Weibo Fever #1

I probably should have started blogging about this topic awhile back ago, but didn’t really think of it until now….

There is a phenomenon that has been taking the Asian entertainment industry by storm this year – a social networking platform called Weibo (微博). It is basically the Asian version of Twitter (since Twitter is not available in China and other Asian countries). The cool thing about Weibo is that many celebrities / artists from Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Korea, Japan, etc. etc.) are on it and they post things such as pictures, video clips, etc. – it’s basically a platform for artists to express their thoughts and interact with their fans (and others who “follow” them) directly, without the distortion and bias from the general Media.

I joined the Weibo craze about 2 months ago and I love it!! Many of the artists I am familiar with have joined Weibo and I am able to keep further up to date on the “happenings” in the Hong Kong (and Taiwan) entertainment world by “following” the posts of the celebrities I choose. I am currently “following” 131 artists – and of course, the list continues to grow as more and more artists join Weibo.

Every day, as I go through and “catch up” on the Weibo posts from that day, I also “transfer” (I guess it’s called “re-tweet” in Twitter talk…lol) some posts that I find interesting onto this blog, usually adding my own “comments” to the post as well (check out the side bar if you are interested).

But I’ve got to say that the “coolest” thing by far has been receiving responses to my comments from the artists themselves! I find this quite exciting because 1) it’s not every day that us ordinary citizens get to interact with the celebrities directly and 2) when a celebrity responds to a comment that we post (in response to their original posting), it shows that they actually took the time to read the comments and acknowledge them. Given how busy most of these artists are and how little time they have, it definitely makes “followers” (well, basically me) feel good to be “acknowledged.” So far, I’ve gotten responses from the likes of Lawrence Cheng, Christine Ng, Monica Chan, Anne Heung, and Karen Tong.

Ok, now that the introduction is out of the way, time to go on to the main reason for this post….

Lyricist Andrew Lam (林敏聰) posted a picture on his Weibo several days ago that I found very interesting (though I don’t think he was the first to post it because I think I saw it before on someone else’s Weibo). Anyway, the picture features a bunch of “yearbook photos” of a few artists from TVB’s famed Acting Classes in the 1980s. I found this picture very interesting because it shows how some of the male artists looked like back in the day....

Amazingly (but not surprisingly), I am able to recognize almost all of the artists in the picture – mostly because I’ve been following HK entertainment and TVB series since the 80s and have seen these artists in numerous series….so it’s not that difficult in that sense.

So without further adieu, here is the picture along with my “answers” on who is who….the only person I’m not 100% sure about is #2 – I’m only about 90% sure that the person I listed is correct.

How many are you able to recognize?

Picture credit: t.sina.com.cn/andrewlam

Starting from upper left corner:

#4:   呂良偉 (Ray Lui)
#3:   鄭丹瑞 (Lawrence Cheng)
#2:   林利      (Lam Lei)
#1:   徐錦江 (Chui Kam Kong)
#11: 廖啟智 (Liu Kai Chi)
#10: 劉青雲 (Sean Lau)
#9:   吳啟華 (Lawrence Ng)
#8:   陶大宇 (Michael Tao)
#7:   李子雄 (Waise Lee)
#6:   吳鎮宇 (Francis Ng)
#5:   駱應鈞 (Felix Lok)
#?:   周星馳 (Stephen Chow)
#15: 歐陽震華 (Bobby Au Yeung)
#14: 關禮傑 (Eddie Kwan)
#13: 張兆輝 (Eddie Cheung)
#12: 廖偉雄 (Liu Wai Hung)

Taiwan’s “Golden Melody Awards 2009” – Jacky’s live performance of 吻別

Just found this when I was watching some clips on YT and absolutely love it! I knew that Jacky attended the “Golden Melody Awards’ ceremony last year because I saw the clips of him presenting the Best Album award to Eason Chan. However, I didn’t know about this particular segment of the show though – since this was the award show’s 20th anniversary, they had a special segment where they chose the song that everyone loves the most from the 1st to the 9th award ceremony (第一至第九屆金曲獎我的最愛歌曲). Of course, Jacky’s classic “Goodbye Kiss” (吻別) won first place (for Mandarin-language song) along with Taiwanese singing sensation Jody Jiang Hui's “家後” (for Taiwanese-language song). Jacky got to perform the song live during that segment.

I absolutely love this clip! Though this song is more than 17 years old, it was such a huge hit that even now, it sounds just as good. And I must praise Jacky’s singing skills once again, as his performance was AWESOME!!! I mean, his rendition of the song so many years later sounds even better (if that’s even possible) than back when the song was released back in the early 90s – he sings it with such exquisiteness and grace that one can’t help but be mesmerized by his performance. As 陶子 kept mentioning during the introduction to the segment, Jacky is indeed the GOD OF SONG!!!!

The other thing that makes this performance so "special" is the fact that Jacky hasn't performed at a Golden Melody award show in a long time -- basically since the late 90s (though he has attended a few times after that as a presenter)...so the audiences definitely got a special treat (I would have LOVED to be in THAT audience)!!

Oh, and Jacky looked SOOOOO HANDSOME in this clip – it’s basically his “Private Corner” look (the glasses give him that “mature fatherly figure” look). I actually love this look on him because it fits him so well – it’s definitely my all time favorite Jacky “look.”

Anyway, enough said – hope you enjoy this clip as much as I did!

