STRICLY NO COPYING

29 July-Louis's contract with TVB ends this year

Yesterday, Louis Koo was filming his music special "Ching Yuen Ga Fe Sat" (Romance Coffee Shop) and he has invited Eason Chan, Angelica Lee and Lei Ka Yee as his guest stars. Louis says he will have to take them all to dinner to thank them, especially Eason who agreed immediately, making Louis extremely grateful.

When it was discussed about TVB's prevention of its artistes giving interviews to other TV companies, Louis says: "As well as a singer, I am also a TVB artiste and although some things are hard to avoid, I will always respect the spirit of the contract." Louis says that his contract with TVB ends this year and admits that he has still not decided anything yet, but his first choice will be to stay with TVB. Many film companies have waved for Louis' attention but he says: "It's not confirmed, I haven't made any TV series for a long time now and I would quite like to make a 20 episode series." When asked about the incident where both he and Sammi both wore black at a recent promotion for movie "Luen Sheung Nei Dik Chong" (In Love With Your Bed) and his non-contact with Cable, Louis refused to respond.

Eason will be appearing in the special as a downs syndrome man, wearing thick glasses and mussed up hair, making him stand out a lot. As for Angelica, this is the first time she has worked with Louis and she finds him really easy going and mischievous. She points out that Louis is a renowned good looking guy but she is not worried about attracting rumours.

24 July Edison to open fashion stores next year

Edison is very interested in business, and looks at the U.S hip hop singer Russel Simmons as his idol.The reason is besides doing well in his singing career, Simmon's fashion business is also going quite well. Edion, mid next year will open fashion stores of a Japanese brand in Hong Kong and Japan. The fashion stores will target teenagers. As for promotion plans Edison already came up with alot of suggestions. Whenever he has time he immediately goes to Japan to talk about business.Edisonchose Japan because he loves that country and he is fluent in Japanese and English.

When asked if he put alot of investment into the business he said a little but will invest more if it's successful. He said he's read alot of business books and it's not because of his father that he's interested in business but he's satisfied when he succeeds.

22 July

For Kelly's Free Your Mind concert held on Sunday night, she has invited Cecilia Cheung and Hacken Lee as guests for the show. The concert was also set as a plan for HK Tourism Board to promote the country and 700 tourists from Mainland China were invited. The overall response to the concert was good and many of the fans had rushed to the front of the stage during the encore section.

When Cecilia Cheung had appeared on stage, she handed over a luminous stick to Kelly and was very high during the performance. However, she left immediately before any of the reporters could interview her. As for Kelly, she had requested the stage technicians to stop the platform which was raised while she was singing "Tall Girl".  She had later said that she is afraid of heights.

On her special guest, Cecilia Cheung, Kelly had worked with her in the movie Tokyo Raiders and felt that she was cute. On that night, Cecilia had also given 4 watches to her with communication capabilities. As such, Kelly had decided to give something in return to her.

18 July

HONG KONG - Several Hong Kong recording artistes, including pop singer Nicholas Tse,Eason Chan, Yumiko Cheng and a music mogul were taken in for questioning by the territory's anti-graft agency yesterday.

Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) spokesman Charmaine Mok said 'an operation was under way' but declined to provide further details.

26 people were investigated and 22 people arrested. There are rumours that EEG is owned by Triads??This has to be made up...

It was unclear what the authorities were looking into, but local television station TVB reported that they had called in Tse, pop star Juno Mak and other recording artistes.
Television footage showed businessman Albert Yeung, the owner of Tse's record label, Emperor Entertainment Group, arriving at the anti-graft agency's downtown headquarters. Emperor spokesman Christina Ng declined comment. Nicholas Tse was convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice last year following an earlier ICAC investigation.

The 22-year-old heartthrob was sentenced to 240 hours of community service after crashing his Ferrari and agreeing to let a chauffeur claim to have been behind the wheel.
No one was hurt in the accident and it was never explained why Tse had sought to avoid blame.

All the arrested were detained in connection with corruption allegations over preferential treatement of "a number of singers, including the promotion of these singers and their hits on a music billboard," the ICAC said.

Eight of the 22 arrested were released on bail on Thursday, a spokeswoman for ICAC said, without given details. "The rest are still held as the investigation is continuing," she said.

The graft watchdog said employees of the record and entertainment companies were alleged to have offered bribes to broadcasting figures in exchange for ensuring songs from their singers were given high chart placings.
The ICAC also said it was investigating allegations that bribes had been offered in exchange for securing various music awards.

During the ICAC operation carried out late Wednesday, 26 other people were also interviewed in connection with the investigation. The case is believed to be one of the largest inquiries into alleged impropriety in the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

As well as Yeung, chairman of the Emperor Group, others arrested reportedly included senior executives from TVB, Hong Kong's leading television station, and Universal singer Mak and his father, Clement Mak, who is the chairman of CCT Telecom.

Singers Nicolas Tse, Eason Chan Yik-shun, Yumiko and Taiwanese entertainer Dave Wang Chieh were also reported to have been interviewed by ICAC in connection with the case.

Juno Mak picked up the "best interpretation" award during TVB Jade's Solid Gold Awards in January -- and was booed by the studio audience.

He has been a favourite target for Hong Kong's lively tabloid-style gossip magazines, with his musical ability frequently under scrutiny.

Media tycoon Yeung meanwhile is one of the Hong Kong media and entertainment industry's most colourful figures, and has been implicated in a series of high-profile court cases spanning a 20-year period.

He was jailed for nine months in 1981 for attempting to pervert the course of justice, but in 1995 was cleared of criminal intimidation and false imprisonment after all five prosecution witnesses forgot details of offences.

