My ‘TVB Rant’ #6: Another LAME-O decision by TVB!!!

"Gun Metal Grey" neglected at TVB Anniversary Gala, Michael Miu & Felix Wong bursts in anger at TVB - AsianFanatics Forum

Felix Wong anger continues: Don't rape the public; TVB tries to 'put out fire' - AsianFanatics Forum

Source: Asianfanatics.net

***

Once again, TVB makes a stupid move and successfully pisses off one of its former artists as well as legions of fans and audiences / netizens! When will TVB ever learn their lesson? (Never mind – that’s a rhetorical question….)

I can't believe there was barely any mention of GMG at the anniversary gala -- in fact, it was in the news that the cast of GMG was not even invited to the gala (the supporting cast who were there -- I.e. Nancy, Grace, Oscar) were there only because they were performing in other segments not related to the series.

After watching the show, it was obvious to me that CBML and NR dominated -- NR I can understand since it's an anniversary series, but CBML? Obviously they're playing favorites...

I can totally understand why Felix is mad and goes off on TVB – they are definitely acting stupid again by blatantly showing their favoritism through complete neglect of GMG….extremely DISRESPECTFUL to say the least!

To make things worse, TVB once again responds STUPIDLY to the situation. Talk about lame!!! TVB once again puts their stupid foot in their mouths!!! They now claim that they didn't include GMG in the anniversary gala because it's a cop series and needs to be taken seriously so they can't parody it? Must I remind them that NR is also a "serious" series (in fact, the scenes and theme are probably way more intense than GMG) and it's also about cops? Or did they "conveniently" forget that just so they could cover themselves for neglecting GMG? What kind of a BS lame excuse is that?

And for the stupid producer of the anniversary gala to ‘blame’ the GMG cast by saying that they didn’t show up to rehearsal and so that’s why they weren’t invited? Really? WHAT REHEARSAL? The GMG cast WASN’T EVEN SLATED TO PERFORM!!!! What, was TVB expecting Felix / Michael / Jessica to show up and practice standing around waiting for them to draw names for the raffle prizes? That’s SO STUPID!!!!

Oh, and then for Mr. Ho Lai Chuen to say that there was no favoritism and TVB would invite the GMG cast to the awards ceremony….come on, dude – that’s another lame response and proves that Ho Lai Chuen as well as TVB are “out of touch” with the true situation! Felix DOES NOT CARE about the awards – he is upset that both himself as well as the cast of GMG was disrespected at the anniversary gala….why even mention the awards ceremony????

I am totally with Felix on this one and kudos to him for speaking out! TVB went too far this time and they continue to add insult to injury by deflecting blame and running around in circles with their responses. Why don’t they just simply apologize and move on? Oh, I know why – because that would mean they are wrong and God forbid that they’re ever wrong….they are THE PREMIERE TV station in HK and the biggest and most powerful – they can never do anything wrong!!!!! UGH!!!!!

I could go on for longer since I’m so worked up about this issue, but I think I’m going to stop here before I say something that I’ll probably regret….so I’ll end it with a few last words for TVB: The days of the audiences being stupid and naïve are OVER!!!! So don’t you dare try to ‘play’ us by trying to pull the wool over our eyes…IT’S NOT GOING TO WORK ANYMORE!!!!!

TVB 43rd Anniversary Gala (萬千星輝賀台慶2010)

TVB’s annual anniversary “birthday party” occurred today (yesterday in HK) – it was a bit lackluster compared to years past (well, it’s actually been lackluster for the past decade and can’t compare at all to the ones from the 80s and 90s)….

Anyway, here are some of the highlights from this year’s anniversary gala that I felt were worth mentioning (good or bad):

.> It was obvious that Moses and Wayne were the biggest ‘stars’ of the anniversary gala show, as they were probably the biggest names there in the ‘fa dans & siu sangs’ category. Many of the other ‘big names’ and TVB’s current ‘favorites’ (i.e.: Charmaine, Sheren, Raymond, Steven, Myolie, Bosco, etc.) were all no shows . There was also barely any representation from anniversary series GMG (well, the 3 main leads didn’t show up at least) – it was pretty much the NR / CBML anniversary gala if you ask me (the cast from both series were the focus and pretty much overshadowed everyone else).
*** SIDENOTE: Found out some more information about the GMG thing, but gonna save it for my next post, which will be another one in my “TVB Rant” series….

.> TVB pretty much recycled some of the same ideas from last year’s anniversary gala this time around – namely having artists who are not known for singing partner up and perform songs, having the veteran green-leaf artists (the 50+ year old crowd) do a song and dance number, doing the whole ‘wet dance’ thing, etc….the only difference is that TVB shuffled things around in terms of order and also they had different artists perform in those segments from the ones who did so last year.

.> I must say that the anniversary skit that they did this time around was one of the funnier ones from this decade (though not as funny compared to the ones from the ‘old days’) – it was pretty clever how Eric Tsang did a parody of Virginia Lok and TVB’s infamous internal politics (I was cracking up because a lot of it was so true and he would irreverently poke fun at it). Oh, and for once, they didn’t make a huge mess and ‘torture’ artists with whipped cream, water, etc. (though I did feel sorry for Moses, who was pretty much the only one who ‘fell victim’ to Eric’s shenanigans….).

.> The ‘3 Gods Award Ceremony’ was interesting – I was actually expecting it to be funny, but it wasn’t really. The only thing I liked about that segment was the first part when they showed pictures of a few artists when they were young – the Kiki ones were nice and the Evergreen part was hilarious (the Evergreen / Raymond Lam pictures were quite clever –hey, who would’ve thought that Evergreen as a teenager would resemble Raymond Lam?

.> The last segment where TVB artists whom we are not used to seeing them sing were paired up with the Voice contestants for a ‘sing-off’….the 4 artists who sang were King Kong, Evergreen, Kiki, and Eric Tsang. All 4 of them did pretty good jobs, but I was most impressed with Kiki and Eric’s performances: Kiki sang like a pro – the way she carried her pitch and tone…wow, she sounded like a real singer! And Eric – well, I’ve always known that he’s a good singer because I’ve heard him several times, but he definitely did an awesome job (hey, in my opinion, he sang way better than his partner Mag Lam!!!) Evergreen was ok, but I think he could have done better – probably because his Mandarin pronunciation wasn’t that great, so it distracted me a bit from actually concentrating on his singing. As for King Kong, well, he did good, but I’m actually not surprised because I thought I had heard of him before back when I was following Taiwan entertainment in the late 90s / early 00s and if my memory serves me correctly, I think that he was a professional singer? I could be wrong, but his name just sounds familiar.

Overall, the show was a disappointment – though of course, not too surprising given TVB’s lack of star power in the past few years. My assessment: if you didn’t get to watch it, don’t worry – you didn’t miss anything!

The Green Room (今日VIP): Interview with Michael Miu and Felix Wong – PART 2

In part 2 of the Green Room interview, the focus was more Michael and Felix’s personal lives rather than on work. Also, I like how this part talks more about ‘the good ole days’ (the 80s).

Here are the highlights:

.> When Carlo asked Felix how he felt about coming back to film GMG, Felix said that he rediscovered the feelings from when he collaborated with Michael back in the 80s – the good times they had hanging out with each other, working together, eating together, etc.

.> Michael actually was really desperate to have Felix film GMG and so was willing to make any accommodations needed in order for it to happen. For example, Felix is not too keen on doing the early morning shooting scenes since he sleeps late, whereas Michael sleeps early so he gets up early as well, so he agreed to take on all the early morning shifts and give Felix the later shifts so that he can sleep in.

