I had said earlier that I'm not going to do a full-fledged "predictions" post for the 2011 TVB Anniversary Awards and I'm still standing by my decision. The main reason for this is because I didn't like majority of the series that aired this year and was not impressed by most of the performances -- plus I only watched 1 series completely from beginning to end so far this year (goes to show how BAD this year's series were if I wasn't able to bring myself to sit through most of them). [As a means of clarification, when I say that I only watched 1 series completely from beginning to end, that means that I watched every single episode without distraction….the rest of the series I either didn’t finish watching, watched only a few episodes here and there, or was doing something else while watching so didn’t really pay close attention]. Therefore, it would be a waste of time for me to do a full predictions post in all categories when none of the performances really stood out.
With that said, the 'hype' this year among the general public seems to revolve around the TV King category and since that's the only category that I actually have a strong opinion on this time around, I figured it would be more appropriate for me to just write about that particular category and forfeit all the rest of them.
So far this year, here are some of the 'names' that I've seen come up the most often (in the Media as well as on discussion forums) in terms of potential candidates for TV King:
Note 1: I am just listing out names I’ve heard, regardless of whether they are truly in contention or not (some of the roles may actually be considered supporting roles – I realize that, but please keep in mind that this post is meant to be hypothetical only).
Note 2: This list is not all-inclusive by any means – there may be male artists you feel should belong on this list in addition to the ones I listed…that’s fine – if I missed anyone or you disagree with any of what I wrote, feel free to comment and state your argument.
Note 3: The numbers next to each name do not mean anything – numbering is my way of bullet-pointing in this post
List of 'potentials':
Steven Ma
Roger Kwok
Bowie Lam
Bobby Au Yeung
Sunny Chan
Wayne Lai
Bosco Wong
Raymond Lam
Michael Tse
Moses Chan
Kevin Cheng
Based on the above list as well as my knowledge of TVB, below is my assessment of what I think each candidate’s chances are:
1) Steven Ma
I already outlined in detail how I feel about Steven’s performance in my earlier review of “The Life and Times of a Sentinel”, so I’m not going to rehash all of that here (those interested can read the review at this link). As I stated in my review, Steven is definitely my number one choice for TV King this year, as his performance was truly phenomenal in my opinion (though some can argue that he’s just doing what he does best – either way, doesn’t matter to me – he still turned in the best performance so far in my opinion). So far, Steven has been the only one to move me emotionally with his performance this year. Of course, we all know that Steven’s chances of getting the award this year is pretty much ZERO given that whole fiasco with Virginia Lok a few months back and the early contract termination issue (plus add to that the fact that TVB traditionally frowns upon artists who are ‘disobedient’ and ‘vocal’ – two “sore spots” that, in TVB’s eyes, Steven has been ‘guilty’ of pressing recently). Even though he is the most deserving of the bunch and my vote goes to him for sure, I have pretty much resigned myself to the reality that he will once again be denied the award (unless by some miracle, Mona Fong intervenes and orders for justice to be done – not likely though). Nonetheless, I will continue to support him all the way!
2) Roger Kwok
Roger is actually my second choice for TV King this year, as his performance in “Wax & Wane” was truly awesome (despite the series itself being hugely mediocre). In fact, he was pretty much the only ‘saving grace’ to that series (in my opinion anyways) – if it weren’t for his steady performance, I doubt too many people would have bothered watching. Unfortunately though, his chances of getting the award this year is pretty much zero as well – for obvious reasons. First, with TVB’s focus on promoting their favorites the past few years, a lot of the veterans have pretty much been thrown by the wayside – Roger is already an established actor plus he already received the award twice, so from TVB’s perspective, how important is it to give him the award again? Plus in recent years, Roger has shifted his career to the Mainland and pretty much only films one series per year for TVB nowadays – so with a lot less exposure in the HK market (which translates to less audience exposure) and the fact that Roger will still work for TVB (when he’s in HK that is) irregardless of what happens, there’s really no incentive for TVB to give him the award. I actually don’t even think that Roger will get into Top 5 for that matter (remember that when it comes to awards, TVB is all about the politics, not about who is deserving or who is not). Regardless, I still feel that he turned in one of the best performances so far this year!
3) Bowie Lam
Bowie only has 1 series in contention this year – “River of Wine” – which just finished airing a week or so ago. Though he turned in a solid performance, the series overall was not well-received, as many people considered the cast ‘weak’ and also the storyline was way too draggy. Irregardless of what people thought of the series though, TVB is still not going to give him the award anyway because 1) he already left the company in May, and 2) he could care less about that particular award, since he already won the ‘Asia TV King’ award and that is WAY more prestigious than a stupid old TVB award. Also, it has already been made known (loud and clear in fact) that Bowie definitely has options – in Mainland China as well as other parts of Asia…so in comparisons, TVB is ‘small potatoes’ to him. There’s no point for TVB to give him the award because they are not going to get any return for their investment (except maybe his participation in the “War and Beauty” sequel next year – but if the schedule works out, he will probably still participate anyway regardless of the award).
** As a side note: I find it laughable that certain gossip mags placed Bowie in Top 5 contention for the TV King award based on his performance in “Heaven and Earth” (yes, I literally laughed out loud) – um, unless they got some sort of sneak preview that the rest of us audiences weren’t privvy to (which I doubt), there is no basis whatsoever for that ‘prediction’. I mean, come on now – that series isn’t even scheduled to air until mid to late November – which means that it’s not even going to finish in time for the awards ceremony! Besides, it makes no sense whatsoever to nominate someone for top 5 contention in an award category based on how they WILL perform in a series that no one has seen yet rather than how they ALREADY performed in a series that everyone has seen. All the more reason why people shouldn’t take what the gossip mags write seriously!
4) Bobby Au Yeung
Ah, dear ole Bobby – gotta love the guy (I certainly do..LOL)! He only has 1 series in contention this year (“Men with No Shadows”), but unfortunately, that series did not do too well in the ratings category. I actually see Bobby’s situation as similar to Roger’s in that there is no need to give him any awards because he’s pretty much already past that point in his career. Besides, he has a certain loyalty to TVB and has already said that he will make time in his schedule to film 1 series per year for them regardless of what happens – so then from TVB’s perspective, there is no need to reward him. For me, I’m at the point where I don’t care if TVB gives him an award or not because he already received the award a long time ago and it’s not like it’s going to change his status in our (audience’s) hearts anyway. Sort of off-topic, but I just wish that TVB would stop “using” him to promote their own biological sons and daughters….is that too much to ask?
