Leon Lai

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News 1:
For promotion of Olympics, TVB will be holding a "Number 1 Celebrities Water Sports Meet" on 17 July. Among the big stars, only Leon has agreed to attend. The producer was asked whether Leon would wear swimming trunks to support the event, he said, "Leon will go down into the water, but in what sort of ways, it is still under discussion."

News 2:
Ban Zai, who was paralysed due to an accident, had written a letter to his father for this coming Father's Day. The letter was read out by Leon and played on the radio yesterday.

The duration of the letter was only 4 minutes, but Leon spent more than 4 hours to finish recording because he wanted the best effect. At first, Leon had recorded his voice at home with a MD recorder, but he found that the effect was not very good, so he booked a studio and re-recorded it.

After reading the letter, Leon gave words of encouragement to Ban Zai and his father. As tomorrow is Father's Day, Leon hoped that everyone will have a happy Father's Day. The DJ of the programme asked Leon whether he had a memorable Father's Day, he said that every Father's Day was memorable.

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Media Asia Group held a reception at Singapore Raffles Hotel recently for their initial public offering listing on the Singapore Exchange. Many stars who had acted in Media Asia movies before, including the two best actors, Leon Lai and Anthony Wong, attended the event.

Since the movie "Leaving Me Loving You" at the beginning of the year, Leon had not yet started filming a new movie. He is presently busy with the preparation of his Cantonese and Mandarin album, and this year, he will put his focus on music.

Seven students in Nanjing, China, had made "Infernal Affairs 4" and screened the movie in the campus to good reviews. Leon said that it was the first time he had heard this news. He was not sure whether the students were infringing copyrights by filming "Infernal Affairs 4", but he liked to see new talents in the movie industry, and hoped to be able to watch this movie. He even said, "If they are good, I could find them to do creative work."

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Leon attended Channel V "Face-to-Face Concert" in Beijing the night before. In the concert, Leon sang 7 songs and played games with fans. Before the concert began, lots of fans had already arrived very early to queue up. While Leon was rehearsing, some fans even lost control and dashed into the concert hall to see Leon. Only after much persuasion from the working crew, then they left. Many fans from Japan and Hong Kong had especially gone to Beijing to see this concert.

Leon, who was always able to maintain a fit body shape, was asked by a female fan about how he slims down. Leon laughed and said that this was the first time a girl asked him this question, and he even went behind the female fan to see her "situation", but the female fan followed him and turned around, not letting him see. Leon said that he believed that everyone had his own method of slimming down, and he believed in blood type dieting method.

He said, "My blood type is AB, grapefruit juice, mutton, and turkey will not make me fat. People with different blood types need to eat different things. This method was taught to me by a friend, and it's very popular overseas. Of course, I also do simple exercises normally. In short, I would use a natural way to slim down." Asked whether Leon was ever invited to shoot slimming commercials? He laughed and said never, probably because he did not have beautiful abdominal muscles.

The sponsor of the concert was a mobile phone brand, and the fan who won in the game will receive the mobile phone, while the losers will receive Leon's CD and posters. Yet, the fans present requested that the mobile phone be given to the loser, because they felt that Leon's presents were the most valuable. In the end, the female fan who was judged by Leon to be the best in dancing hugged Leon very happily.

Leon was currently busy with the recording of his new album, which might be released in mid July. As for his cooperation with Peter Lam in setting up a company, he believed that details will announced next month. On the other hand, recently there were case after case of artistes being arrested for hiding drugs, Leon said,"Just be good yourself and don't talk about other people."

cluben

:jeling: juling biji mata aku baca menda nih..

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A charity premiere for the movie "Spiderman 2" was held the night before to raise funds for a foundation for Chinese youth's educational purposes. Leon was invited to be one of the guests and the organiser even arranged for Leon to drive a yellow Lamborghini sports car to the premiere.

Leon, who had not appeared in public for some time, said that he was busy with his new album. Recently, Sam *** had caused an upsurge in concert ticket sales, was Leon considering to hold a concert? Leon said that he would not hold a concert this year, but he was very happy that everyone's reaction was great and hoped that the audience have a good time watching the concerts.

