the storyline seemed like something I would be able to tolerate, I decided to give the series a try. I’m actually quite glad I did because this series was excellent – one of the best that I’ve seen in a long time (given my disdain for newer TVB series, that’s definitely a compliment…LOL). From the first episode that aired at the end of July, I was instantly hooked by the engaging storyline and the suspenseful sequence of events. As the series progressed, it kept a pretty steady pace, though there were a few episodes that did feel excessively draggy and boring (mostly the concubine scenes near the beginning of the series) – luckily though, the less engaging parts were few and far between. The last episode was absolutely awesome and so well-written, I couldn’t help being captivated by the intensity and emotion of the ending, which had me literally in tears during some of the most pivotal scenes (actually, there were several scenes throughout the entire series that tugged at my heartstrings). Of course, no series is perfect and this one definitely had its flaws (some of which I’ll talk about later) – but even taking those ‘flaws’ into consideration, this series was still of a higher caliber overall. It has definitely been a long time since I’ve watched such an exciting, high quality series!
With this review, I will attempt to cover some of the highlights of the series (though it definitely won’t be all-inclusive) with a focus on the characters and the artists who portrayed them.
Cast / Characters
With regard to the cast, my opinion is that overall, the male cast – both the leads and supporting – were quite good and kept the series going, whereas the females were quite weak (except for Ching Hor Wai and Helen Ma). I will be honest and say that I didn’t like the female cast much (again, with the exception of Ching Hor Wai, Helen Ma, and maybe Selena Li), so obviously, I decided to watch this series because of the strong male cast (many of whom I like) – such as Steven Ma, Kenneth Ma, Power Chan, Evergreen Mak, Jack Wu, Lau Gong, Felix Lok, Sunny Chan, KK Cheung, Kwok Fung, etc. Even Chris Lai – whom I’m sort of indifferent towards, since I haven’t really watched too many of his series – did a great job with the few scenes that he had (primarily in the first episode).
Since this series has a complicated storyline and a big cast, I’m only going to focus on a few of the ‘main players’ for the purposes of this review. Again, this review is not all-inclusive – it’s pretty much just summary of my thoughts on the series.
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Steven Ma (Nip Dor Bo) -- Steven's character in the series, Nip Dor Bo, is a very complex one, as his background is quite complicated (given his initial family background of being the grandson of a palace guard and losing his entire family due to one person's selfishness, then the subsequent revelation of his true identity as actual royalty) and the various situations he encounters as well as the relationships he forges (be it family, friendship, love, etc.) all require varying degrees of emotion. I feel that the character of Nip Dor Bo was very well-developed, but more importantly, he was very "relatable" for the audiences -- as a person, he was not perfect by any means and oftentimes allowed his own emotions and biases to cloud his judgement, which caused him to do things that were irrational or foolish. And his personality is a bit bold and daring -- sometimes too much, to the point that he gets himself in situations that could have been avoided. But yet, despite his flaws, we can't help but admire his fiery passion in upholding his values and seeking justice for others (and himself), his moving filialness and love for his adoptive parents as well as his righteous dedication to his friends.....there was a good "balance" to his character that made him come across as both realistic and likable. I know for me personally, I enjoyed the character of Nip Dor Bo very much.
In terms of Steven's performance as Nip Dor Bo...well, let me just say that after finishing this series, the best way to describe my reaction to Steven's performance is through one word: WOW!!! Obviously, I can't praise Steven enough for his excellent acting in this series (if he doesn't deserve TV King this year, then no one else does!!). His emotion-filled performance was very powerful on all fronts, to the point that watching many of his most pivotal scenes brought me to tears (can't remember the last time I cried like that while watching a TVB series) -- the scene where Steven (Dor Bo) watches his beloved parents (brilliantly played by Kwok Fung and Helen Ma) die right before his eyes, yet he is not able to do anything about it; the scene at the end where the woman he loves (Selena Li) dies in his arms; and of course, the entire dramatic palace scene after Steven's character reveals his true identity -- more specifically, his 'reunion' scene with his grandmother, the Empress Dowager (played by Ching Hor Wai) as well as the part where he prevents his brother Fook Chuen (Kenneth Ma) from killing himself by using his own hand (and blood) to block the sword (including the dialogue that takes place right after that). The emotional energy that came out of those scenes was so great that I actually had to compose myself after watching them! Basically, Steven’s portrayal of Nip Dor Bo was “perfect” in my opinion!
I can’t say that I’m a fan of Steven’s because to be honest, I only really started paying attention to him in the past few years and so I don’t know enough about him to call myself a fan. However I definitely remember him from the first 2 series that I watched of his – “Files of Justice” and “Healing Hands” – back in the 90s. And even back then, it was obvious that he had potential. I’ve always felt that Steven is one of those rare talents in the entertainment industry who has both the skills (in acting and singing) as well as good looks – and as if that weren't enough, he also has excellent penmanship (he wrote several books and also has his own column in a magazine) and is also a very engaging host (evident from his hosting of “Apprentice Chef” and “Book of Words” in recent years). All in all, the level of respect that I have for Steven as an artist just went up several major notches – and yes, he has definitely made it onto my ‘favorite actors’ list!
In terms of the TV King award this year, I’m definitely in Steven’s corner. I know that there are more series that have not aired yet this year, but honestly speaking, given the list of series that are scheduled to air between now and the awards ceremony, I highly highly doubt that there will be any other performance that will be able to top Steven’s. Even though I know that Steven’s chance of getting the award is very slim (based purely off the fact that certain influential TVB management doesn’t like him), I am still going to root for him (though for the record, it doesn’t matter to me whether he gets the award or not – he’s already the Best Actor of the year in my heart).
Kenneth Ma (Prince Fook Chuen) – Kenneth’s character Fook Chuen was the primary villain in the series. Fook Chuen is actually a very intelligent man and excelled in almost everything he did and in many ways, seemed to be better than his younger brother Yuan Yip (aka Emperor Hong Hei). Even his father, Emperor Shun Ji, thought highly of him and told him that he would be the successor to the throne. However, Emperor Shun Ji’s mother, Empress Dowager Hao Chong didn’t feel that Fook Chuen would be a good emperor because of his aggressive personality and selfish nature – she felt that Yuan Yip would be a better emperor because of his innate compassionate nature. So of course, when Emperor Shun Ji ‘abdicates’ the throne (the announcement to the public was that he had died, but in reality, he was alive and had become a monk) and Yuan Yip becomes successor as Emperor, Fook Chuen is upset and bitter. But he tries not to show it and as he grows up, pretends to be on the Emperor’s side, playing the role of ‘good brother’ and ‘good grandson’ – behind the scenes though, he secretly goes against the Emperor and Empress Dowager and plots to try to take the throne from his brother, using / manipulating everyone around him in the process in order to meet his objective (especially his ‘brotherly friend’ Nip Dor Bo, who, it turns out, is revealed at the end to be his real brother, the 4th Prince). Needless to say, Fook Chuen does not succeed in overthrowing Emperor Hong Hei in the end.
Overall, I feel that Kenneth did a decent job in his role as Fook Chuen. There were several points in the series where I was really impressed with the way he portrayed the character, though there were other parts where I needed some convincing. I think that the biggest problem I had with Kenneth’s performance in the series is that he wasn’t “evil” enough – I could tell that he was trying, but I guess I was expecting a little more, which is probably why I kept feeling like something was missing. It also doesn’t help that I’m so used to seeing Kenneth in those ‘sweet, boyish, bordering on comedic’ roles that was typical of his other characters in the past, so it took me a few episodes to “warm up” to his villain character in this series. With that said, Kenneth didn’t do too bad, considering that this was only his second(?) villain role and the character itself was quite complex.
In terms of acting, I feel that Kenneth has a lot of potential and he’s actually the only one out of the ‘newbies’ from his generation that I’m able to tolerate and even like (I’m sure it’s obvious from my other posts how much I can’t stand the other younger generation artists). He’s a good actor, but definitely has a ways to go before he can reach Steven’s level (Steven was consistently strong throughout the entire series, whereas Kenneth was a bit of a hit and miss).
Power Chan (Emperor Hong Hei) -- At first, I truly felt that Power was miscast as Emperor Hong Hei, as he didn't seem to be able to bring out that 'powerful monarch' feel to the character (seemed too overly compassionate). However, as the series progressed -- and especially after watching the ending -- I realize that the problem really wasn't with Power's acting, but rather, with the way the character itself (Emperor Hong Hei) was written. The feeling that I get after watching the entire series is that the scriptwriter (perhaps intentionally?) focused more on the compassionate side of the Emperor rather than on his sovereignty as a ruler because he/she wanted to created a strong juxtaposition to the aggressiveness of Hong Hei's brother Fook Chuen, whose main goal in life was to 'take back' the throne that was supposedly promised to him by his father (Emperor Shun Ji). I think the writer was trying to emphasize how Hong Hei was the best choice for Emperor because of his compassionate disposition. The only thing is -- in my opinion at least -- the writer made the character of Hong Hei TOO compassionate, to the point that there wasn't enough balance between his sovereign side and his compassionate side.
Historically, Hong Hei was known for being one of the best Emperors that Imperial China ever had, as he truly had a heart for the people and was different from previous Emperors who only selfishly cared about themselves and whether someone was going to come steal their throne / empire (and thereby getting rid of anyone who got in their way). Not only was he a fair and just Emperor, he was also compassionate and righteous when it came to resolving matters (though at the same time, maintaining his sovereignty as the ruler of the country).
Looking at it from this perspective, I feel that Power did his job (quite well, as a matter of fact) in that he successfully brought out the compassionate side of Emperor Hong Hei. As the Emperor, he didn’t order any of the men who helped Fook Chuen to be killed, but rather stripped them of their titles and military power, while rewarding those who loyally and faithfully defended him during the crisis (very appropriate actions and in line with what I would expect the real life Emperor Hong Hei to do). As for his relationship with his wives (the fact that he was extremely lenient and compassionate toward Elaine Yiu’s character) – well, that wasn’t really supposed to be the focus of the series anyway, so I’m ok with the way that piece was handled.
Overall, in terms of Power’s performance in the series, I’m fine with it, as I feel that the limitations of the character through the way it was written was the primarily reason for the impression that he wasn’t portraying the character well. Power is still one of my favorite supporting actors – that definitely hasn’t changed!
Ching Hor Wai (Empress Dowager Hao Chong) – From a historical perspective, Empress Dowager Hao Chong played a critical role in supporting one of the most well-known Emperors (Hong Hei) to the imperial throne. Given all the historical significance, the role of Hao Chong was not an easy one to play. In this particular series, the role was extra difficult because on the one hand, the portrayal of the character couldn’t stray too much from history in terms of personality, yet still had to accommodate the fictional storyline.