5) Sunny Chan
I’ve ranted about Sunny so much over the past 7 to 8 years, I’m starting to sound like a broken record! I’ve always liked Sunny (ever since the 90s) and he is definitely a great actor, but unfortunately, TVB hasn’t treated him too well all these years. It’s interesting that he actually has the most series on the air this year amongst the veteran first line male leads (“Wax and Wane”, “River of Wine”, “Curse of the Royal Harem”, cameo role in “The Life and Times of a Sentinel”), but yet he has the least chance of even making it to Top 5 (forget about winning)! Maybe he’s just unlucky or TVB just hates his guts – whatever the reason, he’s gotten very few ‘decent’ roles this past decade, as most of the roles were mostly forgettable ones in forgettable series (for example: the series "The Wintermelon Tale" -- I mean, really? TVB put him in THAT ridiculous series?). Also, a lot of his series that he did in the past 7-8 years had been warehoused (for example: “Strike At Heart”, “The Slicing of the Demon”, “Phoenix Rising”, “The Greatness of a Hero”, etc. “The Wintermelon Tale” was warehoused for 1 year before it aired). He's had the most series warehoused out of all the artists -- to the point that he's dubbed "Warehouse King" by some insiders). Since his return, I have not seen a single breakthrough role for him (and he had plenty of them in the 90s)....plus I don't see him getting promoted either (despite being a skilled actor). Oh, and he is currently a TVB managed artist, but obviously to TVB, he's less important than the others that they are promoting right now...In any case, I feel sorry for him because I know that he is pretty much going to stay at TVB forever now (he wants to remain in HK to take care of his wife and son and has no interest in re-locating), which means that he is going to continue to get crappy roles and waste all that talent of his. Such a shame!
6) Wayne Lai
I love Wayne and with his awesome acting skills, I’m confident he will deliver a great performance as he always does (after all, he’s known for being consistent and meticulous with his acting and so far, based on all the series that I’ve watched of his, I’ve never been disappointed). BUT, since “Forensic Heroes 3” just started airing yesterday, it’s still too early to tell whether his performance in the series will be ‘award-worthy’ (though I have no doubt that he will do a good job). Without commenting specifically on his performance in FH3 as of yet, l actually think that Wayne’s chances of pulling a ‘three-peat’ victory are extremely slim….now don’t get me wrong – the reason I think this way has nothing to do with his acting or even the series that he will be competing with…I’m basing it purely on the fact that he has already won 2 years in a row (the first year because he had tremendous audience support so they HAD to give it to him and the second year because he was the ‘safest’ choice given the ‘playing field’ at that time)….this year, the dynamics are a bit different -- because of all the negative publicity that TVB has been getting, there’s more incentive for them to use the awards as a political tool to further their agenda (plus the past 3 years or so, they’ve pretty much treated Wayne as a ‘cash cow’ anyway – as long as he continues to remain popular with audiences and business sponsors, then they will continue to benefit, so it’s not like it’s absolutely necessary to give him the award). Of course, if by chance Wayne does end up getting the award, I am totally fine with it (because the way I see it, TVB is making up for neglecting him for 20 years) – but I highly doubt it will happen.
7) Bosco Wong
One advantage that Bosco has is that all of his performances this year (as Bai Co in “Lives of Omission” and also his earlier performances in “Grace Under Fire” and “7 Days in Life”) were pretty well-received by audiences – in fact, some people even feel that his performance in LOO overshadowed primary lead Michael Tse. With that said though, Bosco is also the most ‘junior’ among the field of candidates and technically, he isn’t even considered a ‘first line’ siu sang yet – I honestly don’t think that it will sit well with people if he is given the award when there are others at a higher level than him in contention (TVB may be stupid, but not THAT stupid!). By the looks of things (i.e. a lot of the first line siu sangs leaving and TVB’s supposed focus on promoting the 2nd line to first line in the coming year, plus the fact that he is a biological son who is on the ‘favored’ list), Bosco will have a lot of opportunities in the coming year, so he still has time to refine his acting and gain more experience….there’s definitely no rush to give him the award right now.
8) Raymond Lam
Every year, TVB tries to push Raymond up onto the TV King throne and every year, it doesn’t work (that strategy is starting to get old now and TVB should seriously consider giving up on it! ). And honestly, this year, it’s not going to work either, considering both of his series (“Sister of Eternal Flower” and “Men with No Shadows”) pretty much tanked (in terms of ratings and word of mouth). Also, despite what people may say, the negative publicity he’s gotten this year with all those relationship issues (and the whole bed photos mess) truly did impact his image and reputation, which indirectly affected his chances. Of course, TVB could still give him the award if they wanted to, but I don’t think it would go over well because 1) the favoritism would be too obvious, especially if TVB is supposedly using the ratings of the series as a benchmark for the award – it’s too hard for them to justify why they would give him the award when his series flopped, and 2) it would create too much controversy due to the ‘Virginia Lok’ factor (I’m sure you all know what I mean) – VL has been ‘in the news’ a lot lately and not for ‘good’ reasons either…given all the bad press that she’s been getting (plus Raymond’s), it’s probably not a wise idea for TVB to pile even more controversy on top of that!
9) Michael Tse
I will be upfront right now -- Michael Tse isn’t even on my list of potential ‘contenders’ for TV King because, frankly speaking, he ISN’T WORTHY!! His acting is ‘mediocre’ at best and the only reason why he’s so ‘popular’ right now is because of the Laughing Gor persona – it’s unfortunate that he let the whole Laughing Gor thing get to his head and as a result, has been acting all arrogant and cocky. He’s definitely NOT lead actor material (um, yea, let’s see him carry an entire series by himself, without any help from anyone!) and his acting isn’t even that great, yet he has the audacity to go around thinking that he is the ‘next best thing since sliced bread’!! (yea, right – in your dreams, dude!). Anyway, I highly doubt that TVB is going to give him the award (even if they considered it previously), especially after how poorly he handled the Steven Ma situation – a lot of audiences have a bad impression of him now (the number one comment I’ve been hearing on forums is: “I don’t care who gets the award, as long as it’s not Michael Tse!”). TVB is in a precarious position right now (given everything that has happened to them the past year or so) and I doubt that they can afford to take on the type of ‘backlash’ (similar to what they got back in 2006) that will inevitably come if they give the award to an undeserving jerk like MT.
