Possible Breakthroughs of 2012

There are a couple TVB actors each year that reach a breakthrough in their career, whether it's with an outstanding character, performance, or both. As a result, they experience massive jumps in popularity and their career goes to new heights. Here are a couple actors I think will have a breakthrough in 2012...

Mandy Wong
Upcoming Series: Tiger Cubs, The Hippocratic Crush, Policewomen's Battlefield of Love

After losing out on Most Improved Actress at 2011's Anniversary Awards, 2012 looks like it could be a career changing year for the young actress. Arguably the most talented of the new generation, it seems Mandy is getting more diverse and difficult roles to show it.

She will be the second female lead in both "The Hippocratic Crush" and "Policewomen's Battlefield of Love".  In "The Hippocratic Crush", she will play a hot-headed intern who always wants to be better than her older sister, Tavia. Even more interestingly enough, in "Policewomen's Battlefield", she plays a rough female inspector with the nickname "Madam Kill".  Just the nickname catches my attention!

Although I'm not looking forward to the two series themselves much, I can't wait to see her in these roles.  I've always been able to imagine her playing such ambitious and tough characters, and I'm glad she's finally getting the chance to shine!

Oscar Leung

Upcoming Series: Queens of Diamonds and Hearts, Flying Tigers, The Dazzling Dance of Chang'an, The Great Eunuch, Policewomen's Battlefield of Love (Guest star)

Even though he is one of the most solid young supporting actors, Oscar has always been underrated.  He received a much larger role in "The Season of Fate" back in 2010 and was even pegged to win Most Improved Actor,  but ended up not even being nominated. Since then, he's returned to minor supporting roles.

After getting a moderate amount of attention from "L'Escargot", it's starting to seem likely this will finally be his breakout year.  He has a whooping five other series slated to air this year.  In "The Great Eunuch", he will be portraying the emperor.  While I think he doesn't look the role, his acting chops and talent lets me know it will be interesting.

You are truly not a good actor unless each of your performances leaves a good impression, no matter what the character.  Oscar always manages to turn in a great and memorable performance.  He can provide wonderful comic relief as well as do emotional scenes.  I hope that 2012 will be the breakthrough he and fans have been waiting for!

Nancy Wu
Upcoming Series: Boxing Champion, Daddy Good Deeds, The Great Eunuch

Nancy is another talented and young supporting actress who always leaves a good impression.  She always manages to shine in her roles, no matter how small.  While she has portrayed many interesting and memorable characters ("Ah Sze" in Gun Metal Grey and "Eva" in "Forensic Heroes 3" are recent examples), 2012 looks like it will bring yet another breakthrough for her as an actress.

Portraying a mute and deaf professional boxer in "Boxing Champion", the role has "potential breakthrough" written all over it.  She is the second female lead in the series as well.  If "Boxing Champion" is successful and her performance gets positive reception, perhaps she will finally be promoted to leading actress?  My only reservation about this is that she may lose her appeal if this happens.

Tavia Yeung gave countless memorable performances as a supporting actress, but became dull and received very boring roles after being promoted to lead.  As one of my favorite actresses, I'd hate Nancy to go down that road and prefer to see her in these supporting roles that allow her to shine.

Eric Li
Upcoming Series: Dangerous Protection, The Great Eunuch

I'm not sure what Eric's role in "Dangerous Protection" and "The Great Eunuch" is, as he's once again only has a small supporting role.  However, he reached a breakthrough as the funny and loyal "Lo Yat" in "Bottled Passion" as the character and performance garnered him praise and recognition.

Like Oscar, Eric leaves a good impression with each of his performances.  From the creepy bald rapist in "A Fistful of Stances" to the driver and robber in "Catch Me Now" to the hilariously mean hotel manager in "7 Days in Life", whether it's playing good or bad, he is always memorable.

While it is too early in the year and "Lo Yat" was too small of a role for him to win Best Supporting Actor, Eric's future looks a little brighter. I think now, he will be cast in more series. Perhaps if Producer Lee Tim Sing wasn't retiring, he could promote Eric the way he promoted Raymond Wong. Considering they play buddies in his production "Bottled Passion", wouldn't that just be amazing?

