1983 version Legend of the Condor Heroes Cast Reunion (中国梦想秀--83版射鵰英雄傳重聚) – PART 1

Picture (courtesy of Hubei.com)

A couple days ago, Zhejiang Satellite Television in China arranged an awesome 28 year reunion show for the cast of the classic TV series Legend of the Condor Heroes (1983 version). Though not everyone who was part of the cast was able to make it (there were over 100 artists in that version and even the supporting characters had memorable roles), the ones who did really brought back great memories of the series!

Here is the link to the show courtesy of Tudou: 1983 version LOTCH reunion

Overall, the show was awesome! In addition to having the cast members come on the show to talk about their memories from filming the series, their were also some special performances as well (such as dancers from Sharon Yeung’s dance studio doing a special kungfu-themed performance). The tribute to Barbara Yung was also very poignant and well done.

Here are a few highlights from the show – due to the length of the show, I will be doing a multiple part post based on the segments from the show:

.>> The show started with 2 Mainland artists dressed up as Kwok Jing and Wong Yung who came out to sing the theme song to Part 1 of the series (射鵰英雄傳之鐵血丹心).

.>> After the opening number, the first segment of the show featured 4 cast members who were introduced individually with video clips from the series and some commentary, then each one came out behind the big screen to greet the audience.

.>> The first cast member to appear was Wong Wan Choi, who played Au-Yeung Hak in the series.

When Wong Wan Choi came out, the host said he looked like he was going to a concert. He replied that the past few years, he’s become a “singer” and has been performing at various places in China. He says that he is no longer Au-Yeung Hak, but rather Au-Yeung ‘Bak’ now (haha…he was basically saying that he is no longer a villain and was re-born, so he’s a good guy now). He gets to show his ‘singing’ skills later on in the show by performing one of the LOTCH theme songs for the audience.

.>> The second cast member was Chan On Ying, who played Sor Gu (she was the best Sor Gu – none of the other actresses from the other versions even came close to capturing the essence of the character as she did).

Chan On Ying stated that she played Sor Gu so many times that at one point, she was opposed to playing the character anymore, however after she saw another actress play the part, she changed her mind. Also, a lot of people (naively) thought at the time that she really was mentally challenged because the way she played the part was so convincing and memorable for audiences.

.>> The third cast member was Andy Dai, who played Tolui (Genghis Khan’s son and Kwok Jing’s buddy when he was growing up in Mongolia).

Andy was so funny…he came out and did some kungfu moves (Kwok Jing’s signature kungfu moves) – when the host asked him if those were Tolui’s kungfu moves, Andy said those were moves he learned growing up from Kwok Jing. A couple minutes later, he mentions something about Kwok Jing again, to which the host said that he must be very fond of Kwok Jing, since he mentions him so much (haha…of course – Felix and Andy are part of the Celebrity Soccer Team in HK and play soccer together all the time….I guess the host didn’t know that…hehehehe).

One thing I didn’t know was that LOTCH was actually Andy’s first series after graduating from the Acting Class – and an ancient series too, which was way challenging than doing a modern series.

.>> The fourth cast member to appear was Chun Wong, who played Chow Bak Tong.

Chun Wong is just a funny guy (well, his physical stature itself already lends himself to being comedic). When he came out, the host asked what he’s been up to lately and figured he must be living a good life since he gained so much weight. He said that he’s been working hard (very true – he’s still working for TVB).

The host mentioned that Chun Wong must have been the more playful one in the group as well, but maybe too ‘playful’ to the point that he gave everyone a scare several years ago when he almost lost his life (referring to the incident when he was drunk and lost his footing when stepping onto the ferry, falling into the water instead).

.>> After the first 4 cast members came out, the host asked if they could be judges for a kungfu segment, as the series LOTCH had such an impact that many youth took to learning the signature moves of many of the characters, so they had some people come up and perform kungfu moves, then asked the 4 what they thought.

I didn’t really care for the kungfu segments because I thought it was kind of cheesy, but the commentary from the artists afterwards was pretty funny!

After the first guy performed “Ha Mo Kung” (the kungfu of the Au-Yeung clan), the host asked Au-Yeung Hak (Wong Wan Choi) to comment – he told the guy that his performance was amazing…but he couldn’t comment how close it was to the Au-Yeung clan’s “Ha Mo Kung” because back when they filmed the series, they used stunt doubles for most of the kung fu moves. Then Wong Wan Choi showed off some dance moves instead (since he is a singer now). Everyone laughed at the ‘big secret’ being revealed – that Au-Yeung Hak really doesn’t know kung fu but only knows dance moves instead! LOL! It was definitely a funny moment!

Andy Dai was asked to comment on the next guy who performed what looked like karate moves, including using his hand to push nails into a wooden board. ‘Tolui’ was amazed at the performance and said that his clan (the Mongols) only had to know how to ride horses and fight with arrows – they never had to do anything like that. Then he made an attempt to remove one of the nails from the board using his hands and his mouth (haha…that was just for show) – that part was funny!

The last performer was so cute – a 6 year old girl came out and said that she knows “Gau Yam Jun Ging” – everyone thought she was going to perform kungfu, but actually, she had memorized the GYJG kungfu manual and so recited it for everyone. Chow Bak Tong (Chun Wong) asked the girl if he could be her apprentice and said he would carry her backpack to school for her if she would accept him (awww, Chow Bak Tong was so cute – he’s always been one of my favorite characters!). The little girl kept saying ‘No Way!’ (she seemed a little intimidated by his size).


.--.

To be continued…..

TVB 28th Anniversary Gala (1995): The Top 10 Highest Rated Series of All Time (up to that point)

Retrotvb's post recapping TVB's 1997 Anniversary Gala (read it here) inspired me to write this post about a particular segment of the 1995 Anniversary Gala (though I will admit that I remembered the date wrong at first and thought it was the 1998 gala, but it was really the 1995 one – shame on me!).

The show itself was great, as up to that point (prior to the start of the awards thing in 1997), the galas were still grand, all-star events. (I echo retrotvb's sentiments regarding the pointlessness of the awards, which turned the anniversary galas into lackluster events, but that's another story). The true highlight of the entire show for me (and probably for other 80s/90s TVB series fanatics as well) was the segment near the end of the show when TVB did a 'countdown' of the 10 highest rated TVB series up to that point. Almost every single one of my favorites made the list and I would venture to say that all 10 series were deserving because they were classic, high quality, well-made series.

The most memorable moment for me in this entire segment was when the "winner" of the countdown -- meaning the series that made it to the top of the list as the #1 highest rated series of all time (up until that point) -- was announced. Not suprisingly, the series that came out on top was "Looking Back in Anger" from 1989. True classic and truly deserving of the #1 spot!!! But what really did it for me was when Felix Wong, Kathy Chow, Deric Wan, and Maggie Siu went up on stage and accepted the 'award’ on behalf of the entire cast (I wonder who got to keep it? LOL!). Even though they were only up there for a minute or two and didn't say anything really, it was just awesome to see that cast together again – especially Deric, since he had left TVB long ago and made a special appearance just for that moment. Of course, I wish that Carina would have been able to make it as well (because then the cast would truly be complete in terms of the main leads), but I guess it wasn't meant to be...

The countdown was prefaced with these amazing numbers: the 10 series combined garnered a total of over 2.2 billion viewers (households), with each series averaging over 80 million viewers (households). Those numbers may ‘pale’ in comparison to the numbers today, but considering the series were of a way higher quality back then (the ones nowadays pretty much suck), those numbers were definitely something to ‘rave’ about!

I loved the way the segment was done – after the number of viewers and the series was announced, they had singers perform parts of the theme song for each series on the list while clips from the series played on the screen (though the singers weren’t the original artists who performed the songs, I was ok with it because the songs themselves were such classics that they sounded good no matter who sang them).


Here’s the countdown:

10th place: Police Cadet ‘84 新紮師兄 (1984)
(88131000 viewers)

9th place: The Big Family 大家族 (1991)
(97,916,000 viewers)

8th place: The Two Most Honorable Knights 絕代雙驕 (1988)
(98,513,000 viewers)

7th place: The Challenge of Life 人在邊緣 (1990)
(106,987,000 viewers)

6th place: The Breaking Point 今生無悔 (1991)
(117,925,000 viewers)

5th place: Love and Passion 萬水千山總是情 (1982)
(233,674,000 viewers)

4th place: Blood of Good and Evil 我本善良 (1990)
(283,266,000 viewers)

3rd place: Legend of the Condor Heroes 射鵰英雄傳 (1983)
(356,163,000 viewers)

2nd place: The Feud of Two Brothers 流氓大亨 (1986)
(388,323,000 viewers)

1st place: Looking Back in Anger 義不容情 (1989)
(431,355,000 viewers)

.--.

My ‘quick’ recap:

.>> Deric and Maggie are the big winners in this countdown, as both of them had 3 series a piece (happened to be the same series) that made it onto the list (not to mention being part of the #1 series).

.>> Felix came in a very close second with 2 series in the countdown -- though he does have an advantage in terms of ranking in that both of his series were in the top 3!

.>> Tony, Alex, and Leon did pretty well too, with 2 series a piece in the countdown.

.>> I think that the only one I would disagree with is “Love and Passion” – I’ve seen that series and even though it’s much better than many of today’s series, I really didn’t think it was all that great compared to the other series on the list. But maybe it made it on the list because it’s such a classic (it is the oldest one of the list)? But then again, there are many other series that would fall into the ‘classic’ category….

.--.

For those who are interested, below is the link to the 2nd half of the 1995 Anniversary Gala – the countdown starts at 33:12.

TVB Anniversary Gala 1995 (part 2)

Feel free to comment on what you think of the countdown! :o)

Tianjin Web’s Interview with Jacky Cheung: “I'm not in a hurry to earn daughters’ dowries”

Here's an awesome interview that Jacky did with Tianjin web's reporters after his HK concert!


Enjoy!

*****
Original article posted 05/21/2011
Translated by: llwy12

Source: Tianjin Web

After completing the 20 show Hong Kong leg of his ½ Century World Tour concert at the HK Coliseum, God of Songs Jacky Cheung granted a rare interview with our reporter backstage, during which he talked about various topics that audiences have been interested in as of late, including his income, his family, and his feelings on his concert performances so far. As far as facing the upcoming ‘milestone’ of his 50th birthday, Jacky made the following birthday wishes: “The world is getting smaller and smaller, so I hope that there won’t be anymore wars or nuclear leaks….also hope that our children can grow up in a healthy environment.” At the same time, Jacky also expressed that he looks forward to returning to his hometown of Tianjin this year and performing for his fans there.

