Hot Shots - Songs

Hot Shots is a Taiwanese idol series that is currently on air. It's getting alot of publicity because it stars three hot guys - Jerry Yan, Show Luo, and Wu Chun - playing basketball. I think it has about 15 episodes or less.

Well the point of this post is that I got to listen to the soundtrack, and I really the songs. Usually, it's the other way around, I watch the series and then like the soundtrack. I remember once when I like the soundtrack before watching, I ended up not liking the serie that much. The serie was Tokyo Juliet, and it has a very nice soundtrack, but after three episodes, it didn't keep my interest. And like Tokyo Juliet, it seems that Hot Shots befalls the same fate for me. I watched the first episode, and it didn't keep me interested. However, if I remember when the ending comes up, I may watch the ending. Anyhow, this post is more about how the soundtrack is pretty catchy, even the instrumentals - very hip hoppish.

Superman - 倪子岡(Nese)

This is like the first Chinese hip-hop song that I think is catchy [and not cheesy and exaggerated] and actually can be consider hip-hop lol. A lot of people says this song sounds similar to Crank That by Soulja Boy though, but I don't think it's that similar.


絕對無敵 - 倪子岡(Nese)

Another subtheme of Hot Shots by Nese. I think this song is also catchy, but not as much as the Superman one.


絕對無敵(all english version) - 倪子岡(Nese)

I actually like the English version more. It kinda reminds me of One Tree Hill a little though with Haley-Lucas-Nathan haha.


霹靂決鬥- instrumental

Really upbeat instrumental. Thought it was creative how they mimicked the scratching from the shoes on the court. If only there wasn't some guy that goes "uh" every now and then, it would've been perfect lol.


絕對無敵之 籃球夢- instrumental

Another instrumental. This one is the instrumental to 絕對無敵 by Nese.


隧道 - 林凡(Freya Lin)

Very nice ballad. Freya's vocals are very soothing.


If you want to watch the series, you can visit this blog: http://lanqiuhuo.blogspot.com/

Fala & Tavia as singers

So the other day, I came by some Youtube videos of Fala and Tavia singing live for various functions, and I thought they weren't too bad as singers either, especially Fala. I think she sounds even nicer than Linda! Tavia isn't too bad either.

Fala singing 遇见


Fala singing 我的驕傲


Tavia singing Sammi's song


Tavia singing Kelly & Sammi's songs


Maybe these "sisters" of Moonlight Resonance, ah Yuet, ah Chau, and ah Hing... can form some sort of band together....TVB's own S.H.E haha

Stephen Au : A talented actor

*picture found from AsianFanatics

Burning Flame II is the first series I’ve seen him in, and the second series I seen him in was Angels of Mission. These two characters he portrayed were also my favorite characters acted by him. I really enjoyed watching him and Annie Man as a couple in BFII, and he showed he could do comedy too. In Angels on Mission, I admire his character, Wallace, since he was so cool and calm, yet also very charming. He has acted out a variety of characters from these and other series and managed to do a good job. In the drama department, he could act out the brutish and loud-mouth type of guys (BFII), but also the calm and intelligent type (AOM), or even the villain type (WTAPII and Legend of Love). Because he knows martial arts, that makes him available for ancient fighting scenes or modern action scenes. And he’s got great comedy timing too. In the looks department, ok, he’s not drop dead gorgeous like Louis Koo, but he’s still good looking in my opinion. This guy is like a freaking walking talent at TVB, why isn’t he getting more leading and supporting roles already? Even Michael Tse is able to snag some roles opposite Sheren Teng (don’t get me wrong, I like Michael Tse and am glad he is getting more heavier roles), but just saying, Stephen Au is being very unrecognized!

I think TVB needs to promote more men that could be paired up with Gigi and Charmaine, and other older fa dans. TVB is now promoting Wayne Lai, which is a great decision on TVB’s part, but Stephen’s a pretty good candidate. He can be quite handsome in some angles, and also dashingly charming. Not to mention the chemistry he has with his past female co-stars. He has terrific chemistry with leading ladies like Charmaine Sheh a lot, and also works well supporting actresses like Joyce Tang and Fiona Yuen.

Anyway, Stephen probably looks good for his age. I say probably because his real age is undisclosed to the public. Whatever his age is, it doesn’t matter because he’s a good actor and a talented artiste. Looking at Wikipedia, it seems like he has been with ATV for 10 years (from 1990-2000), and TVB for 5-6 years (from 2002-current). Talk about loyalty, how many known ATV artistes have stayed that long at TVB eh?

What do you think about Stephen Au? Are you a fan?