.> Felix hadn’t been back to TVB in 9 years, so Carlo asked him from that period until now, what differences has he noticed stepping back into TVB City. Felix jokingly replied that when he watched the video playbacks of his scenes, he noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

.> Michael mentioned again why Felix doesn’t have to film series nowadays and why he is able to live such a comfortable, leisurely life for the past 10 years: his Condor Heroes Trilogy from the 80s still continues to be popular all over the world and has an especially huge following in mainland China…so Felix is invited to do various performances on stage all over China and Asia (one performance is actually quite lucrative)….plus all the royalties from the trilogy repeatedly airing everywhere is enough to last him a lifetime.

.> Felix says that he has gotten into singing and doing karaoke recently, so he’s been doing a lot of ‘Fai Wong’ (輝黃) c oncerts in China with his buddy Eddie Cheung (the ‘fai’ is Eddie and ‘wong’ is Felix).

.> Of course, at some point during the interview, Carlo asked the 24 thousand dollar question: Will Felix do another series any time soon if at all?

Felix’s response: Leave it up to fate – he doesn’t want to ‘shut the door’ immediately by saying that he never will, as no one knows what may happen in the future. Felix also emphasized that during the filming of GMG, he was able to ‘rekindle’ those feelings from the 80s when he would collaborate with his buddies and it made him want to work with them again (though he also said that realistically, it wasn’t going to happen – more on this later).

.> They also talked about their fellow Tiger buddy Andy Lau. Michael said that Andy had promised that if the 2 of them (Michael and Felix) did a series, he would do a cameo or be an ‘extra’ in the series – however he didn’t honor his promise (there’s a story behind it actually – more on that later)…Felix chimed in that Andy at least did come to visit them on set (though Michael claimed that the reason why Andy came was because Felix was known for being a bit temperamental on set in the olden days and so Andy came to see if he was going to ‘flare up’ like in the past….LOL!)

.> Felix said that Andy caused a huge commotion in TVB when he visited because he was walking around all over the place saying hi to people – everyone (especially the newbies who idolized him) went wild and wanted to take pictures with him. (Well, we know Nancy Wu was one of those ‘crazy’ ones because she talked about it on Weibo and also uploaded the picture she took with Andy, Michael, Felix, and Jessica).

.> The other big question that everyone wanted to know was whether Andy would ever go back to film another series for TVB. They said that Andy actually really wants to do a series, but realistically, it's not going to happen because of his tremendously busy schedule -- but he is open to doing cameos and such....in fact, he almost did a cameo for GMG -- he had visited the set while they were filming and when he was in the TVB canteen chatting with Michael and Felix, they had to shoot the next scene...Andy kept sitting there and didn't want to leave, so Michael asked him if he wanted to be in the scene...Andy said "sure" and continued to sit there....in the end, Michael and Felix decided not to let him do the scene because it would be wasted, since the focus would be on Andy (Michael said that even if Andy sat in a far corner with his back to the cameras, everyone would know it's him, since he's easily recognizable) -- they jokingly said that they didn't want Andy to steal their thunder so they kicked him out -- plus he had already caused such a disruption on set already just by showing up (LOL!).

.> Felix did say that he is open to doing another series if the right opportunity presents itself, but it’s not something that he actively seeks (especially since he does not like the crazy lifestyle of the television industry). Felix did mention that he is interested in doing a comedy – he said that people think he is too ‘upright’ (people always have that ‘hero’ type view of him from his character in Condor Heroes and also from all the ancient series he had done) and wonder at his comedic abilities, so he wanted to prove to people that he is capable of comedy (as a side note, Michael interrupted and said that he was just about to mention this about Felix, but was afraid to, so glad that Felix brought it up himself…hahaha).

.> A funny part was when Carlo mixed up Felix’s Kwok Jing character with Andy’s Yang Guo character (Carlo accidently said ‘Shun Diao’ instead of ‘Sheh Diao’)…Michael and Felix pretended to be shocked (like how dare he mix them up…LOL!) and then corrected him.

.> After this, the conversation turned to Michael and Felix’s 30 year friendship and also 80s Acting Class stuff…

.> Michael and Felix actually met back on September 1st, 1979 as part of TVB’s 9th Acting Class…when asked about their classmates from that class, they said that most of them are no longer in the industry.

.> They also described how the Acting Classes in those days worked and how different it is from today. Pretty much the acting classes during that time lasted 1 year and were separated into 4 quarters of 3 months each. There would be a total of 5000 to 6000 people who would apply and only 60 would get accepted; those 60 would then do through classes and various tests – those who didn’t pass the tests would get eliminated…by the end of the year, there would usually only be about 20 people (at least that was the case with their class) who get to graduate. Once they graduate, they get a chance to sign with TVB to become part of the drama department, but of course not everyone signs in the end (so realistically speaking, it’s actually only a handful who go through the entire course, pass all the tests, graduate, and sign with the company).

.> I really liked the part where Michael and Felix talked about their 30 year friendship: they described how they went through thick and thin together and almost all of life’s milestones together (marriage, children, etc.). Also, they love playing soccer (that’s one of their common interests – bowling is another one)…Felix said that they’ve been through so much together that they’ve even seen each other in their underwear! (hahaha). Michael quickly clarified that what Felix meant by ‘underwear’ are the soccer shorts that they used to wear to play (shorts so short that they could almost see each other’s underwear….lol!)

.> Asked if they ever fought in their 30 year friendship, both Michael and Felix confidently said “No” – not even verbal arguments! They said part of the reason for this is because the 2 of them have always been especially close – they play all types of ‘ball’s ports together (soccer, bowling, etc.) and since they live so close to each other and know each other’s families, they also have family gatherings together a lot, so they have a pretty deep relationship.

.> We know that Michael and Felix have a close relationship, but how about the rest of the Tigers? Michael was about to respond and Felix jumped in to tell Michael to be careful what he said (hahaha)…Michael expressed that the 5 of them are definitely good friends due to being colleagues for so long and seeing each other a lot during the 80s because of work. However, in terms of personal life, Tony is more shy and quiet and has fewer common interests with the other 4, so they didn’t hang out as much outside of work.

.> How about the possibility of a 5 Tiger reunion (aka the 5 Tigers getting together in another series or film)?

Michael’s response: Never say never – again, let’s leave it up to fate. He also said that realistically speaking, it would be very hard due to their schedules. Michael said that the closest they came to a reunion was when they did the movie ‘Brothers’ back in 2007 – Andy had actually suggested them getting back together, but unfortunately Tony was too busy and wasn’t able to do it. Michael added that the opportunity for a reunion – though highly unlikely – is still open as long as there’s still ‘heart’ to do so.

.> Felix chimed in by saying that it would be so great if the 5 of them would be able to get together and do a ‘world tour’ of sorts (pretty much travel all over the world to perform)…when he said this, Felix put his head on Michael’s shoulder and sighed (hahahaha…that was a funny moment – it was like they were a couple or something….teeheehee…)

.> Next, Carlo asked if it was possible that Felix’s wife would make a comeback (since both Michael and Jamie as well as Felix already did). Felix pretty much said no, there is not much opportunity for that, since she is tremendously busy (she’s an insurance agent) and has no interest whatsoever in the entertainment industry anymore.

.> Both Michael and Felix stated that their next goal is to get Andy to come back and do a cameo in a series (he wouldn’t have time to do an entire series, but a cameo would be nice)

.> Near the end of the interview, Carlo asked about Michael’s and Felix’s family, especially their kids. Now that all of their kids are grown, does this mean they are more free now to do their own thing? Carlo was really interested in Michael and Felix’s interaction with their children because he has 3(?) children of his own and so wanted to get some pointers. Both guys are good friends with Carlo and hang out with him a lot as well: they said that Carlo is actually a very good father – when he plays bowling with them, he is always looking at his watch and when time comes to pick up his kids, he leaves no matter what happens (he puts his wife and kids above ‘playing’ with his buddies)….they kept praising how Carlo is such a good father and husband.

