Highlight: 1994 Anniversary - Hot Coffee anyone?

First things first - HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! And happy year of the snake! Okay, okay. You probably saw this coming but here's the rest of the performance clips from the rest of the '94 TVB Anniversary Gala! I thought I should start the Chinese New Year with something light-hearted and give y'all a short break from my ranting. And if you're interested in the refreshing your memories about the '94 Anniversary, you can watch them here, here and here. And this didn't count as an entry for the show because it was towards the end of the show and was used as a tribute-cum-wrapper-up. Anyway, enjoy! :D

Jacqueline Ng & Chilam & Max Mok - "The Celestial Peach"

Jacqueline actually has a decent singing voice here. It also helped that she was a native speaker of Mandarin, so her pronunciation was clear and pleasant sounding to the ears (as opposed to slurred and sloppy). But other than that, we get the usual green screen stuff with 90's special effects and wires here and there. Chilam and Max just get supporting roles here. BUT. Hahaha. I like how there was a crazy loud guy with no sense of timing (or maybe he just had a really good sense?) that shouted the line everyone was saying a little too late and too long.

James Wong & Roman Tam & Law Ka-Ying & Leon Lai - "Bed Time"

This one's all in good fun. And strangely enough, Leon doesn't sound half bad here (probably because this isn't actual singing). And yeah, so everyone's just trying to get some rest and relaxation, but no luck. And when that happens, you just gotta turn your complaints into a song. HAHAHAHA. Law Ka-Ying's crazy scream at the end of his part. I love that because it just kills me. Every time.

Teresa Lee & Leon Lai's - "Classic Acts"

Unlike the other clips from this blog post, this one isn't a musical and features no singing content (thank goodness - no Leon! No singing!). This little acting sequence shows us just how quickly they put together a set and get the artists changed! So they got a few extra special scenes from some of the most beloved dramas of  TVB history and somehow the couple turn it into a little parody scene. LOL at Leon's 'crying' scene and the "Did you brush your teeth today?!" question from Teresa in the Dodo/Chow Yun-Fat act. Teresa was actually pretty cute in this act. And the Stephen Chow/Cutie Mui scene was actually quite close to the original. LOLOL. You can even see Alex Man and Tanny Tien (from the original series 1989's The Justice Of Life) laughing.

Liza Wang - "Pink Lady x Hot Coffee"

This was the winning entry from Liza Wang and her 28 boys. In fact, they were introduced as something like 28 dashing men. Of course, the 28 was of significance because '94 was the 28th Anniversary and all. But still...introducing William So as a 'dashing' man?! LOL. Sure, he may be a talented singer but LOL. Anyway, she does a little rendition of Pink Lady which is all very catchy along with the OH-A-YEAH hook taken from that Jacky and Faye duet "Extraordinary Summer"/"Love Once Is Not Enough". Strangely, I was actually quite satisfied with her singing (yes, I know lip-syncing was and is still kind of acceptable during a fast number), unlike now because it's just kind of shrill and annoyingly high-pitched. That being said, it's probably due to old age and it's that dress and the tea coffee cup! And of course this song and performance is filled full of sexual innuendo. And LOLOL at Law Ka-Ying coming to cover up Liza at the end. Guess he doesn't want to share. LOL.

So guys and girls, what do you think? Do you really think that "Hot Coffee" was the best performance of the night? I personally really liked how all the artists put in a huge amount of effort to actually make it an enjoyable show for the audience. That, and they also looked like they were all having fun! Now that's what I call an entertaining anniversary gala. 

Review: TVB 45th Anniversary Gala (2012)

If you want to watch the gala, you can watch it at hyn5's blog here. Okay, so the title’s a little misleading. This isn’t really a review but more of a rant. As one of the most hyped up events since who knows when TVB started and of the whole year, another disappointment in the sack. The past few years haven’t been any better, unfortunately. What happened to the anniversary gala? When did it become more about promoting new artists and less about being a show for the audience? This is why I’m with Felix Wong (and a lot of other people) when they say that TVB just don’t cut it anymore. There needs to be competition. Although my cable provider is a proud supporter of TVB, I’d be happy for them to up their game and to see new (and good) series from other television stations. Just like a lot of their programming, the gala has become a joke. One big farce.

Opening sequences, full of self-promotional material and trying to kiss up to the government by trying to convince them not to hand out a free-to-air license to CTI. After some bad singing (Cally Kwong was just about the only Miss HK that could sing) and some bad dancing (especially by Pierro Ngo – so stiff! Stick to acting man!), we finally have the hosts come out.

Girls’ team, a dance around a net and doing some hanging acrobatics. Seriously not really impressive, to be honest. But nice song. “Once Upon A December” from 20th Century Fox’s Anastasia, if anyone’s interested.

