TVB Anniversary Awards Ceremony 2016 Review

2016 萬千星輝頒獎典禮 - 2016 TVB Anniversary Awards Ceremony

As you may have been aware, I have not blogged or posted anything about HKTVB dramas for a while, but this year I’ve managed to still watch the series that stood out, and have been anticipating this year’s awards ceremony to see who will grab the honours.

My overall thoughts of this year's award ceremony are that it was eye-opening, refreshing, majestical, at few moments emotional, in some ways ground-breaking, and at all times captivating.

Sounds like I really enjoyed the show? Well I did, for the most part, where this year’s award ceremony was like no other year. Although somewhat awkward and risqué, the banters were funny with some nice play of words and great uses of recent news and discussions from netizens, etc. The guest speakers were quite wonderful and brought back a lot of memories, from Virtues of Harmony, to Come Home Love, to Jessica Hsuan, Frankie Lam, Sheren Tang and the likes. It did feel weird though, with Sheren Tang there, who was obviously in bad terms with HKTVB since Beauty at War but glad to see her again. Also weird with Frankie Lam who was quite anti-TVB but glad to see him again as well and makes sense with him there since he filmed a series for TVB recently with Jessica.

First of all, what I enjoyed was the format of the show. I liked how this year they showed a list of finalist that was appropriately numbered to 3 and 5, showing their reactions once it was announced and less of the emotional background music from the other year. Even though sometimes the camera was off but I am not too bothered frankly. That being said, the pacing was definitely rushed but still took over two hours so was necessary I guess.

Second are some talented hosts. Thankfully this year there is none of the croaky voice from Dodo Cheng and neither was it just her talking most of the time. This year round, it was with the two duos (one short, one tall, both talented) and Sammy. I commend Sammy for being a very competent host who was sharp-minded and pulled some nice banters even if others might think he can be rather awkward or non-fluent, which takes confidence and experience to master. The parts where the camera focused away from the front stage to where Dodo was with the duo was light-heartened and quite funny to watch. I could tell that a lot of preparation and planning went towards which shown with the coordination, but again, some odd moments that didn’t matter too much.

What mattered, though, was feel and vibe of the ceremony. I did watch the StarHub and Malaysia Awards which was much more grand and looked bigger scale-wise in terms of audience and venue, and somehow surprisingly TVB took another direction and made it feel welcoming rather than being sombre like the other year. It was in essence felt very home-like and very Hong Kong like.

What matters more, of course, are the awards and the awards recipients. Some results were as expected, and some others, were surprising, for the better or worse.

TVB Anniversary Awards for Lifetime Achievement
Winner - Chow Chong

Thoughts – Very happy and glad that he got it and he was truly shocked. Great speech with him talking about him not wanting to retire and his passion for acting. Among the elder veterans, Chow Chong is not really the more famous bunch like Law Lan, Wu Fung, Lau Kong and the likes, and I see him as one of the humble ones who shows sincerity in this works. It was nice to see him star this year in House of Spirits where he gave a moving performance as someone who couldn’t let go of his beloved one, that is, Lan Yi. His most memorable performance for me was still in Moonlight Resonance as grandpa though. Again, very thrilled to see him get this award and hope to see him in more dramas for should I say the mega year for TVB’s 50th Anniversary next year?

Most Improved Female Artiste
Tracy Chu (“Speed of Life”, “K9 Cop”, “Over Run Over”)
Stephanie Ho (“Love as a Predatory Affair”, “Blue Veins”, “Dead Wrong”, “Jade Solid Gold”, “I Heart HK”)
Ali Lee (“Fashion War”, “Brother’s Keeper II”, “Law dis-Order”, “Sidewalk Scientist”, “Organized Dining”, “Anchors with Passport (Sr. 2)”)
Mayanne Mak (“Sidewalk Scientist”, “Anchors with Passport (Sr. 2)”, “A Starry Homecoming”, “Community Chest Charity Show”, “TVB Most Popular TV Commercial Awards 2016”, “I Heart HK”, “Sermon by Sir Ben”, “天與地”)
Moon Lau (“Angel In-the-Making”, “Over Run Over”, “Blue Veins”, “House of Spirits”, “A Fist Within Four Walls”, “Birth of 8 Records”)
Katy Kung (“The Executioner”, “Two Steps from Heaven”)

Hot favourites this year: Tracy Chu, Moon Lau, Katy Kung

Winner: Ali Lee

Thoughts – Quite a shocking result I say. I think Moon Lau was the expected one since she starred in a lot of dramas that stood out this year and her acting was natural and well-received. Compared to last year’s Raising the Bar, she improved tremendously and I definitely think this was her ‘harvesting year’. Ali Lee, on the other hand, didn’t actually get much noise despite heavy roles given to her, such as Fashion War and Law dis-order. I do believe that rigging and favouritism was involved for this award but nevertheless I am fine with Ali Lee as an actress even if she is a bit one-dimensional on her roles. Her most memorable role this year was Brothers Keeper II where I think she was more natural and gave a coherent performance there, but her most memorable role overall was from Overachievers as a convincing mistress. She is indeed convincing in the non-innocent roles based on appearance.

Most Improved Male Artiste
James Ng (“Blue Veins”, “Jade Solid Gold”, “Organized Dining”, “Music Power”, “J.S.G. Selections 2016 (Part 1)”, Big Boys Summer)
Matthew Ho (“Brother’s Keeper II”, “Law dis-Order”, “No Reserve”)
Hubert Wu (“Blue Veins”, “Taipei High Hi”, “Sermon by Sir Ben”)
Mark Ma (“Love as a Predatory Affair”, “Speed of Life”, “Short End of the Stick”, “Come Home Love: Dinner at 8”, “Presumed Accidents”, “Between Love & Desire”, “Inspector Gourmet”)
Bob Cheung (“Over Run Over”, “House of Spirits”, “Between Love & Desire”, “Daddy Dearest”, “Spirits on Vacation”)
Cheung Wing Hong (“The Last Healer in Forbidden City, “House of Spirits”, “A Fist Within Four Walls”, “Spirits on Vacation”)

Hot favourite(s) this year: Cheung Wing Hong

Winner – Cheung Wing Hong

Thoughts – For a usually extremely competitive category, this year it was weak with candidates that either hardly had any presence on TV, or had no word or mouth from the audience. That is of course, except for Cheung Wing Hong who was enjoyable to watch as Little Bo in this year’s House of Spirits. Most Improved Male Artiste though? Strictly speaking no because he gave a stiff performance for a pointless character in A Fist within Four Walls, which was his latter role. I do find him a competent actor, although perhaps limited, and can’t believe his transition from such a minor role as the Emperor’s slave in Beyond the Realm of Conscience to carrying supporting actor roles. His speech was again great and his wife cried her heart out. Kudos to Cheung Wing Hong for an actor who gained recognition by TVB.

Most Popular Series Partnership
Wayne Lai, Edwin Siu, Raymond Cho & Power Chan (“Short End of the Stick”)
Vincent Wong & Tracy Chu (“Over Run Over”)
Jimmy Au & Kim Li (“Come Home Love: Dinner at 8”)
Bowie Wu & Helena Law (“House of Spirits”)
Joyce Tang & Koni Lui (“House of Spirits”)
Ruco Chan & Benjamin Yuen (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Carat Cheung, Apple Chan, Chloe Nguyen & Doris Chow (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Alex Fong & Florence Kwok (“Law dis-Order”)
Eddie Kwan & Vivien Yeo (“My Lover from the Planet Meow”)
Bosco Wong, Edwin Siu & Louis Cheung (“Two Steps from Heaven”)

Hot Favourites this year: the ones from Short End of the Stick, Over Run Over, House of Spirits & Two Steps from Heaven.

Winner – Over Run Over

Thoughts – Not much thoughts but I did know for a fact that Vincent and Tracy had great chemistry in Over Run Over so well-deserved. Would have preferred Wayne Lai, Edwin Siu, Raymond Cho & Power Chan who were complementary and fantastic together as an ensemble and partnership. Again I am satisfied with the result.

Most Popular Series Song
我們都受傷 (“Angel In-the-Making”) – Jinny Ng
真我 (“Angel In-the-Making”) – Aaryn Cheung
相信明天 (“The Executioner”) – Hubert Wu
記住忘記我 (“Wu Xin the Monster Killer”) – Alfred Hui
愛情食物鏈 (“Love as a Predatory Affair”) – Stephanie Ho
同步 (“Speed of Life”) – Justin Lo
你懂我 (“K9 Cop”) – Linda Chung
聽海 (“K9 Cop”) – Vivian Koo
藍天白雲 (“Short End of the Stick”) – Edwin Siu
最真心一對 (“Over Run Over”) – Stephanie Ho
靈魂的痛 (“The Last Healer in Forbidden City”) – Hubert Wu
完美的生活 (“Come Home Love: Dinner at 8”) – Jinny Ng
諸神混亂 (“Blue Veins”) – Kay Tse
天地不容 (“Blue Veins”) – Hubert Wu
The Only One (“Blue Veins”) – Stephanie Ho
火線下 (“My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan”) – Fred Cheng
問天 (“Nirvana in Fire”) – Alfred Hui
可以背負更多 (“Nirvana in Fire”) – Jinny Ng
天地 (“Nirvana in Fire”) – Alfred Hui
命運的意外 (“Presumed Accidents”) – Hubert Wu
講 (“Come with Me”) – Sharon Chan, Louis Yuen, Grace Wong, Hoffman Cheng, Ronald Law & Stephanie Ho
愛的溫暖 (“House of Spirits”) – Edwin Siu
最後一次分手 (“Between Love & Desire”) – Jinny Ng
爸爸 (“Daddy Dearest”) – Hubert Wu
圍城 (“A Fist Within Four Walls”) – Ruco Chan
從未知道你最好 (“A Fist Within Four Walls”) – Ruco Chan & Nancy Wu
誰可改變 (“Brother’s Keeper II”) – Ruco Chan
誘心人 (“Inspector Gourmet”) – Jinny Ng
我記不起 (“Inspector Gourmet”) – Linda Chung
公義的抉擇 (“Law dis-Order”) – Hubert Wu
Can You See (“Law dis-Order”) – Kayee Tam
夢裡花 (“The Imperial Doctress”) – Stephanie Ho
孤嶺花 (“No Reserve”) – Kay Tse
喵喵 ft. C Kwan & Moses Chan (“My Lover from the Planet Meow”) – Alvin Ng, Auston Lam & Penny Chan
得寵 (“My Lover from the Planet Meow”) – Kristal Tin & Nancy Wu
造王 (“Two Steps from Heaven”) – Hubert Wu
不可告人 (“Dead Wrong”) – Vincent Wong
愛需要勇氣 (“Dead Wrong”) – Stephanie Ho