.> Michael said that back in the 90s, when he immigrated overseas, he did so because of his kids, but now that they are grown (his son is 17 and his daughter is almost 20), he and Jamie don’t need to ‘take care’ of them anymore.

.> As for Felix, he stated that in terms of interacting with his daughter, it’s not as much about the physical strength as it is about mental energy and spirit. Michael interrupted and teased Felix, revealing that the other reason why Felix doesn’t have time to film series is because he has to do ‘chauffeur’ duties (drive his daughter and wife around).

.> Both guys have been successful in raising their children, so how do they interact with their kids – like friends or parents?

Michael didn’t really answer the question (though he’s said before that he treats them like friends). However he teased Felix again by revealing that Felix’s daughter is very pretty and looks almost exactly like his wife, so when he communicates with his daughter, it’s reminiscent of when he was courting his wife (hahaha…how does Michael know?). Michael also said that Felix is like ‘putty’ when it comes to his daughter (hinting that he is ‘afraid’ of her and waits on her hand and foot…LOL) – he says that Felix buys everything for his daughter and if she says that he is wrong about something, then he’s wrong – but then Michael added that he is like that with his daughter as well (ahahahaha!!).

That was pretty much the end of the interview (definitely a great one)!!

The Green Room (今日VIP): Interview with Michael Miu and Felix Wong – PART 1

Just finished watching the episode of The Green Room where Carlo Ng Kar Lok interviews Michael Miu and Felix Wong a few days before “Gun Metal Grey” is slated to air.

Since I’m an 80s girl and a 5 Tigers fan (plus I love interview shows), I definitely paid attention to the interview so I could absorb what Felix and Michael had to say about their experiences filming GMG.

Some highlights from the episode:

.> I love Michael and Felix’s chemistry – it’s obvious that they have a long-time friendship (30 years!) and get together often in their personal lives, as they are very comfortable around each other. It was funny how they were able to finish each other’s sentences at certain points during the interview – in fact, it didn’t feel like a formal interview at all…instead, it felt like 3 friends (they’re good friends with Carlo as well) hanging out and talking.

.> Felix started off by recounting the story of how he came about agreeing to film GMG after 9 years away from the small screen. I was cracking up big time during this part because it was hilarious how Felix kept getting interrupted by Michael and how they kept joking with each other when telling the story. The story of how it occurred is quite funny!

.> As the story goes, Michael actually really wanted Felix to film GMG with him, but he knew that if he personally asked, Felix wouldn’t do it (Felix jokingly told the story of how Michael would always win his money whenever they played snooker and so Felix would pretend to get mad and out of ‘revenge’, refuse to do anything for him…lol!!). Therefore, Michael asked his wife Jamie (also good friends with Felix) to go talk to him and persuade him. So one day, Jamie went over to Felix’s house (apparently, Michael and Felix are ‘neighbors’ as well, since they live very close to each other), put on a very serious expression, and told him that she really needs his help. Felix thought at first that she needed help in terms of money or some other favor (the part where he says he doesn’t have any money was hilarious!), but it turns out she wanted him to consider filming a series with Michael.

.> As Felix was recounting the story, Michael interrupted at certain points to clarify some parts (like when Felix said there were 2 cop characters and he ended up portraying Stone Sir – Michael reminded him that he LET him choose which character he wanted to be because he so desperately wanted him to do the series – it was funny how Michael pulled out all the stops and agreed to do anything Felix wanted as long as he agreed to film the series).

.> When Felix was recounting the story of how Michael/Jamie convinced him to film GMG, he was saying how Jamie started off by saying "Hey, Baldie....", then Michael interrupts and tells him to tell everyone where that nickname came from (another funny moment!). Felix said that he got that nickname because back in the days, he filmed alot of ancient series and for almost every single one, he had to shave his head (practically the only ones he didn't have to shave his head for were the modern ones....lol!)....so Michael and Jamie took to calling him "Baldie" from that time on.

.> Michael kept teasing Felix on how he has such an 'easy, leisurely' life now (drinks tea, cuts the grass, takes care of rabbits, etc.)....hahahaha....cute!

.> During the interview, Michael revealed a "secret" behind how Felix came about returning to the small screen. Those of us who have raved on and on about how much we love Felix and enjoy seeing him on the small screen again (I'm one of them!!) can actually thank veteran actor (and the 2nd of my two idols) Chow Yun Fat!! Fat Gor is very good friends with Michael and Felix and get together quite often to 'drink tea' and go for walks in the mountains (Michael teased Felix that he is actually living that type of leisurely life right now). One day, after they went for a long walk in the mountains, Fat Gor told Felix that he should consider filming series again, since he's good at it and it's been so long....Michael jokingly recounted how Fat Gor pretty much told Felix that if he doesn't put those acting skills to use again and film another series, he will disown him as a friend (hahaha -- actually, Fat Gor didn't say that last part -- Michael was actually just kidding -- but Fat Gor did tell Felix that he should do another series). So when Michael heard this (he was there I assume), that's when he quickly got to work figuring out how he was going to convince his buddy to film another series.

.> Michael also revealed that when Felix films series (or anything for that matter), he never brings the script with him -- in fact, he leaves the script at home. Yet, as soon as the cameras roll, Felix has no problems doing his lines (except for this one time when the script changed and Felix wasn't aware). Michael kept saying how amazed he was that Felix is able to do that. Felix said that it goes back to his acting class days, as that was the way he was trained and that's actually the way alot of the veteran artists did things. He also said that it was actually Dodo (Carol) Cheng who opened his eyes to that because she always did it when filming series -- back in the early 80s when they filmed "The Lonely Hunter" together (he was a newbie back then), she told him that they are not allowed to have scripts on set and so took his script and threw it out of the studio. Since then, he's trained himself to memorize all his lines at home and not bring his script to work with him. (I actually already knew about this 'trait' of Felix's through weibo -- but it was awesome to hear him recount the story again -- plus I didn't know the part about Dodo).

.> Felix kept referring to himself as a "Newbie" to TVB (lol)....newbie or not, as Michael pointed out, the newer generation artists definitely have alot of respect for him -- especially those he worked with in GMG (i.e.: Oscar Leung, Grace Wong, Nancy Wu, etc.)

.> It was so cute how Michael would be the 'big brother' (though technically Felix entered the industry before Michael) for Felix during the filming of GMG. Michael said that he had promised Felix that he would 'take good care of him' (it was also one of the reasons why Felix agreed to comeback).....therefore, whenever Felix came across an issue while filming, he would let Michael know and Michael would work it out for him (not because Felix was afraid to say anything, but because he hasn't been back to TVB in 9 years and so was less familiar with things -- plus he didn't want to impose on others)

.> With GMG being a cop series, there are bound to be dangerous scenes chase scenes, so host Carlo asked Michael and Felix about the most dangerous scenes they had to film for the series and whether stunt doubles were used. Felix described this one scene where he had to jump off a building in order to chase a crook -- the way he described the shooting of that scene was absolutely hilarious!!! I won't go into detail about it here, since I wouldn't be able to do justice to it (gotta hear him describe it himself)...

.> All in all, the interview was a trip down memory lane for me because Felix and Michael also recounted how things were like during their generation (the senior artists / elders would teach the newbies how to act / give them pointers whereas now people pretty much do their own thing, etc.)

To be Continued (the interview is a two-parter)…..

My Thoughts on “Trimming Success 飛短留長父子兵”

I happened to re-watch this series when it came on TV a little while ago so figured I would write up a blog post / review on it.

