Hacken Lee as Qunhao spokesman

(This is actually an article about Qun Hao the brand, but the picture looked good so i figured i'd put it in ^^...Hacken is only mentioned briefly):

Qun Hao's "City Hunter" line signed Hacken Lee as its official spokesperson in 2003, and currently has him signed until 2009. This is the first fashion label that has signed a celebrity endorser for 6 years in a row. For 3 years Qun Hao has released TV ads on Chinese TV stations, including 5 during prime-time news slots, combining star-power with TV exposure to create a new image in Chinese menswear.

source: http://www.51fashion.com.cn/BusinessNews/2007-3-29/165201.html

Hacken Lee and Joey Yung the king and queen of album sales

IFPI and RTHK jointly hosted the IFPI Hong Kong top sales music award 2006 award ceremony 2 nights ago, showcasing the importance of "give music life". Hacken Lee and Joey Yung received 5 and 4 awards respectively, and became the years highest selling male and female singers. Eason Chan and Jay Chow each received 3 awards. Sammi Cheng's compilation "Sammi Ultimate Collection" received one award, but Sammi was not present to receive it.

Of the 10 highest selling albums, 6 were concert recordings. All singers realise that there is less likely to be illegal downloading and pirating of live recordings. The two "Concert Halls" led Hacken to be the big winner, although he says such good results may not continuously happen again in the future. He smiles without pressure as it's not the first time he has received this award. How can he improve? He indicates he will not alter his high definition recordings, but will find another way to improve his performances: "Not every singer will find high definition appropriate, but if any singer wants to release high definition CDs, they are welcome to ask for my advice."

There was a slight hiccup in Hacken's performance on the night. During his performance, fireworks were set off on stage and the smoke they left behind almost choked him. He was almost at the point where he couldn't continue singing. He said "Next time I'll request that they don't set of fireworks on stage. If they like they can set it off 10 storeys above me and it won't affect my singing. (Are you continuing your contract with Universal?) It's pretty much certain. Hopefully when my boss hears the news that I've received these awards, he'll give me a rise as a lucky start."

http://www.singpao.com/20070324/gossip/908092.html

http://www.singtao.com/yesterday/ent/0324fo01.html

http://ent.sina.com.cn/y/p/2007-03-23/13481490499.html

http://ent.sina.com.cn/y/p/2007-03-23/13481490500.html

IFPI highest album sales 2006 award ceremony

The IFPI Hong Kong sales award 2006 was held tonight at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium. The sales awards were already publicly announced and of them, two of the highest HK sales (male and female) were won by Hacken Lee and Joey Yung. Of the top ten artists, apart from Hacken and Joey there was also Leo Koo, Denise Ho, Grasshoppers, Justin Lo, Kelly Chan, Fiona Sit and Eason Chan. For the highest Cantonese albums sales, Eason's "Get a Life" won. The other in top ten included, Leo's "Human", Hacken's "Live in Concert 2006", Hacken's "Concert Hall", Hacken's "Concert Hall 2", Joey's "Reflection of Joey Life 2005", Joey's "One Life One Love Concert", Grasshopper's "Our Grasshopper 2005 Live Concert", Justin's "One Good Show", Eason's "Get a Life" and Sammi's "Ultimate Collection". Of the top ten highest selling Cantonese albums, Hacken has a total of 3 albums, definately living up to his name of "album sales king". He is sale's best guarantee. Last night, there was also the high selling Mandarin albums being awarded. The highest selling was Jay's "Still Fantasy". Japan's famous Hideki Saijo was the night's guest performer and award presenter. He performed splendidly and also let the ceremony reach a high.

Guests also included the Legislative Councillor, Timothy Fok and international pianist, Li Yundi. Other singers present were George Lam, Teresa Carpio, Fen Nei, Alec Su, etc. Japan's big star Hideki Saijo was also invited and received two awards: Japan's popular music cultural exchange contribution award and Japan's popular music cultural exchange award. During the ceremony, Hacken was the biggest winner with 5 awards: 3 Cantonese high selling awards, a HK high selling award, and a highest selling male singer award. Hacken was surprised by the nights results. He laughed "Tonight was really a bumper crop!"

