OCTB - Latest News!!

Source: HK01

So now that OCTB has officially aired its finale, here are some "final numbers" in terms of internet viewership ratings as well as some info about the series and its sequel(s) straight from the mouths of the series' producers (Jones Soong and Danny Chan) and screenwriter.

As anticipated, viewership ratings in Mainland China (via streaming platform Youku) reached 1.3 billion for the finale (quite impressive if you ask me!).  In HK, viewership ratings via Youtube clocked in at 28 million (also impressive considering the production company is relatively unknown and there were duplicate versions of the series uploaded to other channels on Youtube).  During the celebratory dinner, Jones Soong announced that they there will definitely be season 2 (which starts filming early 2018), but to many people's surprise, he also said that they are planning season 3 as well (I actually wasn't surprised, as I had read an interview that Danny Chan did earlier where he said that the script for seasons 1 through 3 had already been written awhile back ago).

As I'm sure those who've been following this series know, there has been much speculation amongst fans on who will be participating in OCTB's sequel(s).  One of the strengths of the series was in its veteran cast and their top-notch acting, which garnered a lot of praise from netizens and general audiences who were tired of the overall crappy performances from TVB's younger generation.  [***SPOILER ALERT***] Those who watched OCTB from beginning to end know that almost all of the veterans in the series either died or went to jail (except for Michael Chan, who remains the head of triad group Wo Hing Sing…for now)….so it makes sense that they will need to recruit another group of veterans for the sequel(s).

On the day the finale aired, the production team held a celebratory banquet attended by the series' cast and crew.  At the dinner, reporters asked the series director / executive producer Jones Soong what the plans were for seasons 2 and 3 as well as whether the rumors about certain artists participating in the sequels have any merit (for the record, the rumored "names" so far that fans are most concerned about are:  Ekin Cheng, Michael Tse, Anthony Wong, Roy Cheung – all from Young and Dangerous franchise).  Here is Jones Soong's response (excerpted and translated directly from the above HK01 article): "All I can say is that for season 2, there will definitely be a few 'heavyweights' participating…who those artists are though, I cannot reveal right now.  We actually have plans to do season 3 as well, so we can't use up all the artists in one shot – we need to add them in slowly.  One thing I can tell you is that the list of rumored artists currently circulating on the internet, majority of them you will likely see [in upcoming seasons].  The purpose of our series is actually to pay tribute to the triad films of the 1990s, so it's natural to incorporate classic characters from the Y&D franchise.  Audiences will need to wait and see!"

Screenwriter Paul Chung (鍾盛遠) revealed that in season 2, 'Dai Sir's' room will be occupied by a "heavyweight" character. [**SPOILER** Remember that in the first season, Dai Sir was played by Philip Chan, who was killed in a bomb blast after being kidnapped by Justin Cheung's character].  He also revealed that in Season 2, one member of the B1-1 police team will "defect to the other side" – who that person is and why, of course we will have to wait until season 2 to find out.

A few other tidbits (some of these are spoilers for those who didn't watch the finale, so read at your own risk)….

-          OCTB's production team gave us a few "Easter eggs" at the end of the series.  One of them was the revelation by Wo Hing Sing's leader Sun Ye (Michael Chan) that he has a son named 'Michael' who will be returning to HK to take over the group.  This is obviously significant given a lot of the stuff that happened in the series was the direct result of the various triad guys fighting over the top leadership spot.   There has been speculation on who 'Michael' will be.  Based on the scene where Sun Ye 'calls' Michael and tells him it's time to come back and we see the back of a guy sitting at a desk picking up the phone, there is much speculation that 'Michael' will be Danny Chan's character turned bad (the backside of the person in the scene actually does look like Danny)….this speculation was further strengthened through the second "Easter egg" where Danny's character meets up with Jordan's character to say goodbye and tells him that, after everything that's happened, he is not sure about his plans for the future and for now just wants a break from everything.  So is Danny actually going to be 'Michael'?  I guess we will have to wait until season 2 to find out.

-          Regarding the speculation about Michael Tse possibly participating in the sequel….supposedly, reporters had asked Michael whether he will be joining the cast and he had said no he won't.  The reporters asked Jones Soong at the celebration dinner, telling him that Michael said he won't be participating in the series.  Jones replied:  "He will be in it.  Actually, from the beginning [season 1], we had invited him to participate, but it wasn't able to happen.  You will see it happen in season 2.." The reporter then asked further whether that means Michael Tse will for sure be part of the season 2 cast, to which Jones then said:  "Let's wait for the official announcement, since I'm not supposed to say anything right now.  We are planning to start filming season 2 in January 2018 and the entire cast will be announced prior to that, so keep an eye out for that.  Since it will be in December, consider it our Christmas present to you!"

-          It's pretty obvious from the finale (the third "Easter Egg") that Justin Cheung will continue to be in season 2 and his villain character Jiu Jik (I probably butchered the spelling) will return to wreak havoc on Wo Hing Sing.  He was essentially the ultimate villain in season 1, but what will his role be in season 2?  From what has come out so far, it sounds like there will be another battle for the Wo Hing Sing top spot in season 2, though to what capacity we don't know. 

-          Rumor has it that Jordan Chan might not return as a lead in season 2..  The production team said that they are working with him, but it depends on his schedule next year.  If they are able to work out his schedule, then he will reprise his role in the same capacity.  If not, then he will still participate in the series, but in a smaller role where he will only show up every once in a while – as often as his schedule allows (in the reduced role, his character will get promoted to Superintendent of Police and will be in scenes as necessary, similar to Gregory Rivers in the first season).  If Jordan won't be able to participate, then that leaves Danny as the main lead going into season 2 – if the rumors of Danny's character defecting are true, then they are going to need another lead to take Jordan's place on the police side…makes it more likely that the person might be Michael Tse or Ekin Cheng (or someone else altogether of course, but it would need to be someone around same level / age).  As I said earlier, I'm pretty sure Anthony Wong will be in season 2 (no confirmation, just a gut feeling on my part), but highly doubt he will take Jordan's spot, as he is too old for that role – most likely he will either be Dai Sir (if he is on the police side) or one of the big shot gangster guys (if he is on the triad side).  Could also be someone else entirely who has not been mentioned yet of course….I guess we will find out in December.

-          Within 24 hours of the final episode's broadcast, the entire series was removed from Youtube.  There was actually warning of this on the production team's Facebook page, but they didn't make the announcement until the day of – obviously they got some heat from audiences on this, since it wasn't enough notice for people who hadn't caught up yet to finish watching the series (there was speculation that the production team took down the series because of marketing concerns and they would have to start charging to watch the series or repackage as DVD).  For  those of you who haven't finished watching the series yet and are freaking out right now – DON'T WORRY….at the dinner, Jones Soong explained the reason for removing the series (to enhance the series and correct any mistakes that were in there) and confirmed that they will be putting back up a 2.0 version that will also be free for audiences to watch.  He said they are not sure when the date will be but to watch for the official announcement on their website.