This is actually one of the few Kevin Cheng series that I like (well, come to think of it now, it might be the ONLY one of his that I like) – not because of him of course (since I still feel his performance in this series was very bland) but rather, because of the supporting cast and the script. The female lead in the series is Nnadia Chan and supporting cast includes Wayne Lai, Halina Tam, Lau Dan, Ching Hor Wai, Sharon Chan, etc.

What I liked most about this series: Wayne's performance -- he definitely stole the show!!! I loved Wayne's witty character Johnny, an extremely nice, sensible guy who returns to his hometown of Stanley after years of taking care of the family business elsewhere. Once again, Wayne puts his awesome acting skills to great use, as the character of Johnny is very 'mysterious' at first, with the residents of Stanley thinking that he may have a possible hidden motive for returning due to the actions of his now deceased father (who stole from the residents to pay off gambling debts) many years ago but then later revealing that he is actually an extremely generous and likable guy with no hidden motive -- except to fulfill his dad's dying wish of being buried with his mother. His character also has a great sense of humor but Wayne portrays the humor in a way that isn't the traditional 'comical funny' type -- it's almost like he doesn't try to be funny on purpose, yet you can't help but laugh at his actions. I guess the closest way I can describe it is that his character possesses a 'witty charm' that is at times sarcastic but balances it with just the right amount of seriousness -- plus his personality is always very optimistic and upbeat without going overboard.

Surprisingly, I found myself very much attached to the pairing of Wayne and Halina in this series. I say 'surprisingly' because 1) general audience reaction would be to become attached to the main leads rather than the supporting ones, so I definitely parted from 'tradition' in this case, and 2) I'm not a particular fan of Halina's and have not watched enough of her series to like or dislike her, so normally, I would not have any 'reaction' so to speak with her performances. Wayne and Halina actually complemented each other quite well in the series, even though their personalities were so opposite (he is honest, generous, humble, nice, constantly helping others, etc. whereas she is selfish, brash, and constantly 'pretending' to charm people in order to cheat them out of their money). From the beginning, it looked like they would never get together because they are constantly bickering and Halina even tries to deceive Wayne and cheat him out of his money -- yet she does it in a way that makes it 'funny' rather than 'hateful' (and Wayne 'pretending' to fall for it is absolutely hilarious). I loved the interaction between these two and found almost every scene they were in very enjoyable (special mention goes out to the restaurant scene early on in the series where Halina is trying to 'seduce' Nnadia's uncle so she can cheat him of his money and Wayne purposefully ruins it because Halina's son asked for his help to keep an eye on her -- the way that Wayne 'pretends' to be Halina's boyfriend and his facial expressions during that scene really cracked me up!)

I actually could go on some more about Wayne and Halina, but I don't want this post to go on forever, so I'll move on to the next highlight.....

Though I liked Nnadia's character and with the fine actress that she is, I definitely enjoyed her performance overall, however I wasn't too keen on her pairing with Kevin. For some reason, I just didn't feel any chemistry with their pairing -- in fact, I would have to say that I found some scenes of theirs very boring. I'm thinking that perhaps it's because of Kevin's bland acting that affected things for me because I've always felt that Kevin's acting is very 'wooden' and unnatural (that's why I don't like to watch his series because I get bored to death)....I actually did try to put my bias aside and give him a chance when I first watched the series way back when (as well as when I re-watched it just now), but he still failed to impress me. It could be perhaps that the rest of the supporting cast in this series is so strong that it makes Kevin look particularly weak compared to them -- but whatever the reason, I would much rather have preferred that they cast someone else in that role (on a side note: I can't help but think that perhaps TVB put a strong supporting cast in there on purpose to try to 'cover up' his weak acting and then use it as an excuse to promote him, since the series itself was enjoyable overall).

To cite an example that supports the above (the weakness of Kevin's acting and strength of the rest of the cast) -- and so that people reading this can't say that I'm biased against Kevin without merit -- the scene at the hospital where each of the main characters react to the death of Kevin's mom in the series (Ching Hor Wai) really provides a good comparison/contrast. Kevin's reaction was very bland -- it's not that he didn't look sad or cry or anything, but it just came across very fake to me-- like he was trying to force a reaction to a situation that has nothing to do with him. (After watching that scene for the first time, I remember thinking to myself -- wait, that's it? that's how you react when someone so close to you who raised you and protected you and loved you all your life dies?) In comparisons -- being the veteran 'green leaf' actor, of course Lau Dan's reaction over the death of his wife in the series was perfectly expressed -- and very touching. Nnadia's reaction was very natural and you could really feel how saddened she was even though she is not related to Ching at all in the series. And Wayne's reaction – I mean, you would think that Ching was his mother rather than Kevin's! To sum it up -- Kevin really looked like he was trying too hard to act that scene (that's why it came across as fake) whereas the other 3 had such natural reactions that they were able to make the scene moving and emotional for the audience.

Again, I could come up with more examples as well, but I'll leave it at that, since it already gets my point across...

Overall, I liked the series' heartwarming storyline and the lessons that it teaches. Of course, there is the typical TVB lack of originality and so the formula is not much different from their other run-of-the-mill light-hearted yet serious family-oriented drama series -- but somehow, I was still drawn to the series and enjoyed it, even with the 'cheesiness' of some of the scenes and the predictability of the plot. I also disliked the Nnadia/Kevin/Sharon love triangle thing and thought that it was sort of pointless, especially in the second half of the series (maybe it was done as 'space-filler'?)....I would much rather they had spent more time developing Wayne's storyline instead.

TVB 43rd Anniversary Light Switching Ceremony -- 10/18/2010

Photo credit: on.cc


TVB officially kicked off their anniversary festivities with the Light Switching Ceremony that occurred earlier this week. In the past, the Light Switching Ceremony was used as a forum to reveal the nominees for each of the award categories, but nowadays, it's pretty much just a way to announce to the world that the anniversary celebration has officially begun. Pretty much they have a bunch of performances and they have the artists from the 2 anniversary series for that year talk about the series, their roles, thoughts, feelings, etc.

What most people are interested in with the Light Switching Ceremony is the moment when the group picture is taken, as the positions of the artists pretty much tells us who is being 'favored' or 'promoted' by TVB that year -- basically, the closer to the front and middle you stand, the more ‘important’ you are.

Pretty much, below is who stood where in terms of front row (reference picture above):

** Either side of Run Run Shaw: Liza Wang on Shaw's right and Dodo Cheng on Shaw's left (this is traditional -- Liza and Dodo always stand right next to Mr Shaw)

** Liza's side (from inner to outer): Liza Wang, Wayne Lai, Sheren Tang,
Louise Lee, Susanna Kwan, Steven Ma, Linda Chung, Kenneth Ma, Mag Lam

** Dodo's side (from inner to outer): Dodo Cheng, Moses Chan, Charmaine Sheh, Raymond Lam, Myolie Wu, Michael Tse, Fala Chen, Ron Ng, Kate Tsui

Second row:

I can’t figure out everyone who is in the second row, so I’m only going to list the ones I know for sure:

** Right, behind Shaw & Dodo (from inner to outer): Kara Hui, Felix Wong, Wong Cho Lam, Johnson Lee, Louis Yuen, Selena Li, Aimee Chan, Pierre Ngo, Amigo Chiu

** Left, behind Shaw & Liza (from inner to outer): Michael Miu, Jessica Hsuan, Maggie Siu, Raymond Wong, Nancy Wu (?), Joel Chan, etc. (can’t figure out the rest)


People who did not attend:

* Bobby and Bosco are in mainland China filming
* Tavia and Kevin - possibly because very few series this year
* Bernice and Bowie didn't attend either
* I don’t think Roger was there either because he would have been near the front if he were there.

