Not sure how many of you are familiar with Huang Zi Jiao (黃子佼) -- he's a famous Taiwanese host and comedian (and musician and writer and DJ and.....you name it, he's done it!)....definitely a talented individual and one of my favorite Taiwanese hosts! I actually became familiar with him over a decade ago (way more than a decade ago to be exact) during his days as co-host for the Taiwanese variety show "Super Sunday" together with Zhang Xiao Yan (張小燕), Harlem Yu (庾澄慶), and Pu Xue Liang (卜學亮). SS was one of my favorite Taiwan variety shows, as I loved the chemistry between all the hosts – the ‘dream team’ duo of Jiao Jiao and Ah Liang especially never failed to crack me up each time I saw them together on TV (awww, I miss them now...haha)!
Anyway, in this old video clip from the year 2000, Jiao Jiao was actually on a work assignment for Super Sunday: his task was to ‘greet and welcome’ the artists at the Taiwan airport who would be arriving to attend the 11th Annual Golden Melody Awards (to take place that night). In addition to bringing the usual camera crew, Jiao Jiao also brought along a 3 person ‘orchestra’ and instructed them to play the artists’ songs as they stepped out of the gate.
The actual clip itself actually shows Jiao Jiao ‘picking up’ several artists, including Leslie Cheung (張國榮), Jacky Cheung (張學友), Dave Wang (王傑), Zhang Zhen (張震), and Gigi Leung (梁詠琪), however the part that I’m going to focus on is the Leslie and Jacky part (since that segment was the funniest!).
Jiao Jiao actually has a good relationship with many HK and Taiwan artists and back then, “Super Sunday” was still a tremendously popular show, especially with its focus on promoting singers – therefore, he is able to joke around with them utilizing his 'trademark' sense of humor without them getting offended. I love Jiao Jiao's brand of humor – he says the funniest things and his facial expressions are always spot on according to the occasion (LOL).
I've actually seen the below clip before and probably even have the segment on videotape somewhere (part of my HK/Taiwan Entertainment memorabilia collection...LOL), but since it was such a long time ago, I pretty much forgot about it until now. It’s a great little clip though and brought back a lot of awesome memories!
Here’s the link to the video clip from Tudou (courtesy of Leslie’s fan site) as well as a ‘capture’ of the Jiao Jiao / Leslie exchange. I’ve also translated the commentary from the netizen who posted the actual clip on Weibo (which sort of sets up the scene so that the clip makes more sense):
Translation:
Rancy綵虹糖 wrote: In 2000, Jacky Cheung and 'Gor Gor' Leslie Cheung arrived at the Taiwan airport [for the 11th Golden Melody Awards]. "Super Sunday" host Huang Zi Jiao greeted them at the airport exit and even arranged to have an orchestra play music to welcome them. As Leslie arrived and was being interviewed, the orchestra 'accidentally' started playing Jacky's song in the background -- in turn, when Jacky was being interviewed, the orchestra also 'accidentally' played Leslie's song in the background...hahaha! Afterwards, the host [Jiao Jiao] gives Leslie a bouquet of flowers, but then asks for it right back so he could use the flowers again to give to Jacky....playfully, Leslie 'smacks' this particular host [Jiao Jiao] upside the head...HAHAHA...way too funny!
[Source: Huang Zi Jiao's weibo]
Dialogue between Leslie and Jiao Jiao (translated from video clip)..
Jiao Jiao: Leslie Gor Gor, how are you! I’m from “Super Sunday” – do you know who I am?
Leslie: Of course I do!
Jiao Jiao: Really! Oh, so moved! (motions to the crew member) Come, come come, present flowers! (Leslie takes the flowers)
Jiao Jiao: Leslie Gor Gor, you haven’t been back here in a long time. When will you be releasing another Mandarin album?
(At this moment, a crew member tells the orchestra that they’re playing the wrong song)
Leslie: Not yet.
Jiao Jiao: Oh really? You should hurry up and come out with another Mandarin album.
(As Leslie walks on, Jiao Jiao continues to interview him.)
Jiao Jiao: You were on the same flight with Jacky earlier?
Leslie: Yes, yes, yes.
Jiao Jiao: Did you guys sit together and talk?
Leslie: No, but we were talking this entire time.
Jiao Jiao: Oh, so you guys were talking while waiting to go through Customs.
Leslie: Yes.