10) Moses Chan
What are Moses’ chances of being crowned TV King for the 2nd time? Well, to be honest, it’s really hard to say…I personally couldn’t stand him in “Yes Sir, Sorry Sir” (in fact, I couldn’t stand that series PERIOD), but he IS a somewhat ‘safe’ choice because 1) he’s a biological son, 2) he’s gotten the award before, so that does put him up a notch over others who never got that recognition, and 3) though his acting in recent years hasn’t been good, it hasn’t been horrible either (generally speaking). I used to have a certain appreciation for Moses’ acting when he first started, but after so many years of watching one OTT (over the top) performance after another, it has started to become annoying to the point of boring. I don’t know how I’ll feel if he gets crowned TV King again – I guess it’s one of those ‘better him than MT’ situations for me. Realistically speaking though – unless TVB really has no other choice, I doubt that they will give him the award again (at least not this year).
11) Kevin Cheng
Very honestly speaking, I think that Kevin actually has a very good chance at the award this year (I know what you’re thinking.…I can’t believe I’m saying this either, but to be fair, I do have to give credit where it’s due). His acting definitely improved a lot in “Ghetto Justice” (and he wasn’t too bad in “Only You” either) and the ‘Law Ba’ role was a breakthrough for him – plus the feedback from the general public for his performance in that series has been overwhelmingly positive. Also, don’t forget that his popularity has soared in recent months due to his latest Mainland series "Bu Bu Jing Xin" (with Nicky Wu, Damian Lau, etc.) being a HUGE hit over there – he actually received much acclaim for his portrayal of the 8th Prince (I have yet to watch the series, so not going to pass judgement on the validity of those praises) – to the point that he now officially has a fan club with thousands of fans in the Mainland. True, it can be argued that the Mainland series shouldn’t have anything to do with the TV King award, but the point I’m trying to make is that the stars could potentially be aligned for it to be Kevin’s year this year. For the record, I am known for being ANTI-Kevin Cheng and to some extent, I still am (and yes I'm still adamant that TVB made a really BAD BS decision by giving him the award back in 2006 when he wasn't anywhere near deserving of it), but even I have to admit that his acting has improved in the past year or so. (And just to be very clear for people who may misunderstand….no, I'm not ‘suddenly changing course’ -- I'm merely giving an honest assessment of who I feel has the best chance based on how things look so far this year).
.--.
Concluding Thoughts
With the above, I tried as best I could to give an honest assessment and analysis of some of the actors who were mentioned at some point this year as a ‘possible candidate’ for TV King. Of course, with more than a month left until the awards show, pretty much anything can happen at this point.
One point that I do want to emphasize is that I pretty much stopped caring about the awards years ago – therefore, no matter who wins TV King this year, I probably won’t have any reaction to it from an emotional standpoint (that is, unless Steven wins….)
LL's Musings 小賢角落
Showing posts with label Raymond Lam 林峯. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raymond Lam 林峯. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
My 'TVB Rant' #9: Can TVB Get Any More Obvious with Its Favoritism?
At first, I didn't want to write this post because I didn't want to give the particular artist mentioned in this post any more 'publicity' than he already has, but once again, TVB pissed me off big time and I needed to vent about it to get it out of my system. So here it goes....
I just finished watching the finale episode of the variety series "All Star Glam Exam (華麗明星賽)" hosted by HK veteran Cantopop band/group Grasshopper. Up until yesterday, I was fine with the show, as I feel that throughout the season, there were definitely funny moments and the show wasn't really 'raunchy' like alot of the other variety shows out there recently (except for a few episodes that sort of pushed the envelope) -- it's actually one of the few variety shows that I've been able to tolerate in the past few years (needless to say, the quality of TVB's variety shows, just like their series, have gone done the toilet!!). Plus I like the hosts, as I grew up listening to the music of Grasshopper, and they are one of my favorite HK Cantopop bands / groups (not that there are that many to begin with anyway).
However, after watching the two-part finale episode, my opinion has somewhat changed.
Just to quickly "set the scene" for those who did not watch the finale yet: since it was to be the last show of the season (and possibly the show itself, since Grasshopper will be going on a World Tour concert in the coming year, so won't be able to host the show anymore, at least for now), TVB had a "special edition" of the show in which 10 guests were invited on the show to compete in various categories for prizes and money (as opposed to the usual 4 to 6 guests). Most of the guests who were invited for the finale had already gone on the show before and only a few of them were truly 'brand new' to the show. The guests who are invited are usually 'friends' of each of the 3 Grasshopper, as the 3 of them are sort of ‘competing’ as well (if their guests win, they win) -- the 10 guests were paired up into teams of 2 to compete against each other. The teams consisted of: Sammy Leung and King Kong, Nat Chan and Mandy Lieu, Louis Yuen and Nancy Sit, Raymond Lam and Wong Cho Lam, Johnson Lee and Bosco Wong. In general, each guest participates in 5-6 rounds of games and the highest cumulative score wins -- with the finale, the scores of the 2 guests in each team are combined together to form the cumulative total.
There were quite a few things in the finale to "complain" about but for the purpose of this post, I am going to focus on one thing in particular -- TVB's obvious favoritism of their 'favorite son' Raymond Lam. From the time the show first started about a year ago, I just knew that Raymond was going to appear on 1 of the episodes -- just didn't know which one (of course TVB wouldn't give up on the opportunity to promote their favorite son even more!)...turns out his one and only appearance was on the finale episode in which he paired up with Wong Cho Lam to compete in the games (I have a feeling it was deliberately planned this way by TVB for reasons that I won't get into here).