Hot favourites - 從未知道你最好, 愛的溫暖 and others

Winner - 從未知道你最好

Thoughts – It boiled down to the three songs that I generally liked, and I am glad and did expect Nancy and Ruco to win. Their song was well-sang and it did remind me of the series, and in that aspect, this song was well-deserving because it managed to relate back to the series and sound good. Other than that though, other songs were much more well-sang by the other professional singers and my favourite is still the theme song for House of Spirits that was heartwarming to listen to. It was very heartbreaking to hear when they mentioned a fan who loved this song and the series is currently in a coma and that’s when it started to feel sad. I do hope good he will get the chance to wake up and see this moment.

Best Supporting Actress
Elaine Yiu (“The Executioner”)
Akina Hong (“The Executioner”)
Rachel Kan (“Speed of Life”)
Lin Xia Wei (“Short End of the Stick”)
Yoyo Chen (“Short End of the Stick”)
Zoie Tam (“Over Run Over”)
Jeannie Chan (“Blue Veins”)
Elena Kong (“ICAC Investigators 2016”)
Kingdom Yuen (“My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan”)
Koni Lui (“House of Spirits”)
Joyce Tang (“House of Spirits”)
Helena Law (“House of Spirits”)
Roxanne Tong (“Between Love & Desire”)
Grace Wong (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Jade Leung (“Brother’s Keeper II”)
Florence Kwok (“Law dis-Order”)
Vivien Yeo (“My Lover from the Planet Meow”)
Moon Lau (“Two Steps from Heaven”)
Katy Kung (“Two Steps from Heaven”)
Rebecca Zhu (“Dead Wrong”)

Hot favourites this year - Joyce Tang, Grace Wong and Katy Kung

Winner – Katy Kung

Thoughts – Very happy indeed and sort of expected even though was unsure because this year it’s the Best Supporting Actress category that was the talk of the town. Joyce for her comeback in House of Spirits, Grace Wong for her intriguing performance in A Fist within Four Walls, and Katy Kung for her eye-watery performance in Two Steps from Heaven. I think all of them did a fantastic job and am glad that Katy Kung got it. I have seen Katy mature as an actress and she has indeed delivered top-notch performances and it shows with the award proving the nods from the panel & voters. Kudos to Katy Kung who gave an eye-watery speech to her amazement.

Best Supporting Actor
Law Lok Lam (“The Executioner”)
Oscar Leung (“K9 Cop”)
John Chiang (“Short End of the Stick”)
Wai Ka Hung (“Short End of the Stick”)
Raymond Cho (“Short End of the Stick”)
Power Chan (“Short End of the Stick”)
Pal Sinn (“Over Run Over”)
Joel Chan (“Blue Veins”)
Lai Lok Yi (“Presumed Accidents”)
Cheung Wing Hong (“House of Spirits”)
Philip Ng (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Carlo Ng (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Oscar Li (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Jimmy Au (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Hugo Ng (“Brother’s Keeper II”)
Mat Yeung (“Brother’s Keeper II”)
Matthew Ho (“Law dis-Order”)
Ram Chiang (“Law dis-Order”)
Luk Wing (“Two Steps from Heaven”)
Ku Ming Wah (“Dead Wrong”)

Hot favourites this year – Raymond Cho, Philip Ng, Carol Ng, Mat Yeung and others

Winner – Raymond Cho

Thoughts – First of all, truly shocking, with Luk Wing being one of the three finalists who Dodo said she didn’t know he got nominated (whether she was joking or not, pretty sure a lot of others didn’t know he got nominated at all as well) so that was very shocking among all others that could have been nominated. Other finalists include Hugo Ng, who I thought gave an over the top performance in Brothers Keeper that made him a caricature. That being said, I am very glad Raymond Cho got it for his fine-tuned performance in Short End of the Stick. I frankly thought I was dreaming when he got it because he didn’t get recognised for his work of acting for many years, and I shouldn’t have been surprised because the past few years it has been given to dark horse contenders and this year Raymond Cho’s first win before this HK awards ceremony should have given a clear indication that he would take it. Kudos to Raymond Cho!

Most Popular TV Female Character
Akina Hong (“The Executioner”)
Natalie Tong (“Speed of Life”)
Linda Chung (“K9 Cop”)
Lin Xia Wei (“Short End of the Stick”)
Tracy Chu (“Over Run Over”)
Angela Tong (“Come Home Love: Dinner at 8”)
Kay Tse (“Blue Veins”)
Eliza Sam (“My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan”)
Alice Chan (“My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan”)
Koni Lui (“House of Spirits”)
Joyce Tang (“House of Spirits”)
Grace Wong (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Yuen Chau (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Nancy Wu (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Kristal Tin (“Brother’s Keeper II”)
Jacqueline Wong (“Inspector Gourmet”)
Ali Lee (“Law dis-Order”)
Mandy Wong (“Law dis-Order”)
Priscilla Wong (“Two Steps from Heaven”)
Joey Meng (“Dead Wrong”)

Hot favourites – Joyce Tang, Grace Wong, Nancy Wu, Kristal Tin

Winner – Grace Wong

Thoughts – Another shocking result, in a great way. Shocking, in the sense that it is usually reserved for those who are nominated for Best Actress but didn’t get it or was a bonus award if she got it. Grace Wong should have gotten Best Actress anyway for her top-notch performance as Fa Man. She was eye-catching to say the least and very expressive. She too was shocked at her win and again another great speech. In the past I had an issue with Grace Wong for how she delivers her words. It sounded too curvy and was irritating to me, but I did notice her from Tiger Cubs where she got my attention and then Fa Man made me go wow. Kudos to Grace Wong!

Most Popular TV Male Character
Tony Hung (“Angel In-the-Making”)
Jason Chan (“Love as a Predatory Affair”)
Raymond Cho (“Short End of the Stick”)
Wayne Lai (“Short End of the Stick”)
Him Law (“Fashion War”)
Vincent Wong (“Over Run Over”)
Wong Kwong Leung (“My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan”)
Mat Yeung (“My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan”)
Eddie Cheung (“Come with Me”)
Bowie Wu (“House of Spirits”)
Bobby Au Yeung (“House of Spirits”)
Benjamin Yuen (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Ruco Chan (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Hugo Ng (“Brother’s Keeper II”)
Louis Yuen (“Brother’s Keeper II”)
Alex Fong (“Law dis-Order”)
Eddie Kwan (“My Lover from the Planet Meow”)
Louis Cheung (“Two Steps from Heaven”)
Bosco Wong (“Two Steps from Heaven”)
Roger Kwok (“Dead Wrong”)

Hot favourites this year – Vincent Wong, Bobby Au Yeung, Ruco Chan, Roger Kwok

Winner – Benjamin Yuen

Thoughts – Another shocking result. Am satisfied, even though I feel all the actors aforementioned in terms of acting-wise and popularity deserved it more. Benjamin had a very likeable role in A Fist within Four Walls who was calm, observant, and logical in his approaches yet caring and charismatic. His speech was probably the most memorable when he mentioned about Jennifer and not dedicating enough time and effort towards his close ones, such as his family. Everyone could tell that he still indeed loves her and it was likely Jennifer’s insecurity to be the reason but back to the awards kudos to Benjamin who I find rather humble even if his acting is raw.

Best Leading Actress
Maggie Shiu (“The Executioner”)
Kitty Yuen (“Love as a Predatory Affair”)
Samantha Ko (“Love as a Predatory Affair”)
Natalie Tong (“Speed of Life”)
Sisley Choi (“Speed of Life”)
Linda Chung (“K9 Cop”)
Tavia Yeung (“The Last Healer in Forbidden City”)
Teresa Mo (“Come Home Love: Dinner at 8”)
Grace Chan (“Blue Veins”)
Eliza Sam (“My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan”)
Alice Chan (“My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan”)
Selena Li (“Presumed Accidents”)
Sharon Chan (“Come with Me”)
Nancy Wu (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Kristal Tin (“Brother’s Keeper II”)
Ali Lee (“Law dis-Order”)
Mandy Wong (“Law dis-Order”)
Priscilla Wong (“Two Steps from Heaven”)
Joey Meng (“Dead Wrong”)

Hot favourites – Nancy Wu, Kristal Tin

Winner – Nancy Wu

Thoughts – In retrospect, this year’s Best Actress category was worst with really Nancy Wu getting all the praises and mentions from the general public, and Kristal Tin for her emotional scenes in Brother’s Keeper II. Acting wise, I still think there are some who are deserving, like Teresa Mo and Maggie Shiu who were commendable and deserves a mention at least but failed to create a hype like Nancy. Priscilla Wong’s scene with Bosco in the hospital bed and last ending moment when she slyly smiled while dying also deserves a mention. I thought I was dreaming again with Maggie Shiu being in top five because she doesn't seem to get recognised in awards ceremony much. Now back to Nancy Wu. I am satisfied she won because I quite liked her in here. She reminded me of Dodo Cheng as Francis Mo in her other series with the stinginess and shallowness but Nancy’s role was multi-dimensional that required her to be funny, likeable, unlikeable, pitied for, sort of like Charmaine’s Ting Jie role. I think Nancy did great in that scene where Yam Yam died and the moment she changed from being heartbroken of her death to hatred and coldness and then killing all the culprits. Very intriguing scene. Kudos to Nancy Wu.

