Sunday, June 4, 2006

Shall We Talk: "Women's Secret" - Melissa Ng

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女人的秘密 吳美珩

《女人唔易做》有三個女人,但一單是非也沒有,無人爭唱片頭片尾曲,沒人爭寵沒有眼紅,順順利利收視高達三十七點。

吳美珩在大陸拍劇,還 未回港做宣傳,周刊已用姊弟戀話題做封面,而且是時事版。她樂得不用靠是非上頭條,優優雅雅,就有新聞曝光。 在娛樂圈接近十年了,由當選華姐亞軍、做主持到現在擔正劇集,一直保持優雅。不用和其他花旦爭崩頭,沒是沒非,去年三部劇候選我最喜愛的女主角,輸給汪明 荃,心服口服輸得漂亮,另一個角度看也是贏了。 替她借來一套套低胸透視時裝,她嘩嘩大叫難度高,但只是要了點雙面膠紙,就舉重若輕換了出來讓我們拍個夠。誰說她不行性感﹖性感也要有格調。

入 行以來,最大新聞是去年盛傳秘密結婚,丈夫是管理四十億的神秘富豪。面對追問,她也堅持回答:「Private life is private life。」 英文答案怎說都比較有class,她說﹕「我不想講假話,如果你要我講,我選擇沉默。」 如果想知道答案,只有從她沒說出來的話中去找。

「我身邊那位」
盛傳吳美珩已婚,美人諱莫如深。訪問前不知應問「你丈夫」還是「你男友」,倒是她有備而來,由始至終就說「我身邊那位」,親密程度 不言而喻。 「有一次,周刊寫我去(台灣)服侍『我身邊那位』的家人,其實那些不是他家人,我去見一位舊朋友,友人拉住我跟他的親戚食飯。我從未見過『我身邊那位』的 姨媽姑姐,我只見過他父母。」 她委婉地表示從未見過男方所有親戚,意即未擺酒﹖這純屬記者捕風捉影,再問下去,她就閉嘴了。 「我可以和觀眾分享的是,上天待我不薄,我很幸運,身邊有個大我幾年的『小齊』。」小齊是《女人唔易做》中吳美珩(高Ling)的丈夫,即是比她年輕七年 的林峰。現實中,她男友比她年長四歲,傳統來說非常匹配。 「小齊是一個很專一、用情很深、很疼高Ling的人,我身邊有這個小齊,但我們不是姊弟戀,我很開心,這是很舒服的一段感情。」

據資料顯 示,跟她拍拖九年的男友王華麟是投資公司老闆,兩人同住寶雲道二千萬豪宅。他經常接受台灣商業雜誌訪問,談基金管理、「避險」、「完美風暴」,有錢有專業 地位。他在小檔案的婚姻狀況顯示「已婚」,因而傳出跟吳美珩已秘密結婚,但她至今握ㄧm可否。「我當然希望擁有圓滿的生活,結婚生子,有自己的家庭,我希 望朝這個方向去行。我常常開玩笑,四十歲前要生兩個女。我見到化妝師懷孕,也替她高興,我也希望有一天經歷這個階段,發揮我不知有沒有的母愛。」

「有條件做好煮婦」
做母親或者言之尚早,但她應該做到一個好煮婦,喜愛下廚,中西餐都會弄。 「我識煮三杯雞。用很簡單的和蛋,炒飯炒得好靚。還有素餃子。」

另 外,她對室內設計最有興趣,閒時愛逛跑馬地傢俬店,買緬甸、越南新派畫佈置家居,有潛質成為一位持家有道的太太。 外間說她三年前底薪才二萬元,已開價值百萬的瑪莎拉蒂跑車,像闊太多過像藝員。但她很想大家知道,她自己也賺到,不是有個富豪男友(或丈夫)不用拚搏,反 而,是因為這段感情穩定,才令她安心在工作上加把勁。 今年初,她寧願跟另一半分開四個月,到雲南、昆明開工拍新劇《無極》,也不想放棄一個村姑好角色。 「一段感情最舒服的是,不需要刻意去做某些事,兩個人很自然,互相溝通到,平穩已是最好。」講到溝通,吳美珩在大陸出生,自小移民美國﹔她「身邊那位」是 台灣人,初中到美國升學,兩口子都是黃皮白心。