From the very first ‘game’ that the guests played, the favoritism of Raymond Lam was already very obvious. In the first game segment called “King of Posing”, each of the guests are given a series of camera numbers (camera 1, camera 2, etc.) to memorize – then, as the theme music to the show (sung by Grasshoppers) starts up, they do a ‘catwalk’ along the stage (in whatever manner they like) and pose for the cameras during the appropriate pauses in the music – the object of the game is to face the correct camera when posing (according to the sequence of numbers the guests were given earlier) and to get as many right as possible (8 angles total). Of course, each guest had their own way of doing the ‘catwalk’ – some were funny, some were silly, some were serious, etc. But when it came time for Raymond’s turn, things were completely different. First, instead of using the standard Glam Exam theme music for the game as everyone else did, he was the ONLY one of the 10 guests who was allowed to use his own song for the game – obvious and convenient ‘plug’ on the part of TVB, no? (And no, I don’t buy into the “well, Raymond is a singer but the others are not” crap because both Bosco and Cho Lam are officially singers as well). Second, instead of stopping to pose for the cameras at the appropriate times, all Raymond did was pretty much dance around the stage in beat with his song, completely ignoring the object of the game (needless to say, he scored a big fat ‘zero’ on that game!). So my question is – why is it that Raymond Lam gets the ‘special privilege’ of plugging his song as well as his dance during this segment instead of actually ‘playing the game’ properly like everyone else? There were many singers who appeared on the show previously and none of them got the same ‘privilege’ of plugging their songs and completely ignoring the objective of the game, so why does he get to?
The other segment where there was obvious favoritism was during the “Great Grasshopper Meal’ game where the guests are all seated around the table and while given special dishes to eat, they are asked a series of questions. Each time they answer a question wrong, they are “punished” in some form -- i.e. their utensils are taken away and they must eat with ‘specially-made’ utensils (usually something silly like long chopsticks, heavy paperweight utensils, celery sticks, other food, etc.), or they have to wear some type of silly accessory (anything from silly hats to jewelry to glasses, etc.), or they have to sit on something through the rest of the meal (i.e. a balloon, a cone chair, etc.)….there were other ‘punishments’ as well, but those were the main ones. After one of the Grasshopper hosts reads the question from a card, they are supposed to pick one of the guests (or in this case, the team of guests) to answer the questions (which range from the obvious ‘giveaway’ type questions to the extremely difficult / trick-type questions).
Well, during this segment, Raymond (and his partner Wong Cho Lam) had the ‘privilege’ of only answering 2 questions (yes, I counted and it was only 2) and was only ‘punished’ once (since the other question they answered was super-easy), whereas everyone else was being asked difficult questions and were being ‘punished’ left and right. The other thing too is that technically, Raymond himself didn’t even answer any questions – he just sat there and ate while Cho Lam was asked the questions (the hosts even called on Cho Lam specifically) and gave the answers. For those who get a chance to watch this segment, you will definitely notice the ‘favoritism’, as after the host asked each question, they would call out each group EXCEPT Raymond’s, even if they were ‘next in line (Raymond and Cho Lam sat between the Nat/Mandy group and the Sammy / King Kong group). Several times, the hosts went around the table -- sometimes even in order, going from Nat’s group then to Sammy’s group (skipping Raymond’s group) then around the table again, once again skipping the Raymond / Cho Lam group once it got to their side of the table. Even my mom, who was watching the show with me (and she is certainly an ‘impartial’ audience, as she pretty much watches everything without bias towards or against any artist or any show), commented several times while watching the segment: “Hey, did they just skip over Raymond and Cho Lam again?” I think even the guests themselves were starting to notice it, as some of them had surprised looks on their faces when they kept getting called on (someone even said “me again?”) – it wasn’t until close to the end of the segment that Raymond’s group got called on (to put things in perspective, the guests were served 3 dishes during the segment and they went several rounds for each dish – Raymond/Cho Lam didn’t get ‘picked’ to answer any questions until the very last dish was served….). So again, why did Raymond / his team get the ‘special privilege’ of not being called on for most of the game? Is it because they knew he wouldn’t be able to answer the question(s) correctly and didn’t want him to make a fool of himself with the silly ‘punishments’? Or was it some other reason? I could go on and on with all sorts of ‘speculation’ as to why this happened (but again, I will refrain from doing so).
Oh, and to ‘add salt to the wound’ so to speak, of course all the entertainment news reports that came out after the filming of that particular episode were pretty much ‘all about Raymond’ (oooh, he finally appeared on the show; oooh, he was ‘chok’-ing all night, oooh, he looks so handsome up there, blahblahblah….) – in the scheme of things, the other guests didn’t get talked about as much (though it seems that no one complained, so I guess they don’t really care…or maybe they are already used to TVB’s ‘tactics’ and so just turned a blind eye to it?).
I honestly don’t know what TVB’s intention was behind the ‘favoritism’, but I do know that it’s unfair to the rest of the guests who actually took the games seriously and were ‘good sports’ with their participation (again, this is just my personal opinion – the guests probably didn’t even care).
Lastly, I know that some may argue that the hosts were the ones at fault for the favoritism in a sense because they were the ones who told Raymond to show his ‘chok’ look during the Pose segment and they were the ones who ‘skipped’ over Raymond’s team during the Meal segment. In response to that, all I am going to say is that no matter what type of ‘atmosphere’ the hosts create, at the end of the day, all of these shows are ‘scripted’ to some extent and with the show being “TVB-produced”, the company definitely has a say in things. So no, TVB can’t claim ignorance in this case! End of story!
I just finished watching the finale episode of the variety series "All Star Glam Exam (華麗明星賽)" hosted by HK veteran Cantopop band/group Grasshopper. Up until yesterday, I was fine with the show, as I feel that throughout the season, there were definitely funny moments and the show wasn't really 'raunchy' like alot of the other variety shows out there recently (except for a few episodes that sort of pushed the envelope) -- it's actually one of the few variety shows that I've been able to tolerate in the past few years (needless to say, the quality of TVB's variety shows, just like their series, have gone done the toilet!!). Plus I like the hosts, as I grew up listening to the music of Grasshopper, and they are one of my favorite HK Cantopop bands / groups (not that there are that many to begin with anyway).
However, after watching the two-part finale episode, my opinion has somewhat changed.
Just to quickly "set the scene" for those who did not watch the finale yet: since it was to be the last show of the season (and possibly the show itself, since Grasshopper will be going on a World Tour concert in the coming year, so won't be able to host the show anymore, at least for now), TVB had a "special edition" of the show in which 10 guests were invited on the show to compete in various categories for prizes and money (as opposed to the usual 4 to 6 guests). Most of the guests who were invited for the finale had already gone on the show before and only a few of them were truly 'brand new' to the show. The guests who are invited are usually 'friends' of each of the 3 Grasshopper, as the 3 of them are sort of ‘competing’ as well (if their guests win, they win) -- the 10 guests were paired up into teams of 2 to compete against each other. The teams consisted of: Sammy Leung and King Kong, Nat Chan and Mandy Lieu, Louis Yuen and Nancy Sit, Raymond Lam and Wong Cho Lam, Johnson Lee and Bosco Wong. In general, each guest participates in 5-6 rounds of games and the highest cumulative score wins -- with the finale, the scores of the 2 guests in each team are combined together to form the cumulative total.