HK web series OCTB (反黑) - A reunion of HK film industry veteran actors

As promised, here is the article I came across awhile back ago about the veteran artists who essentially stole the show due to their top notch acting in OCTB.  Note that this article came out several weeks ago, back when the first few episodes of OCTB were airing, so of course, many of the veterans who appeared later on in the series – such as Ng Man Tat, Dominic Lam, Carrie Ng, Gregory Rivers, etc. – weren’t mentioned in this particular article.  I am hoping that HK01 does an updated article later on that covers the other veterans as well so that current audiences can know who these veterans are and give them the accolades that they very much deserve!

I have decided that for this particular article, I am going to depart from my regular style – instead of directly translating the entire article pretty much word for word as I normally would, I will be paraphrasing portions of it and adding some of my own commentary.  The reason for this is because I’m actually familiar with all but one of the veteran artists mentioned in this article (I grew up watching most of them on TV) and have some additional knowledge of their backgrounds not mentioned in this article that I feel is necessary to add.  The parts in BLUE lettering are the “tidbits” that I added (not in the article) based on my knowledge of the artists.

**NOTE – there aren’t any spoilers for OCTB in the below article, however for those who never watched the Young and Dangerous movie franchise, some of the “collective memories” that are brought up below may be akin to spoilers for you, so just a heads-up….

Source: HK01

Article originally published 10/3/17

Hong Kong web series OCTB (反黑) has been taking the Chinese television industry by storm!   With only the first 10 episodes aired so far, the series’ viewership ratings in the Mainland has already exceeded 300 million and its popularity in HK has already reached new heights.   [TN: as of today, 10/14/17, with 22 episodes aired, viewership ratings in Mainland is close to 800 million already!]  In addition to praise for former category III actor Justin Cheung’s (張建聲) convincing portrayal of villain character ‘Chiu Jik’, audiences have also given high praise to the group of veteran actors – most of whom older HK audiences grew up watching on screen --  in the series who play the ‘bad guys’ (triad members) as well as the ‘good guys’ (cops).

From the moment all of these ‘uncles’ made their appearances in episode 1, audiences were already excited to see so many familiar actors back together on the screen -- as “icing on the cake” though, some of the characters that these actors portrayed were also ‘familiar names’ – for example, Frankie Ng Chi Hung’s (吳志雄) ‘Uncle Bee’ [his iconic role from the Young and Dangerous movie franchise].  With the resurgence in HK audiences’ penchant for “nostalgia” and “collective memories” in recent years, OCTB hit a sweet spot that has helped propel the series to almost instant popularity.

In this article, we will be taking a look back at these veteran actors and the ‘famous’ characters they portray.

Frankie Ng Chi Hung (吳志雄) – Uncle Bee from first installment of Young and Dangerous (古惑仔)

In the series OCTB, Frankie Ng’s character is also called Uncle Bee, except that this Uncle Bee is a triad boss already in his last days, with little to no power and essentially no say in anything.  In the Young and Dangerous movie franchise, Uncle Bee was a character who only appeared in the first installment, but the righteousness of his character and the way he took care of his juniors endeared him at the time to many audiences….so in the movie, when Uncle Bee and his family were tragically killed -- ‘buried alive’ by Francis Ng’s (吳鎮宇) character Ugly Kwan, it evoked a strong reaction from audiences.  Perhaps because of this, Y&D’s director Andrew Lau (劉偉強) decided to ‘resurrect’ Uncle Bee in the form of a different character played by Frankie in the third installment of the franchise – unfortunately, the effect wasn’t that great, as not too many people were able to recognize ‘Uncle Bee’…even his beloved ‘brothers’ from Hung Hing (Y&D’s triad society) didn’t recognize him!

My commentary:  I never got around to watching the entire Y&D franchise, but I did watch the first installment and I absolutely remember Uncle Bee and family’s death scene – it was pretty dramatic and intense…definitely not for the faint-hearted.  In fact, the entire franchise was actually quite violent with many intense scenes, though I’m not surprised that the franchise became so popular given HK audiences’ love of cop and triad-themed productions.  I can’t remember which installment of Y&D I stopped at, since it was so long ago (I think it was 3^rd or 4^th installment?), but whatever the case, I have no intention of finishing it up anytime soon, especially since I’m already getting my fill of Y&D nostalgia currently with OCTB (which is way less violent in comparisons).

Michael Chan Wai Man (陳惠敏) – “Camel” Lok from third installment of Young and Dangerous

Michael (or Brother Wai Man as he is more commonly referred to) plays the ‘godfather’ crime boss of the Wo Hing Sing triad group in OCTB.  Everyone already knows Brother Wai Man’s ‘strong’ background in real life, so it is no surprise that in pretty much every movie / series he has been in, he almost always plays ‘big boss’ characters.   In the third installment of Young and Dangerous, he played the leader of the Tung Sing triad society, Camel Lok – a crime boss who valued friendship and doing things honorably and therefore encouraged co-existing peacefully with the rival Hung Hing gang rather than fighting them.  Unfortunately, Camel’s “underlings” were not of the same mindset as him --  feeling that he was ‘outdated’ and no longer fit to lead their group, he is killed by one of his “boys” Crow (Roy Cheung), who ends up framing the Hung Hing gang for the murder.

My commentary:  The article didn’t mention much about Brother Wai Man’s background so I will attempt to fill in the gaps for those who are interested.  Brother Wai Man can best be described as a veteran actor who has experience being on ‘both sides of the law’.  In his early days (before joining the entertainment industry), he had served as a correctional officer as well as a cop and was once a boxing champion (a hobby and passion that he still practices today).  It is well-known that Brother Wai Man used to be part of a few triad gangs and even though he is no longer “officially” part of those gangs anymore, he is rumored to still have “close ties” to some of them.  Due to his background, he obviously knows people from ‘both sides.’  In terms of acting career, Brother Wai Man is actually not really active in the industry anymore, as he has a wine business and a production company that keeps him busy, however he will still participate in some movies and/or TV series if he has time.  In a recent interview, Brother Wai Man confirmed that, regardless of his busy schedule and a few health issues he is dealing with, he has already ‘signed up’ to film OCTB season 2 (which is scheduled to commence filming early 2018).