Best Leading Actor
Kenny Wong (“The Executioner”)
Raymond Wong (“K9 Cop”)
Wayne Lai (“Short End of the Stick”)
Moses Chan (“Fashion War”)
Vincent Wong (“Over Run Over”)
Kevin Cheng (“Blue Veins”)
Kent Cheng (“My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan”)
Lawrence Ng (“Presumed Accidents”)
Bobby Au Yeung (“House of Spirits”)
Ben Wong (“Between Love & Desire”)
Johnson Lee (“Daddy Dearest”)
Benjamin Yuen (“A Fist Within Four Walls”)
Ruco Chan (“A Fist Within Four Walls”) *
Edwin Siu (“Brother’s Keeper II”)
Kenneth Ma (“Inspector Gourmet”)
Alex Fong (“Law dis-Order”)
Liu Kai Chi (“Law dis-Order”)
Louis Cheung (“Two Steps from Heaven”)
Bosco Wong (“Two Steps from Heaven”)
Roger Kwok (“Dead Wrong”) *

Hot favourites – Ruco Chan, Bobby Au Yueng, Roger Kwok

Winner – Ruco Chan

Thoughts – Rans of Ruco will cheer for his big win with him grabbing all three TV King awards this year. I personally prefer Roger Kwok who stole the limelight for his character a Vincent in Dead Wrong, and which again proved how versatile and masterful he is as an actor. When his series ending was shown a day before the awards ceremony, everyone predicted he would win but at the end of the day it’s still Ruco. I think Ruco was very expressive and top-notch with his role in A Fist Within Four Walls with his character was sort of drown in the sea of pointlessness, buried in the sinkhole of the series latter half. This win is pretty much Ruco’s verification of him being the biggest star of TVB right now, and he deserves it. Kudos to Ruco!

Best Series
“Angel In-the-Making”
“The Executioner”
“Love as a Predatory Affair”
“Speed of Life”
“K9 Cop”
“Short End of the Stick”
“Fashion War”
“Over Run Over”
“The Last Healer in Forbidden City”
“Come Home Love: Dinner at 8”
“Blue Veins”
“ICAC Investigators 2016”
“My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan”
“Presumed Accidents”
“Come with Me”
“House of Spirits”
“Between Love & Desire”
“Daddy Dearest”
“A Fist Within Four Walls”
“Brother’s Keeper II”
“Inspector Gourmet”
“Law dis-Order”
“No Reserve”
“My Lover from the Planet Meow”
“Two Steps from Heaven”
“Dead Wrong”

Hot favourites this year – House of Spirits, A Fist Within Four Walls

Winner – A Fist within Four Walls

Thoughts – Highly expected this result and again satisfied. It was a very intriguing show even if it died down to nothing really exciting. Great kung fu scenes, some nice dialogues, great characters and wonderful performances secured his series to be a high performer rating and word of mouth wise. House of Spirits on the hand, also stands in the high tier with fantastic chemistry of the casts, heart-warming performances and a story that was interesting yet but it didn’t all go out or wasn’t bold enough like A Fist Within Four Walls. A Fist Within Four Walls tried to be a master of everything, being comedic, being serious, being action-packed, being emotional, being heartwarming and everything but it lacked a coherent storyline. Nevertheless, kudos!

Other mentions goes to the professional artiste awards. First up was Koo Ming Wah with was surprising since he may be perceived as someone who is not a veteran and already someone who won a supporting actor role, thus not an expected person to be in the calibre of veterans list for this award but it was well-deserved after knowing how many years he has been in TVB and all the roles his dedicated and tried, minor or major, disgusting or sensible, despicable or likeable, he's done it all, professionally. Congratulations.

Congratulations to Carol Ng who deserved it despite his lack of presence in HKTVB in recent years. I always found him someone who is talented in comedy and a complementary actor in TV series and he managed to give a chilling performance as a villain in A Fist Within Four Walls. Great speech with him thanking his wife.

I don't remember the name of the last award recipient but he indeed has a face we are all familiar with. I can still remember him from War of the Genders and I feel he is a heartfelt actor who again puts in a lot of effort to his roles, big or small. Good to see him again and I congratulate him.

Ah yes. The chicken segment, was bold, and perhaps funny, at the same time. As you may know, HKTVB got fined last time for cross-promotion with the actors eating KFC chicken during the awards ceremony. This time they got chicken, but not by KFC, and made by the celebrity chefs from TVB. I laughed when this again and it was a bold move from HKTVB that perhaps showed their power and unapologetic from last time while promoting their original celebrity food shows. At least HKTVB's got guts.

This time round, also, Carol Cheng shined as a host. I started to dislike her with all the nuisance, loud and dominating vibe she gives when hosting, and it's still here, but she lightened up a bit this year and toned down to being funny and complementary with the other hosts. My favourite moment was when the trio was mocking what they should do when they get the award or when they do not. The award candidates also laughed.

I will not mention about the other awards but I feel in general all the award recipients were well-deserved. A big applause to TVB this year for being different, especially starting off with the mannequin challenge which got my attention straight away and it was refreshing to say the least. With the brilliant talent of the artists in TVB world, I hope next year there will be explosive series filled with plentiful performances that will make next year’s TVB Awards Ceremony a seriously competitive one!

TVB Love as a Predatory Affair 愛情食物鏈 Review

This series knew it had nothing really much to offer, so it tried hard to make it interesting, meaningful and thought-proactive, when really it just tries to send one simple message; don't judge a book by it's cover.

If only I judged the serial's cover and decide not to watch it.

One of my least anticipated series of 2016, it was embarrassing to watch the sales presentation clip where the CGI was awful to say the least, the cast was weak and the storyline looked nothing particularly interesting. Does this mean this series is pure trash? Perhaps, but it was still watchable because of several redeeming factors.

The redeeming factors is the ok performance by the cast. King Kong as Hung Sin played a role that was obviously was tailored for him, with his Taiwanese background. What I don't understand is his perseverance and love towards Hestia (portrayed by Samantha Ko). He was amused at Hestia's eye-watching figure, but what else? Doesn't that make his blind love swallow? His character was silly to say the least but King Kong didn't fortunately tried the best to make his character watchable.

Lau Kong as Lau Kam was also fine. Not much to comment on his veteran performance but it was adequate. Lau Kong these days seem to the TVB producer's first choice for any veteran role (also because there aren't many left), but at least Lau Kong does the job. Hestia's mum/mom was also fine though she acts the same way. For instance I watched her performance in 'Beneath the Charm' which was 2005 series and now here her expressions was almost the same! At least she's consistent.

Same goes for Susan Tse whose performance was adequate although she is in the danger zone for getting sidekick roles now. In the past, she would have been offered grand roles with heaps of room to show her acting chops such as in Rosy Business, Beyond the Realm of Conscience and a few other series, but now she seems to be underappreciated as an actress. Pity I say.

Pat Poon as Lo Sat gave another adequate performance but a dejavu one. His facial expressions and interpretation in terms of characterisation was almost identical to his role in 'All That is Bitter is Sweet'. No much to comment since he didn't have much to do.

Not much to comment about Susan and Pat's children in the series, except that their acting abilities left much to desire.

Ronald Law gave a decent performance. He looked the part and played the part well. Same goes for Tavia's sister and Timothy. Credit however goes to the little kid who was rather funny and attention-grabbing as a spoiled and demanding son.

Should I get to the big three main character? Should I?

Ok. Samantha, Kitty and Jason did ok in their respective roles but again left much to be desired.

First, Samantha Ko. Have yet to have a favourite performance of her's except for maybe when she in 'Friendly Fire'. In here her role was also tailored to her. Someone looking dashing, but can't cook. She relies on her good friend Kitty who on the other hand can cook but short. I think Samantha gave a good performance as Hestia. At times she is a bit shaky, but she did fine in some scenes, especially those that required minimal but expressive indicators, like the slight gesture of guilt or uncertainty in her expressions. That being said, I still don't think she carried the series as being the lead and found her character to be highly insulting to those who have good looks but with good personality. Deep inside, she is a nice person, but her desires to be rich and be into fame and her wants to wipe her less flashy background setting makes her quite disgusting and blind in seeing what is right and what is wrong, what is worth it and what isn't, and what is decency. Put it this way, this character could have been multi-dimensional and Samantha make it two-dimensional although it could be four-dimensional. At least it wasn't one-dimensional.

Yep one-dimensional is Jason Chan. I am still baffled how like many others in this series can interpret his character in a similar light to all his other roles. His tone of speech, his repetitive hand movements, the uncertain or speechlike expressions and his effortless attempt at bringing his character to life. Give this to Raymond Lam or Ruco Chan or even to Kenneth Ma and I'm sure they would do a much better job. That being said, I will stop short of calling it a rubbish performance by Jason Chan but simply an inadequate one. He is stuck to one-dimensional expression and while he matched and managed to convince what his character is, a nice, well-mannered and gentle person. At the end, Jason gave a minimal and bland portrayal of what his Pete could display.