At first, I disliked how the Empress Dowager was portrayed to be such a vicious, heartless person in the beginning because honestly speaking, she’s really not an evil person – as the matriarch of the imperial family, she had to take matters into her own hands to ensure that the kingdom continued to run smoothly when her son Shun Ji decided to abdicate the throne. Having the best interests of the people in mind, she chose Hong Hei to be successor because she felt that he would make a better Emperor than Fook Chuen (whom her son had chosen as successor) – of course, this meant that she had to lie about Shun Ji’s ‘last will and testament’ and take extreme measurements to protect this secret (and in turn, protect Emperor Hong Hei). This actually sets the stage for the entire story. The ironic thing is that Hao Chong actually made the right decision, as Hong Hei truly was the best choice for Emperor – the only thing is that the way she went about securing his reign (getting rid of people who knew the secret) was wrong. As I watched how Hao Chong’s character develops throughout the series, I understand that the intention really wasn’t to portray her as an evil villain, but rather to convey the message that despite her status as the elder matriarch, at the end of the day, she is only human and will make mistakes just like anyone else (she actually admits this herself during one of the last scenes when she tells Dor Bo that her decision has proven to be correct, it’s just the way she went about it was wrong).
Ching Hor Wai’s portrayal of Hao Chong actually was quite good – I wasn’t too impressed with the first 2 episodes or so, but after I started getting into the series more, I realized that the casting was actually correct. Now, thinking through the list of veteran ‘green leaf’ actresses who may possibly have been good ‘candidates’ for the role, I don’t feel that they would have been as successful as she was in the role. The palace court scene during the finale was especially critical and Ching Hor Wai definitely pulled out all the stops, matching Steven in her emotional intensity, especially with her facial expressions. The younger artists could definitely learn a thing or two from her performance in this series!
Selena Li (Zhi Ying/Princess Duen Mun) – Selena’s character Zhi Ying is the adopted daughter of a rebel leader from the previous dynasty (played by KK Cheung). She does not know her true identity at first and thinks that she is truly KK’s daughter, only to find out later on that she is actually a Manchu Princess (the half sister of Emperor Hong Hei). She is devastated by the revelation because all her life, she was taught to hate the Manchus because they invaded their land (the Han peoples) and overthrew the previous (Ming) dynasty. Prior to discovering her identity, she meets Dor Bo and they become friends – they start to have feelings for each other, but before the relationship even gets a chance to start, Zhi Ying’s identity is revealed and they aren’t able to further their relationship. In the end, when we find out that Dor Bo is actually the 4th Prince, that means Zhi Ying is his half-sister (though she dies without knowing this) – so in a sense, it’s not a bad thing that their relationship never got a chance to develop….
With regard to Selena’s performance in this series, I guess I should say that I’m indifferent to it – I neither like it nor hate. I like Selena in general, but for some reason, I feel that she didn’t quite perform up to the standard that I know she is capable of. Throughout the series, I really didn’t feel anything for her character and to be honest, I didn’t feel a whole lot of chemistry between her and Steven. I’m not sure if it’s because she didn’t have a whole lot of screen time or her character was underdeveloped. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt in this case and say that perhaps the focus was more on the Steven / Kenneth conflict, so there wasn’t enough time to develop Selena’s character or her relationships?
Kwok Fung / Helen Ma (Nip Dor Bo’s parents) – Both of these veteran artists turned in brilliant performances as Nip Dor Bo’s adoptive parents. Dor Bo’s relationship with his parents is a unique one, as they love each other even more than biological parents / children. Each time I watched the interaction between Dor Bo and his parents, I’m entirely moved by their relationship and especially how his parents are willing to sacrifice everything for him – even committing suicide for his sake. I mean, how many adoptive parents are willing to do that for their non-biological children? Better yet, how many adoptive parents are willing / able to show such unconditional love for a child whom they raised but is not theirs biologically? From the moment Kwok Fung and Helen’s characters appeared to the moment they died, they did not waver in their love for and support of Dor Bo. Now here’s a great example of how 2 characters can have very little screen time, but absolutely have a huge impact on the series! Interestingly, the 2 of them were my favorite characters from this series – I liked them from the beginning to the end.
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Since I talked about the main male characters already (I’m not going to go into much detail about the rest of the characters, as there were way too many to talk about individually – as I said earlier though, they all did great jobs!)
In terms of the rest of the females (other than the ones I mentioned above)….well, most of them turned in poor performances, in my opinion. To me, this was really one of the biggest flaws of the series – other than the ones I mentioned above, the rest of the female characters should have either been cut from the series / script or re-casted….here’s the brief ‘lowdown’…
.—Natalie Tong (Fook Chuen’s wife Guai Lun): Her performance was horrible! I already didn’t like the character to begin with because the character itself was so pathetic, but Natalie’s bad acting made it even worse. From the first scene that she was in, it was obvious that she was merely “reciting” her lines rather than actually acting out her part – I was able to tolerate it for the first episode, but after she kept doing it every time she appeared, it started to get extremely annoying. Also, her acting overall was very wooden and stiff – it just came across as really fake to me. Sorry to say this, but Natalie’s first attempt at ancient series was a major failure – she definitely needs to keep to modern series only!
.—Elaine Yiu (Emperor Hong Hei’s concubine Man Gwan): I really wasn’t too keen on Elaine’s performance in this series, though I admit that I probably didn’t like her character much because she just wasn’t very convincing with her acting. I guess I’m so used to seeing her in those annoying ‘bxxchy’ roles that when she actually does try to do the ‘demure wife’ role, it’s not believable (to me at least).
.—Christine Kuo (5th Brother Chang Ning’s wife): All I’m going to say is, I’m glad she had very little screen time because at least that meant I didn’t have to sit through too many of her scenes. I think what annoyed me most about Christine’s performance is that her voice was dubbed – not only that, whoever ‘dubbed’ it did a poor job because the voice over sounded really weird and fake and watching the lip movements that didn’t match was extremely annoying – to the point that I cringed each time she opened her mouth (hey TVB, if you’re going to dub, at least do it properly!!)
.—Grace Wong (Concubine Wai): Um, Grace’s character was a ‘mis-cast’ of major proportions (boy am I glad that she was only in a few scenes at the beginning of the series)! How stupid is it to cast someone who already cannot speak Cantonese properly in the first place in an ancient series where the dialogue is poetic and complex by nature? I swear, I could not understand a single word Grace said in any of her scenes – plus her character was kind of useless anyway, so what was the point of even including her? If they really needed her character, they could have cast others in that role (there are surely tons of other pageant winners with mediocre acting skills that they could have chosen from).
.****.
Additional thoughts / comments:
Below is a compilation of comments that I had posted in the series thread on AF throughout the time that I was watching the series. Since I took the time to write the comments, I figured I should at least include them here as well (though some of the comments are a bit random), as the comments provide additional insight on what I thought about the series overall:
The Script / Storyline:
.—For a fictional story that is loosely based on historical events / figures, I think that the scriptwriter actually did a pretty decent job with the script. True, there were some parts that were a bit confusing and didn’t really make a lot of sense (though I think this was partly due to the editing and the fact that some of the ‘flashback’ scenes weren’t in chronological order), but overall, it was a good story.
One thing that people should keep in mind is that this series is supposed to be loosely based on ancient Chinese history and culture, which makes the writing of the script very tricky -- the most challenging part is that the scriptwriter needs to add in fictional elements to make the story interesting, but can't take too much liberty and stray too far from the history and culture of those times because then the story wouldn't be convincing (plus it would most likely backfire on them if they tried to change history completely).
Of course, the series has its flaws (as expected) and yes, there were definitely some parts that didn't flow too well, but given the complexity of the story and the historical as well as cultural background that had to be incorporated into the story, I actually think that the scriptwriter was successful in incorporating the various elements. Compare this script to the scripts of most of the other series that TVB has produced the past few years and you'll see the difference in quality!
The Ending:
.-- The series ended exactly the same way it began – intense, riveting, suspenseful. Unlike a lot of TVB’s recent series (which are seriously mediocre and bland compared to this one), the writers/producer were truly able to bring this series ‘full circle’ -- and I’m not just referring to the format of having the series start off episode 1 with a scene from the finale – but also in terms of overall impact (the climactic intensity of the opening episode and the ending episode).
.-- For some reason, I wasn't surprised with the ending, probably because I already knew it since the beginning. Not sure if TVB aired the same previews of the series in HK as they did in the U.S., but in the preview that I saw (here in the U.S.), the narrator doing the commentary for the preview already said that Steven 'discovers that he is actually the descendant of the Emperor' (Emperor in this case refers to Shun Ji)....so to me, there really wasn't a 'big secret' at all. The only part that I was surprised about is that Selena was actually the Princess, because for some reason, I always thought that was a 'setup' by Selena's father KK...I guess I was wrong about that piece....
.-- The ending was amazing and kept me glued to my seat the entire time (despite already knowing exactly what happens and what the 'big secret' was since the beginning)....goes to show how intense the ending was. The emotional impact was also quite high -- I was literally crying along with the characters during the last few scenes. I truly feel that everyone in the cast gave it their all during the ending -- that last episode definitely made up for any of the 'issues' I had with the series earlier! In fact, now that the series is over, I'm starting to feel a bit down myself...
.***.
I would absolutely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys watching ancient series and doesn’t have a problem with poetic, flowery dialogue (I say this because not everyone likes watching these types of series because they don’t understand the dialogue). It is definitely of a higher quality than most of the other TVB series out there and for that reason alone, it is already worth watching! This series is easily my pick for Best Series of the Year!
A week or so before TVB’s newest series “The Life and Times of a Sentinel” was to start airing, the previews to the series had already started up – even as I watched the previews, I knew that the series would be different from some of the other series that had aired recently, but I still didn’t really feel a sense of excitement for the series. But since I like the cast (especially the male side) and the storyline seemed like something I would be able to tolerate, I decided to give the series a try. I’m actually quite glad I did because this series was excellent – one of the best that I’ve seen in a long time (given my disdain for newer TVB series, that’s definitely a compliment…LOL). From the first episode that aired at the end of July, I was instantly hooked by the engaging storyline and the suspenseful sequence of events. As the series progressed, it kept a pretty steady pace, though there were a few episodes that did feel excessively draggy and boring (mostly the concubine scenes near the beginning of the series) – luckily though, the less engaging parts were few and far between. The last episode was absolutely awesome and so well-written, I couldn’t help being captivated by the intensity and emotion of the ending, which had me literally in tears during some of the most pivotal scenes (actually, there were several scenes throughout the entire series that tugged at my heartstrings). Of course, no series is perfect and this one definitely had its flaws (some of which I’ll talk about later) – but even taking those ‘flaws’ into consideration, this series was still of a higher caliber overall. It has definitely been a long time since I’ve watched such an exciting, high quality series!