Hugo Ng (吳岱融) – Big Mouth Lin from Jiang Hu – The Triad Zone (江湖告急)

With his oft-praised portrayal as the villain character in TVB series Brother’s Keeper 2 (巨輪2) last year, Hugo Ng not only made a successful comeback to the HK small screen, he has also successfully imprinted his name in the memories of a new generation of television-viewing audiences.  It’s no secret that Hugo participated in a few category III films in the 1990s -- because he often played ‘crazy, psychopathic’ characters in those films, there was a certain ‘villain air’ to him that also led to roles in a series of triad-themed films back then.  One of his most famous movie roles was in the Dante Lam directed Jiang Hu-The Triad Zone where he played a gangster character named Big Mouth Lin who lit up the opening scene by going against the main character played by the film’s star Tony Leung Ka Fai and eventually getting a bottle broken over his head.  Despite only having a brief appearance in the film and a few lines of dialogue, Hugo was able to leave an impression on audiences with his performance – definitely no easy feat!

My commentary:  Most of you may already know this, since Hugo has been active in HK again ever since re-joining TVB again in 2015, but I will give my spiel anyway, lol.  Hugo is originally from Singapore and before joining TVB back in 1987, he was actually already a popular leading actor in the Singaporean television circle.  He filmed quite a few series for TVB in the late 80s and was considered one of TVB’s most popular ‘wuxia’ siu sangs.  His most famous role at TVB was of course as Fa Mo Kuet in 1988’s Two Most Honorable Knights (TVB’s adaptation of Gu Long’s famous wuxia epic Jue Dai Shuang Jiao 絕代雙驕).  His wife is former actress (and beauty pageant winner) Lily Chung (鍾淑慧), whom he had met on the set of TVB series The Man, The Ghost, and The Fox (人·鬼·狐) back in 1992 – they married in 1995 and have a son who is currently serving in the military in Singapore.  Hugo was actually one of my favorite actors back in the 80s (believe me, my ‘favorites’ list was LONG back then, lol) – even back then, his acting was top notch and he was quite versatile, as he was able to handle the wide range of characters thrown at him – good guy, bad guy, and everything in between – with ease.  I know most people probably only remember Hugo’s Fa Mo Kuet role (not surprising, since he was so good in the role) and he was largely typecast in wuxia dramas back then, but he also did a few non-costume dramas as well that are worth watching.  I actually stopped following his career after he left TVB (similar to many other 80s artists, he didn’t part on good terms with TVB), but I did know that both he and his wife did some category III films during the 90s before he shifted his career to Mainland.  I’m glad Hugo is back on HK television screens, as he is a great actor who can definitely carry his weight in the acting realm (oh and I recently discovered that he is a talented singer too!).

Ben Ng (吳毅將) – psychopathic rapist in Red to Kill (弱殺)

As the fiery-tempered For Shi (火屎) in OCTB, Ben’s character seems to be right up his alley!  But actually, his character here can be considered ‘mild’ when compared to the ‘psychopath’ roles he usually played in movies.  His first foray into the ‘psychopath’ role was 1994’s Red to Kill where his chilling portrayal of a psychopathic rapist left a huge impression on audiences, though it also resulted in him being typecast in similar roles later in his career.  In that movie, Ben had actually taken his performance to extremes, not only shedding his clothes for some of the scenes, but also shaving his head in efforts to make the character more realistic.  With that type of ‘extreme’ experience, asking Ben to play an impulsive gangster in OCTB is ‘a piece of cake’ in comparisons!

My commentary:  Not sure how familiar audiences are with Ben now but those who followed ATV and TVB back in the 80s/90s will definitely know who he is.  Ben was a graduate of ATV’s acting class and filmed various series for them up through the 80s, jumping ship to TVB in the mid-90s.  He started filming movies in the 90s and actually has had a simultaneous film and television career ever since.  Ben moved his career to Mainland a long time ago, which is why it’s not surprising if current HK audiences aren’t too familiar with him.  He’s actually a decent actor, though a bit too ‘crazy’ for my tastes, lol.  I remember many of the ATV and TVB series he was in, though I don’t recall any of his roles back then being memorable.  To be honest, I’m actually more familiar with his wife – former actress and Miss HK 2^nd runner up (1984) Joan Tong (唐麗球), even though she was active in the industry for less time than him (probably because she was in series/movies that I actually watched and am familiar with, lol).

Jones Soong (宋本中) – ‘Big Wong’ Ah Chun in 1999 film Street Kids Violence (三五成群)

The name Jones Soong probably won’t sound familiar to most people, but those who did watch the 1999 cult film Street Kids Violence will probably remember Jones playing the character Ah Chun in the film.  If you don’t though, it’s not surprising, as that movie was pretty much Jones’ only ‘memorable’ acting performance – after that film, he played mostly ‘kelefe’ roles in subsequent movies.  With a never-ending passion for film, Jones decided to take his love for the art behind-the-scenes and after much learning as well as hard work, he later became a director and producer.  Jones is co-owner of the production company Visual Brothers (alongside Danny Chan Kwok Kwan), which is the creative team behind OCTB – Jones is credited as executive producer / producer / director for the series and also has a cameo role in the series.  If you didn’t know who Jones was before, you probably know him now after the OCTB’s huge success!

My commentary:  I actually had never heard of Jones Soong until OCTB, lol.  Because of this series, I’ve been reading up on Jones a bit the last couple weeks (there isn’t much information out there unfortunately) and was a little surprised to learn that he’s actually quite well connected in the industry.  I guess it does make sense, since he’s been a producer and director a long time now and has undoubtedly worked with enough people in the industry to be able to establish a good amount of connections.  There were also a few things I learned about Jones and Danny’s company Visual Brothers that I feel are very interesting and also promising in terms of this company’s future endeavors in the area of film and television series production.  I won’t go into too much detail here but will do a separate post later on when I have time.

Philip Chan (陳欣健) – the entertainment industry’s real life ‘Dai Sir’!

In OCTB, there is definitely no shortage of police officers!  The main leads Jordan Chan (陳小春) and Danny Chan (陳國坤) both portray police officers in the series, but let’s not forget that there was another significant police figure above both of them – ‘Dai Sir’ Cheung Kwok Jim, portrayed by veteran actor Philip Chan (陳欣健).  Younger audiences who don’t know Philip Chan’s background might be wondering – what’s so special about this ‘uncle’?  Well, let’s start with the fact that he has been in the entertainment industry for more than 40 years already and has had one of the most prolific careers in the industry – in addition to being an actor, he was also a screenwriter, director, producer, singer, TV program host, record company executive, etc. – the list goes on.  In the 80s and 90s, Philip served as MC for numerous shows and events (both on screen and off) and at one point, was also a high level executive at record label Capital Artists.  It can be said that Philip is truly one of the first generation of HK artists to find success in the industry in various capacities across multiple media platforms.  But Philip’s biggest legacy involved his career prior to entering show business  – in 1965, Philip officially joined the HK Royal Police force and within 9 years, was promoted to Superintendent of Police.  One of the most famous cases he was involved in during his tenure was the Shanghai Street bank robbery hostage case back in 1974 – Philip was the top level officer in charge of the case and was personally at the scene directing police operations…at the time, TVB had sent reporters out to cover the case and even interviewed Philip on site! 