 Did Kitty fare any better? Yes she did. As Kwai-Fong she did fine although again nothing spectacular. The producers of this series focused on her and I think she is the lead in this series. Like her role 16 years again in 'War of the Genders' she is innocent-looking, bubbly and kind-heartened type of girl. Small, but does a big favour to others such as Hestia. She is someone you would want to be friends with. I do think Kitty gave a consistent performance.

It wasn't the performances though that dragged this series down, but rather the simplicity and underwhelming storyline of this series that might turn others off.

P.S Stephanie Ho was refreshing in this series. She didn't have much to add to the storyline in this series yet gave a memorable performance as a restaurant worker and self-driven type of person. Watch her performance to know what I mean.

There's one thing that I am sure some will tell me, don't like it, don't watch it. But I watched it before I failed to dislike it even though there were a lot of unlikeable aspects in this series. I managed to watch it without much problem. Primarily because it was simple to watch. It's an old formula that TVB producers have long produced once again and again, but I guess it was a watchable series. That being said, my verdict is watch it if you have time, watch it if you can swallow anything, and watch it expecting... well nothing.

TVB K9 Cop 警犬巴打 Brief Episode Thoughts - Ep 2

This episodes introduces us to Linda Chung, who is typecast into sweet lady roles. In here I like the fact that this character is perseverant, patient and professional. She has a compassion towards dogs and she will do whatever it takes to save them.

I think Linda is doing fine at the moment.

Thus far my favourite scene of Linda is her sweet I.Q retorts to Angel Chiang who was a sook and an annoying shopper or HK citizen.

In TVB's world, of course coincidences happen all the time and this time it appears that Linda was actually retorting to her brother's wife.

Oscar is back to raw acting but at times he was subtle. Not a bad performance.

Angel or Angie or Angle was again irritating as someone who disregards politeness and

This episode was mainly about Linda, so no comment about the others.

Am still hardly wowed by this series, but will still be watching.

TVB Short End Of The Stick - 公公出宮 Episode 1-4 Brief Thoughts

Back in 2012 I watched The Confident and ended up disliking the series for the rather empty plot and bland characterisations, which left me unamused for any sequels or spin-offs. But seems like this series can succeed without relying on the success on The Confident.

You can say Short End of the Stick is the spin-off sequel version of The Confidant. A lot of the main characters back, though different role. Same producer, but different formula. In this case, it's comedy and it's working great.

Episode 1 had me intrigued from the start to the end. It's refreshing to see a storyline on eunuchs who are dismissed after the collapse of the Qing Dynasty. Where will they be going? Are they going to be accepted in the society of the new revolution? So far, Wayne, Power and Raymond all master their roles as eunuchs. Some might think they look like sissies but they are funny without going over the top. 

Nancy Wu's costume looks great with a dose of authoritativeness and status attached to it, but I think she is lacking something at the moment. I find Nancy Wu a very competent actress but failed to see anything hilarious about her here. Her expressions thus far are rather bland. Either she is worried looking or silent. Perhaps she is a miscast and Sheren Tang or Charmaine Sheh might do a better job. 

Wayne is awesome and surprised me because of his great portrayal as a funny eunuch. He didn't hold back acting feminine (like he was in The Confidant). 

I have a few doubts about Edwin who has yet to prove how good or how bad he is. 

There are rather a few sore points thus far though. I am quite irritated by Grace Wong who speaks so bubbly, so fluffy and so high in all her roles, including this one. Yoyo also is rather inadequate with her one dimensional expressions at the moment. 

By the way, the theme song is well sung. 

So far, it's the main male leads and that little kid's great performances, along with some brilliant lines and story that makes me want to watch. Everything else is worth ignoring. 

=

TVB K9 Cop 警犬巴打 Episode Brief Thoughts - Episode 1

Watched the first episode.

Prior to watching this first episode I watched its sale presentation and was sort of anticipating it. For me I say the first episode was ok and very ordinary.

We are introduced to Fire Water Sir and Loser Sir (hope I got the names right) who are besties and also police colleagues (I find it bizarre how they are always together in the shifts). At the start of the episode we are introduced with some action scenes of Bosco trying to follow this guy who has a USB that contains evidence sufficient to arrest the main culprit, who is depicted as an supersized woman in this series. While Bosco was responsible in trying to find him, Raymond was in charge of making sure that woman doesn't go to the airport and leave. For the first ten minutes I was intrigued with the action, whilst I have some doubts on the cinematography, how the camera seems to be shaky unsteadily.

Another moment that I remember was Raymond and Tracy, who are a couple. Tracy doesn't like the fact that Raymond is a cop (due to its dangerous nature with the possibility of him being killed while on duty), and Raymond has no desire to manage his parent's rich business of restaurants and what's not. What an extraordinary storyline.

Here we also see two Koo Ming Wah (TVB had to make use the same actor for the two roles) and coincidentally one Ming Wah is friends with Bosco's sister while the other is back from jail and is angry at his brother for dubbing him in 8 years ago. Again I feel the plot is very familiar and nothing original.

Performance wise, Bosco is nicely cast into Fire Water Sir who makes the right expressions, without going over the top. Raymond is also fine at the moment. That Angel girl really reminded me of Come Home Love with that hairstyle, headphones and house-setting. Felt like she came right after acting for Come Home Love. As for Tracy, am not too keen on her voice that is a bit shaky and her rather off-key Cantonese (don't know why) but think she is ok.

Had trouble trying to watch the full of this episode and I am ready to be bashed by fans, as it seems like this series is getting a lot of positive reviews thus far. As for me, so far my impressions of this series is light-heartened, nothing too serious and nothing too funny. Can't say it's a comedy because I didn't laugh at all except found the scene where Bosco was ringing Tracy, then Raymond and then the restaurant to be a bit funny.

No Linda tonight.

I won't give up on this series yet.

Love as a Predatory Affair - Thoughts so far

Haven't been addicted to TVB lately, but still watching some of their series, like Come Home Love II and Love as a Predatory Affair.

I was ready to blast this series but as it is ending, it's not bad. By not bad I mean some decent performances, even though strictly speaking Jason Chan was effective but not a sublte actor. 

The story isn't something extraordinary. Some might think it's cheesy, some might think it's old story and it is indeed. But even formulaic stories can be enjoyable to watch. 

Samantha Ko unexpectedly was fine as Gou Fen and Kitty was fine as well.

Might make a review on this series. 

Overall Review of TVB Series in 2014

Since I have watched quite a lot of TVB series from 2014 I might as well make a round-up commentary about them. Some of them I only watched a little bit while others I watched all the episodes. 

Guide: The series title coloured in green means highly recommended for me, yellow means the series is so-so and red means must avoid at all cost!

NOTE: I only commented for some series as I left the rest and left it as a draft until now, and my thoughts of the other series I've watched are a bit blurry. Sorry!