R = Reporter
J = Jacky Cheung

Income: “The amount I make for myself is very little”

R: Let’s start with a somewhat sensitive topic – everyone is very interested in the income that you are getting from each concert performance. An ‘industry insider’ revealed that on average, you receive 1 million HKD for each show, which would come out to a ‘rough estimate’ of 100 million HKD this year alone. Is that true?

J: Wow, if that were true, wouldn’t I be lucky! With regard to the income, I have not calculated it and I don’t even think about it. People only know the overall numbers related to the concert as a whole, but there are a lot of things involved in that ‘number’, such as manager’s commission, production expenses, team expenses, the huge travel expenses, etc. – at the end of it all, the actual amount that I make is very little.

R: Is it enough to cover the money you lost a couple years ago in the Lehman Brothers fiasco?

J: That investment failure occurred a long time ago – the money lost in the Lehman Brothers incident was hard-earned money and I’m honestly not sure when I will be able to earn it back. But now that doesn’t matter to me anymore because I’m in a comfortable spot where I’m not in need financially. The reason why I decided to do another World Tour is because I felt it was the appropriate time to do so. I’m not in a hurry to earn my daughters’ dowries – in fact, I believe that they should earn it themselves based on their own efforts. The most important thing is that I am able to give them a good learning environment and quality of life in their childhood.

R: The most ‘stunning’ part about your concert performance this time around is definitely the ‘splits’ that you do every show. In addition, your dance moves have received a lot of praises from the audience. Can you reveal a little bit about the physical regimen you went through to get to that point?

J: I’ve always had the habit of stretching and exercising, but getting to the point of doing ‘splits’ involved a lot of daily effort. Not sure if anyone noticed one particular small detail – in the past, my left leg would touch the floor first, but now, it’s my right leg. The first couple years when I entered the industry, I would feel depressed and worried about not really knowing how to dance, but now, through years of hard work, I don’t have to worry anymore. I believe that everyone is satisfied with my dance moves now, right?

R: Each show on your concert tour is approximately 3 hours and with an estimate of over 100 shows in a year, how do you maintain your voice?

J: A lot of people are interested in knowing this, but to tell you the truth – I really don’t have any special methods of protecting my voice. Compared to before, I now have a better understanding of the proper way to speak and control my voice so as not to damage it. In the past, accepting interviews after a concert performance would be very strenuous for me, but now, I can more easily do interviews – even at 50 years old, it is easier for me to handle.

R: Out of the entire show, what made you most nervous? Hitting the high notes? The complicated stage? Or perhaps having to act and sing at the same time?

J: It may be surprising, but I’m naturally afraid of heights, so I’m most nervous performing on very high platforms, especially moving ones. The stage for the HK Coliseum shows was at least 10 meters higher than the ones I’ve been performing on in Mainland China – I had never performed on such a high stage in my life.


Family: So touched by mother’s attendance that he forgot lyrics

R: For your concert, the organizers created a short animated feature that primarily recapped your childhood and young adult life. Have you seen it already? Is it pretty close to your childhood in real life?

J: It’s pretty much the same – the only difference is that the kid in the animated film is more handsome than me! I was very mischievious when I was a youth and did a lot of ‘bad’ things that I was a bit nervous about including in the film. The ‘bad’ thing that I did most often in my childhood was ‘stealing’ things – one time, I was standing in front of a fruit stall and spotted some lychees that looked really good, but before I had a chance to even reach out my hand, the owner of the fruit stall looked at me sharply and yelled in a loud voice: ‘What? You trying to steal something?’ I broke out in a sweat and immediately ran away.

R: Do your wife [May Lo] and 2 daughters purposefully go and watch your concert?

J: My wife only watched 1 show and it’s enough for her – my daughters watched 2 ½ shows. When I’m on stage and see my wife and daughters in the audience, I’m not nervous at all, but my mother is a different story. The week before Mother’s Day, my mom came to watch one of my shows and I was a bit nervous -- when I was singing "Just Want to Go Away With You Forever", I saw her in the audience and blew her a kiss. After that, my mind suddenly went blank and I had to re-sing the song again – with my familiarity of that song, it’s impossible for me to forget the lyrics to it, yet it happened!

R: With regard to the short film that played during the first half of the concert which featured a love story with you and Shu Qi as well as a few intimate scenes, was your wife upset?

J: That’s all acting! My wife is an actress herself, so she is able to understand it. My family life is of the utmost importance to me – I would not have been able to get to where I am today without the support of my mother, my wife, and my daughters.


Performance: Does not mind Nicholas Tse winning the award

R: Because of your concert, you were not able to attend the HK Film Awards ceremony this year. Any regrets about it?

J: Singing is my life – unless one day I am no longer able to sing, otherwise it will always be my most important career.

R: You were nominated for Best Actor with the film "Crossing Hennessy", but in the end lost to Nicholas Tse. Any sadness?

J: I’ve mostly been busy with my concert, so did not have a chance to watch all the nominated films. To be very honest, my character in "Crossing Hennessy" was very plain and did not stand out much, so to be nominated for it is already very good. Even though a lot of people said that Nicholas Tse beat out 4 ‘seniors’ for the award, but I feel that learning does not differentiate between seniors and juniors!

R: You already have the ‘God of Songs’ title – will ‘Best Actor’ be the next ultimate goal?

J: Acting requires a lot of time to fine-tune and my time is very tight. I don’t dare to plan what may happen in the future – to decide to do a film, it depends on fate, the character, how I’m feeling at that moment, etc.

R: Even though you say that you don’t have natural talent for acting, but you still gave a very relaxed, natural performance in the short film featured in your concert. How did you decide to invite Shu Qi and director Andrew Lau to participate in your concert?

J: Thanks for your acknowledgment! In my youth, I had a certain energy and vigor when it came to pursuing acting, but now it’s different – I’m already a ‘half century person’! Andrew Lau is a good friend of mine and when I decided I wanted to incorporate a short film in my concert, Andrew was the first person I called. At the time, Andrew was filming "A Beautiful Life" and when he found out that I had not yet thought about who the female lead would be in the short film, he immediately handed the phone over to Shu Qi, who was there next to him. Right at that moment, the decision was made.

R: Both of you gave passionate and emotional performances in the short film. The scene where Shu Qi slapped you on the face alarmed a lot of your fans – was it real?

J: Shu Qi is a fan of my songs and even came to watch my concert in Shanghai. She is a good actress and to perform with her is a blessing, as she makes it easy for me to get into character. That slap on the face was real – the first time we filmed that scene, she was a bit hesitant, so the result wasn’t as good. I encouraged her to put all her energy into it and so the second time around she used a lot of force, but the result was excellent!

.--.

Original version in Chinese:

张学友：不急赚女儿嫁妆

来源： 天津网-数字报刊 关键字：张学友;演唱会;女主角人选;舒淇;坏事 作者：翟翊 2011-05-21 07:42

结束了20天的香港红馆马拉松演出，横跨去年和今年、共计51场的张学友“二分之一世纪”巡演日前落幕。演出结束之后，记者采访了歌神学友，他也针对大家关注的收入、家庭和演出话题侃侃而谈。至于面对即将到来的五十岁生日，学友也许下愿望：“世界越来越小，希望不要有战争、核泄漏……希望我们的小孩子能够健康地成长。”同时学友也憧憬今年回到家乡天津，为家乡的歌迷放歌。


　　收入：我自己赚到的很少

　　记者：有个敏感的话题，大家非常关注你每场演唱会的收入。有“业内”人士称，你每场个唱薪酬是百万港元，粗略估算，今年将会挣1亿港元？

　　张学友：那我岂不是赚到了？关于收入我没算过，也没有去想。大家只是知道我演出整体的费用，但是这里有经理人的佣金，制作的费用，团队的支出，交通巨大的开销……我自己赚到的很少。

　　记者：能不能挣回当年亏掉的雷曼债券那笔钱？

　　张学友：那次投资的失败是很久前的事了，雷曼股票所亏的钱是辛苦钱，我不知道亏损什么时候才回得来，但是现在已经没关系，总之我不是等钱花，我出来做演唱会只是觉得这是适当的时候了。我不急着给女儿赚嫁妆，孩子要靠自己努力，我能给她们提供学习和生活条件就好。

　　记者：这次演出最惊艳的地方莫过于你的“一字马”了，你的舞姿也得到了观众的掌声，能不能透露下怎么锻炼的？

　　张学友：我本身有拉筋的习惯，但是练成“一字马”也需要每天的努力。可能大家没有发现一个细节——以前我都是左脚先着地，现在演出都是右脚先落地。当年出道的时候，我曾经为不会跳舞而自卑、头疼，但是现在我已经用努力打消了这些顾虑，我相信大家还能满意我的舞姿吧？

　　记者：每场演唱会三个小时，有时一年能唱到100多场，你的嗓音怎么保持？

　　张学友：大家一定都关注这个问题，但是我想说——我真的没有特别保护嗓子，现在我懂得了发声的合理方式和对声音的控制。以前做完演唱会接受采访会难受，现在我可以自如地接受你的采访，50岁的我应对起来完全没有问题。

　　记者：整场演出下来，最让你紧张的是什么？高声部的演唱还是高难度的舞台？抑或是表演？

　　张学友：其实大家都想不到，我天生恐高，所以最怕在直升飞机或很多高舞台上表演，这次红馆舞台的高度比内地高出至少十米，是我从来没到过的高度。


　　家庭：妈妈捧场激动忘词

　　记者：在演唱会中，主办方制作了一个动画片，主要就是你成长的回顾，你看了吗？和你童年一样吗？

　　张学友：基本一样，唯一不同的就是，动画片里的那个小孩比我帅。我小时候太顽皮了，干了很多“坏事”，都没好意思放到动画片中。我小时候最常干的坏事就是“偷”东西，有一次我在水果摊前对着美味的荔枝看了很久，还没来得及下手，便被摊主冷不丁一声吼道：“干啥？！想偷东西呀！”顿时让我冒了一身冷汗，灰溜溜地跑了。

　　记者：太太罗美薇与女儿会专门看你的演唱会吗？

　　张学友：太太看一场就够了，女儿则看了两场半。在台上面对孩子和太太的时候我并不紧张，反而母亲节前一周我妈妈来看，我有点紧张，我唱《只愿一生跟你走》时看到她，然后给了她一个飞吻，岂料之后脑内一片空白，结果要重头再唱一遍，其实这首歌我没理由会忘记歌词的。