My commentary:  I wouldn’t be surprised if the current generation of audiences don’t have a clue who Philip Chan is, since he was most active in the industry back in the 80s and 90s.  While he is still involved in the industry even now, he mostly does behind-the-scenes work and also hosting for major business and charity events, plus he also has his own companies that do entertainment consulting and event arrangement type stuff.  For those who are wondering how Philip ended up joining the entertainment industry, he’s actually told the story many times over the past 4 decades – in 1975, Philip was offered the opportunity to write a script (in his spare time of course) for a movie about cops that one of the production companies at the time planned on making.  Due to his experience in the HK police force, Philip was able to write a script that was true to life in its portrayal of police officers and the film went down in history as being the HK film industry’s first realistic cop film -- the name of the movie was Jumping Ash (跳灰), which was officially released in theaters in 1976.  [Side note: For all you OCTB fans out there, here’s a fun fact – the theme song to Philip’s movie (in Chinese, the name of the song is 大丈夫, which is loosely translated as “Masculinity”) is the same song that OCTB’s production team decided to have re-produced and used as OCTB’s theme song currently!]  This brief foray into film sparked Philip’s interest in film-making and in 1976, when he was invited by the head of his film’s production company to join their team, he accepted the offer, deciding to give up his high-paying job as police superintendent to enter showbiz.

Jacky Cheung concert news!!

FINALLY!  The organizers of Jacky’s concert (his record company Universal) have officially announced tour dates outside of Mainland China!  Jacky’s concert tour will be stopping in Malaysia in January, Singapore in February, and Australia in March – I will update specific date information in the sidebar once I get access to my computer.   

Since Jacky’s concert started in October 2016, the tour has mainly been in HK and throughout Mainland China, with a brief stop in Taiwan and Singapore in early 2017. Sounds like 2018 will be the year Jacky finally takes his concert tour abroad and expand to other countries.  Last year, Universal had confirmed that Jacky will for sure be performing in the U.S. and Canada (which have been usual stops for him in previous concert tours), however they were still trying to work out a bunch of stuff so no idea when that would be.  So far, there has still been no word on U.S. and Canada tour dates, but I am holding out hope it will be announced soon….perhaps in April or May 2018, since those slots haven’t been filled yet?  Or possibly in the summer of 2018, when his daughters are off from school so he can travel a little farther out, since he wouldn’t have to chaperone his daughters to school like he normally does.  Either way, whenever he comes to the U.S. for his concert, I . WILL . BE . WAITING!!!!

HK web series OCTB

I originally was not planning on doing this post but seeing that there are so many people interested in this series and it's not really being talked about much in other sites, I kind of caved and decided to post up something, lol. For now, this is a place holder post with brief information so that there is a place for people to post comments – I will update with more details later once I have more time.

There is a web series called OCTB (反黑) taking HK and Mainland China by storm at the moment. The series is the result of a joint investment effort by a bunch of little known Mainland production companies who basically hired HK production company Visual Brothers to put the series together. Visual Brothers is jointly owned by HK actor Danny Chan Kwok Kwan and former actor (currently director / producer) Jones Soong – both Danny and Jones are listed in the credits as being producers and directors for this series and Danny also stars in it (along with his wife, singer Emme Wong).

One of the reasons I'm so hyped about this series is 1) it is currently blowing TVB's Line Walker 2 out of the water (as of today, OCTB's "ratings" in the internet world – which is based on "hits" or "real-time playback" I believe is the official term – has already surpassed 300 million in Mainland, compared to Line Walker 2's 200 million, thereby making OCTB the second most watched series in China at the moment, behind another Mainland series about cops); 2) from a quality standpoint, OCTB far surpasses almost all of the series TVB has produced in the last 10 years or so…of course, with OCTB's production costs topping 60 million HKD, that's a far cry from the "pennies" that TVB invests in their own productions (which is one reason among many why TVB's productions nowadays are all so crappy) – whether from a script perspective, casting, aesthetics, acting, etc., the production team for OCTB obviously put in the effort to make a high caliber series and it absolutely shows; 3) the number of veteran actors in this series is astounding!! The series is set in "80s/90s HK and is about cops, undercover agents, and triad / gangsters along the lines of "Young and Dangerous", so there is definitely a "old HK" feel to the series (and some would argue that the series feels a bit "dated" which to be honest I'm fine with because "dated" works if done right, which it obviously is in this case). A few of the older supporting actors were actually from the Y&D franchise (some even kept the same names as their characters from the movie, lol) -- aside from this, there are also boatloads of actors from the HK film industry who were never in Y&D but played significant roles in other HK movies…not only that, most of these veteran actors are ones that us HK entertainment old-timers grew up with, so getting to see all of them back on the screen again in one series definitely boosts the "watchability" factor for the series.

Indeed, one of the things I'm loving about OCTB is how it brings back so many memories. Almost all of the supporting actors in the series are artists whom I grew up watching – not only that, the director actually paid a lot of homage to these actors and the iconic roles that they had portrayed in the past, so for me, it's been a lot of fun watching and recognizing all the "inside jokes" and he nostalgic characters / events from various movies and remembering the heyday of the HK entertainment industry back in the 80s/early 90s.

I actually haven't had time to "chase" the series as others might have so I'm not completely current yet episode-wise (I think they released 10 episodes already? I'm only on like episode 3, lol). However I've been reading up about the series on the side – just FYI in case you're wondering why I know certain things about the series when I haven't gotten to a particular episode yet, lol.

Oh, the great thing about this series is that none of us have to worry about "how to watch legally" because, well, since it's a web series, it was meant to be watched online. Visual Brothers actually put the series up on Youtube and currently, that's the main platform that HK audiences are watching the series on (Mainland audiences are watching on streaming platform Youku). I've included the link to the series on YT below (the Cantonese version).

I'll try to update this post as I have time, but those who are watching this series feel free to comment / discuss below.

Enjoy!

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**UPDATED**Breaking news: Ricky Wong gives up on television dreams?

8/21/17 UPDATE:  I found out some more information about this whole thing that I felt necessary to share.  Apparently, in addition to RW selling his stake in HKTV, there was also an “official” announcement made where HKTV said that they are “reconsidering” the second application they had made for a free-to-air license 2 years ago (I read the official announcement in Chinese…not sure if I’ll have time to translate and post it though…).  This is interpreted to mean that HKTV is no longer interested in obtaining a free-to-air license and may rescind their application at some point in the next few months.  Also, HK-based Mainland station Phoenix TV officially rescinded their application awhile back ago and Forever Top’s David Chiu has put his application on hold as well due to his recent success in “acquiring” i-Cable (whose new free-to-air arm Fantastic Television launched earlier this year). 