「我們兩個都是英文人,平時三語(國粵英)一起溝通,吵架則用英文,因為夠快。」 吳美珩用英文思考,個性超級理智。她廿四歲認識現在「身邊那位」,之前只拍過一次拖,就是因為過於理性。

「對男友要求高」
「我是一個很清楚自己要什麼的人,即使只是和男孩子出去吃餐飯、看場戲,如果沒有感覺,我覺得繼續下去很沒意思,約第二次就會say no,我寧願做回朋友,所以我end up很多這類男性朋友。「讀大學那幾年,有男孩子約我,我就是不肯應約,媽咪也擔心我為什麼沒有約會。」

她 的初戀維時很短,隔了幾年後,直至回港選華姐,才在派對遇上王華麟,第一眼就知對方就是自己要的那位。 她選男友的條件非常奇特。「不知為什麼,我很怕男人握手無力,一個有自信的男人,握手堅定有力,這一點很重要。」 她承認,因為愛捉別人小處,做她身邊那位好慘。「我曾經理性過頭,太執,某個階段鑽牛角尖,每件事會分析得很細,有好有不好,好的是面對問題時,會很鎮 定,但一個人太理智不是好事,所以慢慢學會let go放鬆,不要太uptight(繃緊),做人開心了,拍戲自然了。」

「父親是醫院院長」
吳美珩生於廣東中山,父親是外科醫生,在中山的醫院當院長,母親是兒科醫生,經歷內地在七十年代末改革開放之後,九歲時全家移民美 國。對於在大陸的童年時光,她坦言印象模糊。 「只記得住在醫院宿舍,每天出入醫院,爸爸身上常有一陣手術室味。(有沒有戴過紅領巾﹖)是呀是呀,我和姊姊成績好,在學校有紅領巾戴,你問起我才記 得。」

十年前,她選完華裔小姐,回過中山探親,幾位小學同學來見面,對她非常熱情。「他們提起小時候一起玩,但我沒印象。」 童年像洗腦般抹去了,可能要歸功於美國教育的成功。父母都是醫生,但家境不算特別富裕,只是有遠見,為了讓女兒接受更好的教育,選擇放棄事業移民。「他們 在中國是一等公民,到了外國變成二等公民,犧牲很大。」

父母讀醫時用俄文和中文,在美國不可以重操故業,父親只能做針灸師,母親開花店,閒時寫書,四、五十歲從頭再來。 「我們小朋友,很快就接受漢堡包文化,入讀普通小學,沒有適應問題。」

「為獎學金選美」
母親教她做女性要獨立,不要張手拿零用錢,她十四歲就在美容公司做接線生,入三藩巿州立大學讀國際關係和市場學,就在地產公司做資料 搜集員,經紀賺到錢,她也有佣分,不但賺到學費,還買了部日本跑車,未畢業已自力更生。 她大學二年級參加「全美華埠小姐」,為的是贏取獎學金。 「我選美出身,別人會用有色眼光去看,選美的女性一定為名為利,我不否認當中有這樣的人存在,但不可一概而論。」

她參選國際華裔小姐,同 屆就有個曾因行使假信用卡在美國入獄的鍾慧儀。吳美珩說﹕「我選華埠小姐,真的要做很多社區工作,要為唐人街做籌款,迫你出來見很多人,沒有人呵護你。選 完有大學獎學金,讓你去讀書,香港這裏就送部車,環境很不同。」 她九六年來香港奪得華姐亞軍,拿了獎品就打算返美國,想不到無線一個電話,就留了下來做節目主持,再轉入話劇組做了花旦。

「如果我沒有選 美,沒有來香港,現在可能做金融,或者做marketing,可能是一個CEO。我沒有什麼優點,但有少少領袖才能,由細到大,負責指揮別人,有一班小朋 友跟我出入。」 她是家中四姊妹的老三,其他三個都入了金融界。「我是black sheep(黑羊,意指壞分子)。」但她的另一半是投資專家,跟金融界關係密切。

「等工作簽證最迷惘」
「來港第一年最迷惘,公司要我等到工作簽證,才開始工作,那段時間完全不熟悉香港,沒有什麼朋友,天天坐在家裏,無所事事,那一刻,我懷疑自己有沒有做錯決定。」 她說,當時大學剛畢業,以前在美國生活很簡單,未見過世面,真正的生活在香港開始。