As for the girls, Joey took the lead with 4 awards: 2 Cantonese high selling awards, a HK high selling award, and a highest selling female singer award. Joey was satisfied with her results for the year but said that she will continuing working so that each year will be better than the last. Joey also praised the Music Fair exhibition for giving the music world a new chance at revival. Unlike a few years ago, fans are no longer chasing after idol singers, Joey is pleased to see that in these few years, the music world is being filled with more singers with talent. Twins didn't go home empty handed either. Of the ten high selling Mandarin albums, Twin's "" was the only HK album. When Twins were backstage to accept an interview, something happened that alarmed the entire backstage. While Gillian was answering questions, Ah Sa suddenly slid off her chair sacring Gillian and causing her to scream. Ah Sa was close to crying and the entire scene was awkward.

Japan star Hideki Saijo is close to 60 but still charismatic. By raising a hand or taking a step, he fulfils his great star status. Hideki Saijo also noticed that Hong Kong's music world has had an increase in talent in new singers. They have definately improved since the last time he saw them. He also praised Eason and when Eason heard he was so happy he couldn't speak. He would have never thought that a senior would praise him so. The hopefuls Vincy and Hins were the winning newcomers. The two newcomers may save Hong Kong's music industry. Their beautiful voices and musical talent has already moved many of Hong Kong's hearts. Watching them on stage singing "wind blows a while" in Chinese and Japanese, the audience were captived completely. They definately earned their award. Alec has had a change of image, deciding to present with a mature look. He said "I'm no longer that young, I have to dress a little more maturely."

http://www.tungstar.com/hotspot_bag.do?bagId=38272&cateId=0

http://www.tungstar.com/hotspot_bag.do?bagId=38251&cateId=0

Music Fair opening ceremony, the industry finds opportunity

The 2nd "Hong Kong Music Fair" held its opening ceremony yesterday. Honoured guests included the Home Affairs Bureau chief, Patrick Ho, the People's Republic of China cultural market vice director, Cheung Sun Kin, the Legislative Councillor, Timothy Fok, the Hong Kong trade development council assistant president, Raymond Yip, the RTHK broadcasting assistant director, Tai Kin Man, the IFPI (HK) president, Hong Dy and the HK Music Fair committee president Ng Yu. Singers included Hacken Lee, Leo Koo, Joey Yung, Eason Chan, Fiona Sit, Hins Cheung and Twins.

For 3 consecutive days, the Hong Kong Music Fair will help the industry develop opportunity and the "Hong Kong film and arts creativity and power exhibition" is open to the public, displaying a large number of memorable exhibits.

The exhibition focuses on popular music, television, film, Cantonese opera and theatre. In the exhibition, costumes from Anita Mui', Sam Hui's and other singer's performances are on display. There's also Wong Ka Kui's guitar, Yam Pak's classic records and Danny Chan's "these tears flow for you" music sheets.

After attending the opening ceremony, Eason also took time to look through the exhibition. However, he did not give anything to be placed in the exhibition. He said "The things I say are pointless, my clothes are wrinkled, and I really don't know what I could give. Perhaps I can take out my liver and let everyone examine why I've got such a voice. (Apart from organs, anything else?) My face isn't handsome, only the insides are the best looking."

Over 10 singers were invited to record for the Music Fair's "Classic songs and great stars together" limited AVCD. Songs include memorable productions of great singers of Hong Kong's past. It pays tribute to the musical world, and these old classics are rebroadcasted. Some of the singers that have taken part have taken to the stage to express their feelings and everyone felt honoured. Hacken sang Anita's "these years like water" and felt that resinging someone else's song isn't easy. Like they say, the real thing is already there (referring to past singers already making the classics their own song, showing it's hard to replicate). He believed the other singers would feel the same way. Everyone wished to put something of themselves into each song but each of these classic songs have already left an impression on everyone. There was no way to not have Anita's shadow and so Hacken, along with Anita's shadow, sang the song.