With this review, I will attempt to cover some of the highlights of the series (though it definitely won’t be all-inclusive) with a focus on the characters and the artists who portrayed them.
Cast / Characters
With regard to the cast, my opinion is that overall, the male cast – both the leads and supporting – were quite good and kept the series going, whereas the females were quite weak (except for Ching Hor Wai and Helen Ma). I will be honest and say that I didn’t like the female cast much (again, with the exception of Ching Hor Wai, Helen Ma, and maybe Selena Li), so obviously, I decided to watch this series because of the strong male cast (many of whom I like) – such as Steven Ma, Kenneth Ma, Power Chan, Evergreen Mak, Jack Wu, Lau Gong, Felix Lok, Sunny Chan, KK Cheung, Kwok Fung, etc. Even Chris Lai – whom I’m sort of indifferent towards, since I haven’t really watched too many of his series – did a great job with the few scenes that he had (primarily in the first episode).
Since this series has a complicated storyline and a big cast, I’m only going to focus on a few of the ‘main players’ for the purposes of this review. Again, this review is not all-inclusive – it’s pretty much just summary of my thoughts on the series.
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Steven Ma (Nip Dor Bo) -- Steven's character in the series, Nip Dor Bo, is a very complex one, as his background is quite complicated (given his initial family background of being the grandson of a palace guard and losing his entire family due to one person's selfishness, then the subsequent revelation of his true identity as actual royalty) and the various situations he encounters as well as the relationships he forges (be it family, friendship, love, etc.) all require varying degrees of emotion. I feel that the character of Nip Dor Bo was very well-developed, but more importantly, he was very "relatable" for the audiences -- as a person, he was not perfect by any means and oftentimes allowed his own emotions and biases to cloud his judgement, which caused him to do things that were irrational or foolish. And his personality is a bit bold and daring -- sometimes too much, to the point that he gets himself in situations that could have been avoided. But yet, despite his flaws, we can't help but admire his fiery passion in upholding his values and seeking justice for others (and himself), his moving filialness and love for his adoptive parents as well as his righteous dedication to his friends.....there was a good "balance" to his character that made him come across as both realistic and likable. I know for me personally, I enjoyed the character of Nip Dor Bo very much.
In terms of Steven's performance as Nip Dor Bo...well, let me just say that after finishing this series, the best way to describe my reaction to Steven's performance is through one word: WOW!!! Obviously, I can't praise Steven enough for his excellent acting in this series (if he doesn't deserve TV King this year, then no one else does!!). His emotion-filled performance was very powerful on all fronts, to the point that watching many of his most pivotal scenes brought me to tears (can't remember the last time I cried like that while watching a TVB series) -- the scene where Steven (Dor Bo) watches his beloved parents (brilliantly played by Kwok Fung and Helen Ma) die right before his eyes, yet he is not able to do anything about it; the scene at the end where the woman he loves (Selena Li) dies in his arms; and of course, the entire dramatic palace scene after Steven's character reveals his true identity -- more specifically, his 'reunion' scene with his grandmother, the Empress Dowager (played by Ching Hor Wai) as well as the part where he prevents his brother Fook Chuen (Kenneth Ma) from killing himself by using his own hand (and blood) to block the sword (including the dialogue that takes place right after that). The emotional energy that came out of those scenes was so great that I actually had to compose myself after watching them! Basically, Steven’s portrayal of Nip Dor Bo was “perfect” in my opinion!
I can’t say that I’m a fan of Steven’s because to be honest, I only really started paying attention to him in the past few years and so I don’t know enough about him to call myself a fan. However I definitely remember him from the first 2 series that I watched of his – “Files of Justice” and “Healing Hands” – back in the 90s. And even back then, it was obvious that he had potential. I’ve always felt that Steven is one of those rare talents in the entertainment industry who has both the skills (in acting and singing) as well as good looks – and as if that weren't enough, he also has excellent penmanship (he wrote several books and also has his own column in a magazine) and is also a very engaging host (evident from his hosting of “Apprentice Chef” and “Book of Words” in recent years). All in all, the level of respect that I have for Steven as an artist just went up several major notches – and yes, he has definitely made it onto my ‘favorite actors’ list!
In terms of the TV King award this year, I’m definitely in Steven’s corner. I know that there are more series that have not aired yet this year, but honestly speaking, given the list of series that are scheduled to air between now and the awards ceremony, I highly highly doubt that there will be any other performance that will be able to top Steven’s. Even though I know that Steven’s chance of getting the award is very slim (based purely off the fact that certain influential TVB management doesn’t like him), I am still going to root for him (though for the record, it doesn’t matter to me whether he gets the award or not – he’s already the Best Actor of the year in my heart).
Kenneth Ma (Prince Fook Chuen) – Kenneth’s character Fook Chuen was the primary villain in the series. Fook Chuen is actually a very intelligent man and excelled in almost everything he did and in many ways, seemed to be better than his younger brother Yuan Yip (aka Emperor Hong Hei). Even his father, Emperor Shun Ji, thought highly of him and told him that he would be the successor to the throne. However, Emperor Shun Ji’s mother, Empress Dowager Hao Chong didn’t feel that Fook Chuen would be a good emperor because of his aggressive personality and selfish nature – she felt that Yuan Yip would be a better emperor because of his innate compassionate nature. So of course, when Emperor Shun Ji ‘abdicates’ the throne (the announcement to the public was that he had died, but in reality, he was alive and had become a monk) and Yuan Yip becomes successor as Emperor, Fook Chuen is upset and bitter. But he tries not to show it and as he grows up, pretends to be on the Emperor’s side, playing the role of ‘good brother’ and ‘good grandson’ – behind the scenes though, he secretly goes against the Emperor and Empress Dowager and plots to try to take the throne from his brother, using / manipulating everyone around him in the process in order to meet his objective (especially his ‘brotherly friend’ Nip Dor Bo, who, it turns out, is revealed at the end to be his real brother, the 4th Prince). Needless to say, Fook Chuen does not succeed in overthrowing Emperor Hong Hei in the end.
Overall, I feel that Kenneth did a decent job in his role as Fook Chuen. There were several points in the series where I was really impressed with the way he portrayed the character, though there were other parts where I needed some convincing. I think that the biggest problem I had with Kenneth’s performance in the series is that he wasn’t “evil” enough – I could tell that he was trying, but I guess I was expecting a little more, which is probably why I kept feeling like something was missing. It also doesn’t help that I’m so used to seeing Kenneth in those ‘sweet, boyish, bordering on comedic’ roles that was typical of his other characters in the past, so it took me a few episodes to “warm up” to his villain character in this series. With that said, Kenneth didn’t do too bad, considering that this was only his second(?) villain role and the character itself was quite complex.
In terms of acting, I feel that Kenneth has a lot of potential and he’s actually the only one out of the ‘newbies’ from his generation that I’m able to tolerate and even like (I’m sure it’s obvious from my other posts how much I can’t stand the other younger generation artists). He’s a good actor, but definitely has a ways to go before he can reach Steven’s level (Steven was consistently strong throughout the entire series, whereas Kenneth was a bit of a hit and miss).
Power Chan (Emperor Hong Hei) -- At first, I truly felt that Power was miscast as Emperor Hong Hei, as he didn't seem to be able to bring out that 'powerful monarch' feel to the character (seemed too overly compassionate). However, as the series progressed -- and especially after watching the ending -- I realize that the problem really wasn't with Power's acting, but rather, with the way the character itself (Emperor Hong Hei) was written. The feeling that I get after watching the entire series is that the scriptwriter (perhaps intentionally?) focused more on the compassionate side of the Emperor rather than on his sovereignty as a ruler because he/she wanted to created a strong juxtaposition to the aggressiveness of Hong Hei's brother Fook Chuen, whose main goal in life was to 'take back' the throne that was supposedly promised to him by his father (Emperor Shun Ji). I think the writer was trying to emphasize how Hong Hei was the best choice for Emperor because of his compassionate disposition. The only thing is -- in my opinion at least -- the writer made the character of Hong Hei TOO compassionate, to the point that there wasn't enough balance between his sovereign side and his compassionate side.
Historically, Hong Hei was known for being one of the best Emperors that Imperial China ever had, as he truly had a heart for the people and was different from previous Emperors who only selfishly cared about themselves and whether someone was going to come steal their throne / empire (and thereby getting rid of anyone who got in their way). Not only was he a fair and just Emperor, he was also compassionate and righteous when it came to resolving matters (though at the same time, maintaining his sovereignty as the ruler of the country).
Looking at it from this perspective, I feel that Power did his job (quite well, as a matter of fact) in that he successfully brought out the compassionate side of Emperor Hong Hei. As the Emperor, he didn’t order any of the men who helped Fook Chuen to be killed, but rather stripped them of their titles and military power, while rewarding those who loyally and faithfully defended him during the crisis (very appropriate actions and in line with what I would expect the real life Emperor Hong Hei to do). As for his relationship with his wives (the fact that he was extremely lenient and compassionate toward Elaine Yiu’s character) – well, that wasn’t really supposed to be the focus of the series anyway, so I’m ok with the way that piece was handled.
Overall, in terms of Power’s performance in the series, I’m fine with it, as I feel that the limitations of the character through the way it was written was the primarily reason for the impression that he wasn’t portraying the character well. Power is still one of my favorite supporting actors – that definitely hasn’t changed!
Ching Hor Wai (Empress Dowager Hao Chong) – From a historical perspective, Empress Dowager Hao Chong played a critical role in supporting one of the most well-known Emperors (Hong Hei) to the imperial throne. Given all the historical significance, the role of Hao Chong was not an easy one to play. In this particular series, the role was extra difficult because on the one hand, the portrayal of the character couldn’t stray too much from history in terms of personality, yet still had to accommodate the fictional storyline.
At first, I disliked how the Empress Dowager was portrayed to be such a vicious, heartless person in the beginning because honestly speaking, she’s really not an evil person – as the matriarch of the imperial family, she had to take matters into her own hands to ensure that the kingdom continued to run smoothly when her son Shun Ji decided to abdicate the throne. Having the best interests of the people in mind, she chose Hong Hei to be successor because she felt that he would make a better Emperor than Fook Chuen (whom her son had chosen as successor) – of course, this meant that she had to lie about Shun Ji’s ‘last will and testament’ and take extreme measurements to protect this secret (and in turn, protect Emperor Hong Hei). This actually sets the stage for the entire story. The ironic thing is that Hao Chong actually made the right decision, as Hong Hei truly was the best choice for Emperor – the only thing is that the way she went about securing his reign (getting rid of people who knew the secret) was wrong. As I watched how Hao Chong’s character develops throughout the series, I understand that the intention really wasn’t to portray her as an evil villain, but rather to convey the message that despite her status as the elder matriarch, at the end of the day, she is only human and will make mistakes just like anyone else (she actually admits this herself during one of the last scenes when she tells Dor Bo that her decision has proven to be correct, it’s just the way she went about it was wrong).
