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February 3, 2004 You Weekly Issue Breaking the Magic Yan Cheng Xu Jerry F4's Vanness Wu, Ken Chu already struck out their first try in the movies industry. Now the main focus falls back on F4's most striking member, Bao Long, Mr Jerry Yen. "Magic Kitchen" has promotions, has cartloads of rumours, gossip, news and also a glamourous cast. Love as a magic charm is paired with delicious, mouthwatering food to become the selling point, and hoping to use Jerry's fame as the heartthrob of millions of Asian fans, the movie is set to "broil" a new "cooking meaning" on the silver screen. Having a Sudden Love for Cooking On the silver screen, everyone's impression of Jerry Yen is Prince Charming who smiles with a tinge of shyness and looking cool when he is not smiling. In his maiden movie, "Magic Kitchen", he is paired for the first time with Sammi Cheng and trying for the first time as well a romantic comedy film. Wearing a chef's hat, he prepares to give the audience a different "Bao Long". ": Magic Kitchen" may also have another mega star, Andy Lau; however, Jerry's takes in the film are more than Andy Lau and thus shouldering the responsibility for ticket sales. Actually, what poses the greatest challenge is not the acting of the love affair with Sammi Cheng, but for him to learn the culinary skills and the stances. Privately, Jerry Yen loves to eat but does not have much experience cooking-wise. In order to act out as chefs in the movie, he and Sammi accepted a course by a hotel chef who gave them special training. As for having the chance to act as a chef, Jerry is especially excited. As he was learning how to cut the food, he even asked the assistant to film it down and hope to be able to improve on his techniques after watching the filming. As he manages to complete a dish under the chef's guidance, and looking pretty good at it, Jerry had a sense of accomplishment and even fell in love with cooking! Looking for a Wife, Not a Girlfriend! In the show, Jerry acts as Sammi Cheng's assistant who has been secretly in love with her and supporting her silently over the years. He also encourages her to overcome her fear to love and to walk out of the family curse, and to create a dish that belongs to her only and to live a life of her own. Jerry said that he had plenty of experience harbouring unrequited love during his school days, plus he also acted in the idol drama "Love Scar" where he and Karen Mok had an older sister-younger brother love affair. Hence, this time as he acts yet another younger guy paired with older sister couple, it is less challenging and easier to get into the role. He said, his views on love are quite traditional. He does not crave for passionate and dramatic love neither is he comfortable with the `fast-food' attitude of present times. He hopes to find a relationship that can last a long time. As he comes from a single-parent family, his values are more or less influenced by his mother. He once said, "I am looking for a wife and not a girlfriend." The most important trait is for the girl to be filial. He admits in real life, he prefers more sensible and mature girls. Sammi is Like a Child This rumour started when the shooting began for "Magic Kitchen", and the gossips just rolled like a snowball going downhill. Jerry Yen even once praised Sammi greatly in an interview, "She is easy to get along and we can communicate quite well. She is a quite a charming girl." He also do not rejects the chance of him being with an older women and prefer to leave it to fate. The two of them only sang a duet beforehand at a Pepsi concert. This time as they are working together officially, they have pretty good relationship with one another. Hence, since they started filming, the rumour mill has not stopped. In the beginning, it was rumoured that Jerry was wooing Sammi furiously and even lowered his asking price in order to work with Sammi. During the time when they were trying out their image, Jerry was rumoured to keep asking her out for dinner. Additionally, it was also rumoured that as they were shooting the outdoor scenes in Japan, they became enamored with each other as time passed by and Sammi even initiated to chat with Jerry and even rested against his body, their movements like one of an intimate couple. As for the news that Jerry lowered his asking price in order to be near Sammi, Jerry's manager also denied it, "Lowering the asking price is quite impossible, Jerry's price is about 450 0000NT$ and above. He never denies the fact that he prefers sensible and mature women but it doesn't mean he will love to be in an older sister- younger brother relationship. Moreover, about them being more familiar with one another is also only happening recently. As you are acting as a couple in the movie, there will be scenes of hugging and kissing, how do you know get familiar with one another?" As to the many rumours, Sammi also did once announce that Jerry is only a very good working partner and she admires his working attitude. As for the rumours that follow every movie she shoots, Sammi has undertaken an attitude that ignores such meaningless gossip. Jerry was at first shocked by the many working personnel around Sammi and Andy. As time passed by, he also got more familiar with them, and also learnt many things especially from Andy. "Andy even gave me his concert DVD and wrote some encouraging statements to me. He told me that no matter what situation and gossip I meet, I should still fight