Edwin Siu
Upcoming Series: Boxing Champion, Daddy Good Deeds, Steps to Heaven, The Great Eunuch
Edwin has improved greatly since his "Aqua Heroes" days, while retaining his cuteness. He is lively and enjoyable to watch onscreen, and it seems he is slowly being more promoted. One day, I think he will be first supporting actor. Overtime, he could even be a lead.

Unfortunately, his only more major role from his four upcoming series is "Daddy Good Deeds", which looks cheesy and ridiculous. Perhaps his pairing with Linda will be fun and make some noise? I'm hoping he gets a decent amount of screen time in the other three series. Saying he will get a breakthrough this year is a bit of a stretch, but I'm too fond of him to put him on this list and hope for the best anyway.

Him Law
Upcoming Series: Tiger Cubs, The Hippocratic Crush

Following "Your Class or Mine", I started really liking Him and thought he had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the story of him hitting girlfriend Theresa Fu was exposed permanently damaged my impression of him. His personal life aside, I'm not too fond of his recent "muscle man" image and much prefer him when he exerts more cute and boyish charm. I guess that contradicts his real life personality too much?

While his real life personality seems a little worrying, his acting career seems to be improving. He is second male lead in "The Hippocratic Crush", and his character actually seems interesting. Seeing him in a professional role will be new. The press has also been blowing Him and Tavia's real life friendship out of proportion, so it will be interesting to see how they will play out onscreen. I still like him as solely an actor and still believe he has potential.  However, Him is the only actor here who I don't also like in real life.

These six are the ones I think are most likely to reach a breakthrough in their career this year. Overall, I think Mandy is most likely to reach new career heights, and I couldn't be happier. I will be keeping a close eye on these six! Let's hope for the best for this talented bunch!

Overworking Artistes?

It's always good to be hardworking and put your best effort into everything you do. Even a little stress can be good at times, as it can make you determined. Overworking yourself is another thing. It can lead to poor health and exhaustion. It can affect your mentality and happiness . Here's a short list of the recent TVB artistes who have overworked or been overworking...

Linda Chung

At the beginning of her entertainment career, Linda was often depressed and would often cry. Who could blame her with all that was suddenly being thrown at her? She was all alone in Hong Kong, with no friends or family beside her. Eventually she grew more popular, leading her to work more and more. During the filming of A Journey Called Life, she broke down. She was stressed and tired from filming two series and a movie. All of her energy was all gone, and her mentality was not in very good shape either. Recently, those days have started to returned. By then, she had started to get insomnia, and lost much sleep. Due to lack of sleep, she was unable to perform her best as well, and Linda deeply regrets that.

Linda's problem lied more with herself and the stress she was getting than from overworking. She was getting too much thrown at her at once and it overwhelmed her. I'm sad to hear that she had gone through such a dark period in her life and that the dark period is coming back. This proves that the entertainment industry isn't just fame and fortune. It is also definitely not the 'easy life.' I'm glad that Linda has gotten a lot of rest this year though, and I'm looking forward to seeing her in A Watchdog's Tale.

Kate Tsui

Kate has recently been going down the 'fighter girl' path. After neglecting her health for 3 months though, she finally collapsed in early August. Kate at the time was working hard on a Mainland movie that was to be filmed in a 3 month period as well. When going to work everyday to film the movie, Kate would have to fight everyday. She would fly up into the air numerous times to do difficult fighting scenes, resulting in numerous bruises. After the movie's filming wrapped up and Kate returned to HK, she felt dizzy and had a fever. Kate's album release and filming of her MV 'Hit Me' was postponed for her to get some rest.

Perhaps the news of Kate working so hard to the point she collapsed was what subdued my dislike for her. While I think she's not a good actress, and mediocre at best, I can't deny her 'fighter girl' attitude. No, I'm not referring to her latest movie. I'm referring more towards how she's battled all the criticism and rumors she's gotten from people and how she just keeps going with what she's doing. Besides, what other pageant winner would've agreed to cut their hair and play a tomboy like Kate did in On the First Beat? The news about Kate collapsing from working made me think about Kate in a new light. I hope she learns to work at a reasonable amount and leave time for her to relax.

Natalie Tong

Natalie is the most recent TVB artiste that I've read about overworking, with the article about it releasing just two weeks ago. Her family is in a lot of debt, and to pay it off, Natalie has been working herself extra hard and accepting as many job opportunities as possible. She has most recently accepted a fighting movie . To earn the money, she has to film many kung fu scenes, leaving Natalie all bruised up with minor injuries.