Leo sang Danny's "picking stars" and felt very excited. That song was one of the first songs back then to advocate quitting drugs. And coincidentally, Leo has been recently given the responsibility of being an anti-drug spokesperson. The feeling was very special. After the opening ceremony, Leo had to rush to Guangzhou to make real money. He didn't have time to view the exhibition.


http://paper.wenweipo.com/2007/03/22/EN0703220001.htm

Alan cheats, Pang Kin Sang is crude, and Nat hosting new program benefits old friends

(Picture: Nat hosts a new program and invites his friends Hacken Lee and Kenny Bee as guests)

TVB's new program "Olympics are fun - super contest" was recorded last night. The host Nat Chan gave his good friends Alan Tam, Hacken Lee, Pang Kin Sang and Kenny B, all guests last night, the chance at winnning a diamond prize. In the end no one won the prize, but the 10 guests got to each take home HK$10000 in prize money. Each guest gave it their all. Alan demonstrated cheating, becoming a bad role model. Pang Kin Sang in the heat of the moment swore and Nat responded with something similar. Good thing it was a recorded show, the swearing would no doubt be cut.

The show split the guests into teams, asking them questions. They also had to shoot arrows, shoot balls and shoot air rifles. As Alan was shooting his basketball he cheated. He forced his way forward and pushed Nat away with one hand and finally scored a shot. Nat joked that Alan was ranked in the top (a pun with the word to cheat). During the questions, Pang Kin Sang gave the wrong answer and forgetting his manners spat out a swear word. During the archery, Ng Ka Lok tried to copy Felix Wong's pose when shooting in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". This caused Nat to laugh at him looking like Felix shooting a condor, so Ng Ka Lok's archery technique could only be described as a condor (pun for a swear word).

At the end of the show, Alan joked that Pang Kin Sang seldom swore but this time his swearing was quite accurate and was definately spoken in Cantonese. But Pang Kin Sang was adamant that there was no swearing. Even if spoken wrongly it was just the English work "till".

http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/star5.cfm?File=20070321/saa01/mao1.txt

Neighbours (Alan/Hacken) caught in dispute owing HK$820000, Yiu Wing's investment suffers liquidation

(Alan: I don't know anything about this grown up's stuff; Hacken: I feel uncomfortable)

Three years ago, Cheung Yiu Wing's (known as the father of concerts) Investment Holdings Limited Company with Impact Entertainment Limited invested in HK$820000 worth of tickets for the "Left Alan Right Hacken" concerts but have still not seen returns. Yesterday, the High Court ordered liquidation, but Cheung Yiu Wing claims concerts will go ahead and funds will be no problem.

Yiu Wing Investment Holdings Limited was ordered by the court to liquidate. The judge pointed out that Cheung Yiu Wing has many business dealings with Cheung Kwok Chung's Impact Entertainment (International) Limited. 14 years ago, they both invested together to film the movie "The Tigers - The Legend Of Canton" which at the time promised to make money. In the end, HK$4090000 was lost and each had to bear the losses. However, the judge decided that these past issues had nothing to do with the present case. Cheung Yiu Wing was willing to pay instalments of HK$100000 over 9 months to pay back the debt, but he had not asked for the creditors' approval so the judge ordered liquidation.

Impact Entertainment entered the case in September 2004, claiming Yiu Wing Investment Holdings owed over HK$826000 in "Left Alan Right Hacken" tickets. The court ruled Impact Entertainment successful and that Yiu Wing had an outstanding debt. Impact Entertainment requested liquidation.

Originally Cheung Yiu Wing was to hold a concert for Sam Hui but Sam asked for HK$10million as insurance before he would sign. It is now cancelled and the 20 days that were booked will have to be filled in with other singers.