Jiao Jiao: Do you mind gesturing to the Super Sunday audience for us? Super! Thank you! Bye!
Leslie: Bye! (he turns and starts to walk away with the flowers in his hands)
Jiao Jiao (chasing after Leslie): Um, s-s-sorry.....(Leslie turns around)....the flowers we still need to use again later....sorry! (Jiao Jiao grabs the flowers out of Leslie's hands)
Leslie: Ha? The flowers aren’t for me to keep? (Leslie playfully smacks Jiao Jiao on the head and big red letters flash across the screen: LESLIE CHEUNG HIT PEOPLE LA!!)
Jiao Jiao: Aiya! We only have that one bouquet of flowers! Sorry! (Looks around) Where’s Jacky? Where’s Jacky?
.---.
As an extra ‘bonus’, here’s a translation of the next segment in the video – Jiao Jiao’s interview with Jacky:
Jiao Jiao (rushing over to interview Jacky, who was sigining autographs for fans): Finally, we’re able to squeeze in and have a talk with Jacky. As is our usual practice, let’s present flowers to Jacky Gor Gor! (He hands Jacky the flowers) Welcome Jacky! (immediately takes the flowers back) Ok, thanks..we need to use the flowers again later. (Jacky laughs)
(All this time, the orchestra was still playing Leslie’s song, so the crew member tells them: ‘Hurry up, switch to Jacky’s!’)
Jiao Jiao: Congrats! How’s your wife doing? [TN: Jacky’s wife May was pregnant at the time]
Jacky: Not bad, not bad!
Jiao Jiao: Really. Did you give Harlem some pointers? He doesn’t seem to be able to make it come out. (a few seconds of awkward silence as Jacky looks confused and ponders Jiao Jiao’s question.)
Jacky: How long has it been? There’s no rush! [TN: Harlem had just gotten married, so Jacky meant that there’s no rush for him to have children just yet.]
Jiao Jiao: No rush, huh…
Jacky: Right, right.
Jiao Jiao: Do you hope to have a son or daughter?
Jacky: Doesn’t matter.
Jiao Jiao: Doesn’t matter, as long as have a child, right?
Jacky (laughs): Right.
Jiao Jiao: Are you nervous? In a few hours , need to d-d-deliver (Jacky looks at Jiao Jiao quizzically)…..deliver the awards! [TN: Jiao Jiao purposefully plays on the Chinese word for ‘delivering’ a baby]
Jacky: I think…I think…I think….Harlem’s chances are greater!
Jiao Jiao: Have you noticed that your song has been playing in the background? (He points to the 3-man orchestra behind them…Jacky looks over and laughs). We’ve had a 3-man orchestra following us and you didn’t even notice?! (Jacky laughs again). They work so hard! Ok la, ok la, add oil! SUPER! Thank you, Jacky! Bye bye!
As Jacky walks away, a voice in the back [Leslie] shouts out “Where are my flowers?” to which Jiao Jiao replies: “Your flowers, I will be taking with me…bye!”
.---.
My comments:
Omg, this clip (and the corresponding dialogue) was HILARIOUS!
First, Jacky’s expression when he comes out the gate and sees Jiao Jiao (he makes a funny face at him like a little kid, then walks right past him…hahaha) totally cracked me up. Then, Jiao Jiao rushes over to welcome Leslie (hey, Jacky came out first – Jiao Jiao was obviously playing favorites…LOL). I almost fell on the floor laughing at the sight of Jiao Jiao grabbing those flowers out of Leslie's hands and 'recycling' them to give to Jacky....and I'm pretty sure that the band playing the wrong music was definitely not an 'accident' (hehehe)......no wonder Leslie smacked Jiao Jiao! HAHAHAHA!! Oh, and Jiao Jiao's reaction to Leslie hitting him -- PRICELESS!!
In the next segment, when Jiao Jiao interviews Jacky, it’s obvious from the way he joked with him that they have a close relationship (primarily due to Jacky’s closeness to Harlem and Xiao Yan Jie) – also, Jacky’s silly expression throughout the whole interview was just too cute (LOL)! My favorite part was at the end of Jacky’s interview when Leslie suddenly asks about his flowers again (hehehe...)
Haha! That was funny! Looks like I've missed out on the glorious era of HK entertainment and music. Thank you for keeping it alive in your blog for readers like me.
ReplyDelete@Tamaya: No problem! That was a glorious era indeed -- one that I absolutely miss big time!
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