Natalie is one of my favorite TVB artistes, and I was saddened when reading this. She's suddenly become the breadwinner of her family! This sounds like another family of someone from the entertainment industry spending lots of money because they believe that their family member is 'rich.' In that case, Natalie's family first used her hard earned money, and now Natalie has to earn it back? Poor Natalie, as if she wasn't skinny enough? What's overworking and a kung fu movie going to do to her health and figure?

Ella Koon

Ella has recently received a boost in popularity after an amazing performance of Endless Love. This has led to a chance for her to record an English song with Japanese rapper NYCCA called 'Dare to Be.' As a result, this is leading her to a new high point in her career as a singer, which hasn't been so bright despite having a wonderful voice. However, not long after reaching her career high, Ella has lost her voice. After a hard day of recording in the studio for 12 hours, Ella strained her voice. Her doctor has told her to go easy and rest her voice for 3 months, or else she'll damage her vocal cord. Ella has become worried about her health, and has rejected a couple jobs so that she can heal quickly and continue to sing.

I'm so happy that Ella has been getting more positive exposure and that her singing career has brightened. I was sad to hear that Ella had so quickly started to do more than she could handle. I'm glad that Ella is concerned about her health and is willing to take a rest so that she can be back and better than ever when she recovers!

Now we know that there are artistes that actually take their work seriously, or at least have a heart and conscience. Unfortunately, this has led to quite a scare. Like Bosco said in Burning Flame 3: "No one dies from starvation in Hong Kong. They die from overworking." While that quote was said in a light tone, it is somewhat true. I don't believe that these artistes have overworked themselves to the point their life is in danger, but it still has given everyone quite a scare. This is definitely not the way to work. Above all, health has to be most important. If you aren't healthy, then you can't do anything.

TVB's Message: Cell Phones Can Be Dangerous

Regardless of whether it was on purpose or not, TVB sent viewers the message of the danger that cell phones can bring. In 2007's The Building Blocks of Life and 2009's Burning Flame 3, two kind and wise grandmothers met their demise when they both were hit by a car. The people who were supposed to be by their side though were coincidentally occupied doing the same thing--talking away on a cell phone.


The Building Blocks of Life Cell Phone Death Summary

Ah Da (Tavia Yeung) and her grandma are on the sidewalk waiting to catch a bus. Ah Da's cell phone rings and she walks further away to talk to Ah Keung (Alex Fong). She is at this point completely emerged in her conversation, and oblivious of everything else around her. A bus arrives across the street, and after failing to get Ah Da's attention, her grandma walks across the street herself. A speeding car roams down the road, hitting the grandma in the process. This results in her death, and a teary and depressed granddaughter.




Burning Flame 3 Cell Phone Death Summary


Ah Nam (Stephen Wong Ka Lok) was walking down the street with his "3rd grandma." His friend calls him and Ah Nam walks ahead of his 3rd grandma to continue talking to him. His 3rd grandma is left alone by herself. A car whizzes by and kills her, but not immediately. Unlike in The Building Blocks of Life, she is allowed a final few words.


A Bit Off-Topic...The Effects of the Death

This article is supposed to be about the dangers of cell phones, but I felt the need to add this. Death has different effects on people. Death also comes upon different people (no matter how good they are), at different times (no matter how young), and in different scenarios (besides old age). . Normally, when someone close to a person dies, and they happened to be with them at the time of their death, they will blame it on their selves. Both characters, Ah Da and Ah Nam, were no different. After getting past this stage though, the deaths leave different impacts on the two characters. Ah Da went through a long period of sadness from losing her only relative, and the one who rose her. She becomes very depressed. Her state of depression often ended up getting her in trouble, as she mostly used Ah Keung as her shoulder to cry on. On the other hand, the death of his grandma was a 'wake up call' to Ah Nam. The situation makes Ah Nam turn a complete 360. He matures into a better, more responsible person. Word of his grandma afterward though are rare, and while I don't believe she was 'forgotten', she definitely wasn't mentioned.

Basically...