Yesterday, Cheung Yiu Wing accepted a telephone interview. "The court ordered Yiu Wing Investment Holdings to liquidate, not Yiu Wing Entertainment. Therefore Lau Fung Ping's, Harlem Yu's and ATV's Best Song's concerts will all go ahead as planned. I have no financial difficulties. Just recently I gave Anthony Chan HK$48milion to invest in mainland tv. He lost all of it and I never blamed him at all. It's like I gave a lot of money to Cheung Kwok Chung to invest in film. In the end, it was a loss. Things were complicated and it's hard to explain to outsiders."
Also, Celestial Asia Securities Holdings Limited has just entered a case to high court, requesting Cheung Yiu Wing to declare bankruptcy. The case will be dealt with on 10th April.

Hacken Lee and Alan Tam were both at TVB last night recording a program. Hacken said "I don't know what to say. Both Mr Cheungs had parts in my first concert. Uncle Yiu Wing has been a long time friend and I've heard disagreements between them before. But as part of the younger generation, I don't have the right to intrude. But I've felt uncomfortable."

Alan said "I don't know about this grown up's stuff (referring to him being eternally 25) but there must be a reason for this decision. Both the Mr Cheungs, I've known for a long time. With everyone talking, there's not much room to move and this needs to be explained to the shareholders." After being reminded that he was also a shareholder, Alan replied "There's a lot of people within the company, not just one or two. And relations between companies has nothing to do with the artists. Whoever is right, whoever is wrong, the most important thing is peace." When asked if it'll be awkward to see Cheung Yiu Wing, he said "Of course not. We just saw each other at the tracks the other day."

http://leehacken.com/news/2007/news_20070320.htm

Singing "The Drive of Life" Hacken has his "first time"

Picture: Hacken Lee and Yip Wing Sie are old friends, and working together on the themesong was fate.

TVB and CCTV are working together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China. Together they are producing "The Drive of Life", bringing together actors from Hong Kong and Mainland to create a must watch series. TVB regards this series as highly important and is using the beautiful women: Sheren Tang, Jessica Hsuan, Charmaine Sheh, Myolie Wu, Gigi Wong and Toby Leung. The gentlemen include: Damian Lau, Michael Miu, Joe Ma, Raymond Lam, Ron Ng and Ng Wai Kwok. This is going to be one of the biggest productions this year. As for the themesong, nothing less can be expected. Hong Kong's Hacken Lee and Mainland's Steve Chou will provide the vocals and Hong Kong's sinfonietta will provide the accompaniment.

Yesterday, Hacken while recording the themesong revealed that "the sky this blue" was composed by Joseph Koo, and that the conductor, Yip Wing Sie, for the sinonietta was an old friend. He laughed "I'm really happy! A big production is looking for a little singer for the themesong. I'm lucky in that since my first album, every album has had 2 or 3 songs which are TVB themesongs. But for something this big. It's my first time." Reporters joked that as TVB's godson, of course he'd be used. Hacken quickly responded "It's different. TVB has so many actors that they were probably afraid of someone becoming jealous and couldn't decide on who to pick. In the end they got me to sing."

Hacken revealed that the themesong would incorporate Mandarin and Cantonese. He would be responsible for the Cantonese and Steve would be responsible for the Mandarin. As Steve has been so busy recently, he doesn't have time to record in Hong Kong. So the two can only record separately and put the audio together afterwards.

http://paper.wenweipo.com/2007/03/19/EN0703190003.htm

Hacken doesn't dare compare with Andy

One is the music world's most popular male singer, the other is the tv industry's most popular female actress. Hacken Lee and Charmaine Sheh have been at TVB for more than 10 years and have been in contact with each other during one Miss HK program. Today the two have cooperated together filming the movie "Lady Iron Chef" and have got to know one another. After rising to "TV queen" status, Charmaine has been involved in endless rumours and even partner Hacken cannot help her. But Charmaine firmly believes that once one is doing their best, then no poisons can harm them.