There were quite a few things in the finale to "complain" about but for the purpose of this post, I am going to focus on one thing in particular -- TVB's obvious favoritism of their 'favorite son' Raymond Lam. From the time the show first started about a year ago, I just knew that Raymond was going to appear on 1 of the episodes -- just didn't know which one (of course TVB wouldn't give up on the opportunity to promote their favorite son even more!)...turns out his one and only appearance was on the finale episode in which he paired up with Wong Cho Lam to compete in the games (I have a feeling it was deliberately planned this way by TVB for reasons that I won't get into here).
From the very first ‘game’ that the guests played, the favoritism of Raymond Lam was already very obvious. In the first game segment called “King of Posing”, each of the guests are given a series of camera numbers (camera 1, camera 2, etc.) to memorize – then, as the theme music to the show (sung by Grasshoppers) starts up, they do a ‘catwalk’ along the stage (in whatever manner they like) and pose for the cameras during the appropriate pauses in the music – the object of the game is to face the correct camera when posing (according to the sequence of numbers the guests were given earlier) and to get as many right as possible (8 angles total). Of course, each guest had their own way of doing the ‘catwalk’ – some were funny, some were silly, some were serious, etc. But when it came time for Raymond’s turn, things were completely different. First, instead of using the standard Glam Exam theme music for the game as everyone else did, he was the ONLY one of the 10 guests who was allowed to use his own song for the game – obvious and convenient ‘plug’ on the part of TVB, no? (And no, I don’t buy into the “well, Raymond is a singer but the others are not” crap because both Bosco and Cho Lam are officially singers as well). Second, instead of stopping to pose for the cameras at the appropriate times, all Raymond did was pretty much dance around the stage in beat with his song, completely ignoring the object of the game (needless to say, he scored a big fat ‘zero’ on that game!). So my question is – why is it that Raymond Lam gets the ‘special privilege’ of plugging his song as well as his dance during this segment instead of actually ‘playing the game’ properly like everyone else? There were many singers who appeared on the show previously and none of them got the same ‘privilege’ of plugging their songs and completely ignoring the objective of the game, so why does he get to?
The other segment where there was obvious favoritism was during the “Great Grasshopper Meal’ game where the guests are all seated around the table and while given special dishes to eat, they are asked a series of questions. Each time they answer a question wrong, they are “punished” in some form -- i.e. their utensils are taken away and they must eat with ‘specially-made’ utensils (usually something silly like long chopsticks, heavy paperweight utensils, celery sticks, other food, etc.), or they have to wear some type of silly accessory (anything from silly hats to jewelry to glasses, etc.), or they have to sit on something through the rest of the meal (i.e. a balloon, a cone chair, etc.)….there were other ‘punishments’ as well, but those were the main ones. After one of the Grasshopper hosts reads the question from a card, they are supposed to pick one of the guests (or in this case, the team of guests) to answer the questions (which range from the obvious ‘giveaway’ type questions to the extremely difficult / trick-type questions).
Well, during this segment, Raymond (and his partner Wong Cho Lam) had the ‘privilege’ of only answering 2 questions (yes, I counted and it was only 2) and was only ‘punished’ once (since the other question they answered was super-easy), whereas everyone else was being asked difficult questions and were being ‘punished’ left and right. The other thing too is that technically, Raymond himself didn’t even answer any questions – he just sat there and ate while Cho Lam was asked the questions (the hosts even called on Cho Lam specifically) and gave the answers. For those who get a chance to watch this segment, you will definitely notice the ‘favoritism’, as after the host asked each question, they would call out each group EXCEPT Raymond’s, even if they were ‘next in line (Raymond and Cho Lam sat between the Nat/Mandy group and the Sammy / King Kong group). Several times, the hosts went around the table -- sometimes even in order, going from Nat’s group then to Sammy’s group (skipping Raymond’s group) then around the table again, once again skipping the Raymond / Cho Lam group once it got to their side of the table. Even my mom, who was watching the show with me (and she is certainly an ‘impartial’ audience, as she pretty much watches everything without bias towards or against any artist or any show), commented several times while watching the segment: “Hey, did they just skip over Raymond and Cho Lam again?” I think even the guests themselves were starting to notice it, as some of them had surprised looks on their faces when they kept getting called on (someone even said “me again?”) – it wasn’t until close to the end of the segment that Raymond’s group got called on (to put things in perspective, the guests were served 3 dishes during the segment and they went several rounds for each dish – Raymond/Cho Lam didn’t get ‘picked’ to answer any questions until the very last dish was served….). So again, why did Raymond / his team get the ‘special privilege’ of not being called on for most of the game? Is it because they knew he wouldn’t be able to answer the question(s) correctly and didn’t want him to make a fool of himself with the silly ‘punishments’? Or was it some other reason? I could go on and on with all sorts of ‘speculation’ as to why this happened (but again, I will refrain from doing so).
Oh, and to ‘add salt to the wound’ so to speak, of course all the entertainment news reports that came out after the filming of that particular episode were pretty much ‘all about Raymond’ (oooh, he finally appeared on the show; oooh, he was ‘chok’-ing all night, oooh, he looks so handsome up there, blahblahblah….) – in the scheme of things, the other guests didn’t get talked about as much (though it seems that no one complained, so I guess they don’t really care…or maybe they are already used to TVB’s ‘tactics’ and so just turned a blind eye to it?).
I honestly don’t know what TVB’s intention was behind the ‘favoritism’, but I do know that it’s unfair to the rest of the guests who actually took the games seriously and were ‘good sports’ with their participation (again, this is just my personal opinion – the guests probably didn’t even care).
