Entertainment News For Week Of Oct 21 - 28, 2006

Leehom Wang Loses A Lot Of Weight Because Of Busy Schedule

Leehom Wang is currently finishing up his "Heroes of Earth" concert tour and at the same time, finishing up filming "Lust, Caution". Many worry that Leehom looks like on the verge of collapsing and Leehom himself admits to eating less and lack of sleep. He promises that once filming is complete, he'll go back to his old self.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: "Fan Complain: Wang Leehom Too Skinny!"

43rd Golden Horse Award Nominees Named

The 43rd Golden Horse Awards announced the list of nominees on Tuesday. "Perhaps Love" had 12 nominations this year. The Awards ceremony will be held on November 25, 2006 in Taipei, Taiwan.

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CriEnglish: "Golden Horse Awards Announce Nominees"

Vivian Hsu's Photos From Her New Album

Vivian Hsu's new album is called "Mermaid" (see album cover at left). I've listened to a couple of her songs off the new album and they aren't that bad! Here is a link to a photobook of the pictures for that album.

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CriEnglish: "Vivian Xu's Photo Album For New Album"

Universal Music To Merge With Go East Entertainment Due To Declining Music Sales

Music sales in Hong Kong has been on the decline for several years and has recently declined by 20%. Because of this, several big name artists are simply not producing any new albums. To counter low sales and low profits, Univseral Music group will merge with Go East Entertainment (which also owns Cineopoly Records and What's Music).

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: "HK Music On A Decline, Universal Music To Combine With Go East Entertainment"

Hong Kong Box Office Also On Decline

In related news, Hong Kong box office reported the lowest sales in the past 10 years. What used to be a movie powerhouse, Hong Kong is now only producing about 50 films a year, compared to 150 movies in previous years. Only 7 films grossed over $10 million HK dollars. The top movie this year was Jet-Li's "Fearless", which took in $30 million HK dollars.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: "HK Film Box Office Slides To Lowest In Past 10 Years"

Jerry Yan Appointed Asia's Child Sponsorship Ambassador

Jerry Yan, from the popular TV series "Meteor Garden" (流星花園) has been appointe Asia's Child Sponsorship Ambassador by World Vision. Jerry is now visiting several countries as the new ambassador.

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AsianFanatics: "Jerry To Visit Mongolia's Poor Children"
AsianFanatics: "Jerry To Go To Singapore For World Vision"
AsianFanatics: "Jerry To Go To Japan For World Vision"

15th Annual Golden Rooster & Hundred Flowers Film Festival Gets Under Way

The 15th annual Golden Rooster & Hundred Flowers film festival began on Wednesday in Hangzhou, China. This will be the first time films from Hong Kong and Taiwan will compete in the film festival. There will be 15 awards up for grabs, with 65 movies from China. Awards ceremony will be held this Saturday.

Story courtesy:
CirEnglish: "Curtains Up on Nation's Prestigious Film Festival"

Supergirl's Photos Too Hot To Handle?

"Supergirl" contestant Shao Yuhan recently posed for a magazine, but admits that some of the photos were a little too racy. "Supergirl" is a singing competition in China and is similar to "American Idol". Shao's mother was one of the ones who complained the most, writing an angry letter in response to the pictures. Click on the link below to see the pictures.

Story courtesy:
AsianBite: "Supergirl's Racy Pics Spark Harsh Rebukes"

"Curse Of The Golden Flower" To Push Release Date Up A Week In China

The long-awaited, big budget film "Curse Of The Golden Flower" pushed it's release date to a week earlier in China. After participating in several film festivals, the earlier release was in part, due to audience demands and to allow the film to take in more box office sales before the end of the year. The previous release date was December 14, 2006.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: "Curse Of Golden Flower Will Screen One Week Earlier"