In the new film "Lady Iron Chef", Hacken plays the rich, arrogant son of a large food corporation owner. Charmaine plays a master of cooking and the two end up falling in love. This was the first time filming with Charmaine for Hacken and he said that she was easy to get along with, professional and punctual and of course she was an artist but great acting skills. Recently, Charmaine has been involved in many rumours and when asked if Hacken was worried filming with her, he said protectively "The media is a fault for much of the news, and they are often not fair to her. I have never seen, nor feel that such things said by the media would involve Charmaine. We chat a lot throughout the day during work."

Hacken does not feature in many movies. He laughs "That's because I'm a singer. I only film if there is a suitable script. Actually I'm just curious, after knowing Wong Jing and Eric Tsang for over 10 years we mostly get together for fun and things but very rarely am I asked to film. They probably think over the past 10 or so years I've never been outstanding in acting." He's good friends with Andy Lau and in the music world there is a bit of friendly competition. But in the movie world, Hacken doesn't dare to try and become "film king" just as yet. He says "Andy had filmed about 80 movies before becoming king. That's too far off for me." When it comes to singing however, he has much more confidence "Even though I've received the best male singer award, I just pretend I haven't. I start over again, each year I want to win."
　
http://ent.tom.com/2007-03-13/000E/13931453.html

Hacken at music without frontiers

Yesterday Hacken appeared at Harbour City's "Music without frontiers - Charity Harp Concert". Although Hacken does not know how to play the piano, he was taught a few techniques at the concert by Korean harpist Harpist K - and the musically talented Hacken played very convincingly! Coming onto stage the same time as Hacken was a 4 year old harpist called Emily. As Hacken's wife is also called Emily, he laughed and called the little girl his "little girlfriend".

To support this charity event, Hacken donated $50,000 to Medicines Sans Frontiers - a charity he has supported all along. He hopes that others will support this charity too. Hacken and Harpist K had already co-operated on his single "City surrounded by sky and water", and Hacken couldnt' stop praising Harpist K's talent. Previously he had been shown Harpist K's two electric harps, and he was very nervous as he was scared he would break them. Hacken admitted he does not have the talent to play the harp, and regretted not ever learning piano. Because of this, he would definately let his children learn piano. At this statement, the reporter asked if Hacken wanted to have a gold pig baby? He laughed and replied "Ok, I get it!", indicating the topic has been brought up too many times already! Previously Alan Tam had passed lots of secrets to Hacken, telling Hacken to have a child soon. When this topic was brought up Hacken laughed and said: "I dont understand what this whole hanging upside down thing is (apparently it's meant to increase fertility or something =/)，but I'm still not that old yet so I'm not worried! (It seems that Alan seems the most anxious to see you have a child) Yes! He's acting like he's my father!"

http://www.leehacken.com/news/2007/news_20070312.htm

Hacken works the atmosphere for Lui Fong's concert

Hacken Lee was special guest at Lui Fong's concert, and sang his song "Flower Protector" with Lui Fong. Hacken said that Lui Fong was a great singer, and couldn't understand why he waited so long to hold his own concert! Lui Fong replied: "don't mention it"! Hacken also said that Lui Fong performed very well that night, the only mistake through the whole concert was when he was staring at girlfriend Dodo Cheng and sang three lines of lyrics wrong! He said that the entire concert was very good, and was very happy for Lui Fong.