****

Source: Youtube

Review of "Remembrance 黃埔傾情"

Though this series was released in 1994, I had actually never heard of it previously and only discovered the series a few years ago when it came out on DVD. I was attracted to the series because of the cast (Julian Cheung, Kenix Kwok, David Siu, Betsy Cheung, etc.) and the setting, and after reading the summary of the plot, it sounded very interesting. So I bought the series, watched it, and it has become one of my favorites ever since -- in fact, just like with my other favorites, I've seen this series multiple times already (for me, favorites = repeated viewing) -- I think my last count was like 5 times, but I honestly lost track already.

What do I like about this series? Too much to list -- but I will attempt to highlight a few of the things that really stood out for me:

> The time period / setting -- the series is set in the 1930s/1940s Shanghai, which is a very popular era historically because of everything that went on during that time leading up to World War II. Most of my favorite pre-modern series (whether Hong Kong or Taiwan series) have been set in this era, so obviously that was one element that attracted me from the start. I guess part of it too is the 'East meets West' thing and how the 2 cultures must assimilate and co-exist, which I find interesting. True, alot of series like to use this time period because there are plenty of ideas and storylines that could be easily developed from the rich history of that era, however not all series are able to do it well -- this particular series is one of those rare gems that is able to utilize the time period in the best way possible, yet not let it overwhelm the storyline.


> Julian / Kenix pairing -- I LOVE THIS PAIRING!!! These 2 look so good together and the chemistry they had on screen was absolutely AWESOME. I fell in love with this couple right from the start and was rooting for them throughout the entire series.

The main reason why I enjoyed the pairing so much was because of the emotional factor -- the storyline involving the relationship between Julian's and Kenix's characters was quite complex and covered a whole range of emotions. Simply put, the relationship basically goes from admiration to love, then to hate, and back to love again -- but what makes the relationship stand out is all the 'other stuff' that is thrown in such as: regret, sacrifice, loyalty, unwavering love, war, conflict, etc. etc. I would say that the best way to describe the relationship that Julian and Kenix have in this series is with one word: 'bittersweet.'

With all the series that I've seen, it's rare for me to get emotionally attached to an on-screen couple, but I certainly did with this one, primarily because of the chemistry -- I could really feel the love that these two had for each other in the series and the pain of their separation, plus everything that they go through and the sacrifices made -- which made their reunion at the end of the series so touching; even though I've seen this series so many times already, to this day, each time I watch the ending to the series, I still get teary-eyed -- which is definitely rare for me, since there are only a handful of series that have affected me emotionally to that extent.


> Storyline / plot -- on the surface, the storyline sounds simple: romance against the backdrop of a country on the verge of war.....but it's actually quite complicated because thrown into the mix is the 4-way love triangle between Julian, Kenix, Jenny Chou, and Hong Chiu Fung; the 'brothers turned enemies' relationship between Julian and David; the irony of Julian's past and his subsequent relationship with Jenny and her family (and how the 2 are interrelated); the conflicts between Julian / David and Jenny's father (the dark triad society); and during the second half of the series, the struggle between patriotic loyalty to the country versus one's own beliefs and values. Basically the series delves a little bit into everything -- action, romance, light comedy (only a few scenes), good versus evil struggle, family relationships, brotherly friendship, triad (jiang hu) society, etc. etc. -- and weaves all these elements intricately into the storyline.

The series handled the complicated plot and sub-plots extremely well (in my opinion at least) and it did not feel cheesy at all. Also, I felt that there wasn’t a single boring scene in this series (which is rare for any series, let alone a TVB one)....it was actually quite face-paced in the second half especially and -- like a good book -- I didn't want to put it down. When I first watched the series several years ago, I finished the entire series in 2 days (definitely a record for a 20-episode series)!


> David / Betsy pairing -- I've always felt that David is a talented actor and he is definitely best suited for these kinds of 'jiang hu' roles, as he plays them extremely well! The smart but selfish and brazen 'tough guy' big brother character he plays is actually a bit complex because he is essentially a 'good guy' in the beginning (though not THAT good compared with Julian's character, who has a good heart, but can be tough when he needs to be), but lets jealousy and envy get to him, which eventually puts him on the path of no return. Betsy plays his love interest who is very loyal and devoted to him from the beginning....what I like about her character though is that she is not the usual 'sacrifice everything for love' type of woman -- she's very intelligent and has this 'righteousness' about her that enables her to handle tough situations in a way that is very mature and logical. David and Betsy are a very well-matched couple as well and I also liked seeing them together -- their chemistry is of a different kind and the way it is handled is very appropriate to the storyline. Unfortunately, neither artist is actively involved in the HK TV industry anymore, which is a bit of a shame, since both are good in terms of acting and can beat out today's younger generation artists in terms of skill and talent any day!


> Julian / Betsy friendship -- Also worth mentioning is Betsy's relationship with Julian in the series. Their relationship is actually a very interesting one -- Julian regards her as his sister-in-law (since David is his 'sworn brother' in that they grew up together and she is David's woman), however she is also his closest confidante. Julian's character really admires her strength and intelligence (especially for a woman in that era) and so whenever he encountered a difficult issue or problem, he would talk it through with her and seek her advice....plus they would always watch out for each other like true friends always do. The one part of the storyline that I thought was stupid (but was able to forgive the scriptwriters because they made it very brief and were actually able to turn it into something different that eventually played into the plot) was when Betsy and David had a major argument because she was very disappointed in his selfish actions and they (the script writers) made it seem like she was going to betray David and be with Julian instead. It doesn't end up happening (thank goodness) because Julian's character is too righteous, for one (meaning he would never steal his brother's girlfriend) and he is so fiercely devoted to Kenix that he can't bring himself to love any other woman besides her (even the woman he eventually marries).