*****************

My thoughts:

 -- First of all, I have a huge problem with TVB putting Mag Lam in the front row with all the siu sangs and fa dans! She does not deserve to be there at all – not only because she ISN’T a ‘fa dan’ (she’s a newbie, for goodness sake), she hasn’t even participated in any series yet (well, at least not yet, though the word is that TVB is planning a movie and series for her). She is pretty much just some girl who won a singing contest that TVB organized – THAT’S IT! I mean, there were SO MANY people they could have put in that spot – for example, Jessica or Maggie (former fa dans) or if TVB didn’t want to because they are not ‘favored’ or contracted, then how about Kara? Surely the well-respected, 7 time Best Actress in Film and a contracted artist deserves that spot more than Mag??? Or, if worse case, TVB couldn’t find anyone else to put there, then just leave that spot empty – with a little bit of creativity in terms of those standing behind and next to that spot, I’m sure they would have been able to hide the ‘emptiness’ of that spot if they really wanted to! Arghhh!!! TVB and their stupid decisions again!!

-- Based on the lineup of Wayne, Moses, Raymond, and Steven, I’m even more convinced about the ‘theory’ that I talked about in my previous post – that Raymond is less favored than Moses now and TVB is pushing Moses for the TV King award rather than Raymond.

-- I’m actually not surprised that 80s/90s veterans such as Michael Miu, Felix Wong, Maggie Siu, Jessica Hsuan, etc. are in second row as opposed to first row because for TVB, they are considered ‘passe’ already and they needed to make room for the newer generation (90s/00s) siu sangs and fa dans (well, except for the select few from the older generations who are more ‘favored’ right now, for various reasons).

-- I do think it’s interesting that TVB still put Louise Lee and Susanna Kwan in the front row, especially since neither one has any ‘representative’ series this year – plus I highly doubt that they will factor into the awards race this year, since it looks like TVB’s focus is on the younger / middle generation folks this time around. Not only are they in the front row, they are actually more towards the ‘middle’ than Steven, Linda, and Kenneth. They sort of seem out of place right there in the front row among all the ‘young’ siu sangs and fa dans…I wonder why TVB put them there versus in the second row – perhaps as ‘space fillers’ since some of their other siu sangs and fa dans who WOULD have been in the front row (i.e. Tavia, Bosco, Kevin, etc.) didn’t attend….but then again, if they are ‘space fillers’, then wouldn’t it make more sense to put them at the end rather than near the middle?

-- Of course, all the supporting and ‘green leaf’ artists are in the middle rows or towards the back, which I personally think sucks, since these are truly the artists who drive and in many cases, even carry the entire series – they really aren’t recognized as much as they should be (speaking a little from personal bias here too because I prefer to watch most of the supporting and green leaf artists rather than many of today's 'supposed' siu sangs and fa dans). I also think it sucks that some of the more well-known green leaf and supporting actors (i.e. Evergreen, Ben, Elliot Ngok, Susan Tse, etc.) are in the 4th row and back (though I think Raymond Cho is in 3rd row, which is great if true) whereas a lot of the Miss and Mr Hong Kongs are in 3rd row (now they should REALLY go in the back).

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.

My ‘TVB Rant’ #5: Is TVB Pathetic or What???

Charmaine Sheh is ‘hot favorite’ to win TV Queen; TVB updates its ratings for Can’t Buy Me Love - AsianFanatics Forum#entry6782399

Source: Asianfanatics.net

****

Ok, I just read the above in the entertainment news and got so worked up that I have to blog about it to let off steam!! I know I shouldn’t get upset anymore, since by now, I sort of ‘expect’ TVB to pull these types of ‘stupidities’ – but I can’t help it…I get offended whenever they do this stupid stuff because I feel like they are trying to insult my intelligence!

It’s obvious that TVB really wants “Can’t Buy Me Love” to sweep the awards and for Moses as well as Charmaine to win TV King and Queen. TVB announced the ratings for the finale episode of CBML today and for the FIRST TIME ever, they actually decided to count the internet viewership ratings as well (which, in my opinion, is not really fair) -- so according to TVB's calculations, the ratings for the finale of CBML was 51 points: 42 points ratings from TV and 9 points from internet viewership (most likely ratings from people who watched via MyTV on their website).....

Unbelievable!!! Once again, another "bonehead" decision by TVB! It's stupid for them to try to "fudge" their own ratings, since the station is already the ratings winner over all the other stations anyway -- ATV is never going to come close PERIOD!

By "fudging" the ratings, TVB is only proving that it's really all about the politics that run their company (despite their constant denial of this fact)…what they are basically doing is trying to "save face" in the event that RB2 becomes a huge hit, since CBML consists of primarily their own contracted artists (and all the "popular" artists whom they are trying to promote) whereas RB2's main leads are not 'biological' (Wayne and Sheren are not contracted and won’t sign with them PERIOD).

They're also trying to use this as an excuse to ‘set up’ for the anniversary awards – pretty much to let CBML either sweep the awards or perhaps get one or all of the major ones (Best Series, TV King, and TV Queen), regardless of whether RB2 has high ratings (because to be honest, no matter how ‘good’ RB2 is going to be, there is a slim chance that it will get to 50 points without some type of intervention). Pretty much, they are going to say: “Well, since CBML got 51 points, they deserve the award.” (To me, that’s just a bunch of BS!!!).

What’s next? Incorporating overseas (non-HK) viewership numbers? How about the number of people who watch TVB series in public places such as restaurants? Or maybe they should count the “channel surfers” who ‘happen’ to flip to one of their series during a commercial on a different channel, watch like 5 minutes of it, then turn back to the original channel? Better yet, I’ve got a good one – if they’re THAT desperate, why don’t they just count all the (illegal) downloads of their series that occur over the world wide web? (I can just see it now: “Oooh, CBML got downloaded 100,000 times! There goes another 2 points added to our ratings, taking it to 53 points! A record! Woohoo!!!!”) Ok, I’m obviously exaggerating, but still – given how stupid TVB’s decision-making has been lately, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the above scenarios WERE to happen some where down the line….

I’ve noticed that every time TVB has a series that has majority of their own biological sons/daughters in it and they feel 'threatened' by strong competition from other series that don't have their own 'children' in them (the leads at least), they always try to resort to 'backhanded' tactics to get the results they want. Last year, they did it with “Beyond the Realm of Conscience” by over-promoting the series to death plus also moving the anniversary awards to December for the first time ever....this time, they do it for CBML (notice similar cast) by ‘being creative’ with the ratings.....watch, if they do CBML2 or BTROC2 next year, they are going to come up with another "creative idea" to make those series stick out...I would absolutely bet on that (and win too!).

How much more PATHETIC can TVB get???? I mean, everyone knows they favor their own ‘biological sons/daughters’ over non-contracted artists, but do they have to try THAT hard? I don’t know about anyone else, but to me, this is definitely FAVORITISM, plain and simple! And what irks me the most is how TVB is CONSTANTLY coming out and DENYING the fact that favoritism exists in their organization (Mr Tsang or Ms Lok: “What favoritism? We don’t play favorites!”) or they claim that there is no such thing as ‘biological son/daughter’ and that there are no ‘cliques’ or ‘parties’ in their company. WHO THE HELL ARE THEY TRYING TO FOOL??? If they are truly not playing favorites (remember that they adamantly deny that they play favorites) as they claim, then how do they explain the above actions?