TVB Series	Awards Won
Return of the Silver Tongue 舌劍上的公堂	Comment: I only watched bits and pieces of this series so no comment.
Outbound Love 單戀雙城	Comment: I only watched around half of the series so no comment.
Storm in a Cocoon 守業者	Theme: Silk Business, Mystery, Period Drama What I've got to say about this series: This is a fantastic series that will get you guessing 'who killed the elder sister' and keep you anticipated for the next episode. It marks the comeback of Steven Ma who I think performed very well as some-one good-hearted yet unscrupulous in his actions. The plot is equally as good as the performances with red-herrings everywhere on who is the murderer. I admit the ending is lame but the performances from everyone redeemed the series. The English name itself is even outstanding; 'Storm in a Cocoon' - sounds mighty dramatic and relevant to the storyline. A Must Watch. What people have said about this series: This series got quite a lot of noise from Steven Ma and Tavia Yeung fans. Netizens praised this series as unpredictable and highly addictive. Also, Tavia Yeung's "excessive" lip-gloss garnered a lot of comment. Ratings-wise this series performed well with a peak rating of 35. Most Memorable Scene You Must Watch: The wedding scene (in Episode 25) of 'Ka Yeung' and 'Bing Bing' and where Chi Yan protested their marriage. It was Tavia Yeung's best moment where she said "So what I am re-marrying? Why should I reject someone who truly loves me? I married to the wrong person last time, but this time I won't. I will remarry no matter what, and I will say it loudly and proudly!"The dialogue in that scene was perfect and at the same time it was very dramatic.
Swipe Tap Love 愛我請留言	TVB Anniversary Awards 2014 ·         Most Improved Female Artiste: Priscilla Wong
Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain 寒山潛龍	Comment: Only watched a little bit so no comment.
Rear Mirror 載得有情人	Comment: Only watched a little bit so no comment.  What I've got to say about this series: What other people have said about this series: Most Memorable Scene:
All That is Bitter is Sweet 大藥坊	Theme: Medicine Business, Period Drama What I've got to say about this series: I didn't feel much for the characters in this series. Linda Chung as "Gaai Kei' was painful to watch with her being so stressed all the time. On the other hand, Sammy Sum did great as someone ruthless and corrupted. Natalie Tong's character was too depressing for me to care. When I first watched the trailer in TVB's Sales Presentation I was thrilled to watch this as it seemed to be a series about empowerment and inspiration but at the end of the day it was more about corruption and power abuse and people with a big ego. The English name for this series in my opinion is too long, just like how the series itself was too long. What other people have said about this series: This series didn't get much attention despite it being quite anticipated. Surprisingly Ruco did great but not much comment from fans about his performance in here. Overall, word of mouth and ratings suffered. Most Memorable Scene: Definitely Raymond Wong's death scene. His tragic death was totally avoidable but he died on the hands of Linda's father who was too over-confident with his diagnosis. I liked the dialogue between Raymond and Linda where he said "We will live together in harmony and next second spat blood to Linda's father's face. Dramatic.
Come on, Cousin 老表，你好hea！	Theme: Supermarket Business, Comedy, Modern What I've got to say about this series: A very witty series. Despite all the criticism towards this series, I still found it very funny and clever, making it one of the most funniest TVB series I have ever watched. Wong Cho Lam did great as a scriptwriter with the funny gags that he thought of - the whole 'Shirley shark thing and I love eating shark fin thing', 'the I want to inherit my father's business mockery situation'. I found Roger Kwok's character to be very entertaining to watch with his now classical quote "How organic!" The downfall of this series though was that sometimes it was a bit lame and direction-less. One moment it focused on the supermarket business then it was something about awards ceremony. Compared to Inbound Troubles, this series lacked consistency but for me the chemistry of the cast and the performances redeemed this series. What other people have said about this series: Even though it was one of three TVB Anniversary Series of the year, it didn't get a positive reception from the audience but apparently it was too lame for people to watch. Overall, people felt disappointed about this series. Most Memorable Scene: For me it was definitely Roger Kwok's learning how to become a politician scene (in episode 19 I presume) where he had to convince the shoppers in the supermarket whether to buy pork or to not. One moment he said that pork is very nutritious for everyone to eat (convincing the shoppers to buy the pork), then warning them of the risks of eating pork (convincing the shoppers to feel too scared to buy pork), then saying pork's risk is actually very minimal (making them want to buy pork again) and then crying how because of fulfilling people's desire to eat pork a pig's life has to be sacrificed (making them not buy pork at the end). I found that scene to be very very very funny and proves why Roger Kwok is a brilliant actor.
Coffee Cat Mama 貓屎媽媽	Theme: Cafe Business, Comedy, Modern What I've got to say about this series: A highly entertaining series that grabs your attention with the limitless funny scenes and refreshing cast. Even though I hated the ending of the series where it ended so miserably, I've got to say it was consistently engaging to watch with limitless funny gags and the great performances by Bosco, Eliza and Vincent. A must watch for a few good laughs but don't except a great storyline or plot because there isn't really. P.S The English name sounds too confusing. What other people have said about this series: With a graveyard slot, unsurprisingly people were either out on holidays or overseas so probably not many people cared about this hidden gem. There was a rather debate from Nancy Wu's dedicated fans complaining about Eliza Sum being the leading lady when in fact Nancy Wu should of been. (I thought Eliza did fine in Coffee Cat Mama though). Most Memorable Scene: There was this scene where Bao Chi Tai (Bosco Wong) was talking with his best friend how he was sorry he accused him of stealing money in the Cafe restaurant and it seemed like they were confessing their love to one another like a couple and then suddenly comes a bunch of ordinary HK people saying "It's ok you two are in love, Hong Kong is very open now so no need to be scared". I laughed at that scene so badly.

Louis Cheng (張繼聰) - Brief Brief Thoughts abt him

What I know about him already: Kay Tse's husband, a singer and actor and dancer, only starred in TVB series not long ago, TVB Most Improved Male Artist, someone with rough skin but awesome actor.

What Wikipedia taught me about him: He is also a songwriter and even written songs for big HK singers such as Joey Yung and Eason Chan and has been in TV shows for longer than I thought.

My thoughts about him: I admire Louis Cheng since I find as someone humble and thankful in his achievements. People may say he doesn't have good lucks to appeal viewers but he definitely has the acting chops to attract the audience's attention. Rewind a few years back and I would of not heard about him but now he is popular in TVB and even promoted to leading actor.

TVB Eye in the Sky Theme Song

I played the theme song for the series, "Eye in the Sky" and it sounds pretty good. After listening to it a couple more times, if you pay special attention to the lyrics it sort of gives you a gist of what the storyline is about.

TVB Eye in the Sky 天眼 Review (2015) Brief Thoughts

I have just finished watching Episode 20 (the last episode) and I have come to the conclusion that this is not a bad series at all, just sometimes silly or cringe-worthy moments.

This series revolves around two biological twin brothers (Szeto Shun and Lik Hang) who reunite after more than 30 years of separation due a midwife selling Lik Hang to another family. Lik Hang endures a rough life having a pitiful childhood and the only light in the sea of darkness for him was Terry (portrayed by Tony Hung) who decided to take care of him and they become best buddies. The duo would then seek fortune by means of committing thief. This is in contrast to Szeto Shun, who instead enjoys a happy childhood with his parents beside him the whole time, leading way for him to become a policeman. One incident of Lik Hang committing arson however has led to the attention of Szeto Shun who was eager to find his twin brother. With the help of Jan (portrayed by Tavia Yeung), they eventually find Lik Hang and the drama begins of betrayal, jealousy, misunderstanding and mistrust, leading to a final showdown between the two brothers. 

Characters:

Szeto Shun (portrayed by Kevin Cheng).

Some would say Szeto Sir is the goody-goody in this series but he is not perfect or flawless. Szeto in the series would do anything to save his brother from committing crime again, whether it meant breaking his principles or spying on others. 

Kevin Cheng > I am impressed by his performance as someone who is serious-looking, unemotional and intelligent. 

In my opinion, Kevin had the equal opportunity to flourish like Ruco and he did do well generally but not at the same standard as Ruco. This is because acting is not second-nature to him and he is not a naturally gifted actor. As much as he tries to act well, it sometimes seem to look too forced or deliberate. 

Lik Hang (portrayed by Ruco Chan)

This Lik Hang is a calculative, angry and blind fella. 

I liked the fact how although he is not a psychopath, he is someone filled with hatred and his grudge will over-weigh whatever conscience he has left. I also liked how this series did not make him a changed person because at the end who he cares is winning. He is jealous on the fact hat his brother Szeto has always been well-respected and superior compared to him and he wants to be the one winning.  

Favourite acting scene - The scene where he watched Hor Yee Gu bleed to death. At first it looked like he was concerned for her and was about to see how she was, but then he had a headache and flashbacks of his past emerged. Feeling angry he watches in satisfaction for an agonising five minutes until she finally dies. Ruco then looks up the sky and smiles as in justice has been done. That was one of the many fine acting moments by Ruco and I applaud him for that. In this series you can tell he is a great actor by the fact that he doesn't seem like his trying to act. His hand guestures, his eye expressions all seem natural so you will be convinced of his acting. 

Ruco Chan > I don't have a clear favourite role of Ruco because frankly he excels in basically who the roles that he is offered and this one is no exception. 

Jan (portrayed by Tavia Yeung) - So far 2015 most wasted female character. I was so eager to see her as an assassin (that was instead given to Vivien Yeo) but instead she was a naive, stupid and rather shallow Jan which was wholly disappointing. What makes things even worse is when she gets considerable time-screen and her scenes w

Favourite acting scene - I guess the first episode where although silly she used her photographic memory skills to escape from the gangsters running after her. 

Another thing that the scriptwriters seem to ignore the fact who killed King Kong? Obviously it was Lik Hang who shot him to prevent him from saying his name but no mention of this throughout the whole series. 

Law Lan - A good performance by Law Lan and Samantha Ko did well. 

Another downfall was this series was how small-scaled and convenient everything was. 

Recommended or not? Definitely worth a watch for Ruco, Kevin and Lau Kong (when we see his true face) scenes. The rest like Tavia and her dad's scenes are all just an overdose for this already short series. Watch it for some brilliant acting, watch it for some dramatic moments and watch it for some heart-wrenching dialogue. But that aside prepare for some stupidity, shallowness and silliness that will equally be scattered throughout the episodes. It's your call.

The Legend of Zhen Huan Brief Thoughts

This is a series that I have previously never intended to watch at all. Interestingly, I really only paid attention to this series when I was watching "The War of the Beauties" and some netizens pointed out that the plot of that series was similar to the one for this series. Given that I was quite impressed with the plot of "The War of the Beauties" and my fascination of Chinese Ancient History, I decided to give this series a try and I don't regret it.

The Legend of Zhen Huan is a palace drama that revolves around the struggles and journey of Zhen Huan who eventually becomes in charge of the harem at the end. Born with a natural beauty and equipped with a sweet charm, she gain favours of the emperor and causes jealousy among some of the concubines (especially Consort Hua and the Empress). Both Consort Hua and the empress do whatever it takes to eliminate Zhen Huan but this only toughens up Zhen Huan ultimately not to take revenge but to be determined to stick up for herself.

No doubt this series was a big hit in Mainland China and other parts of Asia (Japan). Whilst I was impressed with this drama in general, it isn't without its flaws.

At many times this series could have just move forward quicker but refused to do so. Don't mistaken me as the pacing was ok but some dialogue was irritatingly long. There were too much fidgeting in my opinion; a few seconds would be wasted for some characters just to sit down, the overall dialogue is slow with the actors having a tendency to speak rather slow and just some lines that could be cut out completely. Yes these problems are quite petty and slow but if you add them together it can become quite menacing to watch at times. This series was 72 episodes and it could have been more exciting and enjoyable to watch with an adjustment of 25 episodes.

Lack of character development was also another issue that dragged down this series. Looking at it optimistically it's a good thing to just focus on the lead actors but I thought that there were quite a few pointless characters such as Huan Bi and etc.

Performances along ,this series boasted of some fine acting by some actors and actresses that I do not recognise until now.