After being praised by Hacken for a while, Lui Fong said that it was him who should be happy for Hacken, as Hacken had married long time girlfriend Emily last year, whilst Lui Fong was still alone. Hacken laughed and replied that marriage was a happy affair, but the happiness only lasted a few months - at New Year, he had to give out lucky packets to so many more people, hurting his wallet! Hacken told Lui Fong he should either not marry or secretly marry, so he didn't have to tell anyone, and could avoid giving out lucky packets til the day he was 80. Hacken also joked that if Lui Fong were to have children, he should definately announce it, as with the child he could go out and receive lucky packets, making him very rich! Lui Fong replied that if he had time he should probably have a child - maybe he would be like Hacken's friend (Alan Tam), and have a child with someone else. Hacken immediately changed the topic, asking Lui Fong if their other halves would be talking about children in the audience.

source: http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/03/11/UL-703952.htm

Lui Fong Concert

Lui Fong's concert "Lui Fong's Love Songs 2007" has 4 shows and opened yesterday, with girlfriend Dodo Cheng arriving early to support him. The special guest for last night's concert was Hacken Lee, who, along with wife Emily Lo, sat in the audience before going onstage in the middle of the concert. Lui Fong's appearance was "The Prince on the White Horse"-like, singing many love songs. Before Hacken performed, he and Emily watched in the audience, sitting next to Dodo Cheng. Lui Fong commented on stage that it's taken him 18 years to hold his own concert, laughing that a fortune teller told him that this would be the good year to hold his concert, and that's why he waited so long. He said he was lucky his fans waited with him for this year. When his fans from the audience shouted "Dodo Cheng", Lui Fong laughed and asked if they had gone to the wrong place - this was HIS concert - to which he received a round of applause from delighted fans!

source: http://www.leehacken.com/news/2007/news_20070310.html

Singing beyond the skies

Singing beyond the skies

In the music industry, those that are at the front of the line would be singers. Their songs - can they satisfy the fans and become a hit song for all the years to come? Their image - can new ideas interest the audience so it becomes embedded in their memories? These are the battles that singers face each day, especially now in this gradually withering music industry. Singers have less opportunity to produce albums, often fearing that bad sales will mean waiting another year for another chance or even the opportunity disappearing altogether. So whether or not they are receiving applause, pressure will always be present. George Lam who has reached star singer status and Hacken Lee who has received "Most Popular Male Singer" 3 times, how do they both see the singer's road ahead?


Hacken Lee: Continuously looking for new changes





"Now that consumers are willing to pay HK$5 for a downloadable ringtone, I have confidence that one day consumers are willing to pay HK$8-10 to legally download their favourite songs. At present, this music industry is going through a low and should be reaching its darkest point where there is hope for the birth of a new era. As long as the music industry still exists, everyone will be able to find a new chance." Hacken Lee entered the industry in the 80's during the golden era of music and after 20 years, he is still the supporting pillar of the music world. He has not given up on future of music or singers. Even though popular culture and technology can change the world, people are smart and will also think of ways to adapt.

Breaking the traditional way of selling albums

Hacken reckons that buying and selling songs online will break the traditional way of selling songs. But this method is still not widespread as consumers need to feel that it's convenient and they wont run the risk of being arrested for illegal downloading. Hacken recalls that he has gone through records and cassettes to reach the CD era. At that time, CDs were being sold for over HK$100 each and had dropped sales. No one looked well on CDs and felt that noone would spend over HK$100 for a cd. However, reality shows that as long as there are good songs and a good presentation, fans are willing to pay. Now in 2007, Hacken believes that CDs will soon become mementos. In the future, watching TV could be done using the internet and homes will soon have mini-cinemas for watching movies. Songs can also be bought instantly over the internet to listen at home.

Finding a way to get music fans to buy

He says "Technology makes life easier for people. That's why the existence of MP3s and I-Pods are for people that prefer convenience and for those that don't ask for acoustic quality when listening to music. H&M is a company that is popular worldwide and coming to HK to open branches is proof that HK consumers attitude is about getting the design they want for cheap. They don't ask for quality. The most important thing is that vermicilli resembles shark fin (Chinese saying). That's why H&M are so popular but still won't affect the sales of Gucci. It's the same reasoning with music. There are those that want convenience. At the same time, there are those that want high quality music. Recently I've made two albums "Hacken Lee Concert Hall" and their sales have been higher than my previous album by 100%. This can prove that there are fans out there that want high quality CDs. But this does not mean there isn't a second way, this cannot work forever and so that is why changes are needed. At the moment, we cannot successfully create a new music and film world so we must find ways to trigger fans to buy CDs."