Ching Hor Wai’s portrayal of Hao Chong actually was quite good – I wasn’t too impressed with the first 2 episodes or so, but after I started getting into the series more, I realized that the casting was actually correct. Now, thinking through the list of veteran ‘green leaf’ actresses who may possibly have been good ‘candidates’ for the role, I don’t feel that they would have been as successful as she was in the role. The palace court scene during the finale was especially critical and Ching Hor Wai definitely pulled out all the stops, matching Steven in her emotional intensity, especially with her facial expressions. The younger artists could definitely learn a thing or two from her performance in this series!
Selena Li (Zhi Ying/Princess Duen Mun) – Selena’s character Zhi Ying is the adopted daughter of a rebel leader from the previous dynasty (played by KK Cheung). She does not know her true identity at first and thinks that she is truly KK’s daughter, only to find out later on that she is actually a Manchu Princess (the half sister of Emperor Hong Hei). She is devastated by the revelation because all her life, she was taught to hate the Manchus because they invaded their land (the Han peoples) and overthrew the previous (Ming) dynasty. Prior to discovering her identity, she meets Dor Bo and they become friends – they start to have feelings for each other, but before the relationship even gets a chance to start, Zhi Ying’s identity is revealed and they aren’t able to further their relationship. In the end, when we find out that Dor Bo is actually the 4th Prince, that means Zhi Ying is his half-sister (though she dies without knowing this) – so in a sense, it’s not a bad thing that their relationship never got a chance to develop….
With regard to Selena’s performance in this series, I guess I should say that I’m indifferent to it – I neither like it nor hate. I like Selena in general, but for some reason, I feel that she didn’t quite perform up to the standard that I know she is capable of. Throughout the series, I really didn’t feel anything for her character and to be honest, I didn’t feel a whole lot of chemistry between her and Steven. I’m not sure if it’s because she didn’t have a whole lot of screen time or her character was underdeveloped. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt in this case and say that perhaps the focus was more on the Steven / Kenneth conflict, so there wasn’t enough time to develop Selena’s character or her relationships?
Kwok Fung / Helen Ma (Nip Dor Bo’s parents) – Both of these veteran artists turned in brilliant performances as Nip Dor Bo’s adoptive parents. Dor Bo’s relationship with his parents is a unique one, as they love each other even more than biological parents / children. Each time I watched the interaction between Dor Bo and his parents, I’m entirely moved by their relationship and especially how his parents are willing to sacrifice everything for him – even committing suicide for his sake. I mean, how many adoptive parents are willing to do that for their non-biological children? Better yet, how many adoptive parents are willing / able to show such unconditional love for a child whom they raised but is not theirs biologically? From the moment Kwok Fung and Helen’s characters appeared to the moment they died, they did not waver in their love for and support of Dor Bo. Now here’s a great example of how 2 characters can have very little screen time, but absolutely have a huge impact on the series! Interestingly, the 2 of them were my favorite characters from this series – I liked them from the beginning to the end.
.--.
Since I talked about the main male characters already (I’m not going to go into much detail about the rest of the characters, as there were way too many to talk about individually – as I said earlier though, they all did great jobs!)
In terms of the rest of the females (other than the ones I mentioned above)….well, most of them turned in poor performances, in my opinion. To me, this was really one of the biggest flaws of the series – other than the ones I mentioned above, the rest of the female characters should have either been cut from the series / script or re-casted….here’s the brief ‘lowdown’…
.—Natalie Tong (Fook Chuen’s wife Guai Lun): Her performance was horrible! I already didn’t like the character to begin with because the character itself was so pathetic, but Natalie’s bad acting made it even worse. From the first scene that she was in, it was obvious that she was merely “reciting” her lines rather than actually acting out her part – I was able to tolerate it for the first episode, but after she kept doing it every time she appeared, it started to get extremely annoying. Also, her acting overall was very wooden and stiff – it just came across as really fake to me. Sorry to say this, but Natalie’s first attempt at ancient series was a major failure – she definitely needs to keep to modern series only!
.—Elaine Yiu (Emperor Hong Hei’s concubine Man Gwan): I really wasn’t too keen on Elaine’s performance in this series, though I admit that I probably didn’t like her character much because she just wasn’t very convincing with her acting. I guess I’m so used to seeing her in those annoying ‘bxxchy’ roles that when she actually does try to do the ‘demure wife’ role, it’s not believable (to me at least).
.—Christine Kuo (5th Brother Chang Ning’s wife): All I’m going to say is, I’m glad she had very little screen time because at least that meant I didn’t have to sit through too many of her scenes. I think what annoyed me most about Christine’s performance is that her voice was dubbed – not only that, whoever ‘dubbed’ it did a poor job because the voice over sounded really weird and fake and watching the lip movements that didn’t match was extremely annoying – to the point that I cringed each time she opened her mouth (hey TVB, if you’re going to dub, at least do it properly!!)
.—Grace Wong (Concubine Wai): Um, Grace’s character was a ‘mis-cast’ of major proportions (boy am I glad that she was only in a few scenes at the beginning of the series)! How stupid is it to cast someone who already cannot speak Cantonese properly in the first place in an ancient series where the dialogue is poetic and complex by nature? I swear, I could not understand a single word Grace said in any of her scenes – plus her character was kind of useless anyway, so what was the point of even including her? If they really needed her character, they could have cast others in that role (there are surely tons of other pageant winners with mediocre acting skills that they could have chosen from).
.****.
Additional thoughts / comments:
Below is a compilation of comments that I had posted in the series thread on AF throughout the time that I was watching the series. Since I took the time to write the comments, I figured I should at least include them here as well (though some of the comments are a bit random), as the comments provide additional insight on what I thought about the series overall:
The Script / Storyline:
.—For a fictional story that is loosely based on historical events / figures, I think that the scriptwriter actually did a pretty decent job with the script. True, there were some parts that were a bit confusing and didn’t really make a lot of sense (though I think this was partly due to the editing and the fact that some of the ‘flashback’ scenes weren’t in chronological order), but overall, it was a good story.
One thing that people should keep in mind is that this series is supposed to be loosely based on ancient Chinese history and culture, which makes the writing of the script very tricky -- the most challenging part is that the scriptwriter needs to add in fictional elements to make the story interesting, but can't take too much liberty and stray too far from the history and culture of those times because then the story wouldn't be convincing (plus it would most likely backfire on them if they tried to change history completely).
Of course, the series has its flaws (as expected) and yes, there were definitely some parts that didn't flow too well, but given the complexity of the story and the historical as well as cultural background that had to be incorporated into the story, I actually think that the scriptwriter was successful in incorporating the various elements. Compare this script to the scripts of most of the other series that TVB has produced the past few years and you'll see the difference in quality!
The Ending:
.-- The series ended exactly the same way it began – intense, riveting, suspenseful. Unlike a lot of TVB’s recent series (which are seriously mediocre and bland compared to this one), the writers/producer were truly able to bring this series ‘full circle’ -- and I’m not just referring to the format of having the series start off episode 1 with a scene from the finale – but also in terms of overall impact (the climactic intensity of the opening episode and the ending episode).
.-- For some reason, I wasn't surprised with the ending, probably because I already knew it since the beginning. Not sure if TVB aired the same previews of the series in HK as they did in the U.S., but in the preview that I saw (here in the U.S.), the narrator doing the commentary for the preview already said that Steven 'discovers that he is actually the descendant of the Emperor' (Emperor in this case refers to Shun Ji)....so to me, there really wasn't a 'big secret' at all. The only part that I was surprised about is that Selena was actually the Princess, because for some reason, I always thought that was a 'setup' by Selena's father KK...I guess I was wrong about that piece....
.-- The ending was amazing and kept me glued to my seat the entire time (despite already knowing exactly what happens and what the 'big secret' was since the beginning)....goes to show how intense the ending was. The emotional impact was also quite high -- I was literally crying along with the characters during the last few scenes. I truly feel that everyone in the cast gave it their all during the ending -- that last episode definitely made up for any of the 'issues' I had with the series earlier! In fact, now that the series is over, I'm starting to feel a bit down myself...
.***.
I would absolutely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys watching ancient series and doesn’t have a problem with poetic, flowery dialogue (I say this because not everyone likes watching these types of series because they don’t understand the dialogue). It is definitely of a higher quality than most of the other TVB series out there and for that reason alone, it is already worth watching! This series is easily my pick for Best Series of the Year!
Monday, December 6, 2010
TVB Anniversary Awards 2010 (萬千星輝頒獎典禮2010)
Since I watched the Anniversary Awards, figured I would blog about it – but I have to make clear that I watched it because I wanted to have something to write about, not because I particularly care about who was going to win. The last couple years especially, I watch mostly because I want to see who the presenters are and the ‘funny’ or ‘clever’ dialogue that they usually give.
So before I go any further, I have to make the following disclaimer: the TVB Anniversary Awards from the past 5 years or so don’t mean anything to me because personally, I feel that TVB rigs them to benefit their own – we already know that TVB uses the awards to promote / showcase their own biological sons/daughters and the criteria is pretty much NOT based on acting skills or who gave the best performance, so there is NO CREDIBILITY whatsoever to the awards they give out.
With that said, below is the list of winners, my reaction to the results, as well as general comments and highlights from the ceremony (in my opinion):
TVB.COM Popular Artist: Raymond Lam
.> Of course, I’m not surprised that Raymond got this award, since he has such a huge fan base. In my opinion, this award is absolutely worthless because it doesn’t mean anything at all – it merely is an indication of how much on-line support the artist who wins it has…and I’m sure all of us (as well as Raymond himself) already know how many fans Raymond has – he doesn’t need a ‘stupid’ award to tell him that! Plus, if I remember correctly, he’s gotten this award several times in the past already (except for last year, but that’s because he didn’t have any series in the running last year) – pretty much every year that Raymond has a series in contention, he will continue to get this award.
Most ‘Enjoyable’ Program (aka Program Most Worth Watching): HK ARTchitecture
.> Since I didn’t watch any of the nominated programs in this category except for “The Voice”, not really going to comment (especially since I didn’t even know those other programs existed).