Running up walls and climbing monkey bars from the boys’ team. I really didn’t see any entertainment value in that. Adding a little bit of fire for effect also did not add any points to the performance.

 I think it’s safe to say that even though there were performances and acts this year, some were just crude. Way too crude. Now, don’t get me wrong, I can take the cream pie in the face act easily as much as the next person, but what I found BLATANTLY DISGUSTING was Eric Tsang’s behaviour towards King Kong. Alright, sure his Cantonese is funny and he’s been laughed at for looking like a monkey but that just simply doesn’t give Eric Tsang the right to stuff his half-eaten bun covered in his spit and glob into King Kong’s mouth. His lack of cleanliness and respect for people amazes me sometimes. If he wasn’t standing so high in the hierarchy that is TVB and whatnot, he wouldn’t be able to get away with this kind of behaviour. This is not what TVB is supposed to stand for. Quite frankly, I am sick of their clear disrespect towards the audience, thinking that we would find something as disgusting even the slightest bit funny. Now I don’t know if the local Hong Kong audience find that kind of stuff funny, but as someone who actually has to pay for cable, I’m seriously considering pulling the plug.

More random filler-in acts, with singing and dancing, with slapstick stuff. What do I say? BRING BACK THE MUSICALS! I didn’t see a hint of collaboration or cohesiveness within any of the groups – the dancing was all over the place (you could clearly see some actors and actresses moving in the opposite direction from the rest of the group). However, I must commend Kiki Sheung on her very good acting ‘in numbers’ segment. That being said, I would have enjoyed it if she sung a song. In a musical. They should really get their singers to sing and their actors, to well, act. Of course, if an actor can sing well, then that’s another story. Just jam them into a musical. And you know what? I don’t care if they lip-sync (to their own voices, of course). It was somewhat funny to see the men dressed up in women’s clothing, like Moses Chan and Wayne Lai but they should really keep these slapstick kinda acts to a minimum (just 1 per show sounds just about right). Johnson Lee’s impression of Adam Cheng was pretty LOL. I thought it was nice how they paid tribute to the stars of EYT. Tributes are always welcome.

But on a sidenote, it’s nice to see that Wayne Lai’s been rewarded for his long slog at TVB. The competitions for their staff (mainly their actors and actresses) I mean, I have no problem with. The gala, after all, should be about celebrating the success of the television station, as well as rewarding the people who make up part of that success. My problem is with the quality of the gala, the acts that go in and the performances that come out. I don’t even know why the flag was awarded to Eric Tsang’s group. Sure, they say it’s votership, but that sounds like a whole lot of crap to me. THIS IS A GALA. People want to be entertained. I saw some half-asleep and very bored audience members when the cameraman chose to pan to them. So there you have it, like the half-eaten bun that King Kong got stuffed into his mouth, this year’s gala was something you had to force yourself to watch and spat out like leftovers nobody wants.

Highlight: 1994 Anniversary Battle of the Mini-Musicals

Presenting to you, the two mini-musicals from the 1994 TVB Anniversary - definitely a highlight of the show. So many strong performances that night (unlike the crass kind of things TVB pulls out of its bag nowadays. It's almost like they don't do anything - I just end up feeling empty whenever I watch the new ones) and great hosting. I'm sure the audience was well and truly satisfied that night. Anyway, on with the shows!

"Guy and Gal Hooligans: I Love You"
This was a little number featuring Law Ka Ying, Jacky Cheung, Jaclyn Chu and Anita Yuen. Roughly translated, the name of this act would be something like "Guy and Gal Hooligans: I Love You." Heheheh. So yes, they're all acting like juvenile delinquents.

Note: Just noticed this - there are some audio skipping issues with the video. It seems to be a problem with WMV (Windows Media Video files). Will see if I can upload using a different format and hopefully that'll fix the problems. Okay, just found another version uploaded by an Anita Yuen fan - cool. And yes, that's Veronica Yip and Chung-Ming Poon hosting there.  

My 2¢ & Extra Notes: 
- Man, Law Ka Ying AKA Liza Wang's husband is just so LOL.
- Hah. Jacky's afro. While his "younger brother" Law Ka Ying has no hair.
- Jaclyn Chu actually has quite a suitable voice for singing. But I can't say the same for Anita Yuen - I would've thought Kiki Sheung (who does not appear in any of the performances for the 1994 Anniversary) would have a singing voice like Anita's but Kiki has a very good singing voice, surprisingly. And it can go much higher than her talking voice too.