on. We never met before this movie and I was touched that he was willing to share with me his life experience and teaching me like an elder brother." As for Sammi, he said, " Well, it's the movie mah. Having some rumours and news is standard procedures. Sammi is a very nicer person. Privately, she addresses me as little brother, and I call her little child." Jerry also had heard rumours of Sammi's alleged superstar airs and had some trepidation initially. I found out after a while that she is easygoing, and loves to crack jokes. The two of them even teased each other. Accordingly, these rumoured lovers are going to be shooting a whole new series of Pepsi advertisements later on. Cooperating with F4 over Business Jerry had been the Pepsi spokesperson for quite some time and it is quite inevitable that he will be compared with the other spokesperson Jay Chou quite often. To this, he frankly said, "I do not have his talent. Looking at Jay Chou now, I regret that I did not work hard in the past and I did not have high educational qualifications. Hence when I stand on stage, I will even feel very guilty, feeling that my singing is slightly better than animals. I don't think that I am better than anyone in any areas, hence I need to learn a lot." When questioned about the much-asked topic of his relationship with the other F4 members, he expressed that there was never unhappiness amongst them. They have not disbanded but merely looking for their own purpose in their solo efforts. Actually the 4 of them not only want to come together to film a movie but also to cooperate in a business. Actually, they have talked about opening a pub or fashion store and with these opportunities; they would be able to get together more often. Jerry often gives people the feeling that he is hard to be with and even he agrees with this statement. Earlier on, he accepted an interview with UNO and expressed that he is the type that warms up slowly and doesn't know how to communicate well on the social level. He will also feel tremendous pressure from people's views of him. Due to his pessimistic character, he often has very high self- expectations of himself and can't help but to feel lonely as a result. Zai Zai and Vanness had their solo album out consecutively, however his own work is yet to be completed. He teased that it may be due to his own expectations and does not allow for any mistakes and thus prefer to do it slowly to ensure a standard of quality. At the same time, he frankly said that he is a very sentimental person and can be touched to tears easily by events around him. He may not even have confidence sometimes and feel that he is just an ordinary artiste at times. Hence he had to counseling of Andy Lau and Fei Xiang who hoped that he would continue to stick on to the road he had chosen. Wanting to Have an Extraordinary Love Jerry really enjoyed the time when he went overseas to shoot the outdoor scenes. Last year, he went to Hong Kong. Philippines, China, Japan, etc. Although it was hard, but he felt fortunate that he can avoid needless rumours. There was a time in Taiwan where he was afraid to look at newspaper and magazines. When he is overseas, he need not "hide". The verdict on the movie and the ticket sales are still out with the jury but each cinema company had expressed their confidence in Jerry Yen and kept the invitations going. Currently, he is in negotiations with 4 movies. Among them, a Hongkong director, Xi Ji Ran wanted to invite him to work with Japanese female star and a Korean male star as well to shoot a cross-countries movie called "Xue Zi". This can be the next cooperative effort after Vanness Wu and Ju Xian Chu, F4's second member to work with a Japanese and Korean stars. This time, he need not have a older sister-younger male love affair but will be having a love triangle with two sisters who share the same father! Source: jerryfan83 of OnlyJerry
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February 3, 2004 Jerry & Ken's albums will definitely be out Bao Long Jerry Yan and Ken Zhu�s albums have been continuously appearing in an �only hearing the sound of the staircase� situation. But Sony Music guarantees that the two�s albums will definitely be out this year. Divided between American and British rock styles respectively. Bao Long doesn�t want to sing love songs, he wants to sing like Lian He Gong Yuan�s (Linkin Park) Bao Li Yao Gun. And Ken Zhu, who likes English rock styles, wants to appear like Ku Wan (Cold Play). ZZ has already released 2 albums and Vanness is vigorously preparing for his 2nd. However, F4�s 2 other members Jerry Yan and Ken Zhu, hasn�t even released one. Sony Music has already said that the two will definitely release their albums this year. Ken�s album is set to release around May or June. As for Jerry, who was originally going to release in March, because of producer Li Si Song is still busy with other artist�s albums, has been suspended. So there might be a possible delay in his release. But Jerry will no longer take the path of the past group albums� bubbly love songs. He�ll be taking a turn, singing rock. It�ll be like the style of America�s Lian He Gong Yuan. Currently Bao Long has already recorded 6 songs. In the eyes of his producer he has made big progress. Sony�s domestic department�s Liu Tian Jian said, �Guarantee that it�ll be refreshing to everyone!� As for Ken, who favors British rock has also practiced playing the guitar wishing to sing and play. In his producer�s eyes, Ken�s guitar skills are already at the �folk singer� level. But in order to release his album, he was especially arranged to go on advanced. Ken had wanted to abandon the guitar at one time, but he still practiced, seeking progress. His debut album is from well-known producer Huang Da Wei, Wu Bai, and Chen Shan Ni. Emerging dense British style, it has a similar flavor to England�s �Ku Wan,� giving Ken a lot of confidence. Source: Xing Bao