So it looks like we go from having several potential contenders for additional free-to-air licenses to ZERO.  Though officially right now there are 3 free-to-air TV stations in HK – TVB, ViuTV, Fantastic Television – we all know that the 2 newer TV stations don’t stand a chance against powerhouse TVB…so basically, we are essentially right back to where we started from in that TVB will continue to hold their monopoly over the HK television industry, probably for the rest of their existence.

Obviously I’m disappointed...and with everything else going on in HK right now, this issue just adds to the frustration….

*****

I don't usually do these types of short posts but I don't have access to a computer at the moment and come across this important news that I needed to share.

According to the 2 news articles below, Ricky Wong has officially sold his stake in HKTV.  The first article gives the details on the financial part of the transaction and the second is an interview of sorts with Ricky Wong where he says something that, coincidentally, I've been saying for the past 2 years:  the HK television industry has changed tremendously in the past few years since he applied for a license and it is no longer a viable option for him.

As much as I support HKTV -- and would still support them if they did decide to resume operations -- I'm not blind to the fact that things have changed the past couple years and the road would've been 10x more difficult for both HKTV and Ricky Wong than it was before.  It looks like RW finally realizes this now and has decided to "stop the bleeding" now before it got even worse.

Of course, I'm saddened by this, even though I already knew it was inevitable.  But I think more than anything else, I'm angry because this means TVB has won the battle and unfortunately for the HK entertainment industry, this means yet another nail in the coffin (those who've been following my blog and my posts on this issue will know what I'm talking about).

More thoughts to come once I'm able to get back to accessing via a computer.

Article 1:

http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2107558/media-maverick-ricky-wong-sells-hktv-stake-affiliated-company?utm_source=edm&utm_medium=edm&utm_content=20170821&utm_campaign=scmptoday&emarsys=1&sc_src=email_1992740&sc_llid=11320&sc_lid=145121677&sc_uid=Oz6wn5uqoP 

Article 2:

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2107423/hong-kong-media-mogul-ricky-wong-may-give-free-air-tv-dream

News: Victory for Hong Kong media maverick Ricky Wong in mobile TV battle (title from SCMP article)

Some of you might have already heard the news (which came out yesterday) that the Communications Authority decided to approve HKTV's application to "upgrade their mobile TV transmission standard" to the same digital transmission that is currently used by the free-to-air networks -- interestingly enough, some media outlets are reporting this news as the CA "approving HKTV's mobile TV license."  To be honest, both of these technically aren't the same thing and really shouldn't be used interchangeably, since the fact is that HKTV already has a mobile TV license that they bought from another company, it's just they couldn't "use" the license up to this point because the platform they had for transmission was low quality resolution.  As a means of background, HKTV had submitted a request to the CA several years ago to upgrade their transmission platform to digital terrestrial transmission so that they could broadcast their series in higher quality, however the CA rejected their request, claiming that HKTV was trying to "circumvent the system" by upgrading to same transmission quality as the current free-to-air stations (Ricky Wong had submitted the request not long after his application for a free-to-air license was denied).  HKTV had filed a judicial review against the CA on this issue several years ago, but the courts had ruled in favor of the CA and the government, so Ricky Wong was pretty much forced to "abandon" his mobile license.

Well, now it looks like the CA has decided to "reverse course" and approve the upgrade.  Not sure what this means in terms of the license issue (remember that HKTV still has a second application for a free-to-air license in the government's hands awaiting approval/denial), as it could technically go both ways -- this could be the government's way of "appeasing" Ricky Wong in case they decide to reject his license application for a second time...or it could mean that finally, HKTV has a fighting chance at possibly getting the license.  Regardless of which way it goes though, one thing is for sure -- the new administration under Carrie Lam doesn't seem to be hell-bent on bringing down HKTV like the previous administration under CY Leung was.

Details about the approval are in this SCMP article.

With all that said though, I also read an article from HK01 in Chinese that paints a more realistic picture of what this mobile TV transmission approval means for HKTV (and HK audiences).  Though most of us can consider this a "small victory" for HKTV and Ricky Wong, the real picture is more bleak (for the record, most of the stuff in the HK01 article is pretty much in-line with what I've been trying to get across for the past 2-3 years -- basically that it's "too little, too late" and even if HKTV were to finally get their license approved, it's pretty much pointless, since things have changed so drastically -- both for HKTV and the TV industry).

In the interests of time, I'm not going to translate the HK01 article word for word.  However, I will translate the 2 most important paragraphs of the article, which were basically Ricky Wong's response to HK01 and also a high level HKTV exec's response to the CA's decision:

When HKTV switched to becoming an e-commerce shopping platform in 2014, the company essentially lost all its artists as well as behind-the-scenes staff (scriptwriters, directors, etc).  Towards the mobile license decision, Ricky Wong responded through his spokesperson: "Half the scriptwriters and directors already returned to TVB!  The rest we will have to wait and see before saying anything further" -- meaning that resuming filming again will be difficult.

A current high level executive at HKTV revealed:  "Even if the government were to approve the free-to-air license now, HKTV's business model has already changed.  Plus for the past 3 years that we've been doing HKTVmall, we've been losing money -- it was only recently that we started getting alot more orders and business has become more stable.  However, Mr. Wong has alot less capital (funds) to work with now, since HKTVmall has yet to turn over a profit -- with alot less money than he used to have, where will he find the money to invest in filming series?"  The exec also indicated that if HKTV goes the mobile TV route only (assuming their free-to-air license doesn't get approved) and they do decide to film series again, for sure they won't be filming 1 hour episodes -- to reduce production costs, each episode would only be around 10 to 15 minutes.  Also, half the scriptwriters and directors (producers) already returned to TVB, so whether they would be willing to help Ricky Wong fight the battle again is a huge unknown.

For example, HKTV series The Borderline (警界線) producer Chu King Kei (朱鏡祺) already returned to TVB awhile back ago and produced their recently mega-hit series My Unfair Lady (不懂撒嬌的女人), while The Election (選戰) producer KK Wong (黃國強) was recruited by Andy Lau's (劉德華) company to produce the series Hong Kong Wall Street (香港華爾街) for Fox Asia, so it looks like neither producer would be returning to HKTV even if given the opportunity -- in the near future at least.

Source:  HK01
(Article title: 港視獲發牌《選戰》《警界線》有望拍續集？ 王維基：編導去晒TVB)

**

Concluding thoughts:  Basically, this "small victory" for HKTV really isn't much of a victory, since it looks like the chances of Ricky Wong filming series again is very slim.  Besides, as the HK01 article already pointed out, HKTV's operational model has already changed, so even if they did film series again, it definitely won't be the same as 5-6 years ago -- in other words, all the things that had made HKTV such a viable alternative to TVB back then (aka all the things I had loved about HKTV) would no longer be in existence now.  Of course, someone like me would probably still support HKTV, but I can't say the same about majority of HK's audiences, many of whom still view TVB as their only option for HK television programs (just look at the 2 new free-to-air stations that recently launched -- ViuTV last year and Fantastic Television this year -- and you'll see how pathetic the situation is nowadays).  Heck, if I were Ricky Wong, from a practical as well as financial standpoint, I would continue to focus on expanding and developing the HKTVmall business too and not even bother with the television production stuff anymore!