Changes must be coordinated with advances in time

Hacken feels that at the moment singers don't know how to change. Even record companies are working hard to change to meet with advances. So some record companies are even becoming managing companies to help singers under them develop in other areas.

"To some singers, songs are becoming advertisements. The most important thing is that songs can make the singer a hit and then they can ride on this to film movies, make commercials and even hold concerts to make money. No matter how they do it, singers and record companies are all working hard to keep their existence so they do not perish. The music world has its rises and falls, and everyone needs to get through it. There will be a day when people can relax again. So people, don't worry!"


A small fan meets with Hacken



Hacken is not only a HK singer, he has plenty of fans from across the oceans. During the day of the interview, there was a little fan all the way from San Francisco. Tam Bao Bao was in HK for a holiday and under MingPao's arrangement, she got to get up close with her idol.

Once a small fan sees an idol, what goes through her head? No matter what age, to be able to see one's idol close up, everyone's reaction would be the same - smiling, staring, hands shaking, heart erratically beating, even forgetting to ask for an autograph, in other words happy beyond imagination.

When asked how Tam Bao Bao who lived in America would know Hacken:

She replies in her less than fluent Cantonese "I like watching Yut Ding (Minutes to Fame). Hacken is very funny. I like him singing Red Day. It's nice."

Because of one program or because of one song, people will becomes fans. And to have support from somewhere far far away, that would be the self-satisfaction of being an idol.

http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/Archive1.cfm?File=20070309/saa01/mba1.txt
http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/star5.cfm?File=20070309/saa01/mbb1.txt
http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/star5.cfm?File=20070309/saa01/mbb2.txt

New movie premiere - Virginia Lok brings viewers to support Charmaine

It was the premiere of Lady Iron Chef 2 nights ago. Director Wong Jing along with actors including Hacken Lee, Charmaine Sheh, Yumiko Cheng, Yuen Qiu, Alice Chen and newcomer Lau Yeung were present. TVB high executive Virginia Lok has often taken good care of Charmaine, and this time it was due to her that the night could be so prestigous. Miss Lok personally invited Gigi Lai, Angela Tong and other artists to support the premiere. The only one that didn't come was rumoured boyfriend Ron Ng.

Afterwards, Charmaine admitted she was very happy because TVB treats her well and she wants everyone to share the results of her hard work. Did she invite Ron? Charmaine said she didn't know as the important thing that night was to invite more girls. She doesn't want to say too much as she doesn't want trouble, just in case there's rumours again. She also doesn't want attention shifted from the movie itself. Gigi and Charmaine are good friends and even though it was her mother's birthday that night, Gigi still came to support her friend before going home to celebrate with her mother. Reporters pointed out that under Miss Lok's management, all the artists present appeared very united. Gigi smiled and agreed saying how they were all one family.

Lau Yeung's low top teases Hacken

On the night before last, newcomer Lau Yeung wore a low cut top and stood close to Hacken but Hacken did not once look. When asked later, he laughed "I don't/didn't have time." Because Hacken was recently in America, he couldn't personally collect the IFPI award for "most popular music and film award". He admitted that the award was rewarded based on real merits and cannot be won by fighting for it, so he really did want to collect the award in person.

Speaking of filming movies, he points out that he is a newcomer, normally only one a year. He likes comedies and says the hardest to film would be period dramas. He laughs that one year he acted as Sai Mun Chui Suet (a character) but he couldn't stand the hardships of filming ancient dramas. He said that the movie has done quite well in Singapore, and even if it doesn't sell so well in HK, the cost of the movie will still be covered. Charmaine has Miss Lok's support so why doesn't Hacken invite his wife Emily Lo? Hacken points out jokingly that Miss Lok could be supporting him as well. He says that he has a lot of work and if all his family members turned up then he would be even busier.