吳 美珩千叮萬囑,這個訪問要寫多點她的工作,不要寫太多感情。 「我不想別人集中談論我的私生活,而忽略了我在工作的努力。」 她很重視自己的演藝成績,去年憑三部電視劇(《開心賓館》、《妙手仁心?郠》、《人間蒸發》)問鼎台慶花旦獎,雖然輸給阿姐,但被視為演技突破的一年,今 年的《女人唔易做》又成為熱門話題,收視理想,在電視台的地位不斷攀升。

「我希望不斷作新嘗試,觀眾未必接受,一定先入為主,我做開專業 人士,就以為我只適合演醫生、律師。當我由時裝轉古裝,好人變奸人,大家就看到我很俾心機。」 她有一部電視劇《鳳舞香羅》,沒有在香港播,演的是較有人性的奸角,在現實中看不到吳美珩爭名逐利,難道要租碟才看到﹖

「Chinese」
華裔小姐有不同程度的中國化,葉璇熟讀《唐詩三百首》,比較「Chinese」﹔廖碧兒讀劇本要用拼音,「Chinese」極有限。而吳美珩在兩者之間,她連普通諺語也不太懂。「中國人有句說話,什麼萬卷書……」

中文不好很平常,她在美國時,無線錄影帶還未普及,母親常在家中看台灣電視劇,她早已學會一口流利的普通話。

她 主持金紫荊廣場的回歸慶祝典禮,在《楚漢驕雄》演虞姬虞美人,名字中的「珩」字,意思是古代衣服上的玉飾,她口中都是很「Chinese」的事。吳美珩未 至於是大情大性的鬼妹仔,但笑聲豪邁,說起話來口若懸河,跟熒幕上的冷傲形象截然不同。 「在我心目中,家人都在美國,美國始終是我第一個家。」 伺機再問,如果要結婚,是不是選擇在美國註冊﹖

她依然滴水不漏﹕「假設性問題不會回答。」

*Credits to mingpao

Thursday, June 1, 2006

"Happy 2000" - Leon Lai


Happy 2000 - 黎明

作曲: 雷頌德
填詞: 周耀輝

在實驗室裡做實驗 看看有沒有不變的諾言
喜歡的時候呀 快樂見面 不喜歡的時候 就改天再見
快要到兩千年 還有甚麼出現
只要只要只要只要只要能在目前
開個Party 在十二點 拍照片去懷念

*如昨天這麼 今天一切願更多
如昨天那麼 今天都照樣更難忘
情節要揣摩的一齣戲別煞科
你與我 Oh.... Yeah.... Oh.... Yeah

#就算一天一變 戀愛絕不變
就算千天千變 過渡到千年
路會彎心不變 一於忠於即興路線

甚麼不會變 甚麼不會變 以為不會變依然會變
只要能繼續快樂見面 只要繼續快樂做實驗
快要到兩千年 還有甚麼出現
只要只要只要只要只要能在目前
站到台上就表演 碰到愛人就纏綿

Repeat *#

在實驗室裡做實驗 看看有沒有不變的諾言
諾言既然沒有變 註定兩千年和你再見面

Repeat ##

Let me hear you say
Gonna be my partner.....Gonna be your partner
Gonna be my lover.....Gonna be your lover
Gonna be my sister.....na na na na na na
Gonna be my mother.....no

"You Are Mine" - Leon Lai


你係我嘅 - 黎明

作曲/編曲: 雷頌德
填詞: 甄健強

總之不理好丑 他威迫妳飲酒
讓我代妳參加這種惡鬥
早知妳沒火機 給妳人工呼吸
終於點起火花四飛
舉起即拍相機 興奮地準備
影低哪個混亂裡撫摸妳
然後彎曲右手 刺穿身邊反光的氫氣球

*原來為妳 有懂得閃爍的眼眸
有猜不出的美麗沉和浮
完全無時間深究
相擁比相識更就手

#誰傷害妳 害我親愛的妳
絕對可以幫妳叫他嘴嚼煩惱滋味
若妳這一刻知道懷抱得起
醒來別記起
誰傷害妳 問我怎會不理
別要心痛只要 放開一切和我倒地
若妳這一分一秒愉快得起
將來下個人 還一樣喜愛妳

她搶走妳閃粉 怎麼需要擔心
讓我為妳供給多一個吻 一刻妳被搔擾
需要立刻擋駕飛身單身手捉緊妳腰
閃出一個專家 他想妳聽話
少不免要酌量教他驚怕
然後想親熱中 也偷偷出手攻擊他臉容

Repeat *##

'幸而城' Lucky City

'幸而城' meaning 'Lucky City'. Pronounced as 'Hang Yi Sing'. The reason I named this blog '幸而城' is because of Myolie Wu's song '幸而'. The pronunciation of the two letters is similar to my Chines name. Also, because it sounds cool. :D

This blog will consist of both Chinese and or English entries. Most entries would probably somehow relate to TVB. This will be a very good place for me to share my thoughts, pictures, and a good place to practice my Chinese.