Celebrity Death News: veteran actress Susanna Auyeung

I'm really sad at the moment, as I just found out that one of my favorite former TVB actresses -Susanna Auyeung - passed away yesterday from illness at the age of 63.  Most people nowadays probably don't know who Susanna is, since she was most active back in the 70s and 80s and retired completely from the industry back in 1993.  However if I were to mention who her husband is, I'm sure current TVB fans will recognize him instantly - he is veteran actor Samuel Kwok Fung.  Samuel and Susanna have been married 40 years and are considered one of the HK entertainment industry's most endearing model couples.  Both Samuel and Susanna have been favorites of mine since the 80s and I've continued to follow their careers all these years.  Even though Susanna already retired, I know she became a Chinese medicine doctor specializing in qigong and has saved countless lives over the past few decades.  Needless to say, I was devastated when I heard the news and seeing how much Samuel loved his wife, my heart is breaking right now thinking about what he must be going through at the moment.  My deepest, sincerest condolences to Samuel and hope that he finds the strength to continue keeping her memory alive.  Rest In Peace, Susanna!  :-(

Breaking news: Scriptwriter Chan Po Wah to write and produce new series for TVB

I just read the "hot off the press" news from Mingpao Weekly magazine today about famed scriptwriter Chan Po Wah returning to TVB to write and produce a new series for them.   Sheren Tang is also "implicated" in the news, as she is good friends with Chan Po Wah and is considering returning to film this one series to support her.  Details are below.

I am actually super excited about this news because Chan Po Wah is actually one of my favorite scriptwriters.  I'm sure most of you who follow my blog probably know that Chan Po Wah was the scriptwriter responsible for writing one of my all-time favorite TVB series, The Blood of Good and Evil.  Po Wah Jeh actually left TVB many years ago and currently enjoys a successful career in Mainland China (I didn't know this but she is currently the highest paid Hong Kong scriptwriter in China).  I remember "golden" producer Lee Tim Sing once said when he retired that if TVB wants to "save" the quality of their TV series, they need to bring back scriptwriters Chan Po Wah and Cheung Wah Biu -- well, looks like TVB took Tim Gor's advice to heart, as they have supposedly been in talks with Chan Po Wah to return since more than a year ago.  I wouldn't be surprised if Cheung Wah Biu agrees to return to at some point later on down the line too!

In the interests of time, I'm not going to translate the article word for word, but will summarize the highlights below.

Source:  Mingpao Weekly, Issue 2537 (published June 24, 2017)

Article entitled:  Returning to TVB to support Chan Po Wah, Sheren Tang requests that she gets to sleep

-- Chan Po Wah states that the main reason she agreed to return for this one series is because it is TVB's 50th anniversary, plus she felt that Felix To and Sandy Yu (both of whom were tasked with convincing Po Wah Jeh to return) were sincere in persuading her to come back.  She is considering this as her "gift" to TVB for their 50th birthday.

-- Po Wah Jeh already signed the contract on June 6th with TVB to film 1 series for them.  She will return to HK in October to start prep work for the script.  Cast will be confirmed at later date and filming likely won't commence until 2018, as Po Wah Jeh states that she needs several months to work on the script.

-- Po Wah Jeh will be putting all her Mainland projects on hold for this series after October so she can focus on writing the script.

-- Po Wah Jeh didn't give a whole lot of details on what the series will be about, but she did reveal that it will be a female-oriented story about a wife with "many functions" (not sure if literal or figurative sense) and will be a subject that women in society can relate to.

-- She says that this idea has been floating around in her head for awhile already, but she does not want to film it as a Mainland series because she is familiar with how they operate and in the end, it will no longer be what she intended it.  She wants to film this series as a HK series so it will be done entirely the way she envisioned it.

-- Expanding on the above point, Po Wah Jeh said that TVB is giving her 100% control over the series.  She will be the main scriptwriter for the series as well as the main producer and will have complete control  of the production from a "creativity" as well as "executive (management)" standpoint.

-- Po Wah Jeh's last series with TVB was Loving You, which starred her good friend Sheren Tang.  The reporter interviewing her asked if she would invite Sheren to be the lead in her new series.  Po Wah Jeh said that would be ideal and if Sheren agrees to film it, she will tailor the script specifically for her.  She also said that if Sheren were to be the female lead, then the ideal male lead for the series would be Francis Ng.  However, she said that the script hasn't been written yet and so casting won't even be considered until after she returns to HK in October.

-- Sheren was also interviewed and this was her response:

     - She said it is great news that Po Wah Jeh is willing to return to TVB to write a new series, as a good script is hard to come by nowadays.  She said she really really wants to collaborate with Po Wah Jeh again.

     - Asked if she has already cleared her schedule for this series, Sheren said that there are alot of things to consider and besides she is still waiting to see the script.  The reporter told her what Po Wah Jeh said the story would be about, to which Sheren replied that she only found out about it now, as Po Wah Jeh didn't tell her that part yet.  Hearing the subject matter for the series, Sheren said she is definitely interested.

     - Sheren said that if she were to return to TVB to film a series, her one request is that she gets sufficient rest (sleep).  She said she was already very clear about this back when she came back for the TVB Anniversary Awards last year.  She said that it has nothing to do with her whether she is willing to endure long hours, but rather that at this point in her life, having to film the old way is impossible for her physically.  She mentioned that her last series with TVB (Beauty at War) took a huge toll on her physically that took a long time for her to recover and it was a warning sign that she can't overexert her body that way anymore.

     - Sheren said that some people think that she is unwilling to return because of the money, but she said in reality, that is the last thing she looks at.  She said she has no problems returning to TVB in order to support Po Wah Jeh or to support the HK television industry or whatever reason, but if she has to sacrifice sleep (rest), then that would be a deal-breaker.

     - Sheren actually gave specifics on what she expects in terms of rest (listen up TVB!!!) -- she said that the schedule should be no more than 12 to 13 hours daily, including make-up, costume, etc. Also, she said that she has to have complete script prior to filming -- in other words, no "flying papers" (TVB's usual practice of writing up the script and handing it to artists last minute, resulting in artists not having time to prepare).  Sheren said that script-wise, she is not worried, as she knows Chan Po Wah will have the script ready prior to filming.

     - Sheren said that alot of people have been asking her when she will return to HK to film series -- her response is that she has not forgotten about the HK television industry and if everything is "properly aligned" (schedule, script, whom she will be collaborating with, whether her requirements will be met, etc.), she will return in a heartbeat!

HK Television Wars update: New ratings system in the coming year!