　　记者：这次演唱会上放了一个爱情短片，你和舒淇有很多亲热镜头，太太会反对吗？

　　张学友：那是演戏呀！我太太自己也是演员，她是能够理解的。家庭生活是我现在最看重的，我能有今天的成绩，真的离不开母亲、太太和孩子的支持。


　　表演：不介意谢霆锋得奖

　　记者：为了演唱会，你缺席了今年香港电影金像奖颁奖礼，遗憾吗？

　　张学友：唱歌是我的生命，除非唱不动了，否则这肯定是我最重要的事业。

　　记者：你凭借《月满轩尼诗》提名影帝，最终输给谢霆锋，会难过吗？

　　张学友：我一直忙于演唱会，因此没有看所有入围的电影。我很坦白讲，自己在《月满轩尼诗》中的角色很淡，能入围已经觉得很不错了。虽然很多人说，谢霆锋赢了四位前辈，但我觉得学不分先后！

　　记者：你有歌神的称号，影帝会是你另外一个终极目标吗？

　　张学友：演戏是要花多些时间，我时间很紧。以后的事情我不敢打算，演电影也要看缘分、看角色、看感觉吧……

　　记者：虽然你说自己表演没有天分，但演唱会中的爱情短片表演得轻松自然。当初怎么想到请刘伟强和舒淇的呢？

　　张学友：谢谢你的认可，以前年轻，有那么一种冲劲，但是现在不同，我已经二分之一世纪了。生活中和刘伟强是好朋友，当我想到要拍这样一个短片时，第一时间就给他打电话。当时刘伟强正在拍摄《不再让你孤单》，当他得知我还没有好的女主角人选时就直接将电话交给了旁边的舒淇，当时我们就敲定了。

　　记者：影片中你们的表演非常动情，而舒淇打你那个巴掌令很多歌迷惊叫。当时是真打吗？

　　张学友：舒淇非常喜欢我的歌，而且她也在上海看了我的表演。她是一个好演员，和她演对手戏非常幸福，能够很快进入状态。那个巴掌就是真打的，第一次拍的时候她不好意思，后来我让她放开手脚使劲打，所以第二次她打得很重，但是效果非常好。

新报记者 翟翊 文/摄

POLL RESULTS: Barbara Yung and the 5 Tigers

On the eve of the 26th anniversary of Barbara Yung's death, I'm sure that there are many fans out there (like me) who would like to pay tribute to her memory. So together, let's take a trip down memory lane to the 1980s and look at a few of Barbara's most significant performances.

In answer to the poll question "From 1983 to 1985, Barbara Yung collaborated with 4 out of the 5 Tigers in all but 1 of the series she had participated in during her short career. Which of these collaborations is (was) your favorite?", here are the results (out of a total of 24 people who voted):

1) The Legend of the Unknowns 十三妹 (1983) – Barbara + Kent = 0 votes

2) Legend of the Condor Heroes trilogy 射鵰英雄傳 (1983) – Barbara + Felix + Michael = 20 votes

3) The Foundation 決戰玄武門 (1984) – Barbara + Felix + Michael = 0 votes

4) The Fearless Duo 天師執位 (1984) – Barbara + Michael = 0 votes

5) United We Stand 生鏽橋王 (1984) – Barbara + Michael = 0 votes

6) The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung 楚留香之蝙蝠傳奇 (1984) – Barbara + Michael = 2 votes

7) The Rough Ride 挑戰 (1985) – Barbara + Tony = 2 votes

Obviously (and not surprisingly), "Legend of the Condor Heroes" is the winner (yay!!).

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So who did I vote for? Just like with the previous poll, it was a VERY DIFFICULT DECISION. Except for "The Legend of the Unknowns", I pretty much liked all the series listed, so for me to have to pick ONE only -- well, let's just say that it was agonizing! At the end, it basically came down to a choice between "Legend of the Condor Heroes", "The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung", and "The Rough Ride". Even though I loved Condor Heroes, I purposefully didn't vote for it because I knew already that most likely, that would be the series to come out on top due to its immense popularity -- so that left me with 2 choices (still an agonizing decision nonetheless)...

In the end, I voted for "The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung", primarily because I loved the interaction between Barbara and Michael in the series (and because in "The Rough Ride", Tony and Barbara weren't the only leads and with the talented cast and the way the storyline was written, she actually had less screen time in that series than she did in Chor Lau Heung).

For those who participated in the poll, if you would like to share who you voted for and why, feel free to comment!

In case some of you are not familiar with the series in the poll, below is a quick recap that I put together as well as a description of Barbara's and the Tigers' roles in each:

1) The Legend of the Unknowns: 20 episodes (1983)

.> This was Barbara Yung’s first series after she joined TVB in 1982 (she was a finalist in the 1982 Miss HK pageant). Actually, Barbara only had a supporting role in this series, as the main female leads were Cecilia Wong Hang Shou and Sharon Yeung Pan Pan. The series is set in the Qing Dynasty era and Barbara played the role of Emperor KangXi’s little sister Princess Shuang.

.> The greatest significance of this series (other than it being Barbara’s first series and her performance really standing out) was that Barbara and Kent’s romantic relationship started because of their collaboration in this series. Ironically though, neither of them were paired together in this series: Barbara was paired with Simon Yam and Kent (as the male lead) was paired with Sharon and Cecilia (in a ‘love triangle’ of sorts).

.> To be honest, I don’t remember this series much, as I watched it once a few years ago when it was released on VCD. I just remember that Barbara was very cute in the series and even though this was her first ‘stab’ at acting, you could already tell from the way her performance stood out that she was a natural actress. Other than that, I’m not going to comment much on the series, since I don’t remember anything else about it.


2) Legend of the Condor Heroes: 59 episodes (1983)

.> Judging from the overwhelming number of votes for this series, looks like I don’t need to elaborate much about this series, since it’s obvious that everyone has seen it and love it!

.> This ‘classic’ version of Jin Yong’s will always be THE BEST version of Condor Heroes in the history of HK television. Barbara Yung’s portrayal of Wong Yung was absolutely perfect and to this day, her performance in this series has been unmatched and undisputed. I know that I certainly can’t imagine anyone else in the role now, which is one reason why I prefer not to watch any other versions / remakes of it.

.> Of course, the rest of the cast was awesome as well – both the leads as well as the supporting cast! Felix Wong as Kwok Jing, Michael Miu as Yeung Hong, Sharon Yeung as Muk Lim Chi, Kenneth Tsang as Wong Yeuk Si, Lau Dan as Hung Chuk Gong, Chun Wong as Chow Bak Tong, Lau Siu Ming as Yat Dang…..the list goes on and on!

.> This is definitely one of my all time favorite series – one that I can watch over and over again without ever getting bored of it! In fact, this is one of the few series that I actually own on video tape, VCD and DVD (talk about obsessed….hahahaha)!


3) The Foundation: 20 episodes (1984)

.> In theory, this should be another awesome and memorable series, as it reunites Barbara with her Condor Heroes partners Felix Wong and Michael Miu as well as her real life lover Kent Tong. This time around, Barbara is technically paired with Michael, though in the beginning she is paired with Felix and there is that infamous TVB love triangle thing that goes on. Kent isn’t associated with Barbara in this series at all (in fact, they don’t even have much screen time together) – I honestly think that they did that on purpose, because I don’t think Kent and Barbara’s romantic relationship was completely out in the open yet when this series was made (which had to have been in 1983, since it aired in February 1984 and it wasn’t until some time in 1984 that their relationship was revealed).

.> For those of you who may not have seen this series, the story is supposed to be loosely based on some true events that occurred in Chinese history – namely, how one of the most famous Emperors of the Tang Dynasty, Lee Sai Mun, came to power (Chinese history buffs will probably know the story). Note that the key word here is LOOSELY – because as is the case with most history-themed series, a lot of the events are changed around and characters are added / removed to fit in with the message that the scriptwriters / producer want to get across.

.> Barbara portrays a woman named Chun Sik Sik in this series and the character is the complete opposite of her famous Wong Yung role in Condor Heroes. Chun Sik Sik is an ordinary woman who just wants to live a simple life taking care of the man she loves. Her personality is very ‘womanly’, even to the point of being ‘fragile’, but definitely NOT weak. Felix plays a fictional character named Gong Fung, a ‘village boy’ whose goal in life is to be the best martial artist in the world and so becomes obsessed with perfecting the craft at all costs, even if it means sacrificing the love of his life (Barbara’s character). Michael plays the future Emperor Lee Sai Mun, who is portrayed as young, handsome, talented, and extremely intelligent. Kent plays Lee Sai Mun’s younger brother Lee Yun Kut (a villain of sorts, since historically, he was one of those good-for-nothing rich kid type people).

.> I don’t want to go too in depth about this series because I intend to re-watch it one of these days (since it has been years since I last saw it), so I want to save the detail for the review.


4) The Fearless Duo: 20 episodes (1984)

.> Another Barbara / Michael collaboration (the 3rd one in less than a year) – the difference here is that the other Tigers are not involved (no more Felix…awww) and Barbara and Michael are truly a couple in this series. Barbara’s character Lam Chor Yan is sort of loud-mouthed and obnoxious in this series, but definitely not to the point of annoying – in fact, her character is very well-written and very three-dimensional, which actually makes her a very likable character (or I could be biased too because I just love Barbara Yung’s acting). Michael’s character isn’t bad either (though he also gets obnoxious at times as well – I guess that’s why he matches so well with Barbara’s character…LOL!).

.> This is another classic series that I like a lot! The chemistry between Barbara and Michael in this series is absolutely awesome – whether it’s their constant bickering in the first half of the series (when their characters supposedly hate each other and don’t want anything to do with the other) or their moving declarations of love for each other in the 2nd half of the series (to the point that they are willing to sacrifice their own lives for the other).

.> Again, I don’t want to go into too much detail because I also intend on rewatching this one sometime soon and want to save the details for the review. But I will say this much: this series has one of the best and most memorable endings I’ve seen (and for those of you who follow TVB series, you know this is a huge compliment) – one of the few endings that I actually feel closes the loop perfectly, but at the same time, incorporates both tragic and comedic elements (when I rewatched the series a couple years ago, I almost cried during the ending).

.> Bonus: this series has the largest number of ‘recognizable extras’ I’ve seen to date (what I mean is that alot of today’s most popular film and TV stars were ‘ke le fes’ / extras in this series – names that you would probably instantly recognize: Sandra Ng, Lawrence Ng, Sean Lau, Francis Ng, Michael Tao, etc.)


5) United We Stand: 20 episodes (1984)

.> Ok, I will admit that I don’t remember much about this series at all because the last time I watched it was almost 20 years ago. All I remember is that Barbara plays 2 different characters in this series – twin sisters who are completely opposite in terms of personalities. I actually don’t remember Michael Miu’s character at all, though I do recall that Michael Tao was also part of the cast, along with a bunch of veterans (many of whom are still active today).

.> I’m not surprised that no one voted for this series because I actually don’t think that too many people have seen it (which also isn’t surprising because this isn’t a very well known series – and it’s a very hard to find series nowadays, whether on VCD, DVD, or even videotape).