Both deaths were caused by someone's negligence. Both Ah Da and Ah Nam were irresponsible for paying attention to a phone call with someone instead of the person at their side. While the fault in both situations partly lied in the speeding drivers, the deaths could've been prevented. Then again, everyone makes mistakes so....*shrugs.*

What Cell Phones Have Done to Our Society

Cell phones have become much more advanced over the years. As they do, people start to use them more. And more. And more. What are one of the most common places to talk on a cell phone these days? In the car while driving. In recent years, many car accidents have occurred due to people talking on cell phones while driving. When they do, they will usually struggle to keep the phone by their ear and not letting it fall. More recently though, we've been able to talk 'hands-free' with earphones. What we didn't realize though that the problem didn't lie in the struggle with keeping the phone in place. It lied in the conversation itself. When one is busy having a conversation, they can often divert their attention to just that. They'll pay less attention to the road, and that's when disaster strikes. It's not just while driving when people talk on cell phones. People talk wherever they go. Like I said above, the conversations tend to distract people. It makes them oblivious to something important happening around them. Many people talk while walking down the streets (like Ah Da and Ah Nam). Streets are always busy and hectic. Pedestrians and cars aren't exactly a pleasant mix. All people aren't good drivers either. You've got your reckless drivers, and your drunk drivers. Talking on a cell phone while walking down the street only increases your chance of getting hit by one.

While I love cell phones, and the convenience they bring, they've definitely started to take 'control' of people's lives. People talk way too much on them (just look at the average American teen's phone bill). I really wish people would tone it down a bit. The sight of someone talking on a cell phone while driving is one of the sights that drives me nuts most. Whenever I see that, I see disaster. Laws have been made prohibiting people to do so in some states, but that doesn't stop them.


Applauding TVB

TVB sometimes manages to send out an important message. My question is whether or not it is on purpose, or they do it inadvertently. Death is the worth case scenario of practically every scenario. I hope that people took notice of this, and I hope people will realize what the consequences are of doing such things that at the time seem like 'no big deal.'

A Double Dose of Natalie Tong

I've always been fond of Natalie Tong. She's pretty, youthful, and a good actress. She has played the role of the younger sister multiple times, which is how I first started liking her. Not being a TVB fan for that long yet, I'm more familiar with newer productions. Natalie Tong first caught my attention in 2007's Life Art.

In Life Art, Natalie played Belle, Kevin's younger sister. She is at first a spoiled and selfish person. In the later part of the series, Kevin's colleague Ray accidentally throws up on Natalie while drunk. To make it up to her, Ray agrees to buy her the designer shirt she wants and do favors for her. Natalie abuses Ray's offer of making it up to her by ordering him around and making him buy her everything she wants. In the last couple of episodes, Belle develops into a nicer and less selfish person, and she and Ray become a couple.


Her performance was very cute and likable. She had great brother-sister chemistry with Kevin. The two were very convincing as brother and sister, and the few scenes they had together were very enjoyable to watch. Her subplot about her relationship with Ray was amusing and cute as well. This role, along with a few others including The Green Grass of Home led her to become one of the top 5 nominations for Most Improved Actress at that years TVB Anniversary Awards.



The Power of What a Bad Role Can Do


Although Natalie didn't win the Most Improved, fans still knew she had improved. Unfortunately, her next production after the TVB Anniversary Awards wasn't able to show that. For the first time in a while, Natalie no longer had to play the 'younger sister' in late 2007's The Building Blocks of Life.


She played the character On-Kiu, the only child of a big architect. The series started as her being a likable character. Her short lived relationship with Tai-Yip (Sam Chan) was cute. The two had an enjoyable chemistry as they were just an innocent couple full of puppy love.

Unfortunately, as the series progressed, their relationship slowly died out as On-Kiu became more annoying, rebellious, and immature. It is revealed that On-Kiu never graduated college, and had faked her diploma. Her father orders her to go back to England and graduate with a real diploma. Immaturely, she runs away with Tai-Yip. Tai-Yip at first agrees to it, and treats it as just a cooling off period. However, On-Kiu does not intend on going back, and wishes to stay with Tai-Yip and never go back. Tai-Yip, although still cares for her, does not think it is the right decision and leaves. On-Kiu is at this point has become very muddleheaded and naive, and starts to think that Brian (Power Chan) is the one she loves and the one who cares about her. Tai-yip tries to win her back, even proposing to her. His effort was all ruined, and he is left with a criminal record when Brian frames him for cutting him. She soon learns she is carrying Brian's baby, and the two agree to get married. Even after all of Brian's wrongdoings are exposed, On-Kiu still stupidly stays by his side to the end. Although some characters who do wrong things are forgivable, and deserve to be forgiven, Brian wasn't an example of the 'evil turned good.'

