Tuesday, September 20, 2016

TVB Jade Pack Meet & Greet ( Benjamin Yuen, Elaine Yiu, Sisley Choi, Grace Wong and Owen Cheung) - 18th and 19th Sept 2016




























































Astro held a grand launching ceremony back in May (for the media and selected guests) to introduce the new TVB Jade Pack package. To further boost the subscription base, the “TVB Jade Pack” Facebook fan page was opened two weeks ago, inviting all and sundry to participate in a “No Jade Pack, No Nice” contest for a chance to join a private  function with 5 TVB artistes (comprising of Benjamin Yuen, Sisley Choi, Owen Cheung, Elaine Yiu and Grace Wong) and bring home TVB’s limited edition moon cake.  Honestly, the contest regulation itself is flawed. The organizer should have stated the word limit. Many ended submitting their “thesis” and won, which ain’t fair to those who kept their words to a decent range.

The so-called exclusive meet and greet session was pretty “meh”. Up-and-coming Owen Cheung performed the theme song of “Come Home Love.”  Benjamin suddenly appeared and help snap pixs of Owen in action, resulting in squeals of delight at the sight of Nga Loh.  One of the two most annoying female artistes at TVB was also at the function, Sisley Choi. Luckily, fans were generous with the applause and no jeering heard.  There were loads of taunting comments in the FB page, mocking Sisley for attending this promo event. The crowd puller of the show is clearly Nga Loh(Benjamin Yuen) and Fa Mun (Grace Wong), thanks to the mass popularity of “A Fist Within Four Walls”. A few fans teamed up with the celebs in a contest to test their acting prowess.  Grace and Elaine were really superb.  This was followed by a group photo session with the contest winners and it’s a wrap.  The hard sell “battle cry” repeated throughout the function is to like the “Jade Pack” FB page and of course, enticing all to sign-up for the Jade Pack package to be exclusive members of soon-to-be-launched TVB Jade Pack Fan club.  Members of this elite club will enjoy plenty of opportunities for closed-door events with TVB artistes. 

The second function was opened to the public and Astro/TVB’s marketing team came-up with the gimmick of hunting for “TVB-mons” (obviously, trying to copy “Pokemon Go”).  Needless to say, the response is far from overwhelming when the stars hid at Absolute Thai and Hello Kitty restaurants, while fans seek them out.  The majority of them prefer the good old fashioned way of waiting right in front of stage.  Smart move !  It’s a shame that Benjamin shaved his stubble prior to this event. Ben looks so cool with his facial hair ! Ben clarified that he and gf, Jennifer Shum, are not getting hitched as reported earlier.  Nga Loh wants to focus on his red-hot career at this moment. The bright and bubbly Grace is a hit with the crowd, too.   Grace is expanding her “Dear Grace” accessories business to Malaysia and staying another day to promote her new shop in Ikon mall. I have a strong hunch that Grace will walk away with an award in this year’s Malaysia TVB awards.  Elaine revealed that she is excited to start work in Jazz Boon’s new drama “The Alliance 同盟”, along with buddies Nancy Wu, Joel Chan and Ruco Chan.  It’s going to be physically taxing as basically, all the stars are required to fight in this modern-day action series (perhaps with the exception of veteran Pao Hee Ching). Personally, I am happy that Jazz Boon is spearheading Elaine’s next project after her long hiatus. Jazz Boon’s recent dramas have been runaway success in terms of viewership . Same for his “Line Walker” flick. Elaine was remarkably stunning that day in a simple white blouse with short black skirt. Owen did an impersonation of Leslie Cheung and Nicholas Tse. Also sang Gor Gor’s classic, Monica and went down the stage to inviting Elaine, Grace and Sisley to sing the chorus.  Ben sang George Lam’s 分分钟需要你.  Similar to the previous day, the ladies are required to display their acting skills on stage.