What do I dislike about the series? Not a whole lot, but even with the best of series, there will always be flaws. Below are a few that stood out:

> Length of the series -- at 20 episodes, I personally felt that the series was too short and as a result, some parts -- especially in the 2nd half -- felt very rushed. I think that there was definitely enough material for 25 episodes and the plot could have been handled in a way where more time was given to the development of certain parts -- especially the ending, which seemed a bit rushed and choppy. This is very important, because there were certain segments of the series that didn't make sense (for example, what happened to Betsy after she tried to prevent David from killing Julian and he locked her up in that house? How she managed to escape is a mystery to me because the next scene with her in it jumps to 3 years later and they never explain what happened....). It just seemed to me that the production team was trying to cram everything into 20 episodes and so sacrificed some details of the plot.


> Editing and cut scenes -- this sort of relates back to the first point I made about the length of the series and the 'rush job' with certain parts of it. After watching the series multiple times, I am absolutely certain that some scenes were cut from the series -- it's actually quite funny, but I seem to have a knack for identifying these types of things with series that I've watched multiple times. There is one scene in particular where I could tell a scene was cut because of the dialogue that goes on between 2 of the characters -- in the scene, Kenix's character and Hong Chiu Fung's character bump into each other after a long separation and sit down at an outdoor cafe to reminisce about the past. Without going into too much detail, basically there is one part of their dialogue where Hong is recounting how the 2 of them met and tells Kenix that if she hadn't hidden the government seal that she had discovered when they were both being questioned by some triad groups with ties to the Japanese, he would have been dead (he's a high-ranking government official working for the Chinese military). When he said this, I was scratching my head because I surely did not recall that situation happening in the series at all. The first time watching it, I thought that perhaps I had missed the scene somehow (though highly unlikely) but after the 2nd and 3rd times, I was pretty confident that what he described did not happen -- or at least it wasn't in the series. I even went so far as to 'slow-motion' through the episode where they met just to see if perhaps I missed something and when I did, I found that those particular scenes were sort of choppy and didn't really flow as nicely -- which indicates to me that something was cut.


Overall, this series was great and I highly recommend it. I'm not sure how it did in the ratings back when it aired, but I'm guessing it probably did average because the series doesn't look like a tremendously big-budget production....plus I wouldn't exactly call the cast all-star either. Julian was pretty popular back then, but Kenix was a newbie -- my understanding is that "Remembrance" was only Kenix's 2nd series since joining the acting department after coming out of the Miss HK pageant (which is pretty amazing given her great performance in the series with very little training). And since I was actively following HK entertainment back then, I would have heard about the series if it were truly a grand production. This proves once again that just because a series is not a grand production or doesn't have an all-star cast does not mean that it can't be a quality production -- with the right combination of good script and great acting, it can still become a great, quality series.

My 'TVB Rant' #3: TVB's Unfair Treatment of Veterans

I was discussing the topic of TVB not treasuring its veterans in one of the AF forums and figured it would be a good idea to blog about the topic here as well, since I have alot to say about it.

Most likely, there will be more to come on this topic as well, since it's very hard to cover everything I have to say about this topic in one post.

The in-depth discussion sort of started when a few of the AF posters mentioned that TVB may not be entirely to blame for promoting younger generation artists over veterans because the reality is that there isn't really a market for the veterans anymore because of their age. Then the issue came up about how TVB focuses on promoting new generation artists who can't to save their lives purely on the fact that they are "good-looking" -- and in some cases, TVB tailors lead roles in series to these artists who don't have the skill or talent to do justice to the roles.

Looking at the newer generation of artists, there are very few who can really "take the baton" from the veterans because they lack the experience and skill that the veterans (primarily late 70s and early 80s/90s generations) had to make them successful.

My response to the above is as follows:

There are 2 main reasons for the above (why TVB treats the veterans unfairly and why there is no one who can 'take the baton':

1) TVB got rid of the Acting Classes that they were so famous for (which MANY great stars graduated from). Those who went through Acting Class got proper training -- they were the ones who had to play "extras" or "bit parts" in series after they graduate, then once they gained enough experience, then they were "promoted" to supporting and lead. Basically, these artists started from the bottom and climbed their way to the top through constant refining of their acting skills, accumulating experience, and pure hard work / dedication / perseverance. This is where majority of the most famous actors and actresses from the 80s and early 90s came from.

2) TVB changed direction of their company to promote based on favoritism and looks rather than skill or talent. Much of the promotion of the "newer" artists took place around 2003 when Virginia Lok was promoted to "artists' manager" and basically got to control all of the artists – she loves to promote the supposed "eye-candy" artists solely because they "look good", even though their acting sucks (i.e.: her "god-son" and favorite Kevin Cheng). The "favoritism" aspect is one of the main reasons why we continue to see the same artists over and over again in the series from the past 7-8 years -- "promoting artists" became a political game of whoever can "kiss up" to the most powerful higher-ups can be given more opportunities over others. And with Virginia Lok's "power" in upper management, she has been able to put all her favorites (Kevin Cheng, Moses Chan, Charmaine Sheh, Linda Chung, etc.) in almost every single series being made nowadays.

To support the above reasoning, there are two examples that I would like to bring up:

--- Sunny Chan: his acting skills are absolutely great -- he's good at every role he does and convincing (of course, he's from the HK Acting Academy, so his acting will definitely be good). He was very active in the 90s and was considered one of TVB's "siu sangs" -- but then he left in 2000 for ATV and since he returned several years ago, he has not been given many good, quality roles. Granted, he is still the male lead oftentimes, but many of the roles that he gets are really crappy and second-rate (i.e. Wintermelon Tale, Legend of Demigods, etc.) -- not to mention TVB has warehoused the majority of the series he made since he returned (hence, he is known as "Warehouse King" in the circles).