Lastly, I know that some may argue that the hosts were the ones at fault for the favoritism in a sense because they were the ones who told Raymond to show his ‘chok’ look during the Pose segment and they were the ones who ‘skipped’ over Raymond’s team during the Meal segment. In response to that, all I am going to say is that no matter what type of ‘atmosphere’ the hosts create, at the end of the day, all of these shows are ‘scripted’ to some extent and with the show being “TVB-produced”, the company definitely has a say in things. So no, TVB can’t claim ignorance in this case! End of story!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
TVB Anniversary Awards: My Predictions for Top 5 TV King
Below are my predictions on who will get into Top 5 for TV King.
Note that this is who I THINK will get into top 5, not who I WANT to get into top 5. In other words, the below predictions are NOT based on my personal preferences, but rather who has the highest chances based on all the information that has been out there so far. Just wanted to make it clear so that people don't get confused.
Top 5 predictions for TV King (in no particular order): Moses Chan, Raymond Lam, Wayne Lai, Steven Ma, Kevin Cheng
Analysis:
Moses: Well, he IS one of TVB's favorites so of course he will get in -- plus TVB went to great lengths to 'rig' the ratings for his series CBML, which tells me that they are trying to increase his chances. Also, Moses won both TV King as well as Favorite Male Character back in 2007 for his HOG role and has pretty much been in the running for both awards since then, though the focus hasn't been on him those 2 years because there were other 'hype' that overshadowed it (the Raymond vs Ha Yu thing in 2008 and the overwhelming success of Wayne Lai / Rosy Business in 2009).
Plus, based on TVB's actions so far, looks like Moses is 'back on top' again this year. In fact, in today’s Lighting Ceremony, Moses got the ‘prime spot’ during the group picture, standing right next to Dodo Cheng -- those familiar with TVB’s Lighting Ceremony knows that this means he is the hot favorite this year, as the closer one stands to Sir Run Run Shaw in the front row, the more ‘important’ he/she is to TVB. (Of course, Dodo and Liza Wang always occupy the space to the left and right of Mr. Shaw – it’s the people who surround them that are of the most interest).
What I think: Personally, Moses' performance in CBML was not that good – it was way too OTT (over the top) and is very similar to all the other comedic roles he's had -- nothing different, nothing special, no 'wow' factor. Oh, and his performance in the other series from earlier this year (ITEOTB)? It was a total joke! (ok, I admit some bias here because he was paired with Myolie in ITEOTB and I can't stand her). Regardless, the point is that I wouldn't be surprised if TVB gives the award to him purely based on the 'success' of CBML…if TVB gave him the award because he truly deserved it based on his acting, then that’s one thing, but if they give it to him because he is their favorite and his series was highly rated, then that’s totally wrong.
> Raymond: Of course Raymond will get into the Top 5 -- he's TVB's favorite 'biological son' and has been heavily promoted the past 2 years (2 concerts, 2 movies, 3 series, endless public events, etc.) He has pretty much been everywhere this year (I see an article about him in the news like every single week almost). Also, his series MOL -- which paired him with Tavia again -- was highly rated (the second highest rated series this year so far, beaten out only by CBML) -- so according to TVB's standards, I guess that automatically 'qualifies' him to be in contention for the award. In addition, it's important to note that 'rumor' has it back in 2008, TVB was planning to give the TV King award to Raymond, but because of the overwhelming audience support for Ha Yu (as well as TVB's notorious 'snub' of him in 2007), they had no choice but to give it to Ha Yu. TVB has been 'itching' to give the award to Raymond since then, but of course, since he didn't have any series nominated in 2009, they couldn't do it. This year, he's got 2 series in the running, though the other (GTL) was not well-received at all....
What I think: I feel that Raymond's performances in both his series weren't that great this year – maybe because he has way too much on his plate (tv series, movies, music -- he's pretty much been working non-stop), plus all his injuries this year....it's definitely affecting his performance. He needs to give it a rest and take care of his health first or else his career will be VERY short-lived -- but I guess that won't happen as long as he is under TVB's management. I know I'm putting my neck out there when I say this, but I don't think Raymond deserves to get the award this year for the reasons I outlined above. However, I don't think he needs to worry, since it's pretty much a given that TVB will reward him at the JSG awards end of this year....
Also, I had suggested a theory earlier on in another forum that TVB has decided to ‘switch gears’ now and instead of promoting Raymond for TV King, they are going with Moses instead (for obvious reasons – Raymond’s performance in MOL was so-so and his other series tanked, so it would be harder to justify giving him TV King). I’m actually beginning to believe this theory more after reading about today’s Lighting Ceremony and seeing the placements in the group picture – as stated above, Moses got the prime ‘Male Lead’ spot (along with Wayne)….Raymond was relegated to ‘second banana’ as he was standing next to Charmaine, who was next to Moses.
> Wayne: Last year's TV King will definitely be in the running this year, no matter what, even if he only has 1 series in contention this year. At this point, in terms of nominations, it really doesn't matter how his series "No Regrets" will do in the ratings because he's pretty much already guaranteed a spot on the top 5 list merely due to the fact that he has a series this year and he got the award last year -- it's like he's automatically entered into the contest. Wayne is known for his meticulous, brilliant acting in the entertainment circles and none of the contenders can 'beat' him so to speak in this arena, so of course there's really not a question of how 'good' his acting will be in "No Regrets" -- rather, the question is whether his performance in that series will 'beat out' the other contenders for the award -- or to put it more bluntly, whether TVB will give him the award over the 'favorites' that they are trying to push.
As for how TVB is treating him this year – well, they DID put him right next to Liza Wang during the group picture at the Lighting Ceremony, which is another ‘prime spot’ and shows that he is being pushed as the ‘other favorite’ (keep in mind that Moses is in the same position, but except on the other side right next to Liza Wang).
What I think: I will be quite happy if they give the award to Wayne, as I am confident that his performance in "No Regrets" will definitely be of high quality and he will probably be the one who most deserves it. Now, I'm sure people are going to say that it's unfair to give it to the same person or that his acting is at a different level than the other nominees so it's unfair to 'compare' because he has an obvious advantage with his experience and tenure, etc. etc. -- my response to this: yeah, whatever. People can make all the excuses they want, but the truth is that the acting of the other so-called nominees are just not up to par with Wayne's -- instead of whining about Wayne getting the award, they should see him as an example of how true acting SHOULD be done, learn from him, and bring their own acting up to his level so they can fairly compete.
Also, from TVB’s perspective, looks like the competition this year is really between Moses and Wayne (based on their positions for the group picture) – if that’s the case, I would rather they give it to Wayne.