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February 3, 2004 F4 report card Who's doing what now? Who's made the biggest splash so far? YOU'RE not a great fan if you only know only that Vic Chou will be in town tomorrow. You're a real fanatic if you know that the F4 member is flying in from Taipei on ?well, you would have found out the flight details by now. . "Don't write, lah," a rep from music label Sony pleaded. "Very scary! The last time he came, his fans (at the airport) pushed so hard, I got au-cheh (bruises) all over me. The fans are very aggressive!" . In fact, as you are reading this, dozens of devotees are camped outside Bishan Junction 8 shopping mall ?the most hardcore have been there since last weekend ?to get an autograph from Vic, who will be there to plug his sophomore album Remember ?I Love You at 6pm tomorrow. . Vic is but the third F4 member to arrive in Singapore in recent months. . Jerry Yan was here two weeks ago for the Chinese New Year offering Magic Kitchen, his debut film. Vanness Wu came in November to promote his debut flick Star Runner, and will in fact be back to host the MTV Asia Awards on Feb 14, sharing duties with US pop rocker Michelle Branch. . And what about Ken Chu, the "Singaporean" member of the quartet? He'll be back soon. . Whoever and wherever they go, you can be sure that these babe-magnets ?who had a meteoric rise after acting in a manga-adapted drama, Meteor Garden, in Taiwan in 2001 ?still draw thousands of screaming fans. A sure sign that the F4 fever still burns, we say, even though the fab four have gone their separate ways for now to forge their solo careers. . Who's made the biggest splash so far? Today takes a look. Who's doing what now? Who's made the biggest splash so far? ------------------- Vanness WU Born: Aug, 7 1978 The one with the best... biceps. And dancing skills of course. Born and raised in the USA, the 25-yr old limited ability in Mandarin was probably a hindrance initially. Luckily for him, he has a fantastic body. His solo debut album Body Will Sing hit the shelves in Aug 2002. The hyper-energetic one also let his body do the boxing, too, in his foray into films. He played a pugilist in the martial arts flick, Star Runner, last year. GRADE: B4. Thanks to his buff bod, he's the one that F4's legion of screaming girl fans love the most. Ken CHU Born: Jan 15, 1979 The one with the best ... singing skills. And Singlish! Steady, lah, you can count Ken as one of us Singaporeans. Having grown up in SIngapore, Ken, 25, is the other member besides Vanness, who is fluent in English. However, Ken occasionally lapses into Singlish, ending his sentences with a lah or a leh. The former student of Bukit Merah Primary and Boon Lay Secondary schools was the first among fab four to hit the big screen. Alas, Sky of Love, a honey-dewy romantic drama which co-stars Gigi Leung, bombed at the box-office last year and did nothing to open up his sky. He is due to release his solo album in the second half of the year. GRADE: C5. Vic has two albums out, Vanness has one. Like Jerry, Ken's lagging a bit. We eagerly await his debut album this year. Vic and Jerry: Source: f4.azn.nu (Today)
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February 3, 2004 F4's unsuccessful attempt on the big screen F4's not so successful attempt on the big screen - returns to the small screen F4's movies have not been satisfactory. Ken will begin tackling a new Chinese CCTV serial <>. Producer Angie Cai says that filming in China is more profitable than in Taiwan with incomes tripling that of Taiwan. Ken will receive $70 000 per episode, whilst producers are willing to pay $120 000 per episode for Jerry, ZZ and Vanness each should receive around the $80 000. Vanness and Kim's <> released during the New Year only received mediocre results, not as good as expected. Jerry and Sammi's <>'s result in HK was not satisfactory either. In addition, Ken and Gigi's <> didn't even get released in Taiwan. MK will not be showing in Taiwan until March (WRONG! should be Feb). F3's road towards movies have been disappointing letting fans down. To preven the 4 good looking guy's popularity slipping, Angie Cai will sign a new deal with CCTV for a 20 episode idol drama <>, with male lead being Ken and Female lead Michelle - the MG cast. Angie expresses that the serial will be filmed in Yun Nan and Ken will play a national geographic magazine reporter and the serial will be based on environmental conservation. This is Ken's first time working on a CCTV serial, Angie is trying hard to win him a high paying deal. Angie Cai feels that MG's still running hot in lots of countries and Mainland China's idol industry is not fully developed and need more popular idol's support. Ken will be the first to feature in a romantic environmental conservation show. As for ZZ and Vanness, they will have chances to tackle Chinese serials too. Jerry's asking price is sky high but people are still willing to pay, it all just depends on whether he will accept or not. Source: lian he bao
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