--- Roger Kwok: we all know about Roger – one of the most famous veterans at TVB, been with them over 20 years, truly talented acting, 2 time TV King, etc etc….he’s definitely one of TVB’s own and contracted too….yet, the management (namely Virginia Lok) “used” him to build Kevin Cheng’s career up after “The Seventh Day” and a few other series failed miserably. Kevin is a far inferior actor (he’s promoted because of his looks), yet because he is favored by management, he gets preferential treatment at the expense of Roger. In fact, Roger was actually quite upset and refused to renew his contract with TVB – Mona Fong (the head of TVB) had to step in to “soothe things over” and he eventually renewed.

Basically, I can understand the idea of “promoting one’s own”, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of other artists (whether contracted or non-contracted). Unfortunately, though, the reality is that this is never going to change because it is a core part of TVB’s politics….

Another argument that was brought up was the fact that TVB is a business and so of course they are going to look out for their own best interests, which is to promote artists who are contracted to them (the younger generation artists mostly) rather than those who are non-contracted (mostly the veterans) -- especially since many of the viewers nowadays are young and want to see "pretty faces" rather than good acting. This led to the discussion of how many of the scripts that TVB writers come up with nowadays suck and how they would give bad scripts to the veteran artists (since they aren't contracted and so TVB doesn't have a vested interest) -- the argument here is why the veterans still choose to accept the role if the script is so bad (and consequently that TVB is not to be blamed for the veterans accepting the script).


My response to the above (veterans accepting bad scripts):

In terms of the veterans being at fault for "agreeing to" bad scripts -- well, to some extent, perhaps so, but one thing to understand is that a lot of times, they may not really have much of a choice. Most of the non-contracted veterans that TVB invites back pretty much have established careers elsewhere and whether they go back to TVB to do a series because they still "owe" them episodes or purely as a "favor", some of these veterans are busy and don't necessarily have time to "wait" forever. So if they are handed 2 scripts -- both of which are crap because TVB does not have very many good writers anymore, they will most likely choose the "better" of the 2 (though it's still a crappy script) so they can get it done and move on...So in a sense, yes, maybe they are at fault for agreeing to go back and do a series for them in the first place...but if they still "owe" TVB episodes or "show" time, then they would have to fulfill their obligation regardless....

Drawing this back to the original discussion, I can certainly understand the argument that a good script is hard to come by and so TVB would want to promote the younger generation artists since they are the "future" of the industry and as artists get older, there may be less of a "market" for them (realistically speaking). But then, knowing that, shouldn't there be even more motivation to develop the up and coming young generation artists so that they CAN take over for the veterans? This is where I don't understand TVB's way of thinking and why I brought up the issue of them 1) getting rid of the acting classes and 2) promoting based on looks rather than talent. To be honest, one of the main reasons why TVB was so successful in the 80s/90s (other than the caliber of the artists themselves and the quality scripts) is that the management at the time truly did have an eye for talent and really focused on developing actors and actresses -- which is why there were so many great artists who came out of those generations and who are still popular even today (for example: Chow Yun Fat, Tony Leung, Sean Lau, Maggie Cheung Man Yuk, etc. etc. -- just to name a few). With the change in management going into the late 90s/early 00s, the direction of the company changed and "promoting people" became a political game of favoritism rather than recognizing true talent and developing acting skills.

With the focus on promoting based on looks rather than talent, it's no surprise that TVB is starting to feel the effects of it now, since it's pretty much common sense that if you rely solely on looks, success is only going to be short term -- yes, the person may "look good" and so have a lot of opportunities because of that, but what happens once the person reaches their 40s, 50s, 60s when their looks will no longer cut it for them? If they had no talent to begin with and the company they work for doesn't even bother to help them develop the acting skills, then their careers are pretty much going to be over.

Just to take one of my all time favorite actors for example -- Chow Yun Fat. He is certainly good-looking and that's probably how he got "noticed" and entered the industry. However, he did not just rely on his looks to get him where he is today -- if he hadn't gone through TVB's acting classes and learned valuable skills, then gained valuable experience by starting off at the bottom playing bit parts and eventually becoming lead, today he would be just another "pretty boy" with no career. But look at how long his career has lasted -- over 30 years (and still going) -- and he is one of the greatest actors HK has ever had. And yes, TVB is certainly credited with having a hand in his development (which they are quite proud of even though this generation's management pretty much didn't have anything to do with it) and rightly so because the truth is that they did do a good job of that in the 70s/80s and early 90s.

Same with Tony Leung -- one of the greatest actors of the 80s generation (since Chow Yun Fat was technically the 70s). He is another good-looking guy who started in TVB's Acting Class and worked his way up. I remember watching the very first series he was in back in the early 80s (not as a lead, but as part of the cast) and even the "test videos" that he did before graduating from Acting class -- the huge differences in his acting skills then and now are quite obvious. Again, if he hadn't gained the skills and experience he needed going through the acting class, he would not have the success he has today (and yes, TVB still "boasts" about being part of his development as well).

The sad thing is that this is a thing of the past -- since TVB's priorities have changed, which is definitely a shame since now, there is no one who can take over -- so basically in another 20-30 years when the "veterans" retire, the HK industry will really be in big trouble....