.> Fortunately, I have this series on DVD, so I am definitely going to be re-watching it, since I remember close to nothing about it. So if you’re interested in this series, stay tuned….


6) The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung: 40 episodes (1984)

.> Aside from Legend of the Condor Heroes, this is probably the other Barbara Yung series that people are most familiar with. By this time, Barbara and Michael had already collaborated on 4 series, plus in real life, they were really close friends, so establishing the chemistry in the series was a piece of cake, in a sense. I loved how Michael and Barbara interacted in this series – so natural and so cute!

.> Barbara's role as Princess Wing Jing in this series is a perfect role for her, as she plays the part with such ease and naturalness. And Michael's portrayal as the charming, chivalrous, dashing Chor Lau Heung is absolutely brilliant -- I admit that I fell in love with him after watching this series! TVB surely knew how to utilize their artists' strengths back in those days, as both Barbara and Michael absolutely had that 'ancient / wuxia era' look and feel, so they were absolutely perfect for ancient series roles.

.> Similar to Condor Heroes, this series also featured a stellar cast with artists who were perfect for their roles (makes me lament the abundance of talented artists that we had back then in the 80s and makes the lack of talent at TVB nowadays even more apparent).

.> Again, I'm not going to go into too much detail on this series because it just recently came out on DVD (finally!) and I have every intention of re-watching it (for like the gazillionth time), so I'll save most of my comments for the review.


7) The Rough Ride: 40 episodes (1985)

.> What do you get when you take a gorgeous, talented leading actor (Tony Leung), a beautiful, talented leading actress (Barbara Yung), and a talented supporting cast (Ray Lui, Money Chan, Ha Yu, Lau Dan, Susanna Au Yeung, Kwan Hoi San, etc.) and put them together in a series? AN ABSOLUTELY AWESOME SERIES!!

Seriously though, this series may not necessarily be 'the best' and it definitely cannot compare to Legend of the Condor Heroes in terms of popularity, but it is definitely a great series that is worthy of watching over and over again. I mean, with the 2 main leads alone (Tony and Barbara), that's already enough to get me hooked on this series.

.> I've always felt that in this series, Tony's character is actually a modern life version of Cheung Mo Kei (the role he played in ancient series The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, another one of my favorites) – all the character traits are very similar when you think about it. Even the 'indecisive' nature of the character is the same! On the other hand, Barbara's character is quite unique in that the role she plays is a pretty huge departure from the roles she's had in the past -- she plays a tomboyish police woman in this series who is very assertive and has a bit of a stubborn temper. To be honest, even though Tony and Barbara's characters in this series were pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum, they were actually a very compatible couple (not to mention a cute, lovable one!).

.> This series will always be a special one for me because of several reasons:

First, it's one of the few 'modern' series that Barbara filmed (if I remember correctly, I think this was only the 2nd modern series of her career -- all the rest of the series she did were ancient / wuxia series). This is significant because her immensely popular role as Wong Yung in Legend of the Condor Heroes was so classic and so ingrained in audience's hearts that it's pretty much how most people probably remember her. But there is actually way more to Barbara than just Wong Yung -- and her role in this particular series definitely shows her depth as an actress.

Second, this was Barbara's last COMPLETE series that she filmed before she died in 1985. (She was working on another series at the time, but it never got completed because of her sudden passing). The significance of this series was that it aired from April to June 1985 -- before the series had finished airing, Barbara had committed suicide on May 14, 1985. I don't live in HK, so I wouldn't have been able to watch the series on TV like HK audiences and experience that moment for myself, but I can absolutely imagine how fans and audiences must have felt when the female lead to the series that you are currently watching dies so suddenly and tragically – it makes the series all the more poignant and memorable. I remember when I watched the series for the first time a few years later, I instantly felt an emotional connection to it -- a connection that has stayed with me each time I re-watch this series. Also, each time I re-watch this series, the thought that always comes into my mind is how great an actress Barbara was and if she hadn't died, how big her career would have been....

Third, this was Barbara's one and only collaboration with (one of) my favorite actors of all time, Tony Leung. Up until this point, Barbara had collaborated the most with Michael Miu (5 series) and Felix Wong (2 series, though technically 4 if you count Condor Heroes as 3 separate series), so it was refreshing to see her with Tony, who has a markedly different acting style than the other 2 Tigers. I will admit that at first, I wasn't sure if Barbara would be able to achieve the same on screen chemistry that she had with Michael and Felix (since they had collaborated so many times in the past), but it turns out that I had nothing to worry about, as the chemistry was absolutely perfect!

Review of “The Enforcer’s Experience" (優皮幹探)

I was really debating whether I should write a review on this particular series or not because even though I like the main cast of the series a lot, I wasn’t too fond of the storyline. To be honest, I first watched this series years ago and (as with most of the series from the 80s/early 90s) I may have re-watched it at some point in time after that, but it’s been so long already, I really can’t remember. This series aired recently on TV (in the U.S., on one of the channels that airs older series) and since there wasn’t much else interesting to watch on the other channels (the “new” TVB series that are currently airing in HK were on the other channel and those were absolutely boring me to death, so I gave up on them already), I decided to go with this one (hey, a so-so TVB series from the 80s/90s is still way more interesting to watch than the boring series they make nowadays!).

“The Enforcer’s Experience” is a short, 20 episode modern cop series from 1990 starring Eddie Cheung, David Siu, Frankie Lam, Sheren Tang, Angela Yeung, and a huge supporting cast consisting of mainly 3rd and 4th line artists.

Eddie and David are high-ranking police inspectors at the same police station, but overseeing different criminal investigation teams. Both men technically have the same titles and are on the same level career-wise – however, personality-wise, the two of them are extreme opposites:

Eddie is the mature, serious, reserved cop who comes across as ‘high and mighty’ because of his education and background. He doesn’t like to say much except when giving orders and doesn’t get along too well with his staff, probably because he doesn’t make the effort to get to know them on a personal level and instead always acts so ‘authoritative’ towards them. Eddie’s character is interesting because even though he acts very confidently at work, he is actually a very insecure person because he grew up with an overbearing father (played by the late Bau Fong) who had extremely high standards and demanded a lot of him. So in a sense, he is under so much pressure at home and in his personal life that he sort of ‘takes it out’ on his staff at work by being an overbearing boss. He’s definitely a good person in the series, but because of the pressures and the unhappiness at home, he sometimes does things that make him come across as a big jerk.

David, on the other hand, is the embodiment of the ‘impulsive cop’ who sometimes lets his feelings and emotions get in the way of objective judgement. Don’t get me wrong – he definitely takes his work seriously, but he has a suave, nonchalant personality in that he is more concerned about helping others rather than advancing in his own career. He gets along very well with his staff and they are like one big family pretty much. He’s actually good friends with Frankie and they often hang out together as drinking buddies and sports buddies. David knows Eddie as well, since they work at the same station, but they are definitely not close friends. Sheren plays his wife, a psychologist for the police squad, whose personality is more mature than his – her character is the epitome of reason and logic and deals with matters in a calm and collected manner for the most part (well, with that type of profession, she kind of has to be that way), which of course is opposite from David’s emotional impulsiveness. The two of them are a loving couple at first, but as the series progresses, Sheren gets more and more frustated with David’s ‘carefreeness’ and lack of ambition – she feels that she continues to mature (in terms of thought and action) and grow, but yet David hasn’t changed one bit from when they married. This causes tension in their relationship, to the point that Sheren eventually moves out (oh, and the fact that one of David’s staff – played by Eddie Ng Kwok King – has a crush on Sheren doesn’t help matters at all – in fact, it causes issues for him at work).

Frankie is also a cop, but his position is lower than both Eddie’s and David’s (though higher than the others on his team). Frankie’s personality is a little bit like David’s, except more reserved and less impulsive. He gets along well with everyone on his team except for Eddie, who is his boss – but he does try to remain cordial around him – that is, until they become ‘love rivals’ fighting over the same woman (Angela Yeung). Angela is Eddie’s distant cousin and even though they are relatives of sorts, Eddie’s father doesn’t like her or her family because he feels they are lower middle class and not ‘good enough’ to match with them. This is why even though Eddie likes Angela, he is afraid to pursue her because he knows his father would not approve. Angela meets Frankie at a car racing event (she has a little bit of a tomboyish personality) and they end up becoming a couple – much to Eddie’s surprise and dislike of course, but he knows he can’t say anything because he’s the one who chose not to pursue her. Predictably, the relationship between Frankie, Angela, and Eddie turns into a love triangle and soon, the conflicts in their personal lives spill over to their ‘work lives’ as well.

Though I absolutely love the main cast of this series, I have to admit that in terms of plot and theme, the series does not quite deliver. I actually hesitate to call this series a “cop series” because to be honest, the police / crime investigation aspect is more of a subtheme than a main one – sure, most of the scenes do take place at the police station and there are cases that they have to solve as well as the typical ‘villain’ characters (played by Felix Lok and Derek Kok) that they are tasked to defeat – but all of that seems to take a back seat to the various conflicts related to the relationship issues that each of the main characters encounter. So I guess you could say that the main theme of this series is actually about relationships – not saying it’s a bad thing necessarily, but it would have been nice if the writers / producer could have found a better balance. Plus I personally think that if they had made the police / criminal investigation part the main theme, it would have made the series more fast-paced and interesting (I definitely found some parts of the series draggy and unnecessary at times).

Of course, there is more that happens in the series than what I described above, but overall, those are the highlights. I don’t mean to give away the ending, but to be honest, I’m sure most of you have guessed by now how the series ends anyways (well, those of you who are experienced TVB series watchers probably have). Yes, you are correct – the ending is a “happily ever after” one in that the three main guys (Eddie, David, Frankie) become good friends and colleagues and each of them are in a steady relationship with the women they love -- David and Sheren get back together, and Frankie and Angela overcome their differences to remain together. So who does Eddie get paired up with in the end? Ready for this?......he gets paired with MAGGIE SIU at the end – yup, Maggie makes a guest appearance at the very end of the series as Eddie’s girlfriend (now, before Maggie fans get too excited, she only does a quick cameo in this series – she’s only in 1 scene and only has a few lines of dialogue). But hey, I have to admit that Maggie and Eddie do make a cute couple – even if it’s only for a few minutes…LOL!

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A few additional thoughts…..

** As I said earlier, this series may not be one of the best and the script definitely needs some “cleaning up”, but I still feel that this is a series worth watching – especially if you like the cast as much as I did!