Kelly was the ambassador for Commercial Radio's "Dreams Come True" event held yesterday afternoon. As Kelly was wearing a mini skirt, she had to be cautious of her movements.

Kelly was aware about the recent investigation by ICAC on the entertainment scene regarding the rigging of awards. She added that it was a frightening experience seeing the people arrested for investigation. However, she has also expressed that it was unsuitable for her to give any comments because the investigations are still being carried out. Kelly could not imagine a girl being arrested for investigation as it would be so frightening and would not know what to say.

15 July

Yesterday Joey was in Beijing and attended the Zhong Bei EEG Performing School opening ceremony and among the new enrollments to the school is the so called younger version of Cecilia Cheung - Dai Jiao Qian.Other EEG singers that attended are Sally Yeh,Eason Chan and Nic Tse. Zhong Bei EEG Performing School is a collaboration work between EEG and Zhong Bei television station.

9 July

Yesterday Joey attended the openiThe Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, who will have a small part in the local movie "My Wife is a Gangster 2," visited Korea on Wednesday and participated in a hand-printing event at Seoul's Sangam CGV Theatre.

Right after her arrival in Seoul, she went to the theater and made her print in a bronze plate and said, "My hands are still cold." She said that she was happy to take part in a Korean movie and showed gratitude for the attention.

Zhang handprint will be exhibited at the theater along with handprints of other local celebrities, including Jung Woo-seung and Jeon Ji-hyun. She plans to leave Seoul on Thursday evening after filming the last scene of the movie.

Zhang has shown interest in the movie since "My Wife is a Gangster" was shown in Hong Kong. Shin Eun-kyung, the main actor of the previous film, will also be starring in its sequel. The movie is scheduled to hit theaters Sept. 5. ng of Hong Kong Fashion Week fair hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Other celebrity that attended are Maggie Q,Daniel Wu,Emme Wong,Terence Yee and others. During the fair,Joey said that she is a long-time supporter of local designers. Joey : "I've always supported local designers.When looking for clothes,most important is to look at the cutting.Now since I've gotten thinner and darker,I love to wear sleeveless ones. I dont like being too sexy, it's most important to give people a healthy look,so the sexiest i'd go is wearing shorts. (Which artiste's fashion sense do you admire the most?) Karen Mok,she looks good wearing any clothes as she has that sexy feeling.If I looked as fit as her,I wouldnt mind showing it off."

6 July

Joey,Boy'z and Twins yesterday along with 1200 fans participated in Do Re Me All Star Travel Hong Kong. Initially,at 9 am,the groups of singers were supposed to take a picture with the crowd of fans in the Golden Bauhinia Square but due to the mad reaction given by the fans then,even though there are security guards around,the situation was in a mess.

Even the chain that ten or so security guards formed surrounding the artistes, was invaded by some fans. Gillian Chung hugged herself behind Charlene and Joey's back,hoping to avoid the perverted hands.Joey held her both hands covering herself.The workers,seeing the chaotic situation,immediately send them all back to their respective vans;10 minutes later,the emotion of the fans became stable and the artistes continued back to the square for the photo shooting.  

Following that,the fans then were separated into several groups,each had a ride on cruisers,cruising around HK and playing games with their idols. As the fans were very happy when getting on the ship,Joey said to them : "You all be nice now or you wont get to play anything if the boat overturns!" They afterwards took the trams up to Kam Tin to see the scenery and breath in the fresh air.They also had a fishing activity.When they passed under the Tsing Ma Bridge and reached somewhere near the old HK airport,they went to a nearby hotel to have lunch.After that,all 1200 fans head over to Hollywood GH theatres to watch the movie 'Twins Effect'.

After the end of the acitvities,Joey whose skin's turning red from being under the sun said : "If I'm the one making the decision,I would go swimming and then eat oysters and have fun in Ocean Park,at least I dont have to stand under the sun!" She also revealed that for Kung Fu Soccer,there is a scene where she and Dicky Cheung went to a funfair,sitting on a tram while talking lovey-dovey on it.For Joey,it was quite unbeareable moment because : "I would throw up if I ever think of going on a tram now."Other than that, in response to the report that Yumiko kicked out a contestant from the New Talent Championship because the contestant used a pirated copy of Joey ' My Pride' to sing My Pride,Joey said : "Yumiko had been very nice to her,she at least gave her 30 seconds singing before kicking her.Actually,if you're a person who loves music,you shouldnt buy pirated copies."

For this activity this time,Joey said she was very happy that she can go on a trip with her fellow colleagues.Since it's been a long while she had a trip of her own and that since she have not see them ever since she went to Guangzhou for filming,she decided to invite Twins and Boy'z on a trip.Joey said that she will take care of the food,while Kenny jokingly said he will book the sea,Steven will book the weather,Ah Gill will book the bikinis and Ah Sa will book the boat.

Translated by Jamie

3rd June

Yesterday, Kelly had commented on a recent magazine's report that her management's relationship with her record company had soured. As a result, her record company had even decided to freeze her contract. Kelly does not understand why there could be such reports when their relations are still good.

Kelly was further asked if the problem was due to the change in promotion team in the record company. Kelly said that the promotion team should be given more time and she also denied that there was a lack in communication between her management and the record company. She added that the promotion team is experienced and cooperation between them was smooth.

Kelly has helped Siu Fong Fong's Charity in the dubbing of an animation series and she plays the main female role who is sexually molested by her elder cousin played by Sam Lee. The animation will later be translated to English as well. Kelly had said that she had seen such a case and wished to do something for the younger generations.

Also, it was hard work for Kelly during her stay in Spain because the weather was very hot. Kelly revealed that her album will be released before September when she will start filming Infernal Affairs 3. As her Mandarin album was delayed due to SARS, she will also need to proceed to Taiwan for promotion work.

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