"Gangster Hero"
The other musical featured Cantopop Queen Sally Yeh and TVB heavyweight Adam Cheng as leads. Former Miss Asia Pageant winner Christy Chung also gets a non-speaking role, along with pretty girl singers Winnie Lau, Gigi Lai, Vivian Lai and Karen Tong as Sally's back-up crew. As for this one, "Gangster Hero" would be a loose title translation for this act.


My 2¢ & Extra Notes: 
- Damsel in distress and former beauty queen Christy Chung was sitting in the chair next to Run Run Shaw for 1993's TVB Anniversary, so it must be good to get up and dance around (as opposed to accompanying an old guy for a 2 hour no possibly longer show). Even though Christy didn't know a word of Chinese when she won the Miss Asia Beauty Pageant, she really did work really hard and is now fluent in both Cantonese and Mandarin (so naturally, I do not feel sorry for ABCs who don't bother to learn the language properly. Don't even mention Mr Hong Kong Stephen Huynh. Christy can also speak Vietnamese, French and English as her native tongues).
- I don't know why this is, but Gigi is the only one in white pants from Sally's gang... maybe they ran out of black pants or something? Because those pants are going to stain.
-Sally sure has a cheeky look in her eye when she brings the ring out magically from the air.

So your pick? Which one was your favorite musical of the night? I think they both did very well but I have a tendency to go for comedy (yes, it was Law Ka Ying) and I guess the audiences that night liked this one more according to the viewer votes anyway - why don't they do that anymore? It was like reality TV before reality TV. So yes, there was this time when TVB actually used to care about their audiences back home. We're the ones who made TVB in the first place- after all, no audience, no TVB.Where's the consumer interaction these days?
Video credits: 永遠@心儀 (tudou.com), taqfiles.blogspot.com 

Highlight: 1994 Anniversary Song Time!

This medley celebrating the last 28 years (it was '94) of TVB theme songs and TV shows is definitely one of my favorites from the whole anniversary show. I'm so glad I have this on tape and have been able to preserve it, using the power of technology. It was the last performance for the show so I think they were wrapping things up (like a summary or timeline) - saving the best for last. The performance consisted of Hacken Lee, Vivian Lai, Ekin Cheng, Linda Wong, Dicky Cheung, Gigi Lai, Leo Ku, Nnadia Chan, along with former lovebirds Andy Hui and Sammi Cheng. There were also 'guest appearances' from: Adam Cheng, Felix Wong, Paul Chu, Liza Wang, Bryan Leung with Roman Tam singing at the end too. I've chucked a tracklist of the songs covered just below the clip - enjoy!

Note: There are some audio skipping issues with the video - seems to be a problem with WMV (Windows Media Video files). Will see if I can upload using a different format and hopefully that'll fix the problems. 

Solos:

1. "Shanghai Bund"/上海灘 (Theme from "The Bund"/上海灘) 

2. "Wild River"/狂潮 (Theme from "Wild River"/狂潮) 

3. "The Giants"/強人 (Theme from "The Giants"/強人) 

4. "The Good, the Bad and The Ugly"/網中人 (Theme from "The Good, the Bad and The Ugly"/網中人)

5. "A House Is Not A Home"/家變（Theme from "A House Is Not A Home"/家變)

6. "Thousands of Knots in My Heart"/心有千千結 (Theme from "Thousands of Knots in My Heart"/心有千千結)

7. "Hard to Divide the Good and Evil"/難為正邪定分界 (Theme from "You Only Live Twice"/飛越十八層) 

8. "Using Love to Steal a Heart"/用愛將心會偷 (Theme from "The Shell Game"/千王之王) 

9. "Swearing to Never Back Down"/誓不低頭 (Theme from "The Final Verdict"/誓不低頭) - 

10. "Meaning of Life"/一生何求 (Theme from "Looking Back in Anger"/義不容情)

Duets:

1. "Love is Warm Inside the Heart"/爱在心内暖 (Theme from "The Misadventure of Zoo"/流氓皇帶)  

2. "You're the Best in the World"/世間始終你好 (Theme from "Legend of the Condor Heroes"/射鵰英雄傳之華山論劍) 

3. "The Romantic Swordsman"/小李飛刀 (Theme from "The Romantic Swordsman"/小李飛刀) 

4. "Purple Hairpin"/紫玉釵 （Theme from "The Legend of the Purple Hairpin"/紫釵記)

5. "Forget About Us in the Smoky Waters"/兩忘煙水裡 (Theme from "The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils"/天龍八部之六脈神劍) 

Last but not least:

"A Promising Future"/前程錦繡 (Theme from "A Promising Future"/前程錦繡) 

My 2¢ & Extra Notes: 

- I particularly like this segment from the whole anniversary because all the singers featured show us how it's done, with excellent song choice and arrangements done all for the purpose of this medley.  