Best Variety Show: The Voice 2
I didn’t like any of the nominees in this category, so personally I don’t really care who won. Though I would have to say that as long as Super Trio didn’t win, then I’m fine with it – I used to love Super Trio, but the past couple years, the show has gotten very stupid and the games have been extremely lame. So I’m glad they didn’t win. I wasn’t too keen on the other nominee “Fun with Liza and the Gods” (as I’ve always said, I feel that watching that show makes me feel ‘dumb and dumber’) and the other 2 nominees I never even heard of, so I guess the logical choice would have been “The Voice 2”.
Most Improved Actress: Natalie Tong
.> Unlike most people in the forums, I actually don’t have much of an opinion on who deserved to win in this category because personally, I’m not too keen on any of the actresses who were nominated. I guess if I had to choose, I would probably prefer Selena more as an actress, as I can’t stand the majority of Natalie’s roles / performances. But as someone said in one of the forums, the reason why Selena probably didn’t get the award was because she’s pretty much already an established actress compared to Natalie so there wasn’t a lot to “improve” persay (which makes sense). But again, I don’t really care who wins this one (in fact, I can’t even remember who I voted for anymore in this category – goes to show how much I don’t care about it).
Most Improved Actor: Raymond Wong
.> Ok, I must say that this one was expected and very well-deserving. Raymond definitely did a good job this year and for me personally, I don’t mind watching his series. I don’t like very many of the newer generation TVB artists, but he’s definitely one that I enjoy watching. I feel that Raymond is deserving because I’ve also seen his improvement from his first few series to “When Lanes Merge” and “No Regrets”, so I can understand why he won. And I also give kudos to Raymond for giving one of the best speeches of the night. It was obvious he was well-prepared, as he had written down people he wanted to thank on a piece of paper and was able to get through the entire list. And even though he is sort of ‘new’ to TVB, he’s not new to the industry (13 years in the industry and 3.5 years in TVB) – he mentioned that this is his first award. He was very calm and extremely well-spoken, which really impressed me. Oh, and I loved the last part of his speech where he thanks his wife for sticking with him even during the lowest point in his life, then says that she will be giving him “a little life” very soon (meaning that she’s pregnant). Everyone was applauding and screaming when he made that announcement, which was so cute! Congrats to Raymond on his win and also on soon becoming a father!
Favorite Female Character: Charmaine Sheh
.> I actually am ok with Charmaine getting this award because out of the top 5 finalists (Charmaine’s princess from CBML, Sheren’s Miss 9 from NR, Linda’s character from CBML, Teresa’s character from Some Day, Tavia’s character from MOL), both Charmaine’s and Sheren’s characters were quite memorable and well-liked by audiences. It was pretty obvious though when Charmaine’s name was announced that Sheren would be TV Queen and this would be Charmaine’s consolation prize (because no matter how much TVB loves Charmaine, they would not risk the huge backlash from the audiences by giving her both Character and Actress awards again). Also, I’ve always looked at this award as a consolation prize for TV Queen for one, and two, it’s more about the ‘character’ in the series than the actor or actress, so again it doesn’t really mean anything in terms of the artists themselves (the artist could have so-so acting skills, but if the character is well-written, she could still win this award).
Favorite Male Character: Raymond Lam
.> Ok, this one was so obviously RIGGED!!! Raymond’s character in MOL was SO BORING and not even memorable. I mean, since this award was consolation for TV King, they could have given the award to Kenneth or Steven instead – they deserved it WAY more than Raymond did (if they didn’t want to give it to Wayne again because he was already going to get the Actor award). Though I don’t think that Moses deserves this award either because his character in CBML was annoying, but I don’t think I would have as much problem if he had gotten this award (probably cuz I was already expecting him to win it, since TVB was pushing him so much). I was actually rooting for Kenneth in this category (because his character stood out so much and AFOS was a great series with barely any recognition), but I would have been fine with any of the other 3 winning. But Raymond????? TVB was obviously trying to play favorites here!
Best Television Program Host: Liza Wang, Louis Yuen, Wong Cho Lam, Johnson Lee
.> This one was predictable – in fact, I would probably be surprised if they “didn’t” get this one…though I will say that I didn’t vote for them (I voted for Steven Ma). But oh well, it is what it is…not too much comment about this one (again, another category I didn’t really care about).
Best Professional Performance: Moses Chan
.> This was that stupid ‘pork’ award (the one Tavia got last year) that TVB made up in order to please certain people. Pretty much, it means nothing (most people can’t even explain what the purpose of the award is because frankly, it has no purpose) and does absolutely nothing for the artist who receives it. Last year, TVB gave it to Tavia because they didn’t want to waste all the investment they made with her in BTROC and this year, they are giving it to Moses because they chose Raymond over him for Favorite Character and there is no way that they could give him TV King without major backlash. Basically, this is a lame award that TVB should just get rid of instead of ‘embarrassing’ the artist who ends up receiving it! (But I do have to give credit to Moses for trying to make the most of the win by injecting a little bit of humor in his acceptance speech and trying to lighten up the atmosphere).
Best Supporting Actress: Fala Chen
.> Sorry, but there is no way I can support Fala getting this award with all of the veteran actresses nominated who were WAY better than her. I mean, they’ve got Elena Kong, Kara Hui, and Susanna Kwan nominated in this category (along with Nancy Wu) and they give the award to Fala for her character in NR that wasn’t even her best performance? I voted for Elena Kong because her performance was absolutely awesome in “Beauty Knows No Pain”. And absolutely how could a 7-time Best Actress in Film (Kara Hui) lose to Fala? Kara’s performance in AFOS was also way better. The winner of this category definitely was not determined based on acting skill!
Best Supporting Actor: Evergreen Mak
.> For me, this was the hardest category to pick the winner, as I liked almost all of the performances in this category. From the beginning, the race was really between Pierre Ngo, Evergreen Mak, and Dominic Lam (though Raymond Wong and Ron Ng were nominated as well, but they already knew they didn’t have a chance). I remember it took me so long to decide who to vote for in this category, as all three are good actors…in the end, it really came down to a choice between Dominic and Evergreen for me (though I would have been fine with Pierre getting the award as well). Evergreen ended up winning, which is still well-deserved in my opinion, as his Fei Fan Gor was very well-done and memorable. Also, his win was the most emotional one of the night, as I could tell that he was really surprised that he won. His win was pretty much reminiscent of the time back in 2008 when Wayne Lai won for the same award – all of his colleagues stood up and hugged him and applauded him. Same thing happened for Evergreen (though I actually think there were more hugs for Evergreen because he has always been a very amicable actor with tons of friends), plus all of his female colleagues stood up and hugged / kissed him as well (it took him forever to get up on the stage…LOL….also, people kept rubbing his bald head, which was kind of cute!). I also thought it was sweet of him to go over and especially give Elena (his wife in NR) a bear hug, partially sweeping her off her feet (awww)!
And his speech, which he gave through tears (his voice kept breaking at certain parts) was very heartfelt and very humbling – I almost cried at the part where he said that there are so many artists who are better than him at TVB and for the audience to applaud for them. This was probably the only win that I was extremely happy for all night.
Best Actress (TV Queen): Sheren Tang
.> Of course I’m not surprised that Sheren won and no complaints here, since her win was well-deserved. In the forums, there are many people who say her character was not at as ‘popular’ as Fourth Mistress in “Rosy Business”, but to me, that doesn’t really matter, since it’s really about her acting rather than the popularity of the character (plus Cheng Gau Mui was a really intense character anyway, one that was not easy to portray and definitely takes someone with Sheren’s skills to do). And it was already obvious when Charmaine won Favorite Character earlier that Sheren would win TV Queen. One thing that I have to say though – just because TVB gave TV Queen to Sheren, it DOES NOT mean that they are being “fair” – they are giving the award to her again because they have no choice, since she has tremendous audience backing and they wouldn’t be able to justify giving it to Charmaine after all the backlash they got from the horrendous ‘bad decisions’ they made before.
Best Actor (TV King): Wayne Lai
.> Again, no surprise here…this was totally expected (especially after they gave Moses and Raymond awards already). I’m happy for Wayne and am totally fine with him getting the award, though my opinion of why TVB gave him the award is the same as why I think they gave it to Sheren (to appease the audiences and lessen the backlash – plus they know that the audiences nowadays aren’t as ‘naïve’ as they were back in 2006, so pulling a Kevin Cheng-type win again would definitely have gotten them in serious trouble!). I will admit thought that I would much rather the award have gone to Steven – not because Wayne isn’t good because he is definitely absolutely awesome and no one can compare with him in terms of acting skill (he’s definitely the master), but Steven is also a very high quality actor and doesn’t get enough recognition, plus his PSL as well as AWT roles were very well-done and well-deserving of an award (I actually voted for Steven, despite Wayne being one of my favorite actors).
Oh, and Sandra Ng's speech (she was the presenter for the TV King award) was funny too and in a sense, it indirectly 'referred' to TVB's politics as well -- when she announced Wayne as the winner without even opening the envelope (supposedly), then saying "we all know how TVB works already", she definitely hit it on the spot as well...my first reaction was "Absolutely right -- we sure do!!!!" She knows just as well as everyone else (both artist and audience alike) that Wayne would be the TV King because Moses and Raymond got their 'consolation prizes' already...that’s TVB politics and is obvious to everyone!
Best Drama Series: Can’t Buy Me Love
.> This was definitely the category where I was like WTH???? No way was CBML better than NR in terms of script / plot or acting – in fact, CBML was pretty much just a bunch of nonsense! It was so obvious that this category was rigged – TVB was just trying to ‘satisfy’ the CBML group (and upper management, since the series has most of their favorite biological sons and daughters in it).
Also, the finalists for this category were a big huge joke…I mean, how did “A Chip Off the Old Block”, “Every Move You Make”, and “Mysteries of Love” make it into this category when there were so many better made series that deserved to be in those spots (i.e.: “Ghostwriter”, “A Fistful of Stances”, and how about ‘anniversary series’ “Gun Metal Grey”?????).
The presenter of this award was famous director / producer Johnnie To. I love the comments that he made right before opening the envelope: 「咁明顯, 應該係佢喇, 應該無做馬啦, 係咪呀? ~~~ 咦, 又唔係喎, 咁至衰喎」. (Since the above is in Cantonese, here’s the translation: “It’s so obvious, it should be them [“No Regrets”], the applause is different….shouldn’t be rigged, right? “ (he looks back at the artists when he says this). He then opens the envelope and states: “Oh, errr, it’s not them…that’s the bad thing.”
Ok, I know it’s not just me who thinks that the above comments by Johnnie were an indirect ‘diss’ on TVB -- there are very few artists who would be brave enough to do that and Johnnie is definitely one of them (notice how he also mentioned how great his life has been since he left TVB?). And since Johnnie used to work for TVB and was responsible for bringing us a lot of the most respected series in TVB history (along with his teacher Wong Tin Lam), his words have a lot of clout (people can't claim that he is an 'outsider' who doesn't know how it works). That was one of the other highlights of the entire show for me.