For instance, Ada Choi was the only few of a small handful of artists I know. I've never really cared about Ada Choi or any of her roles in TVB before (the last memorable performance was when she portrayed the third sister in the Gem of Life?). That being said Ada is not a bad actress. In this series she did a decent job in portraying the phony, jealous and pretentious empress. She smiles with an obvious fakeness but it does in a way look as if she is generous and caring. She does stare at counterparts with some sense of suspicion and makes it as if she looks down at them (to create a sense of authority). The most memorable scene of her would probably be when she was trying to justify her evil deeds to the emperor by blaming him for neglecting her and favouring other girls.

Next one will be Betty Sun who was of course the lead actress in the series. I've never watched any of her series before but from this role of her alone as Zhen Huan she did impress me as a highly capable actress. There were many scenes that she did very much.

Overall a decent series.

TVB's Captain of Destiny <張保仔> Brief Review

Captain of Destiny is a TVB production that revolves on the historical Qing Period where the conflict between pirates and the Qing army came to a peak.

My thoughts on this series? I highly enjoyed it.

Performances alone, some excelled. Ruco Chan as 11th Prince/ Man-Ho - Man-Ho is someone rather eager, filial at times and sometimes nice heartened. Man ho can be said to be quite over eager and ambitious, where his actions of be the hero of the day by travelling to places to solve crimes and investigate bribery however does not earn him much credit by the emperor. Instead, Man-Ho gets cold treatment by the brother as well as his brothers, but Man-Ho is by no means undeterred. He nominates himself to become the lead commander in destroying the pirates down in Southern China.

Ruco gave an explosive performance with his role as Man-Ho. He was convincing as assertive, cunning, though quite stubborn. Ruco made his character as someone you will cheer for.

Joel Chan as Wong Yat-Hin stole some limelight with some attention-demanding performance as a merchant. I never quite enjoyed any of Joel's performances in the past (with the exception of the Last Steep Ascent) but I think he fitted his role very well. Sometimes you will feel his Wong Yat-Hin is a bastard, other times you will respect him.

Grace Chan portrayed Wong Tai Mui, who is supposed to be cutesy, opinionated and have a strong personality. By that I mean being stubborn and sticking to her own set of values and beliefs and judging everyone else's as 'wrong'. That already makes her character quite annoying but Grace miraculously managed to make it highly irritating by the end of this series.

No doubt Grace Chan gave an over the top performance. Most of the time she would yell, scream and move dramatically. By that I mean big body movements that were out of shape or looked unusual for the situation. You can say she was a pain to watch in this series with the uncontrolled and loud performance, but there were some redeeming factors such as her expressive facial expressions I think she perfected in some of the rare scenes of this series. Back at the start of the series, her sister was mentioning, "Are there no more good men left in this world?" and Grace said, "Well, there still is" and smiled to the night sky. In the first episode as well Grace was trying to stop a car with the hostage in there and her face of suspecting something was wrong was well done as well. Grace Chan excels when it comes to expressions in my opinion but unfortunately she has to tone down. Her boyfriend Kevin Cheng perfectly translated her performance, "Grace used to too much effort. When you put too much effort it means you didn't put any effort at all" meaning it's inappropriate to always be too hyper. That being said, this horrid performance still cannot deny the greatness of her two performances in 'Overachievers' and 'Raising the Bar' and I'm sure Grace has got the message from everyone so I'm confident she will only get better for 'Blue Veins' and 'Brother's Keeper II'.

As always, Lau Kong gives a competent performance as the emperor even if his emperor was weird. I couldn't read the emperor's mind, did he want the brothers to treat each other peacefully and with virtue or did he not mind them being acting their self-interest? I feel that his character was badly written and inconsistent sometimes.

Elaine Yiu as Imperial Consort Yim - Sorry but Elaine's performance compared to the others was sub-par. The way she speak was no means scary and she lacked aura.

Imagine if the producers casted better actors. Ruco Chan as 11th prince and others like Him Law, Vincent Wong as the other princes, perhaps Charmaine Sheh as Consort Yim. This series would have done much better.

My verdict of this series is that it excelled with some great acting, explosive war battles, grand scenes, sharp dialogue, some impressive computer generated effects, exceptionally nice filming location and sets and a not too bad story with a fusion of palace drama, pirates and navy conflicts. But, a big but, is that this series flattered with the irritating emergence of Wong Tai Mui, Tony Hung's unremarkable performance and a lot of stupid moments.

Worth a watch but prepare for cringing.

2015 Miss Hong Kong Winner: My Thoughts on Louisa Mak

I have watched Miss HK Pageant recently and without any surprise Lousia Mak (Contestant Number 1) was the winner, garnering a staggering amount of over 90,000 votes from Hong Kong fans. I congratulate Louisa Mak for being the champion but for reasons I am feeling that TVB is benefiting from her rather her benefiting from being a Miss Hong Kong. The way TVB also promoted Miss Hong Kong was cringe worthy to be honest. It was advertisements of previous winners such as Grace Chan talking about being famous and getting to fame as being the purpose of winning (in which it is), but the fact they shamelessly advertised Miss HK to be like that is cringe-worthy.

FanBingBing's performance in 'Empress of China'

As you may have realised, I 'was' currently watching TVB's edition of 'Empress of China', which circles around the struggles of Meiliang and how she transitions from an innocent and compassionate girl to a bitter and less forgiving Empress. Her role itself offers plenty opportunity to show off some great acting chops in a lot of scenes, but most of the time I feel FanBingBing gives an effortless performance that drags the whole series down. The main reason was because she hardly emoted. She was either a little bit shocked (with her mouth one quarter open) or looking innocent and pure with her eyes wide open and curious. A one dimensional performance for a role that had heaps of opportunity to display one's acting ability. The uninspiring storyline doesn't help much either. If this role was given to Betty Sun (the lead actress from The Legend of Zhen Huan, i'm sure the series will be much better overall). What a pity.

My Picks for this year's 48th TVB Anniversary Awards 2015 and my final thoughts of the award ceremony

The whole nomination list has been released so time for me to unravel my mere thoughts on who I think deserves an award, based on their acting abilities for their respective roles.

Scroll down for overall thoughts of the Awards Ceremony and my thoughts of the award recipients. 

“Best Actor” nominees:
1. Mak Cheung-ching — Come Home Love
2. Johnson Lee — Officer Geomancer
3. Edwin Siu — Madam Cutie On Duty
4. Ben Wong — Raising the Bar
5. Him Law — Young Charioteers
6. Kevin Cheng — Eye In the Sky
7. Joe Ma — Smooth Talker
8. Damian Lau — Limelight Years
9. Moses Chan — Ghost of Relativity
10. Vincent Wong — Brick Slaves
11. Chin Ka-lok — The Fixer
12. Louis Cheung — Momentary Lapse of Reason
13. Ruco Chan — Captain of Destiny
14. Tony Hung — Captain of Destiny
15. Bosco Wong — Under the Veil
16. Bobby Au-yeung — With or Without You
17. Anthony Wong — Lord of Shanghai
18. Wayne Lai — Lord of Shanghai
19. Kent Tong — Lord of Shanghai
20. Kenneth Ma — Lord of Shanghai

My top five explained (In no particular order):

Kevin Cheng - Eye of the Sky 
Thoughts: I enjoyed Kevin's portrayal of Szetou Sir. He was stony yet you could somehow see his through eye expressions and small gestures like clamping hands together when he is in deep thought or confused. I do think it was his breakthrough performance and one of the few roles that I highly enjoyed.

Wayne Lai - Lord of Shanghai
Thoughts: A lot of people felt he was over the top and indeed he was, but Wayne was also subtle who unleashed himself as someone aggressive and scrupulous. Although he was cold-blooded and crazy, his Shan was someone who cared about his family deep inside, even though he would always yell at them. The portrayal of this character by Wayne Lai shows the greatness of his acting.

Louis Cheung - Momentary Lapse of Reason
Thoughts: You can say this is his first bona-fide leading role (as well as Raising the Bar), and Louis did not disappoint. As always, he is expressive in his eyes and he gave this character some dimensions of caring for others. The reason I think his acting top-notch is because he doesn't need to be lot in this series to get people's attention, where his silent moments are in itself powerful. A good performance I say.


Ruco Chan - Captain of Destiny
Thoughts: Ruco was great as the 11th prince. He emoted well and brought his character to life, even though he did look odd for me in a historical setting. He was also mainly in the scenes that was my favourite, such as crying and kneeling towards his dead brother with the emperor looking behind. Ruco deserves heaps of credit for this role. 

Anthony Wong - Lord of Shanghai
Thoughts: Truth to be told, I wasn't used to his Shanghainese accent throughout the series but what stood out for me was his subtle expressions. There's nothing really wrong about Anthony Wong's (yes I did that) acting in here. He way he sat down, the way he was staring and the way he was walking was very subtle. He performed well for a series that turned out to be rather mediocre. 


“Best Actress” nominees:
1. Priscilla Wong — Madam Cutie On Duty
2. Elaine Yiu — Raising the Bar
3. Grace Chan — Raising the Bar
4. Nancy Sit — My “Spiritual” Ex-Lover
5. Sisley Choi — Young Charioteers
6. Kate Tsui — Smooth Talker
7. Elena Kong — Smooth Talker
8. Liza Wang — Limelight Years
9. Linda Chung — Limelight Years
10. Kristal Tin — Ghost of Relativity
11. Nancy Wu — Ghost of Relativity
12. Selena Li — Brick Slaves
13. Mandy Wong — The Fixer
14. Myolie Wu — Every Step You Take
15. Tavia Yeung — Momentary Lapse of Reason
16. Rosina Lam — Momentary Lapse of Reason
17. Eliza Sam — Under the Veil
18. Joey Meng — With or Without You
19. Louisa So — Lord of Shanghai
20. Alice Chan — Lord of Shanghai

My top five explained (In no particular order):

Grace Chan - Raising the Bar
Thoughts: Yes she bombed it in Captain of Destiny but in Raising the Bar her performance was eye-opening. Grace Chan did a terrific job in bring the character Giselle to life, as someone charming and genuine. I was turned off by her pretentious way of trying to appear 'Australian', but you won't notice it unless you're from Australia. Grace Chan's best performance to date and I applaud TVB for nominating her for this character instead of Wong Dai Mui.