My Thoughts on: "Rosy Business 巾幗梟雄"

I’ve been wanting to watch this series since last year and figured since it’s airing on TV here, I might as well watch it rather than wait until later (since I have the series on DVD as well). The reason I wanted to watch the series was not because it won so many awards last year (to me, TVB’s awards have no significance and I would not use them to judge the ‘quality’ or ‘merit’ of any series or artists anyway, but that’s a different topic) – rather, I wanted to watch the series because I knew I would be treated to a high quality production. With experienced producer Lee Tim Sing and script writer Cheung Wah Biu at the helm, I already knew the series would probably be better than a lot of the other ones that came out the same year – plus add to that brilliant performances by Wayne Lai and Sheren Tang – it’s no wonder that the series was so successful garnered as much public accolade as it did.

I won’t attempt to do an in-depth or thorough review of the series, as that would be way too much, but I want to at least express some of my thoughts about the series and things that stuck out for me….more of a commentary of sorts…

First of all, Wayne’s performance was absolutely amazing in this series! Despite being in the industry 20+ years, this was only his second time as lead actor in a series and I must say that TVB is blind for not seeing the talent this guy had from the beginning. Since I’m an 80s/90s HK entertainment fanatic, I am definitely familiar with Wayne and have seen most of the series that he had been in throughout those decades. Even though he was mostly in supporting or minor roles, his acting prowess was already evident even back then (those who have seen “The Challenge of Life” from 1990 will know exactly what I mean). Anyway, knowing Wayne, I had high hopes for his performance going into this and I definitely was not disappointed – in fact, I was actually ‘blown away’ by his brilliant performance. Now I understand why Cheung Wah Biu likes working with him so much – he is able to bring out even the most minute characteristics of each character he portrays and make the character convincing as well as memorable.

In my opinion, watching Wayne perform is like watching the ‘master’ at work – it’s no surprise then, that Wayne is known in the industry for his meticulous acting (and rightly so). The best way to describe his acting: “perfect” – he never goes overboard with his expressions or gestures and always gets it ‘just right’. Many artists who have worked with Wayne have talked about how ‘mesmerized’ and ‘captivated’ they were whenever they watched him perform a scene (not just in this series, but in others as well)….and as a member of the audience, I definitely agree, as I was mesmerized by his performance as well!

His portrayal of Chai Gau – a ‘scoundrel’ who eventually works his way up to become ‘3rd in charge’ of a rice shop (actually a huge rice business) and a great leader for the citizens of his country – was very realistic and convincing. Of course, it does help that the character of Chai Gau was well written and had a lot of depth, so Wayne was able to use the ‘opportunity’ to let his acting skills shine. The important thing about the character of Chai Gau is that he is neither a ‘good’ person nor a ‘bad’ person – he had characteristics from both sides in that deep down he has a good heart, but he did do some things that a truly ‘good’ person would not do. Not everyone is able to pull off a brilliant performance of such a complex character, but for Wayne, it’s no problem at all!

Sheren’s portrayal of Fourth Mistress Hong Bo Kei was also very well done. Granted, Sheren’s acting may not be as ‘refined’ or ‘perfect’ as Wayne’s, but the most important thing is that her acting is of a higher level of quality than most of today’s artists. Her character was very smart and likable – extremely clever and as well as persistent -- always coming to the rescue whenever the Tseung family was in a bind and never giving up her values even in the face of adversity. She is well respected in the family (well, at least part of the family – except the evil Eldest Wife and her son Bit Man, both of whom hated her for making them fall out of favor)…not only that, she is also well-respected in the entire village, which is evident when she is wrongly arrested near the end of the series and all the villagers (led by Chai Gau) come to her defense. In fact, they would form a ‘Sei Lai Lai Bang’ (Fourth Mistress Party) to show their support of her.

I really liked Sheren and Wayne’s relationship in this series. It wasn’t a relationship based on love and passion like most ‘close’ relationships between a male and female. Rather, their relationship (and feelings for each other) was at a higher level and was one based on mutual trust and admiration. Fourth Mistress went from being Chai Gau’s enemy to being his closest confidante – sort of like ‘soulmates’ but without the intimate love relationship. It’s a very unconventional relationship and one that is not usually found in TVB’s series (which is what made it so special). Both Fourth Mistress and Chai Gau admired and supported each other so much that they were willing to make sacrifices for each other – especially Chai Gau. In the second half of the series, I finally understand why Chai Gau admired Fourth Mistress so much and eventually developed feelings for her near the end (though it never goes beyond that, which is what makes the relationship so righteous) – it’s because throughout her life, Fourth Mistress never did anything for herself – she was very self-less in that everything she did was always for others….Chai Gau had never met anyone like her – someone who would always give of herself self-lessly and sacrifice for others.

All those times when Chai Gau would come to Fourth Mistress’s rescue whenever she was in a tough situation and how he would trust her word fully because he respected her so much – it was definitely very moving. I feel that the turning point to their relationship – the part that made their relationship ascend to a whole new level (though still not a traditional ‘love’ relationship, since both were already married) – was the part when Fourth Mistress goes missing due to the invasion of the ‘long-haired robbers’ and Chai Gau does everything in his power to find her – including entering a disease-ridden village to look for her and eventually contracting the disease himself (which is what he ends up dying from). When Fourth Mistress finds out that her best friend contracted the disease because of her, she is devastated. The amazing thing is that despite being so ill and weak, during the last half of the last episode when Governor Lam tries to arrest Fourth Mistress again (after plotting with the evil First Wife and Bit Man), Chai Gau comes to Fourth Mistress’s rescue again – not only does he argue with Pang Hang as well as the governor, he also reveals that he and Fourth Mistress are actually working undercover for Master Wong (Kwok Fung’s character). He and Master Wong are finally able to get rid of the ‘evil clan’ once and for all, but then Chai Gau coughs up blood and falls to the ground….later on, when Chai Gau is very weak from his illness and everyone is celebrating his birthday with him (bittersweet, since he was dying), he kept saying that even if he dies, at least he knows that he had all these good friends and won’t have regrets. Fourth Mistress tells him to stop talking like that and demands that he must give the disease a good fight at least and not give up – and he does, but only because Fourth Mistress told him to. In the end, Fourth Mistress agrees to go with him to Shanghai (where he goes to seek treatment for his illness) and when he died 2 years later, she was at his side – the best friend and confidante who never gave up on him and would always support him….