我叫哩個blog做'幸而城'係因為胡杏兒嘅歌名叫'幸而'. 首歌名同我嘅中文名發音係一樣音, 因為我都係叫杏兒. 同咪好似好威咁! :D 我希望可以透過哩度而發表我發感受.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

La Femme Desperado III

CREDIT IF REPOSTED

(Top left: Natalie Wong, Melissa Ng, Jacqueline Law, Sheren Tang, Cindy Au, and Kate Tsui)
(Bottom left: Kenneth Ma, Michael Tse, Lee Ka Sing, and Producer Poon Ka Tak)

"La Femme Desperado" ending breaks record with 41 points

"La Femme Desperado" has received great ratings and positive feedback. No wonder people often compared the series to the big budget production series "The Dance of Passion". The reason why viewers would compare the two series is because of Sheren Tang. Although the cast and crew members are the same [all except Sheren] as in "War and Beauty", viewers are disappointed in Sheren Tang losing out the 'Favourite Actress Award'. Who would have guessed that a small production series would win over a big production series? As mentioned earlier, it is all thanks to Sheren!

In "La Femme Desperado", the coupling of Hilda and Cheap Man brought a lot of sparks to the show. First, they have a baby, and they late start to develop feelings for each other. Michael Tse played Cheap Man with 'cheapness' that bought tears. Audience members were touched by his singing of love songs and talking about this life as an orphan. Despite his soft side, his cheap genes surfaced again once he was rejected.

Although the series received many praises, Sheren Tang only accepted them modestly. She never openly talked about "The Dance of Passion". Michael's performance opened many eyes by positioning him as a performing actor. Raymond Lam bought a lot of energy for his character. His 'older female and younger male' relationship with Melissa Ng was widely accepted by viewers due to the fact that they were touched with his direct love towards Melissa. As for Melissa, she has successfully climbed up the ladder to stable herself as a Fa Dan. She was very into character. The character has also widened her acting skills by not just portraying professionals.

In order to push ratings to a new high, TVB arranged a 30-minute special, "Really Hard Being a Woman", hosted by Carol Cheng to be aired before the last episode. After the airing of the final episode, a 15-minute alternate ending version followed. This has never been done in TVB history before. It is such a wonderful series!

真係女人唔易做





*Credits to mingpao

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

La Femme Desperado II

CREDIT IF REPOSTED


Sheren Tang is the role model for modern woman

After the success of "War and Beauty", Sheren Tang still has Yue Fei's ability to capture audiences with her modern look as a career-oriented woman--independent, full of charisma, ruthlessness, and insulting others to the ground. What does Hilda do when she wants to have a baby? She uses artificial insemination to reproduce. Hilda is evidently the role model for modern woman, and she is the soul character in "La Femme Desperado".

Melissa Ng explores versatility in acting

Many problems arises in modern women nowadays including career, love, marriage, non-married mother; now encountering 'older female and younger male' relationships, artificial insemination, and the equality between males and females. The series is able to grab a hold onto the audience although the series is only 20+ episodes long. The 3 different females with 3 different age groups played by Kate Tsui (24), Melissa Ng (32), and Sheren Tang (37) are very close to their own age. The series talked about issues that would arise for modern women like stress and other problems, but the ideas are not at all exaggerated. Melissa plays a traditional and conservative little woman. In portraying the role, Melissa is able to explore her versatility in acting. During her sad scenes, she was able to show off her weak side by flushing her eyes with tears. For her to take on this role, she is able to let go of her roles that she had been typecast for showing off her professionalism, elegance, calmness, and the smart side of her. In spite of this, she still lacks in the comedy area, but she has successfully widened her acting road.