In terms of the Best Series award itself, well, again another example of TVB politics at work. I'm pretty sure that TVB was already intending for CBML to win big at the awards ceremony (by win big, I mean either TV King/Queen and/or Series) from the beginning when they took it out of the anniversary series timeslot (which they might as well have kept it there with the way they've been treating its replacement GMG!) and with so many audiences behind Wayne and Sheren, there only option was to give CBML the Best Series consolation prize. Pretty much as long as CBML and NR were in the top 5 for that category, it doesn't matter what other series were in there because doesn't mean anything anyways.
Concluding Comments:
Overall, the awards ceremony was lackluster and disappointing as usual – true, there were some very deserving wins, but there were also quite a few that left me scratching my head and asking “What the hell were they thinking?” With that said though, I don’t get ‘upset’ anymore over the results of the awards ceremony because frankly, I don’t give a damn about those awards – they don’t mean a thing to me and won’t cause me to like an artist that I already dislike or hate an artist that I’ve always liked. In fact, I’m already used to TVB’s STUPIDITIES after so many years following HK entertainment!
Even so, I do want to mention what I felt were the biggest SNUBS (disappointments) of the night:
.>> Kenneth and Steven losing to Raymond in the Favorite Male Character award – as I said above, both were SO MUCH MORE deserving of the award than Raymond. I don’t really care too much that TVB sacrificed Moses in this category (I didn’t vote for him anyway), but with Ma Ming and Steven’s awesome performances, it was just plain sad that they fell victim to TVB’s stupid politics!
.>> “Gun Metal Grey” not being in the top 5 for Best Series. Sure, TVB can (and probably will) argue that because GMG has not finished airing, that’s why it was at a disadvantage for the awards (which I can totally refute because both Felix and Nancy were in top 5 in their respective categories!)…BUT whose fault is it that GMG is airing so late and didn’t finish in time for the awards? TVB’s fault of course, since they were the ones who decided to remove CBML from the anniversary series timeslot (to give it better advantage at the awards ceremony) and make GMG into a replacement!
.>> I’m also sad that Steven didn’t win ANYTHING, not even a consolation prize, despite being better in terms of acting than some of those who actually won an award (and many of those who were nominated). Goes to show how much TVB DOESN’T care about him (yup, might as well put him into the same boat as Wong Hei, Sunny Chan, and all those other talented artists whom TVB loves to throw by the wayside). Well, in the long run, it doesn’t matter because we all know TVB’s awards are rigged anyway – Steven’s fans will continue to support him, no matter what happens (and I was happy to see what a great sport he was at the ceremony).
Overall, I still feel that the awards were rigged…TVB knows what they are doing -- they are very CLEVER when it comes to this kind of stuff and knows how far to push it before they will get 'caught' so to speak. Why do you think Raymond, Moses, and Charmaine as well as CBML were still awarded even though there were a lot of much more deserving candidates? TVB made sure that they still went with the audiences to some extent (hence Wayne and Sheren won) but still wanted to make sure they get their own biological children in there to satisfy their upper management.
No matter who they end up "awarding" and how much those won deserved or didn't deserve the awards, I will never associate the word "fair" with TVB's Anniversary Awards -- because no matter what, it will always be a reflection of TVB's politics (every year, it's pretty much just a matter of which category TVB decides to "rig")
Also, with regard to the ‘audience voting’ nonsense (some ignorant fans’ assertion that the awards were based on audience voting and so people who weren’t satisfied with the results should have voted) – well, sorry to burst your bubble, but the audience's vote really doesn't mean much at the end of the day because TVB will give the awards to whomever they want, since it's all about the politics really...they mostly just look at the audience vote to give them an 'idea' of how much backlash they will or won't get and how best to 'divide the pork' so that everyone is somewhat happy. So basically, whether we vote or not really doesn’t matter, since TVB will still rig it to benefit them (without making it seem too obvious of course).
LASTLY…..after this awards ceremony, it's even more obvious that FAVORITISM is rampant in TVB....so next time, if I hear again anyone from TVB claim that 'no favoritism exists in their company' (the message they continue to push out to the media), I'm just going to laugh at anyone who is naive enough to believe that!
So before I go any further, I have to make the following disclaimer: the TVB Anniversary Awards from the past 5 years or so don’t mean anything to me because personally, I feel that TVB rigs them to benefit their own – we already know that TVB uses the awards to promote / showcase their own biological sons/daughters and the criteria is pretty much NOT based on acting skills or who gave the best performance, so there is NO CREDIBILITY whatsoever to the awards they give out.
With that said, below is the list of winners, my reaction to the results, as well as general comments and highlights from the ceremony (in my opinion):
TVB.COM Popular Artist: Raymond Lam
.> Of course, I’m not surprised that Raymond got this award, since he has such a huge fan base. In my opinion, this award is absolutely worthless because it doesn’t mean anything at all – it merely is an indication of how much on-line support the artist who wins it has…and I’m sure all of us (as well as Raymond himself) already know how many fans Raymond has – he doesn’t need a ‘stupid’ award to tell him that! Plus, if I remember correctly, he’s gotten this award several times in the past already (except for last year, but that’s because he didn’t have any series in the running last year) – pretty much every year that Raymond has a series in contention, he will continue to get this award.
Most ‘Enjoyable’ Program (aka Program Most Worth Watching): HK ARTchitecture
.> Since I didn’t watch any of the nominated programs in this category except for “The Voice”, not really going to comment (especially since I didn’t even know those other programs existed).
Best Variety Show: The Voice 2
I didn’t like any of the nominees in this category, so personally I don’t really care who won. Though I would have to say that as long as Super Trio didn’t win, then I’m fine with it – I used to love Super Trio, but the past couple years, the show has gotten very stupid and the games have been extremely lame. So I’m glad they didn’t win. I wasn’t too keen on the other nominee “Fun with Liza and the Gods” (as I’ve always said, I feel that watching that show makes me feel ‘dumb and dumber’) and the other 2 nominees I never even heard of, so I guess the logical choice would have been “The Voice 2”.
Most Improved Actress: Natalie Tong
.> Unlike most people in the forums, I actually don’t have much of an opinion on who deserved to win in this category because personally, I’m not too keen on any of the actresses who were nominated. I guess if I had to choose, I would probably prefer Selena more as an actress, as I can’t stand the majority of Natalie’s roles / performances. But as someone said in one of the forums, the reason why Selena probably didn’t get the award was because she’s pretty much already an established actress compared to Natalie so there wasn’t a lot to “improve” persay (which makes sense). But again, I don’t really care who wins this one (in fact, I can’t even remember who I voted for anymore in this category – goes to show how much I don’t care about it).
Most Improved Actor: Raymond Wong
.> Ok, I must say that this one was expected and very well-deserving. Raymond definitely did a good job this year and for me personally, I don’t mind watching his series. I don’t like very many of the newer generation TVB artists, but he’s definitely one that I enjoy watching. I feel that Raymond is deserving because I’ve also seen his improvement from his first few series to “When Lanes Merge” and “No Regrets”, so I can understand why he won. And I also give kudos to Raymond for giving one of the best speeches of the night. It was obvious he was well-prepared, as he had written down people he wanted to thank on a piece of paper and was able to get through the entire list. And even though he is sort of ‘new’ to TVB, he’s not new to the industry (13 years in the industry and 3.5 years in TVB) – he mentioned that this is his first award. He was very calm and extremely well-spoken, which really impressed me. Oh, and I loved the last part of his speech where he thanks his wife for sticking with him even during the lowest point in his life, then says that she will be giving him “a little life” very soon (meaning that she’s pregnant). Everyone was applauding and screaming when he made that announcement, which was so cute! Congrats to Raymond on his win and also on soon becoming a father!
Favorite Female Character: Charmaine Sheh
.> I actually am ok with Charmaine getting this award because out of the top 5 finalists (Charmaine’s princess from CBML, Sheren’s Miss 9 from NR, Linda’s character from CBML, Teresa’s character from Some Day, Tavia’s character from MOL), both Charmaine’s and Sheren’s characters were quite memorable and well-liked by audiences. It was pretty obvious though when Charmaine’s name was announced that Sheren would be TV Queen and this would be Charmaine’s consolation prize (because no matter how much TVB loves Charmaine, they would not risk the huge backlash from the audiences by giving her both Character and Actress awards again). Also, I’ve always looked at this award as a consolation prize for TV Queen for one, and two, it’s more about the ‘character’ in the series than the actor or actress, so again it doesn’t really mean anything in terms of the artists themselves (the artist could have so-so acting skills, but if the character is well-written, she could still win this award).
Favorite Male Character: Raymond Lam
.> Ok, this one was so obviously RIGGED!!! Raymond’s character in MOL was SO BORING and not even memorable. I mean, since this award was consolation for TV King, they could have given the award to Kenneth or Steven instead – they deserved it WAY more than Raymond did (if they didn’t want to give it to Wayne again because he was already going to get the Actor award). Though I don’t think that Moses deserves this award either because his character in CBML was annoying, but I don’t think I would have as much problem if he had gotten this award (probably cuz I was already expecting him to win it, since TVB was pushing him so much). I was actually rooting for Kenneth in this category (because his character stood out so much and AFOS was a great series with barely any recognition), but I would have been fine with any of the other 3 winning. But Raymond????? TVB was obviously trying to play favorites here!
Best Television Program Host: Liza Wang, Louis Yuen, Wong Cho Lam, Johnson Lee
.> This one was predictable – in fact, I would probably be surprised if they “didn’t” get this one…though I will say that I didn’t vote for them (I voted for Steven Ma). But oh well, it is what it is…not too much comment about this one (again, another category I didn’t really care about).
Best Professional Performance: Moses Chan
.> This was that stupid ‘pork’ award (the one Tavia got last year) that TVB made up in order to please certain people. Pretty much, it means nothing (most people can’t even explain what the purpose of the award is because frankly, it has no purpose) and does absolutely nothing for the artist who receives it. Last year, TVB gave it to Tavia because they didn’t want to waste all the investment they made with her in BTROC and this year, they are giving it to Moses because they chose Raymond over him for Favorite Character and there is no way that they could give him TV King without major backlash. Basically, this is a lame award that TVB should just get rid of instead of ‘embarrassing’ the artist who ends up receiving it! (But I do have to give credit to Moses for trying to make the most of the win by injecting a little bit of humor in his acceptance speech and trying to lighten up the atmosphere).
