Singers Gather to Celebrate TVB Anniversary

Wednesday October 25, 2006 Hong Kong

The "Jade Singers Celebrate TVB Anniversary" show will place on the 4th November and the MC's for the night will be real-life lovers Carol Cheng and Lui Fong. At the press conference for the event yesterday, Carol and Lui Fong immediately became the centre of attention and they often had the focus from the media sent in their direction by Hacken Lee, who is soon to be married. He joked that Carol and Lui should get married with him, but Hacken refused to reveal any details about his forthcoming wedding. He just insisted that he will not stop working because of his wedding.

In attendance at the event, aside from Carol and Lui were singers icnluding Eason Chan, Miriam Yeung, rumoured couple Justin Lo and Gia Lam, Jolie Chan and many others. Leon Lai also made an appearance as the mystery guest. At the event, when Carol was introducing the line-up for the female singers, there was suddenly some booing from the group of men. When Carol indicated that she knew who was booing, Hacken immediately stood up and admitted it and received a stern scolding from Carol: "As a bridegroom, you should show more reverence, getting married is not everything!" Not to be outdone, Hacken responded by suggesting that she and Lui Fong should join him and get married too.

When the other details of the show were being introduced, Lui Fong seemed rather nervous and spoke quite quietly, often needing cues from Carol. Afterwards, he was asked if he was nervous and he denied that he was just reading from the script and he is not nervous. It is not the real thing yet, so he does not need to speak too loudly. As for Hacken's heckling, he smiles: "Let him get married first, then it will be me. (You were the butt of their jokes?) No-one was joking about me, just Hacken. In any case, I will do this job well." When it was suggested he would lose out to Carol's wit on the night, he smiles: "She has not seen the real me yet, but she will!"

Carol was very supportive of her partner and said: "Lui Fong has been the host for 'Jade Solid Gold' before, but maybe he has just not done it for so long. Treat this as a rehearsal and he will do better then." Will she be looking out for him on their first co-operation? Carol says that it will depend on the situation, if it is desperate, she will not care too much! As for whether they will have any arguments, Carol laughs that they are adults and will not do that. Asked about Lui Fong's comments about marriage, she says he is talking nonsense because it has been a while since he has seen so many people and he is a little overwhelmed.

As for new reports that Lydia Shum's condition is worsening and she is making final arrangements with Lau Ka Cheung, Carol replies to the reporters saying: "Is that really true? You can't believe anything that they write nowadays. I hope that Lydia will get some good rest and this year's Anniversary will not be the same without her because we will miss her laughter, but she should take plenty of time off to recover. (Have you visited her?) I sent some flowers to the hospital earlier, but the hospital refused them. I dare not contact her and I don't know Joyce [Cheng] very well. I hope she will get some peaceful rest."

Special guest Leon will be working with Andy Lau on this year's show in a special act that is under a shroud of secrecy. There are reports that Leon's collaboration with Andy is 'breaking the ice' that has grown between the two stars after recent frosty receptions. Leon seemed rather impatient when he heard this and said: "Even the volcano has been broken up, never mind the ice. There are no problems between us and I am performing with sincerity." Asked how he would describe his relationship with Andy, he says that apart from the anniversary he has not seen Andy for a long time and hopes that people will not use their working relationship as a basis for news because all people want to see is the performance.

With the much anticipated return of the two 'heavenly kings' in co-operation, Leon says he will not feel any pressure. He says he remembers when he was just waving weapons around at the back for the TVB anniversary, so this proves that showbiz will always provide opportunities to newcomers and he believes that everyone has their own pressures. He may be standing in the front today, but one day he may be at the back again. He does not mind though because this is the unchangeable truth and the most important thing is to keep yourself swimming forward.

Leon warns everyone not to raise the expectations for the act too high to avoid giving him and the TVB creatives too much pressure. As for comments that his performance is to save the male singers team, he admits that it should help. With suggestions that he is only taking part in the show to help support his own company's singers, he insists that he is also showing support for TVB.

credits: tvbspace, asianfanatics.