Well, one thing’s for sure -- I'm definitely keeping an eye out for tomorrow's articles to see if Mr Tsang Sing Ming (TVB’s Manager of External Affairs and designated spokesperson) is going to make any type of lame statement regarding the CBML ratings thing. Last time, when TVB ‘mistakenly’ ranked “Pillowcase of Mystery 2” above “Mysteries of Love” as #1 series of the year in terms of ratings, Mr Tsang came out to ‘apologize’ and TVB ‘corrected’ their mistake. In my honest opinion though -- the main reason why they "apologized" and corrected the rankings last time was because they "realized" that the audiences aren't as stupid or naive as they thought (in other words, they ‘realized’ that we actually look at the ratings and can do our own calculations to figure out which one should be ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) -- so pretty much it was due to public pressure. So basically, they weren’t able to ‘pull the wool’ over our eyes that time – which I’m sure they didn’t expect, since TVB is used to always trying to ‘sweep things under the rug’ if they can get away with it....

Oh, and to add insult to injury, one of the media outlets published a ‘list’ of the Top 5 highest rated TVB series – Korean series “Jewel in the Palace” used to be at the top of the list with 50 point rating, followed by “Beyond the Realm of Conscience” (which I personally don’t count as officially receiving a 50 point rating because it only ‘peaked’ at 50 points – meaning that at ONE POINT during the entire 30 episode series, the ratings had reached 50…that ‘one point’ could have been 1 particular scene, or could have even lasted only 1 minute or a few seconds…it doesn’t mean the entire series consistently was at the 50 point mark). Now, “Can’t Buy Me Love” is ‘supposedly’ at the top of that list with its 51 points, beating out “Jewel in the Palace” – how messed up is that???

It's VERY sad that the TRUE highest rated series is a non-TVB series (Jewel in the Palace)....heck, it's not even a HK series! Yet, in order for TVB's own series to get into the 50 point mark, they actually have to "fudge" the numbers!! What a shame! As far as I'm concerned (and not that my opinion matters, but I have the right to state it), CBML is NOT the highest rated series -- in fact, it wouldn't even make this list if we go by the original ratings numbers! If I were TVB, I wouldn't go around "bragging" about the 51 point rating for CBML....because it just makes them look stupid!!!

Bottom line – from my point of view, no matter how much TVB tries to manipulate the numbers for the series they favor, the original Rosy Business is still going to be the TRUE ratings winner no matter which way you look at it....RB was able to get its average 47 point rating purely based on the quality of the acting and the script -- the series had virtually no promotion (especially as compared to BTROC) for one, and two, the ratings were based PURELY on regular channel audience viewership -- there were no HDTV numbers factored into the ratings (whereas all of the series that aired after RB had HDTV ratings factored in) and definitely did not have any of this "internet viewership" crap added in.

I'm waiting to see a TVB series actually get 50 points average overall (entire series) -- none of this "peaking at 50" crap! I wonder if it will happen in my lifetime.....

"Catch Me Now 原來愛上賊"

I just finished re-watching this series and I must say that the 2nd time around was even better than the first time! This is definitely one of my favorite series from the past 5 years (which says something about how good it is, since there are only a handful of series -- like less than 10 -- from the past 5 years that I actually like).

Again, the below is not exactly a review of the series, but rather just some random thoughts that came to mind about the series and its characters / storyline:

Of course, I was attracted to watching this series because of Damian Lau, since he is one of my favorite veteran actors and he never disappoints when it comes to his acting. I actually had high hopes for this series because I hated the previous series that Damian was in ("Drive of Life") and really wanted to see him in a likable role after the lame one in DOL. Well, I got what I wished for because his character in "Catch Me Now" (Jack Ko -- a modern-day 'Robin Hood') was awesome!! I think the reason why I liked the character so much is because he's very close to the way I've always pictured Damian in my mind all these years -- extremely smart and intelligent yet amazingly down to earth and humble, classy and suave but not condescending, cool but not arrogant, great sense of humor that borders on cynical but yet not offensive, displays the perfect amount of compassion and emotion (makes the character human) but not going overboard, a big brother who takes care of those who work for him as though they were family, someone who righteously stands up for what he believes in and fiercely stands by his principles but does so in a way that is not imposing and so easily gets 'buy-in' from those around him (I could actually go on and on with the description of his characteristics, but I'll stop here)....bottom line, I guess you could say the character is very similar to how Damian is in real life.

As much as I loved Damian's character in this series, I didn't like the pairing of him and Idy Chan. I know, TVB pretty much hyped up this series as the 'highly anticipated' comeback of 'Siu Loong Nu' but I really got to say that Idy's performance in the series was ‘disappointing’ at best. It's very obvious that she has been away from acting for a long time because her performance here really lacked emotion and was very wooden -- absolutely nothing like her performance in 'Return of the Condor Heroes', which at that time, bordered on legendary. From the beginning of the series when her character first appeared, I was already wondering what had happened to Idy's voice because it sounded so hoarse and whispy -- I thought that maybe she had a cold or something when she was filming those scenes and so figured that it would go away as the series went on....well, it didn't -- her voice was like that throughout the ENTIRE series, which annoyed me to no end because it was sort of distracting (at least for me). Also, her expressions seemed very forced and unnatural to me, which made her character very unappealing -- it was like she was trying to 're-learn' how to act all over again (and doing a poor job of it).

At first I didn't understand why Idy's acting turned so horrible all of a sudden, but after watching her interview on "Be My Guest", I was able to gain a somewhat better understanding -- apparently, in the years when Idy was less active in the industry, she had taken on a new religion -- I don't remember the name of the religion (though I'm sure it was NOT a 'mainstream' religion like Christianity or Buddhism) and don't want to say the wrong thing, so will leave it at that.....if I remember correctly, in adherence to the religion, she had committed to avoiding sexual desire (or something like that) so she had made it clear when she took on the role in "Catch Me Now" that she would not do any 'intimate' scenes (i.e.: kissing scenes, bedroom scenes, etc.). Of course, in a series, it's hard to completely avoid 'intimate' scenes altogether, especially if you're going to talk about a love relationship between a couple, so I think that's why in certain scenes that were 'somewhat intimate' (i.e.: hugging scenes), Idy came across as very stiff and unnatural (or perhaps it’s just been too long….don’t know)....

Anyway, I personally think that it was a bad decision for Idy to come back and do this series because it totally changed the audience's impression of her (and not for the better). The fact is that many HK viewers nowadays don't look at 'past history' when it comes to judging a person's acting skills and base their perception purely on how they perform in 'current' series (that's why the whole concept of 'veteran comebacks' are so dangerous -- but I'll save that for another post). I'm sure it would have probably been better for people to remember Idy as the 'perfect' Siu Loong Nu from "Return of the Condor Heroes" rather than the horribly acted 'see lai' character from "Catch Me Now". For me, I would have much preferred to see Damian's character paired up with someone else who was more 'worthy' of someone as 'perfect' as Jack Ko....

Moving on to some of the other characters in the series....

I have to say that I was quite impressed with Johnson Lee's performance in the series. Back when I first watched this series a couple years ago, Johnson was still a 'newbie' of sorts and the only other series I had seen him in was the sitcom "Welcome to the House" in which he played a nerdy computer genius (the stereotypical geek: glasses, eccentric personality, etc). Not knowing too much about him at that time, I was amazed at how he was able to play such an opposite character in this series (still a computer genius, but 'cool' and 'suave' rather than geeky) so well....of course, I'm not surprised now, knowing more about him and how talented he is. Also, I actually really liked the pairing of him and Sharon Chan in the series and felt that they complemented each other pretty well (except for the height of course) -- actually, I thought that they were a very cute couple, so I was a bit bummed when they broke up (though obviously they still had feelings for each other). Then, when Johnson's character died, it was even more sad, especially since they were so close to probably getting back together. I actually got teary-eyed during that part because Johnson's character was so endearing, yet they had to make him die so tragically (the fact that I got teary-eyed says something about how moving those scenes were, since very few TVB series are able to move me to tears nowadays -- especially the poorly made ones from recent years). As a sidenote, it's interesting that I didn't get teary-eyed when Damian's character died at the end of the series, yet I got so worked up when Johnson's character died. I think this is probably because with Damian's character, it was pretty much anticipated that he was going to die -- that would have been the only perfect ending for him...whereas with Johnson's character, it was very sudden and unexpected. (Plus I had watched the alternative ending for the series on TVB's website -- which was lame by the way -- and it sort of ruined the whole 'feel' of the ending for me)....