> Steven: I guess technically Steven has 2 series in contention (AWT and GW), but honestly, AWT was aired so early in the year that no one is going to remember the series come awards time -- so I only considered GW for the purposes of this analysis. Steven's performance in GW was actually very good and had the same high quality that his previous roles had. Perhaps it may not be his 'representative work' and there was more 'hype' over Fala Chen's performance than his, but regardless, still a better job than most of the other nominees (except probably Wayne, though can’t really compare in terms of series since Wayne’s series just started airing today ). Plus GW did pretty well in terms of ratings and was well-received by audiences. Like Wayne back in his supporting actor days, Steven has always been one of those actors who is very underrated and often 'overlooked' by TVB -- which I don't understand since he definitely falls into the 'good-looking' category, which seems to be one of the 'pre-requisites' for those whom the management choose to promote. I can only conclude that TVB management doesn't really favor him because of his straightforward and direct personality, as I have seen several instances in which he 'spoke out' on issues that painted TVB in an unfavorable light (which they hate). Therefore, even though he will most likely get into the top 5, I consider him a 'dark horse' when it comes to winning the award.
Also, I noticed that in the Lighting Ceremony group picture, his placement was right next to Susanna Kwan (the second male on the left – so it’s Liza, then Wayne, then Sheren, then Louise Lee, then Susanna, then Steven)
What I think: I've always enjoyed Steven's performances, even if I hated the series itself (i.e.: Perish in the Name of Love -- I hated that series and almost every character in it except for his). There is a certain 'natural' quality to Steven's acting that makes his performances easily endearing to audiences. I would actually really like to see him win the award partly because he did a good job in GW, but also because he has always been consistently good in his other series, but rarely ever gets recognized by TVB. I think it's about time that he got rewarded for his many years of hard work. One thing I will say for sure -- if Steven does win it, I think I will probably cry tears of joy -- not because I'm a fan, but because someone who worked so hard and is more deserving of the award than some of the other nominees will finally get recognized for his efforts. (Sidenote: The ONLY other time that I cried when an artist won the TV King/Queen award was back in 2003 when Roger Kwok won it for the first time -- that was definitely a very emotional moment).
> Kevin: People may be wondering why I threw him into the top 5 prediction when he only has one series in the running this year, FOS, in which he was overshadowed by Kenneth Ma's excellent performance. I agree that with a lackluster performance and not much 'hype' this year, of course there is no justification for Kevin to make it in the top 5. However, let's not forget that he is Virginia Lok's favorite and it's pretty much guaranteed that she will try to get him into the Top 5 somehow, even if he has ZERO chance at winning the award this year -- it's pretty much so that TVB can 1) save face, since they have always touted Kevin as an 'awesome actor' (gag!) and 2) continued justification for why they gave him the TV King award back in 2006.
What I think: Ok, everyone knows how I feel about Kevin's acting ('he can't act' is an understatement). And he absolutely does NOT deserve any nomination this year -- but seeing how TVB likes to heavily (and shamelessly) promote their favorites, they definitely wouldn't leave Kevin out. Oh, and by the way, for those who say I'm biased against TVB -- I am just going to say that I would love nothing more than for me to be wrong this time around and someone else gets the spot other than Kevin.
So who do I WANT to get into Top 5? There’s actually no point in talking about it because I know it will NEVER happen.
Note that this is who I THINK will get into top 5, not who I WANT to get into top 5. In other words, the below predictions are NOT based on my personal preferences, but rather who has the highest chances based on all the information that has been out there so far. Just wanted to make it clear so that people don't get confused.
Top 5 predictions for TV King (in no particular order): Moses Chan, Raymond Lam, Wayne Lai, Steven Ma, Kevin Cheng
Analysis:
Moses: Well, he IS one of TVB's favorites so of course he will get in -- plus TVB went to great lengths to 'rig' the ratings for his series CBML, which tells me that they are trying to increase his chances. Also, Moses won both TV King as well as Favorite Male Character back in 2007 for his HOG role and has pretty much been in the running for both awards since then, though the focus hasn't been on him those 2 years because there were other 'hype' that overshadowed it (the Raymond vs Ha Yu thing in 2008 and the overwhelming success of Wayne Lai / Rosy Business in 2009).
Plus, based on TVB's actions so far, looks like Moses is 'back on top' again this year. In fact, in today’s Lighting Ceremony, Moses got the ‘prime spot’ during the group picture, standing right next to Dodo Cheng -- those familiar with TVB’s Lighting Ceremony knows that this means he is the hot favorite this year, as the closer one stands to Sir Run Run Shaw in the front row, the more ‘important’ he/she is to TVB. (Of course, Dodo and Liza Wang always occupy the space to the left and right of Mr. Shaw – it’s the people who surround them that are of the most interest).
What I think: Personally, Moses' performance in CBML was not that good – it was way too OTT (over the top) and is very similar to all the other comedic roles he's had -- nothing different, nothing special, no 'wow' factor. Oh, and his performance in the other series from earlier this year (ITEOTB)? It was a total joke! (ok, I admit some bias here because he was paired with Myolie in ITEOTB and I can't stand her). Regardless, the point is that I wouldn't be surprised if TVB gives the award to him purely based on the 'success' of CBML…if TVB gave him the award because he truly deserved it based on his acting, then that’s one thing, but if they give it to him because he is their favorite and his series was highly rated, then that’s totally wrong.
> Raymond: Of course Raymond will get into the Top 5 -- he's TVB's favorite 'biological son' and has been heavily promoted the past 2 years (2 concerts, 2 movies, 3 series, endless public events, etc.) He has pretty much been everywhere this year (I see an article about him in the news like every single week almost). Also, his series MOL -- which paired him with Tavia again -- was highly rated (the second highest rated series this year so far, beaten out only by CBML) -- so according to TVB's standards, I guess that automatically 'qualifies' him to be in contention for the award. In addition, it's important to note that 'rumor' has it back in 2008, TVB was planning to give the TV King award to Raymond, but because of the overwhelming audience support for Ha Yu (as well as TVB's notorious 'snub' of him in 2007), they had no choice but to give it to Ha Yu. TVB has been 'itching' to give the award to Raymond since then, but of course, since he didn't have any series nominated in 2009, they couldn't do it. This year, he's got 2 series in the running, though the other (GTL) was not well-received at all....