More info from this AF post by meteorstar:
Asianfanatics: Stephen Au

http://www.stephenau.com/

Shirley Yeung, 楊思琦 turns 30 on August 7th

Although Shirley still looks younger than her age, Miss. Shirley Yeung turns the big 30 on August 7th, 2008! After winning Miss. HK in 2001, she has now been in the entertainment industry for almost 8 years! In over 15 TVB series, she has starred as guest stars, to supporting, to main lead.

Other than winning Miss. HK, she has won the Most Improved Award for Angels of Mission in 2004, and Best Supporting Actress for Always Ready in 2006, Most Outstanding Actress Award at the 42nd Chicago International TV Festival in 2006. Quite a load of achievements!

Even though she has gained a lot of awards, there have been many criticisms about her acting. Often typecasted in cute girl roles or disabled roles one after the other and also being heavily promoted didn’t help lower the criticisms. However, in 2007, her character, Ka Yee, as the manipulative villainess in The Brink of Law made heads turned and gained many praises as well as fans.

In 2008, she has managed to guest star in two grand productions, Forensics Heroes II and Moonlight Resonance, and the serie in which she plays supporting (The Silver Chambers of Sorrow) became one of TVB top rated series of this year. She is also in the remake of TVB’s serie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, which will probably air sometime later this year or in 2009.

Turning 30 years old, I sincerely wish Shirley a great year ahead and that she will be able to give more mature and improved performances during the year ahead!

Fated to Love You (Ancient Version) and Possible Movie?

Read News here: Not fated to be a couple previous era; Ethan and Qiao En comes together on big screen

The news just talks about how the ancient version did not get to film, and how the serie may be able to put into film. I think it is too bad the ancient version will not be able to film. The plot is quite creative, and I would like to see how it would play out.

I thought this news was also interesting because I’ve wondered why TVB ancient series could be made into a modern serie, but there has yet to be a modern TVB serie put into ancient version (correct if I’m wrong). With the modern to ancient type of serie, I know some modern elements can’t be used in ancient, but plots with the family, friends, and lovers can still be used. It would be interesting to see the cast of Heart of Greed or Moonlight Resonance star in an ancient version. I could just see it with Ha Yu being Emperor, Louise Li, Susanna Kwan, Michelle Yim as the Empress and Concubines, while Raymond, Moses, Bosco are the princes, etc. etc.

Do you?? LOL Take the poll on the left!

Moonlight Resonance - What does ‘Resonance’ mean?

How in the world did TVB came out with this title? It sounds kind of awkward, but yet, after searching it up, the definition of resonance really does fit the theme of this serie. I have actually heard of the word resonance before, and I knew it had something to do with sound and two, I remember there was some sort of chart I had to draw from organic chemistry that had to do with resonance. But what does it mean for this serie? So in my geeky quest to gain an understanding of yet more unnecessary knowledge of TVB series, I looked the word up!

Looking it up at dictionary.com, here are the few definitions that seems fitting for this serie.

From American Heritage Dictionary:

1. Richness or significance, especially in evoking an association or strong emotion: "It is home and family that give resonance . . . to life" (George Gilder). "Israel, gateway to Mecca, is of course a land of religious resonance and geopolitical significance" (James Wolcott).

From WordNet:
2. a relationship of mutual understanding or trust and agreement between people

See how the word resonance matches the theme of the serie? As the theme of the serie is centered on the mooncake business, if we take the first definition, then moonlight or rather what it represents (Autumn’s festival) is a huge significance to the Gam & Hor family since their business revolves around mooncakes. As the moon glows above them that day, when the family gets together, the warmth and happiness with the whole family is the richness they get.

If we take the second definition, then we could interpret it as by the witness of the moonlight, there is an agreement or trust between the various characters. And throughout the serie (I’m assuming), there would be many agreements between Hor Ma’s family and Jo Bao & ah Hung, as well as many of the sibling relationships, and romantic relationships.

Personally, I am quite happy with this name for this serie now, and am glad that it is not Moonlight Greed or Greed of Mooncakes, or something extremely bizarre of that nature haha.

Will Chilam be back at TVB soon?

You know who I miss? I miss Chilam! If you are a fan of TVB, you cannot miss the cutie Julian Cheung Chi Lam! He’s been in quite a few memorable TVB series. It has been about 4 years since his last serie with TVB. Lets have a review of some of his series, shall we?

*Above Picture from Chi-Lamania

1. 2004 - Shades of Truth (with Gigi Lai, Wong Hei, Tavia) – I have only watched the first few episodes of this serie, but then I lost interest because I wasn’t into TVB at that time and it was a bit wacky for me. Anyone a fan of this serie that could tell me more about it?