Best Supporting Actress: Fala Chen
.> Sorry, but there is no way I can support Fala getting this award with all of the veteran actresses nominated who were WAY better than her. I mean, they’ve got Elena Kong, Kara Hui, and Susanna Kwan nominated in this category (along with Nancy Wu) and they give the award to Fala for her character in NR that wasn’t even her best performance? I voted for Elena Kong because her performance was absolutely awesome in “Beauty Knows No Pain”. And absolutely how could a 7-time Best Actress in Film (Kara Hui) lose to Fala? Kara’s performance in AFOS was also way better. The winner of this category definitely was not determined based on acting skill!
Best Supporting Actor: Evergreen Mak
.> For me, this was the hardest category to pick the winner, as I liked almost all of the performances in this category. From the beginning, the race was really between Pierre Ngo, Evergreen Mak, and Dominic Lam (though Raymond Wong and Ron Ng were nominated as well, but they already knew they didn’t have a chance). I remember it took me so long to decide who to vote for in this category, as all three are good actors…in the end, it really came down to a choice between Dominic and Evergreen for me (though I would have been fine with Pierre getting the award as well). Evergreen ended up winning, which is still well-deserved in my opinion, as his Fei Fan Gor was very well-done and memorable. Also, his win was the most emotional one of the night, as I could tell that he was really surprised that he won. His win was pretty much reminiscent of the time back in 2008 when Wayne Lai won for the same award – all of his colleagues stood up and hugged him and applauded him. Same thing happened for Evergreen (though I actually think there were more hugs for Evergreen because he has always been a very amicable actor with tons of friends), plus all of his female colleagues stood up and hugged / kissed him as well (it took him forever to get up on the stage…LOL….also, people kept rubbing his bald head, which was kind of cute!). I also thought it was sweet of him to go over and especially give Elena (his wife in NR) a bear hug, partially sweeping her off her feet (awww)!
And his speech, which he gave through tears (his voice kept breaking at certain parts) was very heartfelt and very humbling – I almost cried at the part where he said that there are so many artists who are better than him at TVB and for the audience to applaud for them. This was probably the only win that I was extremely happy for all night.
Best Actress (TV Queen): Sheren Tang
.> Of course I’m not surprised that Sheren won and no complaints here, since her win was well-deserved. In the forums, there are many people who say her character was not at as ‘popular’ as Fourth Mistress in “Rosy Business”, but to me, that doesn’t really matter, since it’s really about her acting rather than the popularity of the character (plus Cheng Gau Mui was a really intense character anyway, one that was not easy to portray and definitely takes someone with Sheren’s skills to do). And it was already obvious when Charmaine won Favorite Character earlier that Sheren would win TV Queen. One thing that I have to say though – just because TVB gave TV Queen to Sheren, it DOES NOT mean that they are being “fair” – they are giving the award to her again because they have no choice, since she has tremendous audience backing and they wouldn’t be able to justify giving it to Charmaine after all the backlash they got from the horrendous ‘bad decisions’ they made before.
Best Actor (TV King): Wayne Lai
.> Again, no surprise here…this was totally expected (especially after they gave Moses and Raymond awards already). I’m happy for Wayne and am totally fine with him getting the award, though my opinion of why TVB gave him the award is the same as why I think they gave it to Sheren (to appease the audiences and lessen the backlash – plus they know that the audiences nowadays aren’t as ‘naïve’ as they were back in 2006, so pulling a Kevin Cheng-type win again would definitely have gotten them in serious trouble!). I will admit thought that I would much rather the award have gone to Steven – not because Wayne isn’t good because he is definitely absolutely awesome and no one can compare with him in terms of acting skill (he’s definitely the master), but Steven is also a very high quality actor and doesn’t get enough recognition, plus his PSL as well as AWT roles were very well-done and well-deserving of an award (I actually voted for Steven, despite Wayne being one of my favorite actors).
Oh, and Sandra Ng's speech (she was the presenter for the TV King award) was funny too and in a sense, it indirectly 'referred' to TVB's politics as well -- when she announced Wayne as the winner without even opening the envelope (supposedly), then saying "we all know how TVB works already", she definitely hit it on the spot as well...my first reaction was "Absolutely right -- we sure do!!!!" She knows just as well as everyone else (both artist and audience alike) that Wayne would be the TV King because Moses and Raymond got their 'consolation prizes' already...that’s TVB politics and is obvious to everyone!
Best Drama Series: Can’t Buy Me Love
.> This was definitely the category where I was like WTH???? No way was CBML better than NR in terms of script / plot or acting – in fact, CBML was pretty much just a bunch of nonsense! It was so obvious that this category was rigged – TVB was just trying to ‘satisfy’ the CBML group (and upper management, since the series has most of their favorite biological sons and daughters in it).
Also, the finalists for this category were a big huge joke…I mean, how did “A Chip Off the Old Block”, “Every Move You Make”, and “Mysteries of Love” make it into this category when there were so many better made series that deserved to be in those spots (i.e.: “Ghostwriter”, “A Fistful of Stances”, and how about ‘anniversary series’ “Gun Metal Grey”?????).
The presenter of this award was famous director / producer Johnnie To. I love the comments that he made right before opening the envelope: 「咁明顯, 應該係佢喇, 應該無做馬啦, 係咪呀? ~~~ 咦, 又唔係喎, 咁至衰喎」. (Since the above is in Cantonese, here’s the translation: “It’s so obvious, it should be them [“No Regrets”], the applause is different….shouldn’t be rigged, right? “ (he looks back at the artists when he says this). He then opens the envelope and states: “Oh, errr, it’s not them…that’s the bad thing.”
Ok, I know it’s not just me who thinks that the above comments by Johnnie were an indirect ‘diss’ on TVB -- there are very few artists who would be brave enough to do that and Johnnie is definitely one of them (notice how he also mentioned how great his life has been since he left TVB?). And since Johnnie used to work for TVB and was responsible for bringing us a lot of the most respected series in TVB history (along with his teacher Wong Tin Lam), his words have a lot of clout (people can't claim that he is an 'outsider' who doesn't know how it works). That was one of the other highlights of the entire show for me.
In terms of the Best Series award itself, well, again another example of TVB politics at work. I'm pretty sure that TVB was already intending for CBML to win big at the awards ceremony (by win big, I mean either TV King/Queen and/or Series) from the beginning when they took it out of the anniversary series timeslot (which they might as well have kept it there with the way they've been treating its replacement GMG!) and with so many audiences behind Wayne and Sheren, there only option was to give CBML the Best Series consolation prize. Pretty much as long as CBML and NR were in the top 5 for that category, it doesn't matter what other series were in there because doesn't mean anything anyways.
Concluding Comments:
Overall, the awards ceremony was lackluster and disappointing as usual – true, there were some very deserving wins, but there were also quite a few that left me scratching my head and asking “What the hell were they thinking?” With that said though, I don’t get ‘upset’ anymore over the results of the awards ceremony because frankly, I don’t give a damn about those awards – they don’t mean a thing to me and won’t cause me to like an artist that I already dislike or hate an artist that I’ve always liked. In fact, I’m already used to TVB’s STUPIDITIES after so many years following HK entertainment!
Even so, I do want to mention what I felt were the biggest SNUBS (disappointments) of the night:
.>> Kenneth and Steven losing to Raymond in the Favorite Male Character award – as I said above, both were SO MUCH MORE deserving of the award than Raymond. I don’t really care too much that TVB sacrificed Moses in this category (I didn’t vote for him anyway), but with Ma Ming and Steven’s awesome performances, it was just plain sad that they fell victim to TVB’s stupid politics!
.>> “Gun Metal Grey” not being in the top 5 for Best Series. Sure, TVB can (and probably will) argue that because GMG has not finished airing, that’s why it was at a disadvantage for the awards (which I can totally refute because both Felix and Nancy were in top 5 in their respective categories!)…BUT whose fault is it that GMG is airing so late and didn’t finish in time for the awards? TVB’s fault of course, since they were the ones who decided to remove CBML from the anniversary series timeslot (to give it better advantage at the awards ceremony) and make GMG into a replacement!
.>> I’m also sad that Steven didn’t win ANYTHING, not even a consolation prize, despite being better in terms of acting than some of those who actually won an award (and many of those who were nominated). Goes to show how much TVB DOESN’T care about him (yup, might as well put him into the same boat as Wong Hei, Sunny Chan, and all those other talented artists whom TVB loves to throw by the wayside). Well, in the long run, it doesn’t matter because we all know TVB’s awards are rigged anyway – Steven’s fans will continue to support him, no matter what happens (and I was happy to see what a great sport he was at the ceremony).
Overall, I still feel that the awards were rigged…TVB knows what they are doing -- they are very CLEVER when it comes to this kind of stuff and knows how far to push it before they will get 'caught' so to speak. Why do you think Raymond, Moses, and Charmaine as well as CBML were still awarded even though there were a lot of much more deserving candidates? TVB made sure that they still went with the audiences to some extent (hence Wayne and Sheren won) but still wanted to make sure they get their own biological children in there to satisfy their upper management.
No matter who they end up "awarding" and how much those won deserved or didn't deserve the awards, I will never associate the word "fair" with TVB's Anniversary Awards -- because no matter what, it will always be a reflection of TVB's politics (every year, it's pretty much just a matter of which category TVB decides to "rig")
Also, with regard to the ‘audience voting’ nonsense (some ignorant fans’ assertion that the awards were based on audience voting and so people who weren’t satisfied with the results should have voted) – well, sorry to burst your bubble, but the audience's vote really doesn't mean much at the end of the day because TVB will give the awards to whomever they want, since it's all about the politics really...they mostly just look at the audience vote to give them an 'idea' of how much backlash they will or won't get and how best to 'divide the pork' so that everyone is somewhat happy. So basically, whether we vote or not really doesn’t matter, since TVB will still rig it to benefit them (without making it seem too obvious of course).
LASTLY…..after this awards ceremony, it's even more obvious that FAVORITISM is rampant in TVB....so next time, if I hear again anyone from TVB claim that 'no favoritism exists in their company' (the message they continue to push out to the media), I'm just going to laugh at anyone who is naive enough to believe that!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
"A Journey Called Life 金石良緣"
I just finished watching this series for the 3rd time (again, not intentionally, but because it happened to come on TV, so I decided to watch again). I’m actually quite glad I did because again, it reaffirmed for me what great actors both Steven and Kent are and how much I enjoy watching their series.
I’ve heard many good things about this series and in my opinion, all the accolades that it has gotten are absolutely well-deserved – this series is one of those rare gems that has a very well-written script, great cast, good chemistry, and just overall brilliant performances from the artists. The fact that I took the time to re-watch this series not twice but three times shows how good it is, as I’m the type of person who has very little patience with badly made series and can barely finish watching bad series even once, let alone more than that (I can truthfully say that I’ve struggled through most of the series from this year, finishing only a handful of them) – so when a series like AJCL comes along (though it’s from a couple years ago), it’s definitely very refreshing!