What I think: I feel that Raymond's performances in both his series weren't that great this year – maybe because he has way too much on his plate (tv series, movies, music -- he's pretty much been working non-stop), plus all his injuries this year....it's definitely affecting his performance. He needs to give it a rest and take care of his health first or else his career will be VERY short-lived -- but I guess that won't happen as long as he is under TVB's management. I know I'm putting my neck out there when I say this, but I don't think Raymond deserves to get the award this year for the reasons I outlined above. However, I don't think he needs to worry, since it's pretty much a given that TVB will reward him at the JSG awards end of this year....
Also, I had suggested a theory earlier on in another forum that TVB has decided to ‘switch gears’ now and instead of promoting Raymond for TV King, they are going with Moses instead (for obvious reasons – Raymond’s performance in MOL was so-so and his other series tanked, so it would be harder to justify giving him TV King). I’m actually beginning to believe this theory more after reading about today’s Lighting Ceremony and seeing the placements in the group picture – as stated above, Moses got the prime ‘Male Lead’ spot (along with Wayne)….Raymond was relegated to ‘second banana’ as he was standing next to Charmaine, who was next to Moses.
> Wayne: Last year's TV King will definitely be in the running this year, no matter what, even if he only has 1 series in contention this year. At this point, in terms of nominations, it really doesn't matter how his series "No Regrets" will do in the ratings because he's pretty much already guaranteed a spot on the top 5 list merely due to the fact that he has a series this year and he got the award last year -- it's like he's automatically entered into the contest. Wayne is known for his meticulous, brilliant acting in the entertainment circles and none of the contenders can 'beat' him so to speak in this arena, so of course there's really not a question of how 'good' his acting will be in "No Regrets" -- rather, the question is whether his performance in that series will 'beat out' the other contenders for the award -- or to put it more bluntly, whether TVB will give him the award over the 'favorites' that they are trying to push.
As for how TVB is treating him this year – well, they DID put him right next to Liza Wang during the group picture at the Lighting Ceremony, which is another ‘prime spot’ and shows that he is being pushed as the ‘other favorite’ (keep in mind that Moses is in the same position, but except on the other side right next to Liza Wang).
What I think: I will be quite happy if they give the award to Wayne, as I am confident that his performance in "No Regrets" will definitely be of high quality and he will probably be the one who most deserves it. Now, I'm sure people are going to say that it's unfair to give it to the same person or that his acting is at a different level than the other nominees so it's unfair to 'compare' because he has an obvious advantage with his experience and tenure, etc. etc. -- my response to this: yeah, whatever. People can make all the excuses they want, but the truth is that the acting of the other so-called nominees are just not up to par with Wayne's -- instead of whining about Wayne getting the award, they should see him as an example of how true acting SHOULD be done, learn from him, and bring their own acting up to his level so they can fairly compete.
Also, from TVB’s perspective, looks like the competition this year is really between Moses and Wayne (based on their positions for the group picture) – if that’s the case, I would rather they give it to Wayne.
> Steven: I guess technically Steven has 2 series in contention (AWT and GW), but honestly, AWT was aired so early in the year that no one is going to remember the series come awards time -- so I only considered GW for the purposes of this analysis. Steven's performance in GW was actually very good and had the same high quality that his previous roles had. Perhaps it may not be his 'representative work' and there was more 'hype' over Fala Chen's performance than his, but regardless, still a better job than most of the other nominees (except probably Wayne, though can’t really compare in terms of series since Wayne’s series just started airing today ). Plus GW did pretty well in terms of ratings and was well-received by audiences. Like Wayne back in his supporting actor days, Steven has always been one of those actors who is very underrated and often 'overlooked' by TVB -- which I don't understand since he definitely falls into the 'good-looking' category, which seems to be one of the 'pre-requisites' for those whom the management choose to promote. I can only conclude that TVB management doesn't really favor him because of his straightforward and direct personality, as I have seen several instances in which he 'spoke out' on issues that painted TVB in an unfavorable light (which they hate). Therefore, even though he will most likely get into the top 5, I consider him a 'dark horse' when it comes to winning the award.
Also, I noticed that in the Lighting Ceremony group picture, his placement was right next to Susanna Kwan (the second male on the left – so it’s Liza, then Wayne, then Sheren, then Louise Lee, then Susanna, then Steven)
What I think: I've always enjoyed Steven's performances, even if I hated the series itself (i.e.: Perish in the Name of Love -- I hated that series and almost every character in it except for his). There is a certain 'natural' quality to Steven's acting that makes his performances easily endearing to audiences. I would actually really like to see him win the award partly because he did a good job in GW, but also because he has always been consistently good in his other series, but rarely ever gets recognized by TVB. I think it's about time that he got rewarded for his many years of hard work. One thing I will say for sure -- if Steven does win it, I think I will probably cry tears of joy -- not because I'm a fan, but because someone who worked so hard and is more deserving of the award than some of the other nominees will finally get recognized for his efforts. (Sidenote: The ONLY other time that I cried when an artist won the TV King/Queen award was back in 2003 when Roger Kwok won it for the first time -- that was definitely a very emotional moment).
> Kevin: People may be wondering why I threw him into the top 5 prediction when he only has one series in the running this year, FOS, in which he was overshadowed by Kenneth Ma's excellent performance. I agree that with a lackluster performance and not much 'hype' this year, of course there is no justification for Kevin to make it in the top 5. However, let's not forget that he is Virginia Lok's favorite and it's pretty much guaranteed that she will try to get him into the Top 5 somehow, even if he has ZERO chance at winning the award this year -- it's pretty much so that TVB can 1) save face, since they have always touted Kevin as an 'awesome actor' (gag!) and 2) continued justification for why they gave him the TV King award back in 2006.
What I think: Ok, everyone knows how I feel about Kevin's acting ('he can't act' is an understatement). And he absolutely does NOT deserve any nomination this year -- but seeing how TVB likes to heavily (and shamelessly) promote their favorites, they definitely wouldn't leave Kevin out. Oh, and by the way, for those who say I'm biased against TVB -- I am just going to say that I would love nothing more than for me to be wrong this time around and someone else gets the spot other than Kevin.
So who do I WANT to get into Top 5? There’s actually no point in talking about it because I know it will NEVER happen.
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