Another character worth mentioning is the villain played by Evergreen Mak. I like Evergreen -- he's definitely on my 'favorites' list in the supporting category. Though I've seen him play both 'good' and 'evil' roles, I actually don't prefer him as the villain because to me, he just doesn't look evil enough....ok, well, perhaps it's because of his chubby physical appearance for one and the fact that he also hosts children's programs on the side -- my image of him has always been of a big, cute teddy bear, so it's quite hard to imagine him as the evil villain....BUT, since he's convincing enough as the villain in this series, I'm totally ok with it (plus it shows his versatility as an actor). One of the things I liked about Evergreen's villain character in this series is that no matter how evil he became, he always showed piety and respect toward his Dad -- whose only goal in life was to get his son to repent from evil and get him back on the path to goodness. True, most of the time, Evergreen's character was 'nice' to his dad because he didn't want him to give away his inheritance money to charity, but there were times when he showed he truly cared (like that one time when the Dad and Jack came up with the plan to 'pretend' to be kidnapped and Evergreen would rather sacrifice ransom money and listen to instructions from the man he hated in order to 'save' his Dad). With that said though, I do have a little bit of a 'riff' with Evergreen's character in this series for killing Johnson's character, since I really liked his character (second only to Damian's character).....needless to say what happens to Evergreen's character in the end (the typical pattern with most villain characters in TVB series)....

Of course, there were alot more people in the cast that I didn't mention (primarily due to time constraints with writing this blog post). I won't go into each one, but I must mention that I especially liked the chemistry between Jack (Damian's character) and his 4 partners (BT, Long Legs, Key Man, and Car God) -- each had their own special skill and together as a team, they would rob the rich to give to charity. It was really fun to watch the entire team in action, constantly outsmarting the police (led by Joe Ma) and at certain points, even indirectly 'helping' them catch bad guys.

Overall, in terms of storyline and characters, this was a great series (with a few exceptions of course). The series is short (20 episodes) and to the point and it does a good job of incorporating suspense, action, drama, comedy, as well as romance together as an entire package. If I didn't already have a long list of series to watch/re-watch, I would definitely choose to re-watch this one again (I could just forward through Idy's parts next time -- the parts that are irrelevant to the main storyline, that is).

Review of "The Voice 2" Finale

After 17 weeks, “The Voice 2” is finally over. The finale just finished airing yesterday and the winners have been determined. Not surprisingly, I don’t agree with the results this year and once again, I tend to agree with the sentiment out there that perhaps TVB ‘rigged’ the show to allow their ‘favorite’ to win (more about this later on in the post).

Below are my thoughts regarding the finale and the results:

The episode already didn’t start off well for me because the first thing I noticed right off the bat – why was Teresa Carpio not part of the judging panel for the finale? I had truly thought that she would be there because she had returned to do the judging for the previous 2 episodes after being gone for so long….but yet, she only returned for those 2 episodes and not the most critical one. WTH?? I don’t get the logic behind that at all, especially given the controversy surrounding her departure and the ‘hype’ over her return. So yes, for me, I pretty much already knew the judging would go downhill because of the lack of balance on the judging panel -- Miss Chan Chan, Anthony Lun, and Hanjin are all pretty lenient when it comes to the scoring, Ruth Tsang is pretty consistent and fair, but she's only 1 person and so won't be able to sway the scores too much, and Danny Summer is just plain odd plus his scoring is all over the place…the only ‘strict’ judge on the panel is Chiu Cheng Hei, but then there have been times where I’ve wondered what he’s thinking.

Teresa’s scoring has been consistently fair and appropriate and her comments are always spot on -- she’s pretty straightforward with her judging and from what I can see, she doesn’t give any ‘sympathy’ points to people (which is the way it SHOULD be so that it’s a fair playing field for everyone). Between her and Ruth, they would have been able to balance out the scoring for sure.

So obviously, I was disappointed with the judges (more to come on this later, as I have a lot to say about the actual scoring/judging of the performances).

On to the hosts….in my opinion, Krystal and Sammy talk WAY too much – it’s like, who really cares what they have to say? They aren’t the ‘main characters’ in the finale, the contestants and the judges are, so their (the hosts’) opinions don’t matter to me. I would much rather hear more comments from the judges critiquing the performances rather than all the lame gibberish from the hosts….to me, a lot of time was wasted listening to the hosts talk – time that could have been better spent hearing comments from more judges (we only got to hear the comments from 2 judges, which was not enough, especially for such a critical episode as the finale). Oh, and it was extremely annoying how the hosts (Krystal especially) kept interrupting the judges (not only in this episode, but in previous ones as well) and inserting their own comments / thoughts / reactions – once again, who the hell cares what the hosts think? They’re not the judges for one and two, an effective host – especially in these types of ‘major professional’ shows -- should always be neutral and keeps their own opinions out of it – so by continuing to insert their opinions in each episode, it goes to show the lack of ‘professionalism’ in their hosting.

Now that I got that out of the way, let’s move on to the actual competition itself – the ‘singing battle’ between the 6 contestants who ‘made it’ to the finale. The first part of the show was on determining the top 3 contestants with the highest scores who would be able to move on to the final battle for #1. In part 2, only the 3 highest scoring contestants sang and it was basically to determine the standings (1st, 2nd, 3rd place).


Part 1 – Performances from the Top 6:

First up was leader of the group, Penny Chan. He performed Aska Yang’s song “洋蔥” and ended up scoring 82.8, which was the lowest score of the night. Even though the judges thought he did a good job (at least based on their comments, which again was not in line with their scoring – a common problem throughout this entire season), I really have to disagree. Penny was a bit shaky throughout the performance, though some parts – mainly the chorus – were okay. I don’t know why the judges said they felt that Penny had a lot of emotion in the performance and was very ‘moving’ because to be honest, I didn’t get that feeling at all...perhaps it’s because the original singer (Aska Yang) is REALLY good and is known for putting a lot of emotion into his singing (to the point where he moves fans and audiences to tears with his performances) so since I’m used to hearing his version of this song, Penny’s version just didn’t cut it for me. One thing I will agree with though is that Penny did seem to be a lot more ‘open’ with this performance and less ‘stiff’ than before. I think his score was fair.

Next up was ‘high score king’ Hubert Wu, who performed one of Jam Hsiao’s songs (forgot which one) and received a score of 87 (the second highest of the night). Hubert’s performance was actually pretty good – he was consistent, steady, and barely made any mistakes (except for that 1 part where he went slightly off-key, but it was barely noticeable). I don’t listen to Jam Hsiao’s songs, so I have no clue how Hubert’s rendition compares to the original, however just on its own, I was pretty impressed – Hubert definitely did everything he needed to in terms of singing and skill and he sounded good. In my opinion, he definitely deserved the high score that he received (though it wasn't enough to clinch the #1 spot).