Though I felt sad about the ending, I felt that the series at least did a good job with wrapping up the Chai Gau/Fourth Mistress relationship. The narrative that they did at the very end (like the last few scenes) after Chai Gau died was a very good summary of his life and a touching (though solemn) tribute to him.

There is so much more I could say about this series and perhaps in later posts, I will do so….one last point I want to mention is how successful this series was last year – and I can definitely see why. There was not much promotion for this series originally because TVB did not think it would do well (since it doesn’t star their “favorites”) – yet it was able to garner ratings of 47 points at its peak….and that’s not counting HDTV. (As a side note, it sort of sucks that they didn’t count the HDTV ratings because it surely would have exceeded 50 points…though TVB said that it was because RB finished airing right before HDTV ratings were to be counted, so they just missed it by like a day, I have my own ‘speculations as to what actually happened…but won’t go into that here).

And even though the series did win a lot of awards at last year’s TVB Anniversary awards, my personal opinion is that what mattered more is the quality of the script and of the acting, which in turn garnered accolades from audiences and from the general public in Hong Kong. Though there were (and continue to be) accusations that the series ‘copied’ mainland China series “The Grand Gate Mansion” and certain aspects of the “Rosy Business” storyline itself are VERY similar to that of another TVB series “Safeguards” (which was coincidentally also a Lee Tim Sing / Cheung Wah Biu / Wayne Lai collaboration), it really doesn’t matter to me – all I care about is that I enjoyed a good quality series with superb acting – something I haven’t seen from a TVB series in a LONG time.

Jacky's Cantonese Albums -- Some Recommendations

A friend had asked me to recommend some Jacky albums (Cantonese), so I put together the below list. Figured I would post the list here as well (partly because there is some commentary that I wrote about the album and so why waste it?).

One thing that I have to make clear though is that the below is just a few of Jacky's most famous albums, but is by no names all of them. I love all of Jacky's albums and there are many great songs in every single one of his albums -- however with 96 albums and 1500+ songs, it's way too many to list (it was actually kind of difficult for me to even come up with this list because there are too many of his songs that I like and the list only scratches the surface -- plus it leaves alot of his albums out).

Ok, enough said...here's the list....

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Cantonese Album recommendations

>> 愛你多一些精選 (Love You More Collection– Greatest Hits) / Release date: 1991

01. 一顆不變心
02. 每天愛你多一些
03. 李香蘭
04. Cry!
05. 忘情冷雨夜
06. 太陽星晨
07. 夕陽醉了
08. 再度重遇你 (可喜也可悲)
09. 衹願一生愛一人
10. Linda
11. 親親
12. 再愛上你

** Note: All the songs on this album are fantastic! These are all of his most popular songs from the late 80s / early 90s. Track 2 is of course the song that launched him into stardom – “Loving You More Each Day”. But the reason why I like this album is because every single song is good – for diehard Jacky fans, this is THE ALBUM to buy: it’s well worth the money!

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>> 真情流露 (True Love Expression) / Release Date: 1992

01.偷閒加油站I
02. 愛得比妳深
03. 分手總要在雨天
04. Honey B
05. 暗戀妳
06. 明日世界終結時
07. 真情流露
08. 歲月流情
09. 紅葉舞秋山
10. 相思風雨中 (張學友、湯寶如)
11. 不要再問
12. 偷閒加油站II


** Note: All the songs on this album are classics as well. Track #10 is one of his famous duets with Karen Tong (one of my personal favorites, though it’s hard to choose because he had so many great duets). Tracks 1 & 12 you may recognize if you are into American music – it’s a remake of BoyzIIMen song “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” (hearing Jacky sing the Chinese version acapella is excellent!)

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>> 愛・火・花 (Love Sparks) / Release Date: 1992

01. 愛、火、花
02. 還是覺得你最好
03. 日出時讓戀愛終結
04. 還我情真
05. 你是我今生唯一傳奇
06. 幸福宣言
07. 夜了……又破曉
08. 生命的插曲
09. 長流不息 (張學友、黎瑞恩合唱)
10. 獨尋醉

** Note: Another one of his classic albums. I especially recommend Tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 9…..though all the tracks are quite good.

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>> 愛與交響曲 (Love & Symphony) / Release Date: 1996

01. 剎那愛
02. 任性
03. 歲月流情
04. 生命的插曲
05. 過敏世界
06. 妳的名字 我的姓氏
07. 莫等待 / 相識非偶然 / 大丈夫
08. 我哭了
09. 擁有
10. 祝福


** Note: This is one of Jacky’s more obscure albums that not everyone knows about necessarily. But there are some great songs in it that are also classics and worth recommending. For this album, Jacky collaborated with the HK Philharmonic Orchestra, so the music sounds really nice. My recommendation is definitely Track 6 – Your Name, My Surname….this is an award-winning song that is absolutely beautiful (especially the lyrics). This song has even great meaning because it was a “hit” in 1996, which was the year that he married his long-time girlfriend May Lo – so it was sort of a dedication to his wife as well as symbolic of their marriage. It’s one of my all-time favorites of his!