** David Siu – I think I may have said this before an another post…anyway, David is definitely one of my favorite actors from the late 80s / early 90s. He actually started at TVB in 1987 after he won the銀河十星接力賽contest – throughout that time, he participated in many series, both as supporting actor as well as lead (also as villain characters) and left quite an impression with his memorable roles. His most acclaimed role was of course as Adam Cheng’s oldest son in the classic series “The Greed of Man”. I personally feel that throughout the time that David was in TVB, he was very underrated – he’s one of the few rare actors who is able to play all types of roles well and make them convincing to the audiences – I’ve watched most of the series he’s participated in and enjoyed his performance in almost all of them. It’s really too bad that he left TVB in 1995 due to dissatisfaction with the way the company promoted its artists.

** Angela Yeung – Now here’s an actress who definitely had potential, yet she had a very short career in the entertainment industry. She was one of the few actresses of that era who possessed beauty, talent, smarts, and most importantly, good acting chops – to me, she always came across as very natural in terms of her acting and I always felt comfortable watching her performance. Take “The Enforcer’s Experience” for example – I didn’t particularly like her character in the series and to be honest, the character didn’t really “stand out”, but I still enjoyed her performance regardless because of the way she played the character.

Angela’s career at TVB actually began in 1988, which was the year she made it to the finals in the Miss HK Beauty Pageant (she didn’t win though). She entered TVB that year and in 1989, she participated in her first series – the sitcom “Everybody Loves Somebody”. Her most memorable and “representative” role however was in 1991’s “The Breaking Point”, in which she played Leon Lai’s younger sister Ching Hung (most of you who watched the series will probably remember her). She only participated in 6 series while at TVB and in 1993, she “retired” from the entertainment industry to pursue a career as a beauty consultant in the U.S. – which proved to be an extremely smart move because this became a wildly successful career for her…in fact, a few years ago, she was voted one of the top 1000 beauty experts in all of the U.S., receiving much praise and widely recognized for her work in that field.

** Eddie Cheung – another one of my favorites (yes, I admit that most of the artists from the 80s were on my “favorites” list – LOL). Eddie actually was quite a sought after actor in the 80s / early 90s and did his fair share of lead roles – unfortunately though, in the mid to late 90s, he was relegated to becoming a supporting actor, which I feel is really a waste of his talents! Needless to say, Eddie is no longer with TVB and has pretty much shifted his career to movies in recent years rather than TV series. Oh, and he still does do stage performances occasionally – in fact, every couple months, he travels to mainland China with his soccer buddy (and good friend) Felix Wong for their famous “Fai Wong” concerts….Haha – imagine Eddie and Felix singing the themesongs from some of the past series they starred in – and not just any themesongs, but THE SAME themesongs over and over again! LOL – gotta love it though! (Note: If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, please read the Mingpao interview with Felix Wong that I posted awhile back).

** Sheren Tang – what can I say? Sheren has always been a steady, talented actress back from the 80s up to now. Just like Wayne Lai, she is LONG OVERDUE for recognition for her acting (though she fared much better than Wayne in that she has pretty much been female lead this entire time whereas Wayne only started getting lead roles 2 years ago). She definitely deserved to be one of the top fa dans of the 80s and I’m glad that she is still going strong even now – to be honest, she is one of the few actresses that I watch nowadays (can’t stand most of the other ones!).

POLL RESULTS: Which of TVB’s 5 Tigers was (is) your favorite?

First of all, to all those who voted in this poll, thank you! I created this poll as a way of commemorating some of the most memorable HK entertainment events of the 80s and 90s.

For the first topic, I decided to do a poll on the 5 Tigers (Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Michael Miu, Felix Wong, Kent Tong) primarily because as individuals, they were the most definitive artists of the 80s, starring in many of the most popular and classic series of that era – as a ‘group’, they have been able to maintain a special brotherly friendship that has been able to endure almost 3 decades – definitely not an easy feat to be sure.

Each Tiger is definitely talented in his own right and even though each of them have taken different paths in life, I am sure that each of them have long-time, dedicated fans who continue to support them whether they are still active in the industry or not. So what are the 5 Tigers doing now? Well, just as a brief summary:

Andy is still active in HK as a singer and actor in film and has won many awards in both disciplines; Tony is active as a film actor and not only is he a multiple award winner, he can also be considered an ‘international’ film star with his award wins in several international film festivals; Michael made his return from the business world back to the TV world a couple years ago and is still active as a TV actor, though he is also back into the eyeglasses business again as well; Felix is ‘semi-retired’ and lives a leisurely life doing the things he enjoys (including playing soccer, tending his garden, acting as ‘chauffeur’ for his wife and daughter, and performing in mainland China), though he does still film TV series and/or movies whenever he feels like it; and Kent is a successful businessman in China who still occasionally participates in mainland TV series.

So back to the poll – for me personally, it was VERY hard to vote for just 1 of the Tigers as a ‘favorite’ because as a HK entertainment fanatic growing up in the 80s, I of course was a huge fan of the 5 Tigers and saw pretty much every single series these 5 were in (and continued to follow news about them going into the next 2 decades). I guess you could say that I like all 5 Tigers to some extent, so for me to pick a favorite is definitely not an easy task. If I were asked this question in the 1980s, I would probably choose either Tony or Michael, just because they filmed the most series in that era and also starred in many of the most popular ones (and yes, I will admit that I did have a little bit of a ‘crush’ on both of them back then because I was so mesmerized by the characters they played in the majority of their series). But after thinking long and hard, I actually voted for Felix this time around – I guess part of it is because I finished watching “Gun Metal Grey” a few months ago and was thoroughly impressed by his performance (it’s been many years, but he definitely still has the acting skill in him!).  But really, the main reason I chose Felix is because I’ve gotten to know him a little better these past few years since he has become more active and I really admire his work ethic as well as his personality. And he actually has a great sense of humor that, even though I knew he had since the 80s, I never really learned to appreciate until the past year or so.

Ok, now that I’ve done my ‘intro’ and given the reason behind my vote, here are the official results of the poll:

Out of a total of 15 people who voted...

• Michael = 1 vote
• Felix = 5 votes
• Andy = 6 votes
• Tony = 3 votes
• Kent = 0 votes

So the winner of the poll is……ANDY LAU (with FELIX WONG coming in a close second)! Congratulations!

Thank you to all those who voted – if you would like to share who you voted for and the reason behind it, feel free to leave a comment on this post.

Please stay tuned for the next 80s/90s poll, which will be posted within the next few days.

Weibo Fever #5: More Jacky Concert News -- Jacky and Friends!

Jacky’s ½ Century Concert is currently taking place at the Hong Kong Coliseum – he will perform a total of 20 shows and all 190,000 plus tickets are sold out!

Almost every night since the HK leg of Jacky’s concert tour started back on 4/15, his friends and fans from the entertainment industry have attended one of his shows. It’s been great following Jacky’s concert on Weibo and seeing the various pictures that his friends have posted.

Below is a gathering of recent behind-the-scenes “updates” from Jacky’s concert….enjoy!

Note: All pictures credited as listed

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April 24th @19:48: Vani’s Weibo

陪了阿哥半小時，他剛化好妝，第九場演出一定要成功 妹妹急趕回電台開工了！

Translation: Accompanied Brother for half an hour, he just finished with his makeup. The 9th show (in HK) will definitely be successful – Sister is rushing to get back to the radio station to start work!

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April 24th @00:25: Vani’s Weibo

今日壓軸微博！！請各位熱烈鼓掌 歌神與@吹神 之「世紀合照」!!勁chok！超強！！十級震撼 特別鳴謝動作指導~Eason
Translation: Today’s weibo climax!! Please put your hands together – God of Songs (Jacky) and Eason’s “Photo of the Century”! Extremely chok! Super strong!! Shocking to the 10th level! Special thanks to action director – Eason!


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April 24th @11:39: Bernice Liu’s Weibo

琴晚看了一個show,遇到 @吹神,thanks 歌神學友 !!

Translation: Yesterday, while watching a show, I bumped into Eason! Thanks to God of Songs Jacky!



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April 23rd @00:11 Kevin Cheng’s Weibo

Jacky ar

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April 23rd @22:59: Vani’s Weibo

「頭號學友粉絲」@吹神 來了！表情極度浮誇並於後台瘋狂呼叫！

Translation: “Number one Jacky fan” Eason Chan is here! His expression is extremely ‘exaggerated’ plus back stage, he has been shouting like a mad man!



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April 23rd @22:35: Vani’s Weibo

有個人對學友很體貼，為阿哥出場前整理衣服

Translation: Someone is being very considerate of Jacky, helping him fix his outfit right before he is to go out on stage.



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April 22nd @22:58: Vani’s Weibo

阿哥實在太「堅」！！！講完。
Translation: Brother is absolutely “solid”!!!! Enough said.





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April 22nd @01:31: Vani’s Weibo

哎喲梁光！ 阿哥一定是為賀你加入商業電台24週年所以今晚特別改Rundown多唱了「暗戀你」和「藍雨」！！ 不過你要上班，所以唱了給我聽

Translation: Aiya, Liang Guong [TN: name of male in the picture, a colleague of Vani’s]! Brother must have wanted to celebrate your 24th anniversary with Commercial Radio, so he especially changed the rundown tonight, adding the songs “Secretly in Love with You” and “Blue Rain”!!! But you had to work, so he sang it for me…haha!

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April 19th @03:25: Vani’s Weibo

刘伟强 劉大導演 你為學友演唱會拍攝之影片和卡通動畫水準超班超正 出心出力 剛剛又再來撐阿哥，灰常感激你 送你照片留念 不過不知為什麼這合照我把你的臉拍成奶白色！莫非因為你真的是「牛奶強」！！

Translation: To Andrew Lau – Director Lau! The mini-movie and animated cartoon that you produced for Jacky’s concert are super high quality and awesome! You obviously put a lot of effort in it. Plus you just came to support Brother again – extremely grateful to you! Sending you this photo as a souvenir gift – but not sure why when I took this photo, your face came out white as milk! Could it be because you are really “Milk Keung [Andrew]!!!

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April 19th @01:14: Vani’s Weibo

名符其實「友」「米」！學友感謝各方友好及歌迷以白米代替鮮花賀他的演唱會，目前已籌得7000公斤白米！ 送給聖雅各福群會的眾膳坊食物銀行，幫助貧苦大眾！

Translation: Now this is truly ‘have rice’ [TN: play on Jacky’s Chinese name]! Jacky thanks all his friends as well as fans for giving rice instead of flowers to celebrate his concert – currently, there have already been 7000 kilograms of rice raised! A gift to the St. James Settlement Group’s Food Bank to help the poor and hungry!

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April 19th @00:54: Vani’s Weibo

學友1／2世紀演唱會第五場結束後會見媒體，經紀人陳太突然說不如由我幫阿哥主持記者會啦！由於事出突然 所以入行以來首次素顏加工作人員Look當主持人！街坊到不行！頂自己唔順

Translation: During the media conference after the 5th show of Jacky’s ½ Century tour, manager Mrs. Chan suddenly asked that I help Brother host the press conference! Because of the suddenness of it, this was the first time since I entered the industry that I hosted without wearing makeup and also in my ‘employee look’! Very casual! Can’t stand myself!