So, I was catching up on my reading and one of the articles I came across last week talked about how the HK television industry is switching to a completely different, more unified ratings structure at the beginning of next year (January 2018).  I've posted a link to the article below in case anyone wants to read the original Chinese version of it, since I don't plan on translating this particular article word for word like I usually would (mostly because of time constraints, as I've got a few other projects I need to work on).   With that said though, I do recommend that those who are able to read Chinese (more specifically Cantonese, since most of HK01's articles are written in the local HK style and language) should read the article in its entirety, as there are some really good points and perspectives brought up in the article about the television wars that you probably won't find in the mainstream papers.

Instead of translating the whole thing, I decided to sum up / paraphrase only the part about the ratings system, since that's what this post that I'm writing is about:

-          Starting in January of next year (2018), all 3 free-to-air TV stations (TVB, ViuTV, Fantastic TV) will be participating in a newly appointed 3^rd party ratings survey. 

-          For the first time ever, the ratings calculations will take into account viewing data from mobile phones and tablets, which includes "re-watches" of the same program within a 7 day period.

-          The ratings will be divided into 3 categories:  TV Live (traditional TV platform such as Jade channel), OTT Live (Over-the-top streaming platform such as MyTV Super and set-top boxes), and OTT Re-watch (same platform as OTT Live except counting "re-watch" data)

-          Changing to this system will hopefully result in a more fair, more objective, and more uniform comparison of the 3 free-to-air TV stations' ratings and thereby eliminate all the current issues that stem from each station calculating their own ratings.

-          Unfortunately, the government-owned RTHK's TV channel(s) will not be included in this ratings survey

Source:  HK01

Link to original article:

https://www.hk01.com/01博評-藝%EF%BC%8E文化/96544/-蘭花刼vs詭探-博評-TVB之失-ViuTV之得

So here's my two cents:

On the one hand, I feel it's a good thing that all the TV stations in HK will finally be using the same ratings system after decades of each station doing their own thing.  Those who've followed my posts the past few years know that I don't give a rat's you-know-what about ratings (not going to rehash my viewpoint here – if you're interested, check out the other blog posts I've written in the past about the HK ratings system)….especially ratings in the HK television world, which have always had a reputation for being inaccurate and farcical due to each station's "habit" of calculating the ratings in whichever way they so please and then announcing those numbers to the world as though they were fact.  This was an issue even back during the TVB vs ATV days -- I honestly can't tell you how many times I've laughed at the 2 stations' absurdity over the years "arguing" over their ratings numbers, with TVB always beating ATV to the chase in announcing "both" stations' ratings (not sure why TVB was calculating ATV's ratings but they always did even though ATV had their own 3^rd party system that did it for them), followed by ATV always crying a river about TVB "deliberately" misrepresenting their numbers and ATV management insisting that it was "absolutely impossible" for their station to consistently receive only single digit ratings (in the Wong Ching era of ATV, the ratings was just one of the bajillion things that ATV management was constantly "in denial" about).    Sure, now ATV is officially out of the picture, but that hasn't stopped all the "arguments" over the ratings, since there are now two new free-to-air TV stations in town to pick up where ATV left off (in the ratings argument, that is).   Currently, each station still does their own thing when it comes to ratings and there is no consensus whatsoever on whose numbers are truly accurate (though most of HK – media, general population, etc. -- goes with TVB's ratings calculations because, hey, they are the biggest and longest running TV station in HK now that ATV is gone, plus they monopolize the TV industry anyway, so how dare anyone NOT use their ratings?  Yeah, whatever…)

The other side of the coin of course is that this whole ratings system change is "too little, too late".  Yes, it makes sense to incorporate the viewing numbers from other platforms given that's how majority of audiences watch TV nowadays and yes, it's a more accurate representation – I absolutely agree with this.  However, the part I'm irked about is that the HK television industry should have made this change 5 to 10 years ago instead of waiting until now to do it.  Honestly, what difference does it make now to have a more "accurate" set of ratings all coming from the same source?  Does anyone really care?  TVB certainly doesn't, since, in their eyes, they will always be "ratings king" and no one will ever be able to surpass them, no matter how hard they try….which of course makes it not surprising at all that TVB has chosen to essentially "give up on" the HK market and instead focus its sights on the Mainland.  This brings me to the crux of my sentiment on why changing the ratings system is "too little, too late":  Not sure how many people heard the news that came out a few days ago about TVB choosing to air Unlawful Justice Squad in Mainland China before airing in HK, which is being viewed as yet another indication of TVB not giving a crap about HK audiences (like all the backlash they’ve been getting the past few weeks about the decision to air Phoenix Rising in their golden timeslot is not enough).   I guess getting hundreds of thousands of “hits” for their series on the internet from Mainland audiences is more important than the “measly” tens of thousands of HK audiences who actually have to go through the trouble of turning on the TV set…

Of course, it can be argued that the other 2 free-to-air TV stations – ViuTV and the just-launched Fantastic Television – do care about the ratings so changing the system will benefit them.  Um, not really…we all know that both stations are way too new and there is no way for them to catch up to TVB anytime soon where ratings are concerned.  Maybe 10 years down the road (if either station lasts that long), they might have a chance of "breaking even" with TVB, but by that time, it truly won't matter anymore because TVB will likely have given up the HK market completely by then, plus who knows if there will even be any more HK audiences around to be a part of the ratings count?  As this article very aptly stated, the "trend" in HK when it comes to majority free-TV audience viewing habits is to either turn on the TV to watch TVB, or turn off the TV and watch nothing at all.  If TVB's programs suck (which has been mostly the case for the past decade at least), most audiences in HK don't automatically turn to other free-TV channels even if the alternative exists – it has been this way for decades and, as the saying goes, it's hard to break old habits.  Yea, I know it's weird and probably hard for people who didn't grow up with the HK television industry to accept, but it's very much a reality – watching TVB has become a "way of life" for most HK folks and unfortunately, as much as I hate to say it, this is never going to change unless the day comes when TVB no longer exists….so basically any talk about ratings is pointless and meaningless.

SCMP article: A book about HK Cantopop history

Most of you probably know that I'm an avid reader, especially of books pertaining to the HK entertainment industry.  I guess you could say I'm a "collector" of sorts, as I'm always on the lookout for new books that come out pertaining to the industry and make sure I buy whatever I can before the books go out of print.  I've amassed a pretty large collection of entertainment industry-related books over the years and the intention is always to read them all as quickly as possible, but of course life and work get in the way and things kind of go downhill from there where "finding time to read" is concerned. 

Unlike the "regular" books I normally read – which are all in English – almost all of the entertainment books I have are written in Chinese.  This should come as no surprise, since almost all of the books were published in Hong Kong and written by people whose first language is not English.  Some of the books I had to order online but majority of them I picked up during my trips back to HK (I think I've written blog posts before about my habit of visiting bookstores whenever I return to HK to visit relatives).  Some books were only recently published while others were written several decades ago and were passed down to me from other family members (I am fortunate to be a part of a large family of HK entertainment fanatics!).