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>> 不老的傅説 (The Undying Legend) / Release Date: 1997

01. 不老的傳說
02. 愛是永恆
03. 一些感覺
04. 葬月
05. 怎麼捨得你
06. 花花嘉年華
07. 冷靜
08. 甚麼是戀愛
09. 原來只要共你活一天
10. 抱雪


** Note: Another great album! The significance of this album is that it was released the same year he did his record-breaking / award-winning musical stageshow, Snow Wolf Lake. Many of the songs were actually used in the musical, though he also released a special Snow Wolf Lake album that same year as well. All the songs on here are beautiful, but I especially like Track 2 “Love Is Eternal” (which is another one of his greatest hits, by the way).

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>> Life is Like a Dream / Release Date: 2004

01. 勇敢的故事
02. 想劈酒
03. 燥狂
04. Life is like a dream
05. 慢條斯理
06. 她
07. 給朋友
08. 寧願做錯
09. 講妳知
10. 搖搖


** Note: All true Jacky fans have to own this album because it’s Jacky’s most personal album to date. Jacky wrote every single song on this album and also each song has special meaning, as it touches every aspect of his life. Tracks 2 and 3 are sort of representative of his “young and wild” days back in the early/mid 80s as well as the lowest point in his life that occurred in the late 80s when his career was almost shattered and how he turned his life around. Track 7 (For Friends) is dedicated to his close friends who died the previous year (his sister-in-law Anita Mui, his good friend Leslie Cheung, and a few others). Track 9 (Tell You) was written for his wife May – the lyrics to this song are absolutely beautiful and touching. Track 10 (Cuddling Yiu) was written for his eldest daughter (the name of the song is his daughter’s Chinese name) – it’s a cute lullaby song.

Teresa Carpio temporarily leaves The Voice 2 - AsianFanatics Forum

Teresa Carpio temporarily leaves The Voice 2 - AsianFanatics Forum

Below are some additional comments that I posted in AF's news thread today:

I've been following some of the comments on the TVB.com forum since the beginning of the 2nd season and seeing the mindset of these people is truly disappointing as well as disturbing. If this is what is being taught to the younger generation (which it obviously is, since they had to have gotten the mentality from somewhere), then it will truly be a sad case 10, 20 years from now when the middle / older generation will no longer be in the picture and the younger generation will "rule". If the HK entertainment industry has been going downhill the past 10 years (which it definitely has, maybe for even longer depending on who you ask), it will be much worse years from now, to the point where the industry may even become extinct (sad sight indeed).

The direction of the show this year has definitely gotten off track in that it is no longer a singing competition, but rather a talent show. How else would you explain why TVB would even let some of the contestants (like Hardy and Emily) get into the semi-final round in the first place? I mean, if you have let's say 100 people audition and you had to pick 20 to be on the show, I am sure they would be able to find 2-3 people from that batch who sing better than Hardy and Emily -- so why did TVB let them advance this far? I definitely blame TVB for this as well because I also feel that part of this is being done for show.

For example, with Emily -- it was so obvious from the beginning that she was going to be eliminated -- I mean, she CAN'T EVEN SPEAK CHINESE!!!!! And she is trying to compete singing Chinese songs when she can't even pronounce majority of the words and people can't understand a single word she sings? Is it any surprise that she wasn't going to make it? And then to bash Teresa for being "harsh" or "blunt" in her comments toward Emily, causing her to get eliminated? Ridiculous!

Same with Hardy...his performance from the beginning was already bad -- he actually was supposed to be eliminated on the first episode, but the judges gave him a chance (so as far as I'm concerned, they were already 'lenient' toward him) -- and so when his performance continues to suck because he is just not ready to be in such an aggressive competition (and it's obvious to everyone, not just the judges), now Teresa is being made the 'scapegoat'? Why don't they question TVB on why they let him and Emily advance to this round in the first place when it was obvious that they weren't going to make it? Was it just so there would be some "controversy" so that they could get higher ratings?

More comments:

Exactly!!! And that's what the judges were trying to tell him! To be honest, none of the judges said that he sucked -- they basically told him that he is not ready yet, that he should concentrate on his studies and come back in a couple years to try again -- it's the truth, so what is wrong with that? Just because the comments were directed at a little boy who was too young to take any type of criticism -- and frankly, it doesn't matter whether the judges say something positive or negative because the boy was going to cry anyway (which was another thing that annoyed me -- he cried before his performance, after his performance, it seemed like all the time....that in itself already shows that he is not ready to be out in the "real world" competing like this)...

And Teresa's comments may be more blunt, but as you say, she definitely knows what she is talking about....plus the other thing that some people failed to realize is that Teresa didn't just criticize the boy -- she's very fair and defends when necessary. That's why Sammy (the host) got yelled at by her -- because he was laughing at the boy (sort of in a mocking way, though not purposefully) and she told him not to laugh and that it wasn't funny (basically reprimanding him for indirectly "making fun" of the boy) -- and she did praise the boy when she asked him why he wore that particular outfit (the one he wore when performing Jacky's song) and he gave a good answer. Unfortunately, those who keep saying that she was "too harsh" and "unfair" towards him are not looking at the whole picture....

“The Voice: Season 2” Thoughts – Where’s the RESPECT?

News Articles

Chinese Version:
http://www.mingpaoweekly.com/htm/20100603/mch1.htm

English translated version:
http://asianfanatics.net/forum/topic/723061-teresa-carpio-temporarily-leaves-the-voice-2/

I haven't posted in awhile because I've been busy, but reading this article really got me fired up to the point that I feel I should write about it. I actually made some comments in the Asianfanatics news thread about this as well, some of which I will reiterate here.