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April 17th @17:31: Vani’s Weibo

今晚要上班！契爺要代我好好照顧阿哥啦！

Translation (by me): Need to work tonight! Godfather, please help me take good care of Brother!



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April 16th @20:55: Vani’s Weibo

強大的JC Team!Good show!

Translation: Big and strong JC Team! Good show!




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April 16th @06:17: Vani’s Weibo

蔡一智 @我係雪芳 @容祖儿 限時專送歌神合照！

Translation: To Calvin Choy, Xuet Fong, Joey Yung – Immediately sending your picture with the God of Songs!



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April 16th @00:09: Vani’s Weibo

祖兒待學友完show後迫不及待穿上傳說釘上十一萬顆水晶，重十公斤的「歌神戰衣」！！重的腰也不能挺直了！阿哥見狀都笑了 @容祖儿

Translation: After Jacky’s show ended, Joey [Yung] couldn’t wait to try on the outfit that has100,000 crystals sewn onto it – the “God of Songs battle outfit” that weighs 10 kilograms [approximately 22 pounds]!! The outfit is so heavy that Joey couldn’t even stand up straight! Brother saw her and couldn’t help but laugh.

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April 15th @01:25 Vani’s Weibo

學友香港演唱會首場開場，發哥的出現令紅館後台造成小騷動呀！工作人員全部變Fan屎 還向發哥自薦做保安員帶他去座位坐，阿哥見狀笑説：「怎麼反而沒有人帶我！我不是應該要出場嗎？」 P.S這合照其實是發哥主動叫我和阿哥跟他一起拍的！嚇死我！

Translation: Jacky’s HK concert opening night, Fat Gor [Chow Yun Fat]’s appearance caused a bit of a stir backstage at the Coliseum! All the workers turned into fans and even recommended themselves to him as bodyguards to help him get to his seat! Brother Jacky saw this and laughed, saying: “Hey, why isn’t anyone volunteering to help me get to the stage?! Isn’t it time for me to go on stage now?” (Oops…) P.S.: This photo is actually one that Fat Gor voluntarily told us (me and Brother Jacky) to take with him! Scared me to death!

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April 14th @20:10 Vani’s Weibo

我快要瘋了！看誰來撐阿哥！ 賭神vs歌神！ 阿妮開心到暈！！！

Translation: I must be going mad! Look who came to support Brother! God of Gamblers versus God of Songs! Vani is so happy, about to faint!

HKFA 2011: Jacky Cheung's Tribute to Willie Chan

Just wanted to share this awesome clip of Jacky singing Frank Sinatra’s classic hit "My Way". This was from the HK Film Awards ceremony that took place last week. Due to the date of the awards ceremony conflicting with his concert date, Jacky did not attend the HKFA ceremony, even though he was nominated in the "Best Actor" category (no surprise here, as it was already a given that he would not attend). But, he did record this clip for the ceremony as a gift for his former manager and good friend Willie Chan, who received the Professional Achievement Award from the HKFA that night (well-deserved in my opinion).

As always, Jacky's performance is awesome and absolutely blows people away -- listening to him sing, it's so easy to become mesmerized and drawn in (which is definitely the feeling I got). This was definitely my favorite segment of the entire HKFA ceremony!

Thanks, Jacky, for showing everyone else how it’s supposed to be done!!!

2003 HKFA Awards Ceremony (第22屆香港電影金像獎颁獎典禮)

I just finished re-watching the 2003 HK Film Awards Ceremony and I’ve got to say that it brings back a lot of memories.

To be honest, I didn’t purposefully re-watch this show – I just happened to come across it again when I was searching for something in Tudou, so I decided to go ahead and re-watch.

The 2003 ceremony was very different from the previous ones in many ways. First of all, that was the year that SARS hit Hong Kong and the entire population was suffering from the epidemic. It had gotten so bad that there were advisories put out by the government suggesting that non-HK citizens should not travel to HK and if they did, it would be at their own risk. The spirit and mood of the people were at an all-time low. Just when they thought things couldn’t get any worse, the HK entertainment industry is rocked by devastating news: music and film icon Leslie Cheung jumps from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel – and within minutes, he was gone.

In less than 5 days from this tragic event, the 22nd annual HK Film Awards ceremony was scheduled to take place – given everything that happened, many wondered if they should move forward with the event as planned. In the end, they decided to proceed with the show as usual. The night of the ceremony, HKFA association chairman (and host of the event that night) Eric Tsang gave the opening speech (a very moving one) and in it, he reveals the reason why they decided to go on with the show. He said that after what happened, he didn’t want to do the show anymore – but then he saw something on TV that made him change his mind. There was a news report about how, at the peak of the SARS epidemic, a group of several dozen doctors were asked who amongst them would volunteer to ‘get in the trenches’ and go into the deepest hit areas to help out (and risk the possibility of losing their lives) – without any hesitation, every single of them raised their hands and volunteered to go. Eric was moved when he saw this and also felt motivated – he indicated that the entertainment industry should not let the events of the past several months beat them down…instead, they should show the same ‘fighting spirit’ as the doctors and do the jobs that they were meant to do – entertain the audiences, bring up people’s spirits, and help everyone – ordinary citizen and celebrity alike – temporarily forget their sorrow and pain for one night.

This particular awards ceremony was also unique and special because of 2 reasons:

Majority of the artists who were nominated in the various categories were not in attendance at the ceremony and even many of those who won did not attend. Now before we start blaming the artists, we have to understand the environment in HK during that time – as I said earlier, SARS was at its peak and so many people were sick that the entire region became a big hospital ward, it seemed. And as mentioned earlier, the government had issued advisories regarding travel to HK….also, the hosts Eric Tsang and John Shum did mention that most of the non-HK artists were advised not to come to HK, so it’s actually not too surprising that they did not attend. In fact, the only non-HK artist in attendance at the ceremony was Zhang Zhen, who presented one of the awards.

Second, despite the lack of non-HK artists and the ‘tense’ atmosphere, this was still one of the most memorable ceremonies in HKFA history because it showed how united the HK entertainment industry truly is. A few of HK’s biggest celebrities who had not attended the HK Film Awards in years were in attendance at this particular awards ceremony.…this may not seem like a big deal, but what makes this truly unique is that most of the ‘big name’ celebrities attended primarily to support HK and the industry – many of them were neither nominees nor presenters. And a few of them were actually out of the country, but purposefully flew back to HK just to support.

For example, film icon Chow Yun Fat and his wife Jasmine attended the ceremony to show their support, as did singer/actor Alan Tam (both had not attended the HKFA in years) – both Fat Gor and Alan were the special guests who gave a 4 minute monologue at the end of the ceremony -- a great speech that was filled with humor and jokes at each other’s expense, but was a great source of encouragement for everyone in HK. Stephen Chow also made a rare appearance prior to the presentation of the Best New Director award (which he was not the presenter for) to say a few words of encouragement to the people of HK. For me though, the biggest highlight of all was the extremely rare performance by of all 4 Cantopop Kings (Jacky, Andy, Leon, Aaron), who had not performed together since the late 90s – they did an acappella rendition of Leslie’s classic hit Dong Nin Ching (當年情) as a tribute to him. I definitely have to applaud Jacky for attending just to do the tribute, given his close relationship with Leslie and knowing that he was probably grieving during that time – plus he was not nominated for anything that year and wasn’t even a presenter (both Andy and Leon were nominated for Best Actor and Aaron was a presenter for the Best Actress award, so at least the other 3 had a reason to attend aside from the tribute).

Also, in the very last segment (after Fat Gor and Alan did their speech), the hosts invited everyone (all the presenters, nominees, and pretty much everyone else who wanted to go up there) on to the stage so that Hacken Lee (who was invited up after the speech) and Alan could lead the entire group in a song that represented HK’s fighting spirit. It was a pretty appropriate closing if you ask me.

Mingpao Weekly: Interview with Felix Wong (黃日華)

This particular article is actually old (from December 2010). The interview was done around the time "Gun Metal Grey" was airing. I had actually translated this article for AF back during that time, but for some reason, didn't think to post it on my blog -- since I've been in a nostalgic mood recently and have been chatting about the 5 Tigers with others on their blogs, I figured I would post this as a 'treat' for me and for my fellow 80s HK entertainment fanatics (LOL)!

Enjoy!!  :-)

******

Mingpao Interview: Felix Wong does not chase after fame and fortune, chases after soccer balls

Original article published 12/12/2010
Source: Mingpao (reposted on TVB Channel)

Translated by llwy12

Picture credits as listed

Felix Wong – a 30 year veteran in the HK entertainment industry -- graduated from TVB’s Acting Class in 1980 and almost immediately took on the role of leading actor in TV series. He’s known for being a bit ‘explosive’ at times when it comes to his work, but that is because he takes his work seriously and has high expectations – in other words, Felix is merely trying to do his job well. Felix does not fight for any awards and actually feels that earning too much money is troublesome, so in terms of chasing after fame and fortune, there’s no need to include him – he is perfectly happy living a quiet, leisurely life doing what he loves best: ‘chasing balls’ on the soccer field. So then, what is it that has motivated Felix to film so many classic and memorable television series all these years? Felix replies: “Since I promised to do the job, I have to do it well! Actually, I don’t like this career (being an actor) at all and do not have an ‘acting addiction’ – to me, this is purely a ‘job’, but I still have to do it well!”

Even though he has been doing this ‘job’ for 30 years, Felix never mentions anything about having a passion for acting; instead, he claims that he only ‘loves’ soccer.

Felix: “After graduating from high school, I tried enrolling in the army, but was not successful, so I applied for TVB’s Acting Class. My personality is not a good fit for the entertainment industry, as I dislike being hypocritical and am not the type to ‘network’ or be sociable – I feel that trying to force myself to change in order to accommodate someone else is extremely painful. Even when my work became very difficult and exhausting, I never thought about giving up – I guess this is one of the attributes of those born in the 60s: willingness to endure hardship. I also don’t like changing to new environments, so if I had not entered the entertainment industry, I would probably be a soccer player. Luckily though, I was not drafted to any soccer teams back then because the career of a professional soccer player only lasts about 10 years, so it would have been hard for me to make the type of living that I did in order to have a good life now. I never did too well in school, however those from my generation who did do well in school may not have the same type of leisurely and carefree lifestyle that I have now either. In my opinion, those who are easily satisfied are the happiest.”

More Money = More Troubles

In the past 10 years, Felix has not ‘worked’ a whole lot and gave up on many opportunities to earn money. Why? Because he chose to allow himself to ‘slow down’.