As for Sheren, there is no need for more appraisals. She is basically the mother of acting; she is the whole package with her sharp eye movements, stable voice, clear enunciation and no exaggerations in her facial expressions. She is a natural when it comes to acting. Until now, she still has the self-confidence, power, and grace from Yue Fei. With such a powerful opposite to act by, the 2 male leads did not freeze up. In "Virtues of Harmony", Michael Tse's acting was ordinary, but when a strong character comes along, he is able to turn into a new leaf. In the first 3 episodes, Cheap Man was hated by every woman. Michael is able to play Cheap Man with no exaggeration, and he was easily into character. Cheap Man was cheap on the outside, but he was really kind at heart. Raymond Lam is able to wash off the unpleasantness of "Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion", playing the young energetic male who falls for the older female, Melissa.

Great cast, fast-paced storyline, and wonderful topic. "La Femme Desperado" is definitely TVB's best small production series in recent years.

*Credits to mingpao

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Bernice Liu @ J.S.G. Selections 2006 (Part 1)

Bernice Liu received a newcomer award (新人薦場飆星獎) and a song award for "The Truth" (實情), the theme song of "Into Thin Air", at J.S.G. Selections 2006 (Part 1).


*Credits to 音悅Tai

Saturday, April 15, 2006

La Femme Desperado I

CREDIT IF REPOSTED


女人唔易做
La Femme Desperado

演員﹕鄧萃雯﹐吳美珩﹐林峰﹐馬國明﹐謝天華﹐徐子珊﹐歐倩怡﹐羅慧娟﹐李家聲﹐曾偉權﹐梁家仁﹐韓馬利﹐程可為﹐黃紀塋等。

Starring: Sheren Tang, Melissa Ng, Raymond Lam, Kenneth Ma, Michael Tse, Kate Tsui, Jacqueline Law, Lee Ka Sing, Savio Tsang, Bryan Leung, Mary Hon, Ching Ho Wai, Natalie Wong, etc.

http://tvcity.tvb.com/drama/la_femme_desperado/frontpage/index.html

There is an old saying that goes, "It is difficult to be a daughter-in-law!" Seeing that the female status held a very low position in society back in the day. Although females and males have reached equality in modern society, females cannot avoid the fact of having the ability to reproduce and to become a responsible mother after giving birth. By separating females into 3 different age groups, TVB's "La Femme Desperado" focuses on modern women and centers the problems women will encounter. The idea for TVB's series is very similar to the movie "20 30 40", starring Sylvia Chang, Rene Liu, and Angelica Lee. Kate Tsui plays the 20-year-old female and the age categories for 30-year-old and 40-year-old are played by Melissa Ng and Sheren Tang respectively. In order to show more problems that women face in modern society, the duration of the series is evidently longer than the movies version. In today's society, women face many problems relating to stress. For example, issues like 'older female younger male' relationship, non-married mother, reproduction by artificial insemination, etc. The problems faced in the series "La Femme Desperado" are more in-depth than the regular mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship, women in power, and man and woman living together issues. With such an interesting and refreshing topic, it is a must-watch for the audience. The female audience will find it very understanding and touching.

Women encounter many problems

In the series, Kate and Kenneth Ma start to date, but Kate's older sister, Sheren, opposes to the relationship because she thinks Kenneth is useless. Sheren tells Melissa to stop her brother, Kenneth, from seeing Kate. What may seem like 3 separate female experiences, they are intertwining as one whole phenomenon?

Sheren and Melissa each have their own problems. Sheren is a smart, independent woman, and she is the role model for career-oriented women. However, she has lost faith in marriage due to past relationship experiences. In order for her to have a baby that belongs to her completely, she plans on reproducing by artificial insemination. After becoming a non-married mother, Sheren has to face many stresses and many other problems. On the day of Melissa and Michael Tse's third wedding anniversary, Melissa discovers that Michael has been cheating on her. After their separation, Melissa develops an 'older female, younger male' relationship with Raymond Lam. Melissa was able to overcome her traditional beliefs and agreed to marry Raymond. Although they have resolved many stresses and problems before marriage, mother-in-law problems arise for Melissa, causing the love between husband and wife to go through difficult challenges.

Artistes included in discussion

In order for the ideas in the series to become more realistic, the 3 female leads got together in a discussion to share their female perspectives for the storyline. For TVB to take on such a bold attempt to be the series' story is a real gamble. Yet, this is a gamble that is worth taking.

*Credits to mingpao