Liza Wang - Limelight Years
Thoughts: Liza did a nice job here. To be honest I didn't get much chance to watch this series but from the glimpses of what I saw she looked well-cast and I didn't find much flaws in her performance. The reason I liked her performance because even if her face is quite frozen you can still the right expressions, such as guilt, worry and regrets.

Kristal Tin - Ghost of Relativity
Thoughts: I was highly impressed by Kristal Tin in here. Surprisingly, she can be really funny and look naturally funny. It seemed like she didn't put much effort but she managed to make May an intriguing and convincing lady. In here her May had good comedic timing and she was article in delivering her lines. My favourite performance of hers so say and she definitely deserves an award.

Nancy Wu - Ghost of Relativity
Thoughts: Compared to Kristal, Nancy was less funny, but Nancy was awesome in a way. As audience we could sympathise with her Gin as a ghost or electromagnetic wave that not experienced an innocent and avoidable death, but the suffering of not being able to live or be an human again like her surroundings. Nancy excelled in those quiet moments and refreshing to say the least.

Elena Kong - Smooth Talker
Thoughts: Not much attention was given to Elena's role in this series but she was stellar. First it seemed like she was on steroids. I could she was giving everything in for this character just like her role from Bounty Lady. Hard to explain but she was expressive, funny and gave a smoothing performance.

“Favourite Male Character” nominees:
1. Oscar Leung — Officer Geomancer
2. Edwin Siu — Madam Cutie On Duty
3. Ben Wong — Raising the Bar
4. Him Law — Young Charioteers
5. Kevin Cheng — Eye In the Sky
6. Damian Lau — Limelight Years
7. Moses Chan — Ghost of Relativity
8. Vincent Wong — Brick Slaves
9. Benjamin Yuen — The Fixer
10. Louis Cheung — Momentary Lapse of Reason
11. Mat Yeung — Momentary Lapse of Reason
12. Ruco Chan — Captain of Destiny
13. Tony Hung — Captain of Destiny
14. Bosco Wong — Under the Veil
15. Joseph Lee — Under the Veil
16. Bobby Au-yeung — With or Without You
17. Anthony Wong — Lord of Shanghai
18. Wayne Lai — Lord of Shanghai
19. Kent Tong — Lord of Shanghai
20. Kenneth Ma — Lord of Shanghai

Thoughts: Not much to comment for this award category since its more based on popularity than acting itself. Based on what I've read from netizen's comments, the most popular actors this years should be Ruco Chan who got a lot of media buzz, competing with Anthony Wong who got a lot of praise. The rest are mainly just fillers in this category. If it was my favourite, I too would give it to Anthony Wong, Ruco Chan, and also to Kevin Cheng, Vincent Wong, Louis Cheung, Boobby Au-yeung, Wayne Lai and Kenneth Ma. Ruco gave a magnificent performance as the 11th prince, also known as Man-Ho. There were plenty of great dramatic scenes by Ruco and in here the series failed more than he did. He was fillal, genuine and intelligent fellow who just has a bad fate with everyone who doesn't like him, including the emperor and his so-called brothers. There were times that he seemed to be a bit out of place in terms of expressions, but that's probably because his character was poorly developed. Again, a praiseworthy performance by an actor who deserves a pat on the back. Last but not the least, is Anthony Wong. He was criticised for using an Shanghainese accent but I was fine with it as it gave some sense of authenticity to his role, at the expense of some audience feeling uncomfortable or it being out of place. The main reason Anthony is great in this series is not because of his well-adapted accent but because of his subtlety. The way he sits, the way he swifts his paper fan and even the way he blinks helps to give an unique character to his role. It was masterful.

Favorite Female Character” nominees:
1. Priscilla Wong — Madam Cutie On Duty
2. Mandy Wong — Madam Cutie On Duty
3. Stephanie Ho — Raising the Bar
4. Angela Tong — My “Spiritual” Ex-Lover
5. Liza Wang — Limelight Years
6. Linda Chung — Limelight Years
7. Kristal Tin — Ghost of Relativity
8. Nancy Wu — Ghost of Relativity
9. Vivien Yeo— Ghost of Relativity
10. Selena Li — Brick Slaves
11. Tavia Yeung — Momentary Lapse of Reason
12. Rosina Lam — Momentary Lapse of Reason
13. Grace Chan — Captain of Destiny
14. Elaine Yiu — Captain of Destiny
15. Eliza Sam — Under the Veil
16. Joey Meng — With or Without You
17. Jacqueline Wong — With or Without You
18. Louisa So — Lord of Shanghai
19. Alice Chan — Lord of Shanghai
20. Jade Leung — Lord of Shanghai

Thoughts: Same goes for the ladies. Most popular stars this year was of course Kristal Tin and Nancy Wu who both received unexpected popularity for their eye-catching chemistry in Ghost of Relativity, Grace Chan who got the thumbs up from some people for her Giselle and Alice Chan whose role was well-received by the audience this year. My favourites this year is also all those previously mentioned and Vivien Yeo, Tavia Yeung, Rosina Lam, Joey Meng, Louisa So and Jade Leung for their likeable performances.

“Best Supporting Actor” nominees:
1. Owen Cheung — Come Home Love
2. Koo Ming-wah — Lady Sour
3. Raymond Cho — Madam Cutie On Duty
4. Junior Anderson — Madam Cutie On Duty
5. Ram Chiang — Raising the Bar
6. Timothy Cheng — Raising the Bar
7. Jason Chan — Romantic Repertoire
8. Tommy Wong — Smooth Talker
9. William Chak — Limelight Years
10. Jonathan Wong — Limelight Years
11. Eddie Kwan — Ghost of Relativity
12. Ngo Ka-nin — Ghost of Relativity
13. Timothy Hung — The Fixer
14. Lau Kong — Momentary Lapse of Reason
15. Hugo Wong — Momentary Lapse of Reason
16. Li Shing-cheong — Captain of Destiny
17. Joel Chan — Captain of Destiny
18. Joseph Lee — With or Without You
19. Vincent Wong — With or Without You
20. Willie Wai — Lord of Shanghai

My top five explained (In no particular order):

Eddie Kwan - Ghost of Relativity
Thoughts: Eddie was very funny in this series as Hugo. His delivery of gags was great and I managed to laugh out all. A sassy performance from Eddie Kwan who I sometimes find boring in his roles. So kuods to him.

Lau Kong - Momentary Lapse of Reason
Thoughts: Lau Kong is a competent veteran and in he was great as usual as someone cunning and rotten deep inside. He seems to be getting type-cast into villain roles who are somehow insecure and crazy, but at least he does them well and convincingly well. I will never be tired of seeing Lau Kong and his roles. Thumbs up for Lau Kong.

Li Sing-Cheong - Captain of Destiny
Thoughts: As like Lau Kong, Li Sing-Cheong is an excellent veteran. He was very irritating in Captain of Destiny who was basically the shit-stirrer. He managed to make his role very funny indeed. Thumbs up for Li Sing-Cheong as well!

Joel Chan - Captain of Destiny
Thoughts: I never really had any thoughts about Joel Chan in the past. I've heard that he was in a relationship with Laurinda Ho who is the daughter of billionaire Stanley Ho and that's when I paid attention to him as people were saying he is being a soft rice king - watch Come on Cousin and you'll understand that term. His personal life aside, Joel stole the limelight in this series. As a viewer, you couldn't completely like him or hate him. His Wong Yat Hin was likeable in the sense he would save others but be there for the 11th prince, but you would find him unlikeable for how she supposedly treated Ha Shim or just left Mandy Wong, but at the end you will cheer for him because he is a nice person. Joel Chan was in essence the redeeming factor of this series.

Vincent Wong - With or Without You
Thoughts: What more can I say? Vincent Wong was great. His Siu You was convincing and nicely portrayed. No complaints whatsoever.

“Best Supporting Actress” nominees:
1. Law Lan — Officer Geomancer
2. Rachel Kan — Madam Cutie On Duty
3. Natalie Tong — Raising the Bar
4. Stephanie Ho — Raising the Bar
5. Jeannie Chan — Raising the Bar
6. Elena Kong — Raising the Bar
7. Ali Lee — My “Spiritual” Ex-Lover
8. Samantha Ko — Eye In the Sky
9. Michelle Yim — Limelight Years
10. Vivien Yeo — Ghost of Relativity
11. Celine Ma — Ghost of Relativity
12. Mimi Chu — Ghost of Relativity
13. Tracy Chu — Smooth Talker
14. Cilla Kung — Every Step You Take
15. Elaine Yiu — Captain of Destiny
16. Kelly Fu — Captain of Destiny
17. Susan Tse — Captain of Destiny
18. Katy Kung — Under the Veil
19. Jacqueline Wong — With or Without You
20. Jade Leung — Lord of Shanghai

My top four explained (In no particular order):

Jade Yeung - Lord of Shanghai
Thoughts: She was sublime in this series and you could feel her character as someone reserved, attached to her spouse and willing to turn a blind eye for Shan but is a good person and will pray for his sins. Good performance overall.

