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

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

Lady Iron Chef scene

Picture: hacken and charmaine's one of many 'scary' scenes in new movie

The second film of the new year, "Lady Iron Chef", was released last week. The movie talks about a romance between leading actors Hacken Lee and Charmaine Sheh. One particular scene talks of wealthy Hacken being abducted and held to ransom and hidden in Mong Kok, and when he tries to escape, accidentally falls off the balcony of the building. As Charmaine rescues him by grabbing onto his legs, his pants fall off, leading him to reveal his boxer shorts whilst danglign in mid air. However Charmaine manages to drag him back into the apartment, adn the two of them meet in this way, starting their romantic relationship, with the joke that Hacken's underpants are very manly.

Hacken insisted on filming this scene himself, saying: "Although there's wires around my waist, looking down at the ground my heart was beating like crazy! It was lucky the director only asked for two takes. During the take I wore 5 pairs of underwear, so i definately wouldn't expose anything." Charmaine also praised Hacken's courage in filming this scene, saying he was very professional, and then poking fun at him and saying again that the brand of his boxer shorts was very 'manly'. Hacken retorted that it would probably be of a better quality than the instant noodles Charmaine cooked in the movie. Apparently Hacken and Charmaine have been acquaintances for a while but this is the first time they've acted together. Both promised that if the movie did well, they would shout dinner for all staff on set.

Credits: takungpo

Hacken & Charmaine are interviewed @ Lady Iron Chef Dinner

http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/bn/2007-02-16/17227078.html

in mando, though....

Lady Iron Chef CNY dinner

Date: 15-2-07
Source: Takungpo

(Picture: Hacken and Zhou Chung watch Charmaine cook dumplings

In the movie Lady Iron Chef is a scene where male lead Hacken's pants fall off. When asked about the scene, female lead Charmaine replied that she didn't see anything, and it was Hacken that was in danger, having to do wire scenes for a whole night. When asked if she would try for Best Actress (movies) award after winning Best TV Actress, she stated: "this is a very long way away. I hope to film more movies because they're heaps of fun, especially the atmosphere when filming comedies."

(I'm not translating the rest as it's not relevant to Hacken...that and the fact i've got to rush to work now! But the rest of the article was just about Charmaine =])
http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/02/15/UL-693325.htm

More Pix:

Lady Iron Chef trailer

Trailer for the new movie "Lady Iron Chef" featuring Hacken Lee and Charmaine Sheh.

Hacken refutes rumors of Charmaine flirting with him

Last night Hacken, Yumiko, Alex Fong, Krusty and others were recording for a JSG show where Hacken's "Princess Prince" was the most popular song for the week. When asked if he was better after being forced to lip sync due to illness last week, Hacken replied that due to the filming of Beautiful Cooking he has been unable to rest properly and is still ill, but his voice is better and he was able to sing live at JSG.

Hoping to be normal by Saturday

Hacken said: "Although tonight I'm still not at my best, it's still better than last week, which sounded like an old cow with Parkinsons (note: I think that's the right translation..!), and was horrible to listen to! I hope this Saturday in the RTHK awards, the normal Hacken returns!"

Reporters then asked about allegations that in the filming of Beautiful Cooking, Charmaine worse a short skirt to flirt with him, Hacken clearly stated: "I am a family man now! Readers know that they can't believe everything they read. During the filming, I felt Charmaine was a very professional and punctual actress. The short skirt was a costume for the movie, and everything that the reports 'suggested' were false, I totally did not feel like she was flirting!". Reporters persisted and asked if he needed to explain this to Emily (his wife), to which he replied: "No one believes the reports, so I don't need to explain things like this to her."

Yumiko's 'desperate woman' role

Yumiko's response to the flirting Charmaine rumors were that if anything, Charmaine would not be flirting with Hacken and Yumiko would be! "My character in the movie is a desperate woman called May: she loves money, beauty, and even wears a blonde wig! This is my first New Years movie and it's also my first time playing someone this desperate!" After participating in this movie, singer Yumiko has actually requested her company to find her more acting roles, and her company has complied, finding her work for 5 months filming.

January 26, 2007 - http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/26/UL-683834.htm.
http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/ent/20070126/

Hacken falls ill on night of MCI 2007

Picture: Hacken Lee and Charmaine Sheh enter the 2007 MCI red carpet

At last night's Miss Chinese International finals, guest performer Hacken Lee appeared suffering from a heavy flu. As he was sick, his singing capabilities were reduced to 60%, and of the three songs he was to sing, he could only do two live, having to lip sync the difficult-to-sing "Princess Prince". He expressed his regret over this.

Sick because of filming

Hacken stated: "Last night when I arrived at Qingyuan I had lost my voice totally as well, and before that I had rung the producer to say that if I did not recover my voice, my songs would be cut in half. (Were you worried about your performance standard?) Of course! So I saw the doctor as well as a qigong doctor, and brought chinese medicines to drink, but with the flu the most important thing is to rest. I will be returning to HK straight after this show."Hacken believes that he is very sick because of the hard work involved in his latest movie, <>.

When talking about this year's MCI contest, Hacken says that he has met them all before and hopes that HK representative Aimee Chan will make it into the top three to win some acclaim for HK, but beacuse the contest is not being held in HK, this makes it more difficult. As his wife Emily Lo was the runner-up in the 1993 contest, Hacken was asked if he had talked about this year's contest with her. He replied that nowadays the contest is very different, it used to be very strict and followed protocol, but lately the contests have thrown in a lot of "gimmicks". He also said that when Emily participated, she had the advantage of the contest being held in HK.

January 12, 2007

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/21/UL-681517.htm

Hacken and Charmaine film Beautiful Cooking

A new Chinese New Year movie stars Hacken Lee, Charmaine Sheh, Yumiko Cheng and Alice Chan Wai. Today, a scene was being filmed at an unnamed hotel in Shatin. The scene talked of a cooking contest taking place. Hacken had caught the flu from a production crew member and thus lost his voice, so after the filming he immediately went to see a doctor. Recently, there have been reports saying Charmaine had dinner with Sit Ching Lun's wealthy ex-husband Ma Ching Wai, to which she responded that he was just her mother's friend who she has known since she was little, and that this dinner occured many months ago. Also present at the dinner were Kenny Bee and other friends, but the magazine only published photos of her and her "uncle". Alice Chan wore low tops and a short dress in the scene, and when press interviewed her, she refuted rumors of her dating anyone.








January 19, 2007
http://www.tungstar.com/hotspot_bag.do?bagId=35080&cateId=0