- Nnadia's rendition of "Using Love to Steal a Heart" is really quite impressive indeed, even though she already proved to us that she really could sing when she entered that Sally Yeh impersonation contest when she was just 14.  

- Then they do the whole duets thing and that just kills me (in a good way, of course!). 

- That, and Linda actually sings the duet better than the original (compared to  Louise Lee who sung with Adam Cheng in the series).

- Totally just proves that Vivian is definitely more than just another pretty girl singer with her take on Roman Tam and Jenny Tseng's "You're the Best in the World" with Ekin. That song is all about good timing, power vocals and having a trusting partnership with your singing partner. That, and Felix looks  really smart and handsome in his suit :)

- Actually No. 3 for the duets would be better literally translated as "The Small Flying Dagger of Justice". As a side-thought, I can see why Gigi earned the title "Goddess of Beauty" during her career and I always wonder how Dicky still had a full head of hair at the time. 

- I also prefer Leo and Nadia's version of "Purple Hairpin" over the original version by Liza Wang and Adam Cheng, actually. 

- I'm pretty sure that's Miss HK 1994 Halina Tam sitting next to Run Run Shaw in that chair.

- LOL. Just watch Sammi's expression when Bryan comes out. Bet she didn't expect that. :D

- And Ekin's mentor Roman Tam appears at the end too, singing another one of his well-known theme songs.

Video credits: taqfiles.blogspot.com

Behind the Banner: History

So you may have been wondering for some time now - who are the pretty women and dashingly handsome men that make up your banner?

Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out. Nah, I'm just kidding.

I'd be happy to tell you - these were all snapshots that I took from videos featuring these artists so let's get the cat out of the bag and on with the show!

No. 1 - Anita Mui
If you haven't already realized (or perhaps you're just new) I've mentioned the woman dubbed as the "Madonna of the East" many quite a few times, already. But this part of the welcoming banner was taken from her amazing performance of Paula Tsui's "The Windy Season" during the first ever New Talent Singing Awards in 1982. Okay, okay, I've actually posted the whole video for the 1982 NTSA contest but if you didn't see that, then at least choose to see this. It's pretty much the take-home message of the whole contest.


No. 2 - Elvina Kong
Okay, another lady like Anita Mui. I'm talking about Elvina's uncanny talent for being able to imitate Anita's voice and mannerisms perfectly. Well, this isn't of that but it is another NTSA clip - 1985. Yes! She was a contestant. She didn't win that year (Alex Delfino did) but I think just about everybody knows her as Diana from TVB's Best Selling Secrets and maybe you know of her Anita Mui impersonation skills from watching Fun with Liza and Gods or from those 2 old TVB series' (From Act to Act and Show Time Blues) starring Wayne Lai imitating Roman Tam and Cutie Mui singing like Sammi Cheng.

P.S. Hehe. I like how Tony Leung jokes about wanting Elvina to meet up with him when she's older before she takes the stage. Anyway, I present to you an 18-year-old Elvina Kong singing Danny Chan's duet with Sandy Lamb "Goodbye Puppy Love" (they were watching too!). I like how her contestant number matches her age.

No. 3 - Deric Wan
Yes, it's Gallen Lo's younger brother from Golden Faith! I actually really liked him in that role - he played the part perfectly. All the right dashes of humor here and there - all so convincing. Ah, I really wished that they made more TVB series like those back in the days. But actually this next clip is a trailer for the drama Conscience that aired during the 1994 TVB Sales Presentation. This drama also starred Maggie Siu and Amy Kwok as female leads.


No. 4 - Aaron Kwok
I must say though I'm not really a fan of Aaron, I must say that he looks quite cool in this shot. Why? This was probably because they used to put much more effort into their performances instead of just wearing a shower cap and flailing around on stage. Yep, he was actually competing not only for the title of Dancing King but for the judges and audience's approval at the 1994 TVB Anniversary for best performance act that night. Obviously he didn't take that prize, not because his performance was bad (it was actually very nostalgic of the late Michael Jackson) but Liza Wang's "Enchanting Pink Lady x Hot Coffee" performance was what topped the charts that night.


Note: You used to be able to find this video here but not anymore since…you'll find out if you go there. Issues with TVB. If people are watching your old things more than your new stuff, you've seriously gotta change your strategy. Oh and as a side note, please give credit to taqfiles.blogspot.com if you choose to repost the videos that are uploaded onto here (not the ones from Youtube, Youku or Tudou) since I do spend a reasonable amount of time editing the videos.  

So there you have it, the Big 4. Hope you enjoyed that roll of videos - more to come onto your plate.
Video credits: lovemui (youtube.com), 菊残犹有傲霜枝 (youku.com), taqfiles.blogspot.com