Felix: “I worked very hard in the 1980s because at that time, I had a mortgage to pay; it wasn’t until I had accumulated a decent amount of savings and no longer had to worry about being burdened financially that I was able to choose for myself the life that I wanted to live. The amount of money that I earn from filming series in mainland China is several times greater than what I earn in Hong Kong, plus the filming schedule is already determined at the time the contract is signed, so it’s not as exhausting, however it would require me to be away from home for 4 to 6 months in the year, which won’t work for me. Filming in HK is more exhausting and difficult, but at least I’m able to go home to rest – that’s why I rejected a lot of opportunities to film series in mainland China. Even if it’s live stage performances in China, I try not to do too many either – though if I were willing to accept those job offers, I could have bought several houses already! Actually, my thought is that more money equals more troubles. A person needs to be able to pick up and let go – if the more you are willing to give up physically, the more you’ll eventually gain.” Though the opportunities to earn money are right in front of Felix, he doesn’t bother to pursue them. Even Felix’s assistant admits that when he arranges jobs for Felix, the primary ‘requirement’ is to ensure that the work does not affect his ‘Happy Wednesdays’, as that is the day that he has soccer practice with the HK Celebrity Soccer Team.


Teaches younger generation to build a solid foundation

Earlier, when Felix agreed to film the series 'Gun Metal Grey', he had to sacrifice his ‘Happy Wednesdays’ – now that the series has finished airing, Felix expresses that after not filming a TVB series for 9 years, this was a new experience for him.

Felix: “The artists I collaborated with in this series are all very hard-working and really threw themselves into their roles – it was a very happy experience. I didn’t put myself on a pedestal when interacting with the newer artists, but rather I chose to act as a role model for them by fully preparing my scenes before entering the studio. A newbie once asked for my opinion, saying that he has been in the industry for a year already but still has not encountered many opportunities for growth. I told him to look at artists such as Wayne Lai and Evergreen Mak – they worked for 20 plus years before they encountered such an opportunity. In this industry, a lot depends on fate as well as luck – there are even more older generation artists who never get such an opportunity in their entire lifetimes. Before trying to ‘stand out’ and be above everyone else, it’s necessary to first perform one’s own duties well; once that solid foundation is built, then the opportunities will come. I was one of the lucky few, as I entered the television industry during its golden era, so I was already playing the lead role in my very first series, 'The Lonely Hunter'. I was also most fortunate to encounter many seniors (older generation artists) who were willing to teach me.”

He continues: “In the past, filming series was really about working as a team and even though everyone spent most of the energy hard at work, emphasis was on team spirit. This time, when I returned to TVB, I felt that things have become more ‘systematic’ and no one dares to overstep their bounds. True, the company is physically ‘bigger’, but there is less of that family-like feel – luckily, I had already prepared myself emotionally for the ‘change’ in the work environment, so it was a matter of getting used to it. If TVB asked me to film another series, I’m willing to think about it – if it could be a comedy, that would be great, but most important is to be able to work with a group of colleagues who take their work seriously. My only ‘requirement’ would be to make sure I get good lighting so that I can look younger on screen and the audience can’t see the bags under my eyes…haha!”


Award ‘in the bag’ but ‘fell’ out

Felix’s performance in 'Gun Metal Grey' brought him a TV King nomination, but in the end, he lost out. Does he regret not winning any awards?

Felix: “The awards ceremony is merely a game and I already made it clear that I would not participate. The fact that the series itself garnered good feedback and word of mouth, I am already very happy; I don’t need awards. I’ve never been ‘lucky’ in terms of winning awards and I’ve already accepted this fact – I once had a good chance of winning an award, to the point of it being ‘in the bag’, but in the end, it ‘fell’ out. Back in 1997, during the first year of the anniversary awards, I was nominated for my role as Kiu Fung in 'The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils 1997', the performance was not bad and the fighting scenes were done well – at the time, I thought that I had a pretty big chance at winning TV King, but in the end, I lost to Gallen Lo. It was the same with movies – I was nominated for Best Supporting Actor twice, but the first time I lost by one point to Anthony Wong and the second time, because I did not attend the Asian Film Festival, a Korean actor won instead. If you win an award, you still have to work and if you don’t win one, you’ll still get job opportunities – awards only bring fleeting happiness. If I was asked to film a series / movie for the purposes of winning an award, I definitely wouldn’t do it, as I don’t want the added pressure.”


Enjoy life and it will last longer

Slow down, enjoy life, and it will last longer. These are words of wisdom from Felix Wong.

Felix: “The amount of working I did in the first 20 years of my career is equivalent to 40 years worth of work for someone else, so I should be allowed to rest now, right? This industry is very weird – when I’m working hard, people advise me that I should slow down and rest, but then when I’m ‘resting’, people are endlessly asking me when I will be going back to work. Looks like the best thing to do is knead me together with Andy Lau, then redistribute, as he is quite the opposite – I’m constantly advising him to rest, but he always tells me it’s not exhausting and he likes working.”

Other than his Wednesday soccer practices and occasionally performing in mainland China, how else does Felix keep himself busy?

“Haha! I’m very busy! I ‘hang out’ at home playing video games, watching TV, gardening…also, there are 2 new ‘members’ of the family now, 2 dogs that I have to take care of. I also need to take my daughter to school and take care of some matters related to the Celebrity Soccer Team. Who says that I have a lot of free time? I’m also constantly re-watching my old series – recently, I re-watched 'The Lonely Hunter' as well as 'Legend of the Condor Heroes'. In doing so, I realized that back then, I didn’t know how to act at all! When I watch my performances from back then, I can’t help but laugh at myself!”

'The Lonely Hunter', 'Legend of the Condor Heroes', and 'Soldier of Fortune' are all classic TV series from the 80s, however many of those born in the 90s and after have never seen these series (including Felix’s daughter Zi-Ching). Asked for recommendations, Felix suggests re-watching 'Racking Peak', 'Looking Back in Anger', and 'Secret of the Heart', all series that he really likes. As for series from the 80s, he says that 'Soldier of Fortune' is definitely worth re-watching.

Felix is currently 49 years old – next year, he’ll be at the ‘half century’ mark (50 years old).

Felix: “Next year, I am going to change my name to『半百人』(‘half century person’) or『50人』(’50 person’). I don’t worry about age, as many people who are 50 or 60 years old are still quite healthy and energetic in today’s world. A fan once commented that ‘Felix Wong certainly looks like he has aged!’. Of course, it’s normal for me to look like I’ve aged, as I’m certainly not young anymore, unless I go get plastic surgery, then maybe I can still keep my face looking youthful. Hey, come to think about it…in the past, I never felt that I needed plastic surgery, but in recent years, I’ve been more accepting of it…perhaps I should go get surgery done for the bags under my eyes! Hahaha!!”


Good husband, good father

Felix Wong and former TVB actress Annie Leung married in 1988. Annie was Felix’s ‘first love’ – they dated for 8 years before getting married, so this year, they celebrate 30 years together. All these years, they’ve stood together to face life’s ups and downs and even to this day, Felix has never wavered in his determination to be a good husband and a good father.

Felix’s 20-year old daughter Zi-Ching is the beloved ‘pearl in his palm’ – he plays the part of chauffeur every day driving her to and from school. Ever the benevolent father, Felix even accompanied his daughter last year to meet her idol, Taiwanese boy band Lollipop-F – his great love for his daughter is obvious! As for his relationship with his wife Annie, some of HK’s gossip mags have used words such as ‘boring’, ‘dull’, and ‘each have their own fun’ to describe it.

Felix: “I love soccer and she loves Cantonese opera, so I guess you could say that we do have ‘our own fun’. However, recently, when we had personal gatherings with the GMG cast and crew, she participated as well. As for our marriage, it’s actually not ‘boring’ or ‘dull’ at all, rather, it has ascended to the highest level – being able to understand each other’s thoughts completely and having mutual respect and concern for each other, it has actually made our marriage even stronger. In the past 10 years, as I’ve reduced my workload, I’ve truly been able to enjoy our romance more; plus our daughter is grown up now and is dating, so my wife and I have more one-on-one time together. In the past, I would be working non-stop and any little free time I had would be spent sleeping. But now, I have the time to do the ‘ordinary’ activities that I never got a chance to do before, such as taking a stroll down the street with my wife, going to see a movie, going on vacations, etc. For me, being able to spend that time with my wife doing ‘ordinary’ things, it’s definitely a joy.”

Asked which places Felix likes to take his wife to for a nice dinner, he replied that there are a few places in Tsim Sha Tsui and Kowloon Tong that they go to often. Another ‘hot spot’ for them is the ‘BB Happy Restaurant, a small eatery in the Tai Po district – in fact, when asked where he wanted to do this interview, he picked this particular restaurant. As soon as he sat down at the restaurant, the owner already filled the table with all his favorite dishes and drinks (he didn’t even need to look at the menu)!


Three famous songs

Felix Wong and fellow actor Eddie Cheung are good friends and the 2 of them often perform in mainland China together in one of their famous ‘Fai Wong’ concerts [TN: ‘Fai’ is Eddie’s Chinese name Cheung Siu Fai and ‘Wong’ is of course Felix’s surname]. Every year, they do 20 to 30 shows and sometimes, they even travel outside of HK and China for their shows.

Felix: “It’s a pretty good living. We came up with the 'Fai Wong’ concerts thanks to Liza Wang – one time, she asked me why I don’t try going back to mainland China to perform onstage? I told her that my singing is really bad, but she said not to worry, as the fans won’t mind since I’m not a professional singer – she advised me to learn a few songs very well, then when I get on stage, perform the songs and play a couple games with the fans, and that’s it. So I learned to sing 2 of the themesongs from 'Legend of the Condor Heroes' as well as Liza’s classic song ‘Chinese People’; Eddie also has his own ‘specialty’ songs. For the past 6 years, no matter which event, we pretty much only perform these few songs, however the reaction from the audiences has always been very strong. Finally, I am able to experience the satisfaction that singers get when they receive applause and praise from the audiences.”

Though Felix and Eddie travel to mainland China often, Felix indicates that their wives don’t have to worry, as they don’t participate in any social events over there – in fact, they rarely go outside of their own hotel rooms.

Felix: When we’re performing in mainland China, the only 2 places that we go to are the performance location and the hotel – we refuse all parties and other social events, as it is easy to get in trouble when artists go to KTV places or bars. When we’re not performing, both Eddie and I choose to stay in our hotel rooms and do our own things – Eddie likes to have a cigar and some red wine, while I like listening to music and ‘playing’ Weibo. One time, it was really funny because we traveled to a very underdeveloped city in China and even though we stayed at one of the city’s best hotels, the condition was not too great and there were a lot of flies in the room. The hotel attendant gave me a fly swatter, so that day, my assistant and I played ‘swat the flies’ all day in my room!”