Sustan Tse - Captain of Destiny
Thoughts: Wasn't a fan of her operaish acting or old-fashioned way of speaking but she was very good in here. Gave the right expressions. Nothing to complain about really.

Celine Ma  - Ghost of Relativity
Thoughts: Although she didn't have much to do in this series, her acting abilities were supreme and impressive to say the least. I always feel that Celine as an actress has been under-appreciated.

Mimi Chu - Ghost of Relativity
Thoughts: My thoughts of Celina Ma are the same as with Mimi Chu. She is always a compent actress.

Don't know why, but no one in this category had caught my eye. Some did well but not in the level of Best Supporting Actress. I have a feeling that Elaine Yiu will since her win from the TVB Star Malaysia Awards but she had a lot of room for improvement from her performance at Captain of Destiny. If I was to really narrow it down and be strict, I would perhaps choose no one to win.

“Most Improved Male Artiste” nominees:
1. William Chak
2. Tony Hung
3. James Ng
4. Hugo Wong
5. Mat Yeung
6. Benjamin Yuen

My top choice In no particular order):
No one again. Compared to previous year award recipients such as Louis Cheng who improved a lot in terms of acting, this year no one improved tremendously that was award worthy. I have a feeling that Tony Hung would win but that would be based on popularity rather than acting because he had some awful moments from Captain of Destiny, so he has deproved instead of improved. If he wasn't part of Captain of Destiny and his last role was Eye in the Sky then perhaps I would agree with him winning. Don't know how James Ng got there at all. Benjamin Yuen, Hugo Wong, William Chak and Mat Yeung still acting like a log of wood.

“Most Improved Female Artiste: nominees:
1. Grace Chan
2. Tracy Chu
3. Rosina Lam
4. Ali Lee
5. Jacqueline Wong
6. Rebecca Zhu

Rosina Lam. I feel that she matured as an actress and she has picked up with her acting even though she still has some bad habits. My comments of Tony Hung apply the same with Grace Chan, even though she has great potential. The rest still have a long way to go in improving.

“Most Popular Classic Drama” nominees:
Lives of Omission (2011)
Brother’s Keeper (2013)
Triumph In the Skies (2003)
The Greed of Man (1992)
The Justice of Life (1989)
The Final Verdict (1988)
Time Before Time (1997)
War of the Genders (2000)

War of the Genders
Thoughts: I recently re-watched this series and I have come to the conclusion that this is a brilliant series. It was the acting, the plot and the funny gags that deserve credit and this series will do justice to the award. Dayo Wong and Carol Cheng were amazing in this series. My full support for this series.

“Best TV Host” nominees:
Sidewalk Scientist – Ali Lee, Leung Ka-ki, Jacqueline Wong, Mayanne Mak, Sammi Cheung, Roxanne Tong
Sunday Songbird – Liza Wang, Adam Cheng, Jerry Lamb
Are You Healthy? – Lawrence Cheng, Leung Ka-ki, Steven Cheung
Neighbourhood Gourmet 3 – Kitty Yuen, King Kong Lee
Good Cheap Eats 3 – Maria Cordero, Luk Ho-ming
Helen TO-KYO! – Helen To
Four Amigos Bon Voyage – Kenneth Tsang, Patrick Tse, Wu Fung, Joe Junior
Not Far But Away – Tony Hung
DoDo Goes Shopping – Carol Cheng, Priscilla Wong, FAMA, Sammy Sum, Sharon Chan, Fred Cheng, Oscar Leung, Kenneth Ma

Not much to comment. 

“Best Variety Show or Special Programme” nominees:
Sze U Tonight
Sunday Songbird
Street Sorcerers 3
Good Cheap Eats 3
Helen TO-KYO!
The Million Dollar Minute
Four Amigos Bon Voyage
Miss Hong Kong 2015
DoDo Goes Shopping
網絡挑機
48th TVB Anniversary Gala

Not much to comment. 

“Best Informative Programme” nominees:
Sidewalk Scientist
Am I Healthy?
Big Big World
World’s Great Parties
Not Far But Away

Not much to comment. 

“Best Drama Serial” nominees:
Come Home Love
Lady Sour
Officer Geomancer
Noblesse Oblige
Madam Cutie On Duty
Raising the Bar
My “Spiritual” Ex-Lover
Young Charioteers
Eye In the Sky
Romantic Repertoire
Smooth Talker
Limelight Years
Wudang Rules
Master of Destiny
Ghost of Relativity
Brick Slaves
The Fixer
Every Step You Take
Momentary Lapse of Reason
Captain of Destiny
Under the Veil
With or Without You
Lord of Shanghai

Ghost of Relativity
Thoughts: Even though it has its flaws I think it was a good funny series. A pity that there were no series that I would see as a classic or will be long remembered.


Overall thoughts of the awards ceremony:
I was cringing throughout the whole awards ceremony. Don't mistaken me, I think it has a less serious tone compared to last year, but I think it would appropriate with this tone in the award ceremony because frankly the award categories were very weak this year with me struggling to find a clear winner despite being bombarded with a long list of nominees. I'll elaborate the cringe-worthy moments later.

It was evident that there were some obvious absences  in the awards ceremony. Where was Myolie Wu? Bosco Wong? Kent Tong? Louisa So? So many big stars weren't there even though there were so many people on the seats this year. I've heard that it was Bosco's birthday and his father is sick in hospital so it would be the right thing to visit his father and not attend the awards ceremony. But what about the others? Joey Meng? Kate Tsui? Bobby Au-Yeung? Are they all busy?

Kudos to Carol Cheng for picking the game up this year. Undeniably she was a bit off and absent-minded in the award ceremonies of the previous years, where last year she had a sore throat and ruining her hosting experience, and then the year before she incorrectly named 'Most Popular Male TV Character' as 'My Favourite Male TV Character' and other small moments of uncertainty. I do think she is a great host because she delivers her lines with gentleness and sincerity and knows how to move forward the ceremony and etc. That being said, where was Amigo? We had Sammy instead who I think was ok but a tad nervous and amateur. Wong Cho Lam was as usual great as a host who had good humour.

Some memorable moments include Linda Chung mistaking Louis Cheng's role for Best Actor nomination. I don't know what's with her but she seems a bit 'meh' attitude in my opinion. She simply said I don't know when asked who she'll support. Didn't they practice before making the speech? To be honest, she made a fool out of herself, whether it was intentionally or unintentionally.

I was thinking it would be awkward with Kristal Tin and Anthony Wong interacting together since Anthony Wong and Kristal's husband Chapman is not in particularly good terms. They ended up being ok talking to each other even though I would it was an intense moment when Kristal said, "Go continue your speech, what has this got to do with me?".

Oh, and the KFC moment. Great publicity for KFC don't you think? All these celebrities eating food of their brand in front of viewers. Sort of funny when they were distributed gloves.

Most Improved Female Artise award goes to Grace Chan. Would have been awkward for Anthony Wong to present the award to Grace Chan since he gave constructive criticisms of her performance from Captain of Destiny and he mentioned that he thought she would win. But does he think she should be the one winning? Grace Chan for Most Improved Female Artise is to me a not well-deserved award. Grace Chan was expressive in Captain of Destiny but she was constantly screaming and yelling and everything you would expect from a poor actress. Also, the heartbeat part was derived from the 2006 award ceremony where I remember they used it for the Best Actress award. This made it seem less serious and I am fine with it since it is a joke she won and TVB would have made a fool of themselves had they make it serious.

Second. Most Improved Male Artise award goes to Tony Hung. I like the segment where they invited the nominees' rumoured girlfriends or most compatible partner, and funny when they got Celina Ma to come over. Tony's speech was heartfelt and he got his girlfriend I think Natalie Tong to present it to him. I liked the fact that he acknowledged he still has room for improvement and will keep on trying harder.

Another thing I noticed was Carol Cheng being eager to see which series would win Most Popular Classic Drama, as she was leaning towards the slip that announced the winner. And it was The Greed of Man. I could see the disappointment in her and so was I disappointed. I recently re-watched War of the Genders and is taken back from the great chemistry between the cast and intriguing storyline even if it sometimes distastefully explores on social issues. That being said, I haven't watched The Greed of Man before but do know that it is a hit series so I respect the audience's decision.

Wai Hung for Best Supporting Actor? That took me in suprise. Was expecting Joel Chan who clearly impressed everyone in Captain of Destiny. Wai Hung is competent in small roles but he was clearly not supporting actor, which gave a surprise when he was even nominated. Same goes for Elaine Yiu who got Best Supporting Actress, when there was no strong competition this year. 

Now the disaster ends when the more serious awards are presented. Kristal Tin for Most Favourite Female TV Character was truly deserving for a great actress who excelled in a great role. Ruco deserved his Favourite Male TV Character even though he was visibly upset and disappointed knowing that his chance for Best Actor was pretty much gone. Anthony Wong for Best Actor was well-deserved since Anthony Wong is a fantastic actor and while I have doubts if Nancy Wu truly deserves the award, she at least did good in that role as a Gin. Oh, while Anthony Wong is a great actor, he's definitely not an eloquent speaker, who was speaking rubbish and being a bottleneck during the segment for Most Improved Female Artiste. 

The cringe-worthy aspects of the award ceremony was not the hosting, the banters nor the presenters, but the award recipients. TVB ceremony no longer holds credibility like previous years and the fact that there is no strong competition is becoming evident. I wasn't surprised that they tried to make it a hall of fame ceremony with previous winners to present the award and having a classic drama series. Still couldn't hide the fact that TVB had a unremarkable year in terms of television broadcasting. 

As for the fashion, I don't care.