Yumiko hopes to act well and receive awards

Yumiko attended the premiere 2 nights ago even though she was ill. She claimed she couldn't bear it any longer and requested her company to let her see a doctor but didn't take any leave. Her company joked that she can die but can't get sick. Luckily after taking some medicine she seemed to get better. When mentioned that Isabella Leung received Spain's International Film Festival's "Best Actress" award, Yumiko said that she felt happy for Isabella. At only 18, becoming a film queen (?) was the highest honour. Yumike hopes that she will be able to film a good movie, she feels that to be an actor means opening up oneself.

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/03/08/UL-702379.htm

Hacken, Charmaine and cast attend premiere of "Lady Iron Chef" - Gigi Lai appears too!

On 6th March, Hacken, Charmaine and cast attended the premiere of "Lady Iron Chef". As Hacken had jus rushed back from "The Same Song" concert in San Francisco to attend the premiere, he looked very tired due to his rushed schedule. Hacken said that he had confidence "Lady Iron Chef" would do well, and hoped that there would be good reception after it screened. In the movie, Hacken often faced lots of good food - did Hacken become interested in cooking after filming this movie? He replied: "Not really. I've never had much knowledge in this aspect, and in the movie I didn't have to cook, I only had to taste test! On the contrary I've become very fussy over what I eat now, and like to eat more quality food!". Hacken also said: "I can employ someone to cook for us for a few thousand dollars, so I dont really need to learn I guess!".

Yumiko was ill during the premiere and asked people not to come too near to her in case she spread the illness to them. However it seemed she wasn't taking much care of her health - the temperature was only 14 degrees but she wore a mini skirt and sleeveless top - no wonder she was sick. Apart from the cast attending, the biggest surprise attendance of the night was Gigi Lai, who had always been touted by the press to be Charmaine's biggest competitor in TVB. As soon as Charmaine saw Gigi, they began chatting non-stop and hugged in front of all the cameras, dispelling any rumors about them competing.

Source & More pictures @ http://www.tungstar.com/hotspot_bag.do?bagId=37273&cateId=0

Hacken Lee wins award

Hacken Lee wins HK Record Merchants Association award

As we head into the pig year, the HK Record Merchants Association is holding an award ceremony. Yesterday they announced the nominees for "Most Popular Music and Film awards" and tomorrow at the spring welcoming banquet they will give out the awards. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the HK Record Merchants Association has especially allowed members of the organization to choose winners of the awards based on performance of the record in 2006. The market strategy of the product, its quality and the number of sales it has made will all be factors taken into account when choosing the finalist. Yesterday, the company's president Zhan Fung received a phonecall inquiry and responded: "I'm counting all products that were marketed during 06, not only those that were released in 06."

Hard work and efforts are recognized

Hacken Lee's Concert Hall II received an award in popular Cantonese music. While he is still in America performing in the Chinese program "The Same Song", he was especially happy about receiving the award. He felt that importantly his dreams and hard work were recognized.

Partial winners list for "Most Popular Music and Film Awards"

Award for most popular cantonese album: "Concert Hall II" - Hacken Lee

Award for most popular Mandarin album: Yue Ding - Guang Liang

Award for HK movie: Fearless

Award for foreign movie: King Kong

Award for concert: "Our Concert" - Grasshoppers

http://www.leehacken.com/news/2007/news_20070304.htm

Hacken rehearses for "The Same Song" program in San Francisco

Sina ent: on the 2nd of March American time, rehearsals took place for the San Francisco concert titled 'Stars celebrate the lantern festival'. Singers included Kelly Chan, Hacken Lee, Liza Wang, Liu Huan, and Dao Lang. In order to match with the program "The Same Song" and having the Lantern Festival as the reason for the concert, many expat Chinese were invited onto the concert, allowing them to share in the laughter and festivities of "The Same Song" program whilst passing the Lantern Festival.



Source: http://ent.sina.com.cn/y/p/2007-03-03/19071465789.html