Addicted to Weibo

Felix is an admitted ‘Weibo fanatic’…in addition to ‘bursting out’ at TVB earlier on his Weibo, he also uses the platform to share the latest information about his life and career with more than 70,000 fans.

Felix: “I never thought that Weibo would be so far-reaching! With the ‘outburst’ situation, I was simply expressing what I felt was unfair from an audience’s perspective, didn’t realize the situation would spiral as big as it did. I’m a firm believer that if there’s sufficient evidence to back up a particular situation, it will gain attention and support. When I first started on Weibo, I thought it was merely a promotional platform for artists to interact with their fans, but turns out that it is a good communication tool – in the entertainment industry, artists don’t see each other often and even when we do get together face to face, it’s not always easy to open our mouths to express support for a certain person or situation. With Weibo, it brings us closer together and breaks down some of that awkwardness from a face to face encounter.”

Felix’s daughter is also on Weibo and is also one of his ‘Weibo fans’, however the 2 of them do not interact on-line. She said that she has already ‘followed’ him on Weibo, however Felix admits that he actually does not know his daughter’s Weibo screenname.

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Chinese Version

黃日華不追名利愛追波 微博玩上癮

在娛樂圈工作30年，於1980年無綫藝員訓練班畢業便當劇集男主角，他火爆是因為他對工作認真有要求；黃日華要做好呢份工。不爭獎又嫌錢太多好煩，追名逐利不要預他的份兒，樂得清閒在足球場上追波。支持他多年來拍攝了多部經典電視劇的動力從何而來？黃日華說﹕「答應了的工作一定要做好，其實我唔鍾意做呢行（演員），也沒有很大戲癮，只視為一份工，我就要做好呢份工！」

這份工做了30年，黃日華沒有說自己多熱愛演戲，他只愛踢波。

「中五畢業我投考南華青年軍失敗後才報名無綫藝員訓練班。我的性格不適合娛圈，不喜歡虛偽、打交道，強迫自己改變去遷就別人好痛苦。在工作最辛苦的階段我又未想過放棄，這是60後肯捱的特質；我又唔鍾意轉新環境，若我沒有入娛樂圈，我可能成為足球員。好彩當年未被選入足球隊，職業球員生涯只有10多年，好難掙到我現在的生活。我讀書唔叻，跟我同年代讀書叻的人也未必可以似我現在優游自在生活。人易滿足才會開心。」

「愈多錢愈多麻煩」

黃日華近10年的工作量不多，有錢唔掙，因為他選擇了讓自己放慢腳步。

「我最搏命搵錢是80年代，因為當時要供樓，直至有積蓄沒有經濟負擔，我可以選擇自己的生活。內地拍戲掙錢是香港的數倍，而且工時是簽約規定，故不辛苦，但要我離開香港4個月、半年便不可以。在香港拍戲更辛苦，但起碼可以回家休息，所以我推掉很多內地劇集。就算接內地登台的次數也不想太多，要是肯多接工作便多買幾層樓了。其實愈多錢便愈多麻煩。做人要拿得起放得低，有捨才有得。」有錢唔掙，華哥的助手為他接工作以不影響他的Happy Wednesday為原則，逢周三是明星足球隊練波的日子。

教後輩打穩基礎

早前黃日華接拍《刑警》也犧牲了他的踢波快樂時光，現在劇集也播完，9年沒有拍TVB劇集，今次讓他有新體驗。

「今次合作一班藝員也很勤力投入，是開心的。我沒有高高在上的跟新一輩相處，以身作則，做好準備才入廠。有新人問我意見，說入行一年也沒有發展機會。我叫他看黎耀祥、麥包，他們做了20多年才遇到機會。做這行一命二運，更多前輩是一世也沒有機會，想出人頭地前不如先做好本分，打穩基礎才有機會。我是少數幸運的，入行正值電視高峰期，第一部劇集《過客》便做主角。最好彩是初出道時遇到很多好前輩給我教導。」

「以前拍劇重團體精神，大家搏命工作，但今次返TVB的感覺是制度化後大家不敢越界。地方大了卻少了親切感，幸好我有心理準備工作環境變了，自己要適應。若果TVB再搵我拍劇，是可以考慮的，最好是喜劇，有一班工作認真的對手便好了；唯一要求是給我好的燈光，令我在熒幕上皮光肉滑，眼袋不太大。」

獎座入袋又跌走

《刑警》問鼎視帝落敗。未曾獲得獎項的榮譽是否遺憾？

「頒獎禮就是遊戲一場，我早聲明不參與的，劇集播映贏得口碑已開心，我不需要獎。我與獎無緣唯有認命，曾遇到有很大機會得獎的，獎座袋了入袋也跌出來。1997年首屆台慶頒獎禮，我在《天龍八部》演喬峰，文戲得、打戲又得，當時以為自己有機會做視帝，但最後輸給羅嘉良的李奇。電影也試過兩次競逐男配角，有次輸了一分給黃秋生，又一次亞太影展因沒有出席，讓韓國演員獲獎了。有獎一樣要工作，無獎一樣有機會，獎項帶來一陣子開心。若果要我拍一部要攞獎的戲，我不會接拍，只怕增壓力。」

享受生活命長久

放慢腳步享受生活，命都長啲，這是黃日華說的。

「入行前20年的工作量是別人做40年的時間，現在也要讓我休息吧。這圈子很奇怪，勤力工作的便有人勸應休息，我休息中卻不斷被追問何時再投入工作。將我跟劉德華搓揉再均分便最好，我經常勸他休息，但他說不辛苦，喜歡工作。」

除了逢周三的踢波日與偶然返內地演出，問華哥如何打發日子？

「我好忙o架！在家中hea，打機、睇電視、種花，最近家中多了兩個新成員，收養了兩隻狗也要照顧。我又要送女兒返學，與處理明星足球隊的會務，誰說我好得閒。我還不時翻看舊作，最近重溫了《過客》與《射鵰》，那時候不懂得演戲，現在看自己的演出也忍不住笑。」

《過客》、《射鵰》與《香城浪子》皆是80年代經典劇，但對「90後」，大部分也未看過，包括華哥的女兒。他強力推介要重溫的劇集是《馬場大亨》、《義不容情》與《天地豪情》皆是他喜歡的。80年代不得不看的是《香城浪子》。

華哥今年49歲，明年便半百（50歲）了。

「明年我會改藝名做 『半百人』或『50人』。我唔介意年紀多大，這年代50、60歲還是壯年。有影迷話歲月催人，黃日華老了！我年紀大了是正常的，除非我整容才保住年輕的樣子。話時話，以前我覺得不需要整容，近年已漸漸接受整容這件事，會考慮整一整眼袋……哈哈哈！」

好老公．好爸爸

黃日華與梁潔華1988年結婚，華女是他的初戀情人，「雙華戀」拍拖8年才結婚，相處了30年。這些年來兩人共同面對風浪，華哥要做好老公、好爸爸的角色從沒鬆懈過。

20歲的女兒芷晴是掌上明珠，每天由父親駕車送返學。去年他還陪女兒追星睇棒棒堂，這個廿四孝父親令人無話可說。但提到他跟太太梁潔華，兩人的生活被周刊形容為「各有各玩」、「平淡無味」。

「我愛踢波，她喜歡粵曲，確實是各有各玩；但最近我跟《刑警》同事聚會，她也有參與。我們的婚姻生活並不平淡，而是昇華到最高境界。互相意會對方的想法與關心，感覺是更鞏固的關係。」

「近10年我將工作量減少才享受到夫妻間的浪漫，女兒長大了，她要拍拖，我跟太太也有二人世界。以前不停工作，有空閒時間便睡覺。現在我有時間做以前未有機會做的事情，逛街、睇戲、去旅行是很平凡的節目，對我而言跟太太有這些活動是享受。」

問華哥跟太太的拍拖勝地在哪裏？他說﹕「我就是習慣了到尖沙嘴、九龍城與又一城食飯。」他們另一熱門蒲點是大美督的「BB開心棧」，正是他提議相約訪問的地點。華哥剛坐下未點菜，老闆娘已將他平日愛吃、喝的堆滿面前。街坊小菜館，沒燭光晚餐兼被蚊叮，他有老婆陪伴便感覺浪漫。

3曲走天涯

黃日華與張兆輝組成「輝黃」經常在內地開騷掙「人仔」，每年平均20至30場，所到的地方遠至海拉爾（近俄羅斯）與鴨綠江等。「山大斬埋有柴，都幾好掙。『輝黃』的組成多謝汪阿姐提點，有次她問我為何不返內地登台？我說因唱得太難聽。阿姐話粉絲不會介意，只要操練幾首歌、在台上玩遊戲便可以。我便專攻《射鵰》的《鐵血丹心》與《世間始終你好》，再加《中國人》；輝哥另有首本名曲。內地很多招商會活動，『輝黃』出馬皆是唱這幾首歌，6年來沒有變。我敢說劉德華在內地唱《中國人》的次數也不及我多。獨自登台時，我也是3曲走天涯。我們每次演出反應很熱烈，我也感受到做歌星獲歡呼支持的滿足感。」

華哥與張兆輝，在內地工作時與異性絕緣，所以沒有機會惹麻煩。

「我們在內地工作的活動範圍就是演出場地與酒店，謝絕額外的應酬。藝人在卡拉OK、夜店易惹麻煩。我們選擇在房間玩『鬥地主』，輝哥愛歎雪加、紅酒，我便聽歌、玩微博。有次到偏遠的地方，難得踏足大草原，我們才走出酒店範圍。最搞笑一次是到二、三線城市演出，住當地最好的酒店，但房間有很多烏蠅，服務員給我烏蠅拍，我便跟助手在房間玩拍烏蠅。」

微博玩上癮

黃日華是「微博瘋」，繼「噴火華」微博現身轟TVB不公平，他也經常向7萬多粉絲分享工作近況，生活感受。

「我意想不到微博威力咁勁，噴火事件我不過將旁觀者認為不公平的意見轉發，竟鬧到滿城風雨。我相信有理據的事情會獲得迴響與支持。當初開微博是認為這是跟粉絲接觸的宣傳平台，原來這也是溝通橋樑，大家娛樂圈中人不經常碰頭，就算面對面也不容易開口說支持！加油！的鼓勵說話。透過微博可以拉近距離，有次我看到巨星二幫的國峰隊長訴苦說不如意，我在網上找了一幅『發脾氣不如爭氣』的圖轉發給他。年輕人需要鼓勵，後來我在台慶亮燈遇見他，大家也傾了一陣子。」

女兒芷晴也是他的微博粉絲，父女卻沒有網上對談，女兒說已「關注」他，但他竟不知道女兒微博的名字。