I've been watching the 2nd season of the TVB singing competition "The Voice" lately (not because I'm interested, since I hate hearing amateurs 'butcher' my favorite artists's songs -- but because it happened to be on TV). I also happened to be reading some of the postings in the "The Voice" blog on TVB.com's website.

The conclusion that I've come to is that in today's society (and more specifically in the HK entertainment industry), there is absolutely no respect for professionalism, talent, and the older generation. It's no surprise then, that the HK entertainment industry (whether it's music, TV, or movies) is so bleak and dismal -- the industry nowadays is full of younger generation 'eye-candy' whose attitudes are horrible (the arrogance and thinking that they know better than the older generation so they don't have to listen to them).

The 'latest' controversy with "The Voice" is over Teresa Carpio's comments about 12 year old Hardy Lam's performance last week -- he sang Jacky Cheung's "Born to be Wild" and got eliminated (I will refrain from commenting about my disappointment in hearing my idol's song get butchered.....painful, to say the least). Her comments were basically that Hardy chose the wrong song, he should have chosen something that fit his age, his outfit was questionable, etc etc. -- pretty much the same thing that she (and the other judges) had said in the previous episode (it's too early for him to be trying to compete in a serious singing contest such as this, he should be concentrating on his studies, etc. etc.). Of course, with her personality, she was alot more "blunt" about it then the other judges -- especially in her facial expressions....she totally was not laughing during his performance (as everyone else was, even some of the judges) and in fact, looked quite "pissed off" throughout his entire performance. (I'm pretty sure that if she had a bell on her podium, she would be pressing it like mad to tell him to get off the stage!)

To be honest (and this coming from me -- a "non-professional" in the area of music), Teresa was ABSOLUTELY right! The song did not fit Hardy at all! In fact, my first impression after his performance was that he's trying out for the wrong show -- it felt like a performance for a talent contest rather than a serious singing competition. First of all, the kid is only 12 years old (and he actually looks like he is only 9 or 10) and his singing was very childish -- what made the performance worse was that he was trying to sing in a deeper voice (perhaps trying to 'fit' the song or just to make himself seem older) which totally did not fit him at all. After the performance, I was like -- seriously? You call that singing? I mean, yes, the performance was "cute" in that you have this little kid dancing and singing and all, (I thought I was watching one of those "America's Got Talent" type of shows for a second there) but isn't this supposed to be a professional singing competition? What does "cute" have anything to do with it? We're talking about real world professional singing career here!

I can see now why Teresa was so upset. As a professional singer and music teacher with great talent and over 30 years in the industry, she absolutely knows what being a singer entails. And Hardy's performance (and a few other contestants' performances in my opinon) was not only a disgrace, but also disrespectful to the show and to the profession itself. That's why she was so blunt and telling it like it is -- heck I would be pissed too! One thing that I didn't know but found out about when I read the article is that Teresa not only reprimanded Hardy for his performance, but she also reprimanded his parents as well for putting him up to it and encouraging him (again, she's right) -- however, when TVB actually aired the episode, they edited out her comments (go figure -- typical TVB).

Teresa was absolutely in the right (and spot on) with her comments -- yet, the public (and others) criticize her for being "too harsh" towards a little kid! First of all, her comments were not harsh AT ALL (it's not like she cursed at him or anything -- she was very professional, abeit very straightforward with her words). Second -- who cares if he's a little kid? I mean, just because he's a little kid, does that mean they should be lenient and let him pass even though his performance was horrible? What kind of "professional, credible" judging would that be then? Again, the point here is that this is a PROFESSIONAL SINGING COMPETITION -- 'cuteness' and 'good looks' are not going to get anyone anywhere! People who try to play the "he's just a little kid so cut him some slack" card are just trying to cover up the true issue (the fact that he shouldn't have competed in the first place because he's not ready) and being too overly "PC".

I'm actually quite disappointed at all the negative criticism that I've been hearing about Teresa's comments on "The Voice". I was reading some of the postings on TVB.com's "The Voice" blog and it is very apparent that society nowadays does not value professionalism and talent. Last time, when Emily Chan (the 'westerner' who couldn't speak Chinese) got eliminated, there was already alot of criticism about Teresa being too harsh (which has no merit because she was just doing her job -- many people would've done the same thing). Some of the contestants (including Emily) wrote about the situation in the blog and some of them even went so far as to criticize the judges (not just Teresa, but all of them)...I was particularly irked by one person's comment who said something along the lines of "don't mind them (the judges)...they don't know what they are talking about anyway." HELLO????!!!! If this person is bitter about being eliminated because they can't sing to save their life, then that's their issue -- but how dare they disrespect the professionals who have been singing / producing / creating music for years who are just trying to give them constructive criticism to make them better people? Just because they are young and pretty, they think they can be arrogant like that?

It's no wonder that the HK entertainment industry is so dismal nowadays -- there are too many arrogant young know-it-alls in the industry who think they are better than those who came before them and therefore have no respect for the older generation (or even the middle generation for that matter)!

One last note --- regarding the contestants from Season 1 versus season 2: that brings up another point. I actually liked the season 1 contestants because most of them did have some talent (for one) but also because I felt that they were more humble and willing to learn...the impression that I'm getting from the current contestants is that they are more arrogant and are just in it to get there 15 minutes of fame rather than being serious about improving their skill so they can become good singers. The season has just started and already I've gotten pissed off on several occasions because of the attitudes of some of the contestants...it is definitely going to be a loooong season....