Natalie's On-Kiu was nothing but frustrating to watch because she supported and loved all the wrong people, and left all the ones who supported and loved her. For a time, I no longer liked Natalie because of this performance. Somehow, Natalie had pulled off the annoying role too because she was able to make her voice whiny practically the whole time. You can say, I was no longer a fan of Natalie Tong.


A Double Dose of Natalie Tong


I have recently just finished watching Just Love ll, and I'm starting to watch The Threshold of a Persona, both of which Natalie are in. As watching her in likable but two very different roles, I've quickly started to like Natalie again. To this day, she is still improving greatly, and cuter and prettier than ever.

Just Love ll


Natalie plays a prosecutor, and she does a good job. She may not be entirely convincing, but convincing enough that she sounds professional. Her role is very likable, and her subplot with magistrate CK was enjoyable. At first, I found the relationship a little awkward, and wondered why Natalie is always paired up with someone older than her. However, I grew to like them. It's nothing that would become a favorite onscreen couple, definitely not, but it is acceptable, humorous, and sweet. Of course, the relationship is not smooth sailing, and starts to fall apart. In the last few episodes, Natalie questions if she really likes CK, or if she was only being rebellious by liking someone her sister-in-law didn't approve of. She runs into the guy who framed CK of assault at a bar, who asks her to drink with him, offering her a spiked drink. Later, he books a privated VIP karaoke room for the two of them, as he was planning to rape the supposedly drunk Natalie. I worried at this point that Natalie would've once again fallen into the fate of being taken advantage of because of being naive. I was pleasantly surprised that her character had been so clever. Turns out, she had knew the drink was spiked, and switched the two drinks. She was at this point sober, while the guy drank the spiked drink and became drunk. During the time he was drunk, she sent an SMS to her sister (Casper Chan) calling for help. Before the guy (whose name I forgot) can even touch Natalie, Casper along with her boyfriend and CK come and after going to court, the guy is charged. Yay for smart Natalie!


The Threshold of a Persona

This is the newest series out, and the most different character I think I've ever seen Natalie in. She plays a unmarried single mother who became pregnant as a teen. However, her character is quite comedic. She does not let the fact bring her down. She is very independent, and does not let the fact make her feel bad. Along with her mother and older sister, she loves and takes care of her daughter, who is starting primary school soon. Although she is a person who accidently became pregnant as a teen, her character is very likable. She seems to genuinely care about her daughter "Sze-Sze" and I've yet to see her neglect her or just 'throw her away' like other pregnant teens do. She is also quite amusing, with the way she handles situations and people who she doesn't get along with. In the last episode I've watched of Threshold however, she seems to be interested in Kelvin, who is reasonably rich and full of connections. I hope that her character does not once again fall into the same fate again, and I'm hoping she is smart enough not to become pregnant accidentally again.

Bottom line, Natalie is a great actress, and I was wrong to have ever stopped liking her simply because of a bad role. However, this does prove that many artistes are bashed at and criticized for characters they play (ex. Linda Chung's Yue So-Chau). I hope that viewers of TVB series stop doing so, as many talented artistes are now being looked down on (ex. Myolie Wu).

The fact that I could see so much of Natalie in two great roles after looking down on her for her annoying role in Building Blocks was like fate. It tells us that sometimes, the problem lies in the role, and not the actor or actress. Remember that!

"The Gem of Life" A Thorough Look @ the Anticipation, Star-Studded Cast, Eventual Disappointment & More

Initially, The Gem of Life was to be a controversial, memorable blockbuster about the world of the filthy rich, which would have everyone talking. What became of it, was something that TVB would never wish for.

The Anticipation

Gem had everything to make it potentially the best TVB production ever filmed:

• Budget- Gem was a grand production with a budget of about $12 million, making it one of the most expensive TV series' filmed in TV history.



• Location- With it's extreme budget, it was able to film on location in Paris, London, Tibet, and etc.