2. 2003 - Point of No Return (with Charmaine Sheh, Damian Lau, Gigi Chiu) – It was a serie that was divided into two parts, the first part focused on Damian Lau & Gigi Chiu’s characters, and the second part was on Charmaine & Chilam’s romance. In my opinion, I think I enjoyed the first half more because it was well-rounded, but nonetheless Charmaine & Chilam were a cute pair though I didn’t like how her character broke up with Chilam, and how his character was so love-struck about her afterwards. His character was very cute in looks and personality, but not my favorite. Beautiful theme song though. This was also the serie that Chilam was adamant that Damian should’ve been nominated for the TVB Best Actor role.

3. 2002- Take My Word for it (Bobby Au Yeung, Kenix Kwok, Chilam, Annie) – This was actually quite a popular serie at that time, but I thought the plot was only ok, what was great was the chemistry between the cast. Annie & Chilam were adorable as a couple. Chilam’s character of Yeung Kwok is my version of the ideal boyfriend (Raymond Lam in Survivor’s Law I is my second ideal haha). He keeps talking and talking and talking like a freaking robot, and you will think it is annoying, but it is hilarious watching him talk. I also really liked his subtheme song for this serie.

4. 2000 – Return of the Cuckoo (Charmaine Sheh, Nancy Sit, Steven Ma) – This serie promoted the popularity of the Charmaine-Chilam pairing. Unfortunately, I have not watch this serie. I read that Chilam played a mute character, and it was sort of focused on the romance between the triangle of Chilam-Charmaine-Steven Ma.

5. 1996 – Cold Blood Warm Heart – (Adam Cheng, Gallen Lo, Nnadia Chan, Louis Koo, Jessica Hsuan) – One of TVB’s classic TVB serie, it is also my favorite out of Chilam’s series. The serie in itself was awesome to watch, and I adore Chilam’s role as the heroic and romantic ah Git in this serie. It still breaks my heart to this day that he and Jessica did not end up with each other because they had some of the best scenes as a couple. Some of Chilam’s best scenes were after he has found out about Jessica cheating on him behind his back…still breaks my heart to this day. I have read that it was originally intended to have them as the ending couple but because the ratings or the serie was such a hit, they had to extend it, and that changed the storyline. Bah humbug!! However, at least his character got to be with Nnadia at the end, I believe.

6. 1994 - The Legend of the Condor Hero (Athena Chu, Gallen Lo) – This serie is actually one of my first ancient TVB series. Chilam & Athena were very cute as the young Jin Yong characters, Kwok Jing and Wong Yung. Gallen also played the villain in here. I think Chilam did a very good job playing the confused Kwok Jing, and I love how his character is so devoted to Wong Yung, but it is too bad this serie was not as popular as the version with Felix Wong and Barbara Yung.

7. 1994 - Remembrance (Kenix Kwok, David Siu) – His only time pairing with Kenix Kwok in a TVB serie was in this serie. I don’t remember this serie very much, but I remember he looked very dashing in this serie hehe.


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There were some news in February of this year that Chilam wanted to film for TVB in 2008. See here: Jaynestars: Chilam Cheung Wants to Film for TVB in 2008.

In the news bit above, it was reported ….Chilam mentioned that he was especially interested in filming for TVB again. "I desire to speak Cantonese on screen again! I wish to service television audiences!"

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This is only my opinion, but I hope he will come back to TVB in time to cooperate again in the 40 episodes grand production drama with Gallen! It will be like Cold Blood Warm Heart again! Think of the possibilities of a grand cast!! I want to see Jessica Hsuan pair up with Chilam again! It will then easily be the most anticipated TVB serie in 2009, no doubt about it.

*Above Picture from Chi-Lamania
So this lead me to the polls: Favorite Chilam TVB serie, and which male actor you would like to see cooperate with Gallen again (it's not always about the ladies!).

Greed of Man (大時代) on DVD

One of TVB’s classic serie of all time, Greed of Man, starring Adam Cheng, Damian Lau, Sean Lau, David Siu, Vivian Chow, Loletta Li, and Amy Kwok will be released on DVD with uncut versions at YesAsia.com – expected release date August 8, 2008. You can purchase it for $50 at YesAsia.com

Greed of Man Themevideo


If you ask me, I wouldn’t say Greed of Man is at the top of my favorites list. Perhaps it is because I have not watched the whole thing, I think I only watched the second half of the serie. From where I started, Damian was already gone and it was focusing on the attraction between the characters of David Siu and Loletta Lee, and how the kids of the two families dislike each other very much...and then to the point of "hating to the bones" with no backing off. Nonetheless, from what I have watched, it is still no doubt a very memorable serie for me because it has a few traumatizing scenes that absolutely caught me off guard. I think from what I’ve seen so far with family feuds in TVB series, none has came to the point of mayhem and doom compared with the two families in this serie! If it were to be broadcast in today’s times, no doubt there would be an unlimited number of complaints. Anyhow, I’m sure many fans of this classic TVB serie will rejoice in the DVD’s release.