Monday, April 8, 2013

Outbound Love 《单恋双城》press conference (陳展鵬、陳茵媺,姚子羚、楊秀惠) Ruco Chan, Aimee Chan, Elaine Yiu and Vivian Yeoh- Paradigm Mall (7 April 2013)















































































Yo ! TVB addicts, are ya ready for some serious "lights, camera and action !" activities in Penang ?  Having successfully put Sabah on the map (although the drama flopped) and boosting HK tourists arrival via "Born Rich", TVB is collaborating with Penang Tourism Board for more Malaysia-HK theme storyline. Brace yourself for a grander and larger scale production than "Born Rich" taking place around Penang's popular heritage areas as well as KL, expected to wrap-up within a month. Fancy bumping into Elaine and Ruco enjoying rojak at Armenian Street or Aimee savouring laksa at Kek Lok Si ? Cool ! If my recollection serves me right, Ruco's grandma hails from Penang, too. With Vivian and Elaine (who is at ease conversing Hokkien), getting around in Penang should be a breeze.

Amidst the excitement and buzz, it would have been a wiser move to cast Elaine instead of Aimee as the leading lady. Aimee is still "same old, same old" to me. Mundane performance and mediocre at best. Aimee just doesn't make the cut.  A lot more polishing is required before she could become a strong full-fledged lead.  Elaine has been dealt a cruel twist of fate. Her road to stardom was shinning so brightly (remember "Safe Guard" with Steven Ma?) when she switched over to drama department after her stint as TVB8 host. Ho-hum acting during the early years made her position slipped to 2nd or 3rd line actress. If there is ever an award for TVB come-back-kid, I would definitely hand it to Elaine. These past couple of years, Elaine has proven her worth with one stellar performance after another although screen time is brief for some of her appearances.  Playing a singer in the "Outbound Love" (yours truly praying hard for Elaine time in this drama), she gave a knock-out performance of Shirley Kwan's song at Paradigm mall. I bet the crowd were equally astounded, too. In person, oh my oh my, I couldn't help gushing about her looks. Stunning in her own way ! Elaine revealed that apart from trying local delicacies, she jokingly mentioned that she doesn't mind hooking-up with local dude. Observing Ruco and Elaine, they would make such a lovely couple if they were to carry their romance off-screen.

Ruco's fans have grown rapidly in Malaysia ! Given the role of musical composer in this drama, he croons the audience with the theme song from "Reality Check." Not bad singing live. Prior to this event, Ruco appeared as a guest singer at Joseph Koo's concert in Genting. Looks like his singing career is picking up again.

I may have reservations about Aimee's acting but she has always come across as the cute and sweet one (sometimes annoying ). I was stumped by her recent look and not in a good way, mind you. She looks like a dowdy auntie. Her giggles drive me up the wall at times and during live shows, I find it hard to understand her Cantonese. She needs more Canto instead of coffee making lessons from Moses ! As usual, many took a dig at Mo-Aimee's relationship. Aimee is no fan of durian but makes an exception when it comes to local durians. Aimee plays a tourist guide in "Outbound Love."

It's been years since I last saw Vivian. Her face is less puffy than before but Cantonese skills are still glaringly lacking after spending all these years in HK (rolling my eyes in disbelief). If she had mastered Cantonese better, Vivian has the talent and looks to go far.