• Cast- Gem has what is probably the best cast ensemble in TVB history. It is dominated by well known veterans like Gigi Lai, Ada Choi, Maggie Siu, Bowie Lam, Moses Chan, Wong He, Louise Lee and more.
  

With these factors, Gem went on everyone's watch list. Yes, they were iffy about the whooping 80 (later 82) episode count, but that didn't stop them.

The Expected Success

In 2007, the 60-episode grand production "The Drive of Life" expected great success. When Drive started airing however, the result was less than TVB was hoping for. Ratings were just average, and ended with only the 7th spot in 2007's Top Ten Ratings. In the end though, Drive was still a moderate success with favorable reviews and many fans. In October 2008, Gem was released. TVB thought it would be a sure-fire success, and that ratings would go over the roof. (Note: TV ratings were already low during this time due to the financial crisis) Gem was supposed to be memorable, a classic, something we would remember for years to come. So, what happened?

A Look Back @ the First Week

In the premiere week of Gem, ratings were not bad at all. The average was 30 pts, equal to about 2 million viewers. The highest rating even reached 37 pts. With Gem just starting to air, people tuned in to catch a glimpse of what it was like, and maybe even stick around to watch the rest.


Everything Comes Crashing Down

Apparently when people caught a glimpse of what Gem was like, they were not pleased, nor interested. This resulted in the ratings coming crashing down, going from 30, to 28, to 27, to 25, to its all time low, 23pts. Part of the reason was that it was aired during a time where people were too busy running after their cash to care about what was on TV. However, just because they were, didn't mean the wouldn't watch TV if something that interested them was on. (2009's E.U. and later Rosy Business proved that.) That brings us to the main reason: No one, or at least not many, were just not interested in watching Gem. Viewers complained the plot was draggy and that the writing was poor. Too many scenes dealt with business, and this bored them. At one point, TVB considered cutting the series down to 70-75 episodes. In extreme cases, it has been known that TVB take dramas off the air before they finish showing the complete series. They were about to give it a go, but its sponsor's would not allow them to do so. Without Gem on the air, the sponsor's products would not be able to be promoted. As a result, Gem finished airing.

Say Goodbye to Gigi Lai

Following the wrap up filming of Gem, Gigi announced she was retiring, making it her last series before retirement. The now 37-year old and yet still beautiful and youthful looking actress retired after getting married to live a quiet, relaxing, enjoyable life. It was sad to see that her last series was taken negatively, and described as a 'failure.' Her role as "Constance," was unable to show her great acting skills one last time. Not only that, the character seemed like the equivalent of Moonlight Resonance's Yue So Chau. Gigi Lai joins the circle of talented TVB 'fa dans' (translates to female actresses) that have left TVB. These fa dans include Kenix Kwok, Jessica Hsuan, and Flora Chan. However, these three have either returned, or returned to TVB recently. Who knows, maybe this isn't the last we've seen of "Lai Chi."

My Pity on Gem

The point in me writing this was not for me to criticize Gem, but rather to look at what Gem went from and all the commotion it had caused, which is why it's not a 'review.' I did not watch nearly enough of Gem (only about 5 episodes and bits and pieces) to write a review of it and to criticize all the parts I watched is unfair. Although Gem had poor pace and writing, we still have it's talented cast. That's where my pity for them comes from. Filming a drama series is very hard, and it was even harder for the Gem cast because filming for this had lasted a year. So much time and hard work had been taken from them, and what was the result? People criticizing and blasting them from here and there. Yes, Gem can be classified as a 'failure' reception wise, but we should probably think about how much time had been taken from the casts lives to film this. Despite the script and plot and everything else there is to complain about Gem, it still had very strong acting by the whole cast. I also know that some people think that Gem was a good series towards the last 20 episodes or so, and that eventually the pace built up and wrapped up nicely. I will not be watching all of Gem anytime soon, but I will also not criticize it as a bad series.

Last Thoughts

I think that TVB should not think too highly of grand productions or any productions before they air, because then the anticipation just builds up too much, until the point where the series is not good enough to live up to its initial expectations. A series itself can be decent, but when a decent production is first either promoted constantly or has too much anticipation built up before it, you can find yourself disappointed. Gem may become another At the Threshold of an Era. It may become a success a couple years from now, though I do find it unlikely. However, who knows what the future has in store?