While I have no problems communicating  in Chinese due to being fluent in the language for many years already, I am admittedly a much slower reader when it comes to Chinese books.  The main reason is of course due to my first language being English, since my family immigrated here (to the U.S.) when I was a baby (most people don't believe me when I tell them that I'm an "OBC" – our conversation usually ends with people trying to force the "ABC" label on me, lol).  Not surprisingly, my brain is also wired to think in English so sometimes when I'm reading in Chinese, my brain will go into "auto-translate" mode and try to "default" itself back to English, lol (luckily this only happens when I read books, so I can get through Chinese newspapers and magazines pretty quickly).

This is why when I saw the below book review in SCMP about a book being released this year on the history of Hong Kong Cantopop written entirely in English, I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to get my hands on the book (finally, a book about the HK entertainment industry written in English by a native Hong Konger!).  I put in my order several weeks ago and the book finally arrived (via snail mail) yesterday!  Based on the SCMP review, it does sound like the book is more academic in nature (which isn't surprising given it's written by a University of Hong Kong professor as part of a research project) and I'm assuming that, while there is no doubt that the book will cover the entire timeline of Cantopop's history from its inception to current time, it looks like the tone will be more factual than anecdotal.  Regardless, I am still looking forward to reading this (I've got a few other books I need to finish up first though) and hopefully I can put a more personal spin to the content when I do my review of the book (which I will absolutely share on this blog).

For now though, fellow Cantopop fans can take a quick trip down memory lanel with the below article (note that I did not copy over the pictures that were in the article so if you're interested in them, please click on the Source link to read the article directly on SCMP's website).

Enjoy! 

Photo of the book's front cover that I took last night.

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Article: Hong Kong Cantopop is a serious book on a genre that people don't take seriously

Source: SCMP

http://m.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/2074430/hong-kong-cantopop-serious-book-genre-people-dont-take

Hong Kong Cantopop: A Concise History
by Yiu-Wai Chu

Hong Kong University Press

There's a library of books about pop music's role in modern history and culture – from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll to niche titles such as Mark James Russell's K-POP Now! The Korean Music Revolution. But until now there hasn't been a full documentation of Canto-pop – at least not in English.

Hong Kong Cantopop: A Concise History, by Yiu-Wai Chu, a professor at the University of Hong Kong's School of Modern Languages and Cultures, is a serious book about a topic most people don't take too seriously.

The Canto-pop stereotype is of stars who are prized more for their looks and acting chops than for their singing, while the songs themselves are cloying and formulaic. But Canto-pop is more than just a collection of catchy tunes sung by heartthrobs – it has been a unique soundtrack. As Hong Kong rapidly developed from a war-torn colony into an economic powerhouse, generations grew up with Canto-pop blasting from taxis and televisions.

Hong Kong Cantopop is an academic work that begins by citing the doctoral thesis on the genre by James Wong Jim aka "Uncle Jim". Wong was a lyricist who, along with composer Joseph Koo Ka-fai, created songs that helped define Hong Kong's identity, such as 1979's Below the Lion Rock.

Just a year earlier, Billboard magazine's Hans Ebert had coined the term "Canto-pop", giving a name to one of Asia's biggest music trends of the late 20th century. Chu traces the roots of Canto-pop back far further, however – to wartime anti-Japanese songs and local Chinese opera halls.

In the 1950s, singers started combining Hong Kong's dialect with Western pop melodies. A good example is Teddy Boy in the Gutter (1967), sung to the tune of Three Coins in the Fountain, which won the Academy Award for best original song in 1954.

By the 60s, local pop music had taken off, the discs being cut by EMI's Hong Kong subsidiary getting airplay on local radio stations. It was a revelation that modern pop or rock – like that produced by The Beatles, who performed in Hong Kong in 1964 – could be sung in the tongue used by 90 per cent of the population.

The 70s saw the rise of Sam Hui Koon-kit, the godfather of Canto-pop, and an explosion of TV shows and movies. By the 80s and 90s, Canto-pop was a trendsetting, multimillion-dollar industry. 

After it opened in 1983, the Hong Kong Coliseum frequently held sold-out shows by stars of the genre, who became the dominant pop-culture force across Chinese society, from Taiwan to the world's Chinatowns.

Fans were riveted by the rivalry between Alan Tam Wing-lun and Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing. Anita Mui Yim-fong was crowned the "Madonna of Asia" for her outrageous costumes and stage shows while Beyond brought rock guitar to the mix.

This was the era of Canto-pop's Four Heavenly Kings – Jacky Cheung Hok-yau, Andy Lau Tak-wah, Aaron Kwok Fu-shing and Leon Lai Ming.Cheung's albums sold millions of copies worldwide and Kwok had a major advertising contract with Pepsi.

Then came a generation of starlets, such as Karen Mok Man-wai, Kelly Chen Wai-lam and Sammi Cheng Sau-man.

In the 2000s, up popped the Twins, the photogenic, teeny-bopper duo of Charlene Choi Cheuk-yin and Gillian Chung Yan-tung.

But Canto-pop was in decline by the mid-90s, writes Chu. Record sales fell from HK$17 billion in 1997 to HK$560 million in 2006. Billboard signalled the beginning of the end with a 1999 article, "The Cantopop Drop".

Much of Hong Kong's pop culture – from kung fu flicks to art-house movies – rose out of a vacuum, at a time when China was still largely poor and isolated. But as the mainland modernised and opened up, Hong Kong's role diminished. The 1997 handover and the Asian financial crisis that same year pushed Canto-pop into further decline. Mando-pop was in the ascendency before the cultural tsunami that was K-pop eclipsed them both.

And then came 2003, a devastating year for Canto-pop fans. On April Fool's Day, Leslie Cheung committed suicide by jumping from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, in Central. In December, Mui died of cervical cancer.

Hong Kong Cantopop is well written, well researched and fills an important gap in cultural studies, but it doesn't fully capture the essence of a genre that was funny, bawdy and tugged at the heartstrings. It mentions the deaths of Cheung and Mui but it doesn't convey the deep shock and heartbreak of a community that still mourns them. Nor does it adequately describe the sheer joy of the all-dancing, all-singing, strobe-lit extravaganza that is a Canto-pop concert.

Hong Kong Cantopop would have benefited from historical photographs, or musical clips on a CD, but perhaps this was beyond the scope of its academic publisher. It would be rewarding to see Chu's research made into an interactive exhibit, website or documentary film.

With former Canto-pop stars such as Denise Ho Wan-see having branched out into new styles, what does the future hold for the genre? As Chu writes at the end of the book, "Whether the sunset can be turned into a new dawn, only history will be able to tell."