Sheldon Lo performed next – he very bravely performed a song he wrote himself called “Speechless” and also played the guitar while singing. He was REALLY good – the best performance of the night in my opinion. I really like the song – it was very well-written and well-performed (I definitely agree with what judge Ruth Tsang said). His performance sounded really natural and effortless (well, that could be because he’s probably performed this song many times and since he wrote it himself, the familiarity definitely helps). In a nutshell, his performance was pretty much right on – no mistakes made and the song was moving. I also was personally impressed by the fact that he chose to play the guitar while singing the song, especially in such a critical competition because not everyone is cut out to do that (playing an instrument while singing can get distracting for some people because need to keep track of the playing as well as the singing at the same time) – unfortunately, he didn’t get any bonus points for this though (nor did he get extra points for writing the song himself). Throughout this season, Sheldon has pretty much been the only contestant that I actually liked because unlike many of the other contestants, he doesn’t come across as arrogant to me – plus his singing always sounds very natural and carefree…I’m sure he feels a lot of stress and pressure from the competition, but he must have a good way of handling it because it never shows and he doesn’t let it affect his performances. Sheldon’s score was 84.5, which in my opinion, was way too low considering how well he performed. But Sheldon didn’t seem to mind – he was so happy with his score that when the hosts asked him to react, he started talking in English because he was so excited (it was kind of cute and funny at the same time) – now THAT’s the right attitude to have!

Mag Lam – the ‘favorite’ going into the competition – sang next. She performed Kelly Clarkson’s “A Moment Like This” and received a score of 87.8 – the highest score of the night (obviously she gets to advance to the 2nd part). I will reserve majority of my comments about Mag’s overall performance for later, as I have a lot to say about it obviously. In terms of this particular performance, well, it was obvious that Mag wasn’t at 100% -- she actually had a vocal cord infection, which affected her performance. I, for one, found it even more difficult to understand what she was singing – the vocal cord issue made the already ‘nasally’ rendition even worse…plus she was very apparently off-key on a few parts. Some people may say that her performance was ‘touching’ but I personally did NOT feel or see it – I got too distracted by all the other stuff to be ‘moved’ by her performance. It was very obvious even to the judges that Mag’s performance was not up to par, as Miss Chan Chan even said so herself….so I guess my question is why did she still manage to get the highest score out of the 6 performances? (She received 2 scores in the 90s and the rest in the high 80s, which is why it averaged out to 87.8 in the end.) I would have really liked to hear from all the judges – especially the ones who gave her the highest scores – to understand the reasoning behind it.

Some people may feel that it would be unfair to Mag to score her lower for her performance just because she is sick, since she’s been getting high scores throughout the entire season. My argument against this -- it’s even more unfair to the other contestants who gave their all in their performances but weren’t rewarded with the appropriate scores because Mag has an ‘excellent track record’ and let’s not blemish it by giving her a low score despite her performance not being up to par. If the winners are supposed to be determined based on their past performances rather than by their performances that night, then what’s the point of having them sing in the finale? Mag having consistently high scores should not have anything to do with the finale or whether she wins or not because the scoring is not cumulative – the high scores in the previous episodes allowed her to pass and not get eliminated so she could be in the finale and possibly get a shot at winning – it should not be the determining factor for winning….

Also, once again, I question what the point is for the hosts to mention Mag’s illness – is it to gain sympathy points from the judges? I can understand if the judges asked why she performed so poorly and the answer given was because of illness – but mentioning it before the performance? Why? To extract sympathy from the audience and judges from the get-go so they can be lenient on the scoring? Well, that’s the way I saw it – and it annoys me to no end. With regard to Mag’s vocal cord infection and how it affected her performance -- this may sound mean, but I will say the same thing I said about Vivan when she performed while she was ill -- TOO BAD....if the contestant happens to get sick prior to the competition, it's unfortunate and I hope they get better soon, but that doesn't mean he/she should get sympathy points from the judges for it, especially not in a 'supposedly' professional singing competition.

Ok, enough about Mag (for now). The next person to perform was James Ng (also known as Kwan Gor). He sang Na Ying’s “夢醒了“ and scored 83.3, which was the second lowest score of the night. I actually don’t know what to make of his performance….he wasn’t bad, but I didn’t really feel it was a ‘wow’ type of performance either. But at least he didn’t make the types of mistakes that he did mid-season when he sort of ‘lost his way’ and struggled with finding direction. I heard today that a lot of netizens and Kwan Gor supporters are upset that he didn’t get into the top 3 with his performance and that he should have – can’t say whether I agree or disagree…his performance overall was ‘okay’ to me.

The last performer of the night was Brian Tse (aka Station One Leon Lai) who did a song by Taiwanese artist Fan Yi Chen and scored 84.1. He pretty much came in fourth, as Sheldon beat him out for the 3rd place spot by 0.4 points. I’m actually okay with his score this time around because even though he sang well, I really wasn’t as moved by his performance as I was with Sheldon’s. Also, Brian has the same problem that Penny does – the ‘stiffness’ that perhaps just comes with nervousness and limited stage experience. I definitely think that Brian could have done better, as I’ve seen more emotion from him in a few previous performances – but overall, it wasn’t too bad.

So based on the above scoring, Sheldon, Hubert, and Mag advanced to the final (part 2).


Part 2: Top 3 singing one song ‘Unplugged’

Sheldon performed first and sang “Apologize” by One Republic. Then Hubert performed one of Fish Leong’s songs. Lastly, Mag performed Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”.

Instead of scoring the second part separately on the show, they ended up combining the totals from the first round and whoever had the highest total score was the winner. Even though they didn’t announce the score for the Unplugged round, based on calculation, Sheldon received a score of 86, Hubert got 84.3, and Mag got 83.7. Okay, I have to say that Sheldon definitely deserved to win this round and Mag rightfully got the lowest score (did the judges finally wake up or what?) – but of course, since her score from the first round was so high, she ended up winning (though she only beat Hubert by 0.2 points overall).


Final Thoughts:

In a sense, I’m not too surprised that Mag won (though whether she deserved it or not is another story) – since it was clear from the beginning that Mag was slated to be ‘the one’ this season. She’s been getting consistently high scores on every single episode, even for performances where she was so-so…and the judges seemed to have completely ignored both her consistently unclear pronunciation as well as her nose condition that causes her singing to sound deep and ‘nasally’. Actually, to be honest, as I was writing this post, something clicked in my head and I realize now why Mag is so popular despite her singing being so-so (plus her nasal and pronunciation problem) -- IMO, she manages to pick songs where she can sing one part extremely well that leaves an impression with the audience so even if the rest of her performance is average (or difficult to understand), that one part is what people remember and the rest forgotten. For example, with the A.I.N.Y performance last time (which is what made her such a Youtube sensation), the only part that I remember about the entire performance is the "yeah yeah yeah" part, which she did sing quite well -- the rest, I can't remember (probably because I couldn't even understand anything she sang the rest of the time due to her pronunciation problem). I don't get the hype over the A.I.N.Y song either, so I can only attribute it to the above theory. Same with her "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" performance from the finale -- the only part she did well with that song was the chorus, the rest of it was so-so....I actually think that Sheldon and Hubert sang much better than Mag, yet they lost out to her....

(As a sidenote: I read in an article last week where someone said that the fact that Mag's A.I.N.Y. video got so many hits on Youtube proves that her performance was good -- that's just a bunch of BS -- just because a video has alot of 'hits' doesn't mean the performance was good -- there could be alot of reasons why there are that many hits -- for example, some people who missed that particular episode of V2 may have wanted to watch it, so dug up segments on YT, or it could just be the curiosity factor -- people could have read about it and were just curious to see what the hype was about...)

I actually think that Sheldon did REALLY well with both of his performances and actually outperformed Mag big-time.....but since the judges and TVB favor Mag, of course they were going to make her the winner...I feel that the judging was way too biased towards Mag -- well, it always has been, but this time it was VERY obvious because Mag's performance was not good at all (I actually cringed listening to her sing and kept wishing for it to be over) -- yet, she got the highest score for that poor performance??? Most of the other contestants sang better than she did, yet they got lower scores than her! It's no wonder that all the rumors are circulating right now that TVB 'rigged' the show so Mag could win....