This is also another one of those rare series that does a good job with balancing dramatic elements with comedic ones, bringing both together to come up with a great story that is tragic, yet not without humor. The story itself is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching, making the audience laugh one minute (i.e. Kent’s banter with Steven and his relationship with his wife and Halina, Steven/Linda constantly teasing Kent, etc.) and cry the next (i.e.: the birthing scene, the death scenes, etc.). Not all series are able to incorporate both elements so well without making the series turn out awfully cheesy, so I definitely applaud the writers as well as the cast and crew of AJCL for doing such a great job.
There is so much good stuff to talk about with this series, it was sort of difficult for me to decide what to include in this post. So instead of doing an in-depth analysis, I decided to focus only on a few things that stuck out for me (pretty much the first things that came to my mind regarding this series).
So here goes…
.>> Steven / Linda relationship – I have to say that I was quite impressed with Linda’s performance in this series. I for one am not too keen on Linda and am one of those who feels that she can’t really act (sorry, but HOG and MR totally ruined my impression of her), but for some reason, I’ve actually been able to tolerate her performance in a few series – this being one of them. But I also have to say that it’s not completely Linda’s own merit because I also feel that depending on who her male co-star is, he has the ability of bringing out the best in her. This is definitely the case with her performance in AJCL – I feel that Steven complemented Linda and helped bring out one of her better performances.
The best way to describe Steven’s and Linda’s relationship in the series is pretty much ‘opposites attract’. I mean, you’ve got the typical ‘good boy’ (good personality, loves his family and friends, hardworking, doesn’t fool around, etc. etc.) paired with the ‘bad girl’ (the ‘wet girl’ who leads a ‘colorful’ and sexually promiscuous life) who eventually is reformed and becomes a ‘good girl.’ Although Linda’s performance can’t exactly be characterized as ‘stellar’, she did much better than in her previous series – during her scenes with Steven, especially the poignant ones (for example, the scene where she tells Steven that she can’t have children, their ‘breakup’ and ‘makeup’ scenes, the birthing scene, etc.), I could really sense the emotion of the scenes and therefore was thoroughly moved by their performances. I also feel that they had great chemistry in the series, though I will admit that so far, in all of Steven’s series that I’ve seen, I’ve felt that he had good chemistry with all his female co-stars, not just with Linda (i.e.: Charmaine, Ada, Fala, Bernice, etc.).
.>> Chemistry between Steven / Kent (and Linda) – Ok, I will have to admit that Steven and Kent were really the ones who ‘sold’ me in terms of wanting to watch this series at first, as both of them are truly fine actors and I’ve liked most of their individual works thus far. This was the first time that they collaborated in a series and I was amazed at how great the chemistry was! Though their relationship was technically that of boss/employee, their friendship really exceeded beyond that, resulting in an almost father/son like relationship. In my opinion, their ‘friendly banter’ throughout the series was very sweet and it was partly what made the series so enjoyable for me (I love that type of ‘light comedy-esque’ banter that injects a little bit of humor in an otherwise serious and tragic story, yet not going overboard to the point of sounding cheesy). The ‘Kent-isms’ throughout the series were very endearing and also made it memorable for me (i.e.: Kent’s nickname for Steven’s character is “On Boy”, his own son Raymond is “Bad Boy”, and he’s always saying “So Bad!”whenever something bad occurs….). Of course, the parts where Steven and Kent tease each other (or better yet, when Steven and Linda ‘gang up’ to tease Kent) are especially hilarious (and sweet).
.>> Storyline / script – As I said earlier, this series is very well-written…it wasn’t too overboard with its plot nor did it rely on repetitious scenes throughout the series (compared to a series like MR for instance, which had arguing scene after arguing scene and got to the point where I just felt like asking “can’t everyone just get along?”). And even though there were a lot of emotionally-charged scenes in the series, there wasn’t an overwhelming number of ‘crying’ scenes (again, unlike HOG and MR, which went overboard in that area) – also, the ‘crying’ scenes that did exist were done quite well and brought out just the right amount of emotion….most importantly though, I didn’t ‘cringe’ through any of the crying scenes (which is always a good sign, since the crying scenes in many of TVB’s series lately have been ‘cringe-worthy’ for me).
Overall, this was a great series, one of the few from this decade that I would put in the ‘high quality’ and ‘like’ categories (those of you who know my history with TVB know that my lists for these 2 categories are very short when it comes to series from the past 10 years). I like the storytelling that goes on in the series as well as the various lessons that are learned. Most of all though, I like that it brings forth a message of love and hope in the face of adversity, but does so in a way that is realistic and believable rather than cheesy and ‘over the top’. A definite ‘recommend’ for those who have not seen this series yet (or those who feel like re-watching).
Lastly, I need to put in a ‘plug’ for the themesong “A Little Story” sung by Steven Ma and Linda Chung. The themesong complements the series perfectly and the lyrics are very moving. I’ve always enjoyed Steven’s vocal skills (I’ve got quite a few of his songs in my ipod), but never been a fan of Linda’s – this song, however, is excellent and will definitely be a keeper for me.
I’ve heard many good things about this series and in my opinion, all the accolades that it has gotten are absolutely well-deserved – this series is one of those rare gems that has a very well-written script, great cast, good chemistry, and just overall brilliant performances from the artists. The fact that I took the time to re-watch this series not twice but three times shows how good it is, as I’m the type of person who has very little patience with badly made series and can barely finish watching bad series even once, let alone more than that (I can truthfully say that I’ve struggled through most of the series from this year, finishing only a handful of them) – so when a series like AJCL comes along (though it’s from a couple years ago), it’s definitely very refreshing!
This is also another one of those rare series that does a good job with balancing dramatic elements with comedic ones, bringing both together to come up with a great story that is tragic, yet not without humor. The story itself is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching, making the audience laugh one minute (i.e. Kent’s banter with Steven and his relationship with his wife and Halina, Steven/Linda constantly teasing Kent, etc.) and cry the next (i.e.: the birthing scene, the death scenes, etc.). Not all series are able to incorporate both elements so well without making the series turn out awfully cheesy, so I definitely applaud the writers as well as the cast and crew of AJCL for doing such a great job.
There is so much good stuff to talk about with this series, it was sort of difficult for me to decide what to include in this post. So instead of doing an in-depth analysis, I decided to focus only on a few things that stuck out for me (pretty much the first things that came to my mind regarding this series).
So here goes…
.>> Steven / Linda relationship – I have to say that I was quite impressed with Linda’s performance in this series. I for one am not too keen on Linda and am one of those who feels that she can’t really act (sorry, but HOG and MR totally ruined my impression of her), but for some reason, I’ve actually been able to tolerate her performance in a few series – this being one of them. But I also have to say that it’s not completely Linda’s own merit because I also feel that depending on who her male co-star is, he has the ability of bringing out the best in her. This is definitely the case with her performance in AJCL – I feel that Steven complemented Linda and helped bring out one of her better performances.
The best way to describe Steven’s and Linda’s relationship in the series is pretty much ‘opposites attract’. I mean, you’ve got the typical ‘good boy’ (good personality, loves his family and friends, hardworking, doesn’t fool around, etc. etc.) paired with the ‘bad girl’ (the ‘wet girl’ who leads a ‘colorful’ and sexually promiscuous life) who eventually is reformed and becomes a ‘good girl.’ Although Linda’s performance can’t exactly be characterized as ‘stellar’, she did much better than in her previous series – during her scenes with Steven, especially the poignant ones (for example, the scene where she tells Steven that she can’t have children, their ‘breakup’ and ‘makeup’ scenes, the birthing scene, etc.), I could really sense the emotion of the scenes and therefore was thoroughly moved by their performances. I also feel that they had great chemistry in the series, though I will admit that so far, in all of Steven’s series that I’ve seen, I’ve felt that he had good chemistry with all his female co-stars, not just with Linda (i.e.: Charmaine, Ada, Fala, Bernice, etc.).
.>> Chemistry between Steven / Kent (and Linda) – Ok, I will have to admit that Steven and Kent were really the ones who ‘sold’ me in terms of wanting to watch this series at first, as both of them are truly fine actors and I’ve liked most of their individual works thus far. This was the first time that they collaborated in a series and I was amazed at how great the chemistry was! Though their relationship was technically that of boss/employee, their friendship really exceeded beyond that, resulting in an almost father/son like relationship. In my opinion, their ‘friendly banter’ throughout the series was very sweet and it was partly what made the series so enjoyable for me (I love that type of ‘light comedy-esque’ banter that injects a little bit of humor in an otherwise serious and tragic story, yet not going overboard to the point of sounding cheesy). The ‘Kent-isms’ throughout the series were very endearing and also made it memorable for me (i.e.: Kent’s nickname for Steven’s character is “On Boy”, his own son Raymond is “Bad Boy”, and he’s always saying “So Bad!”whenever something bad occurs….). Of course, the parts where Steven and Kent tease each other (or better yet, when Steven and Linda ‘gang up’ to tease Kent) are especially hilarious (and sweet).
.>> Storyline / script – As I said earlier, this series is very well-written…it wasn’t too overboard with its plot nor did it rely on repetitious scenes throughout the series (compared to a series like MR for instance, which had arguing scene after arguing scene and got to the point where I just felt like asking “can’t everyone just get along?”). And even though there were a lot of emotionally-charged scenes in the series, there wasn’t an overwhelming number of ‘crying’ scenes (again, unlike HOG and MR, which went overboard in that area) – also, the ‘crying’ scenes that did exist were done quite well and brought out just the right amount of emotion….most importantly though, I didn’t ‘cringe’ through any of the crying scenes (which is always a good sign, since the crying scenes in many of TVB’s series lately have been ‘cringe-worthy’ for me).
Overall, this was a great series, one of the few from this decade that I would put in the ‘high quality’ and ‘like’ categories (those of you who know my history with TVB know that my lists for these 2 categories are very short when it comes to series from the past 10 years). I like the storytelling that goes on in the series as well as the various lessons that are learned. Most of all though, I like that it brings forth a message of love and hope in the face of adversity, but does so in a way that is realistic and believable rather than cheesy and ‘over the top’. A definite ‘recommend’ for those who have not seen this series yet (or those who feel like re-watching).
Lastly, I need to put in a ‘plug’ for the themesong “A Little Story” sung by Steven Ma and Linda Chung. The themesong complements the series perfectly and the lyrics are very moving. I’ve always enjoyed Steven’s vocal skills (I’ve got quite a few of his songs in my ipod), but never been a fan of Linda’s – this song, however, is excellent and will definitely be a keeper for me.
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