Recently, some young singers were suspected of holding drugs. As a senior, what advice did he have for the youngsters? Leon knew that the media would definitely ask him, but he did not want to talk too much. He only said, "The most important thing is to treasure your ownself and take good care of yourself. This is equivalent to loving your family. It's no use saying too much."

Would these news affect the reputation of the music industry? Leon continued, "Don't discuss for the sake of these news, it's no use saying more. Just one sentence - be good yourself and love yourself." Did he feel that the newcomers were being spoilt nowadays? He said, "I don't want to comment about other people, and I don't know how to judge other people's way of doing things. Just like the work of an artiste is to be seen by the audience, not for artistes to exchange and see themselves."

[ Last edited by leon_mclaren78 on 1-7-2004 at 02:18 AM ]

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Leon would be going to Taiwan today to attend an event held by Star Movies Channel. It was rumoured that Leon would be signing a contract with Star Movies to be its spokesperson, and it was pointed out that this would affect his relationship with TVB.

Yesterday, reporters contacted Leon's manager Joe Chan, he said, "Leon is not going to be Star Movies' spokesperson. He is only attending this activity, because many Hong Kong movies would be broadcasted, and there were a few starring Leon, which is the most compared to other Hong Kong actors. Therefore, Leon agreed to the invitation to attend. From what I remember, the opening movie is Leon's 'Heroic Duo' while the closing movie is Leon's 'Leaving Me Loving You'. (Is Leon's relationship with TVB good?) In my standpoint, there's no problem."

He also pointed out that Leon would release his album in mid July and TVB was asking Leon to attend many programmes, including "Jade Solid Gold Songs". However, Alvin Wong, who was responsible for Leon's album matters, said, "Leon is not releasing his album in July, but there are discussions with TVB to attend programmes, but all are not confirmed yet. About TVB's Olympic programme on the 17th, Leon would not be able to attend as he has things to do, I've already talked it out with TVB."

About rumours that Leon would be filming a mainland horror film, Joe Chan said that there was no such thing, and he had never heard of this movie.

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Leon went to Taiwan yesterday to promote Star Movies Channel's summer blockbusters. The Star Movies Channel prepared an ice chair to let him experience a real "cool summer", Leon smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if my buttocks are frozen, I'm just afraid that I'll slipped off the stage."

Leon also played games with fans, and he gave some advice in using a gun, "Use one hand, relax your hand." He demonstrated and fired three shots rapidly in succession, his cool and handsome look made his fans let out a scream that shook the earth. One of the fans shot a small hole in a balloon and yet the balloon did not burst, and was only deflating slowly, Leon immediately wanted to acknowledge the fan as his teacher.

Although Leon was in Taiwan for the Star Movies Channel event, but the media's concern was on his two famous fans, William Hung and Hsu Chun Mei, because the former likes to imitate Leon and the latter wanted Leon to play her ex-husband. Leon had never met both of them, and only said, "They are very normal people. They only wanted to attract everyone's attention."

Although Leon had never met Hsu Chun Mei, he had heard about her long ago. Regarding Hsu's "love" for him, he replied tactfully, "All scripts have to go through my manager. If he's ok with it, then I'm ok with it too." What if Hsu wanted to finance his movies? Leon said, "There should be a reason in cooperation. If the cooperation is only to create news, then it will not be necessary." Just when Leon was swamped with questions about Hsu, a reporter said that Hsu had found Leon to be too expensive and had decided to use another person, Leon heaved a sigh of relief and smiled, "Really? That's very good!"

After questions about Hsu, came questions about William Hung, who liked to imitate Ricky Martin and Leon. Leon praised Hung's method of making people laugh was very smart, and it was not just senseless jokes. As William Hung would be going to Hong Kong soon, Leon said that if there were opportunities, he would be willing to meet Hung and he even wished Hung all the best.

Leon, who was in a good mood, did not change his face when the media asked him about his love life, but he was still as secretive as ever, saying, "There's nothing to share." He said that presently, his love life is zero, work is number one. When work becomes number two, maybe his love life would be better. Leon said that he longed for the romantic feeling of two person strolling down the streets, but once he thought of the paparazzi shooting away behind him, the romance was gone. Someone suggested him to go overseas, he said, "If I ran so far and yet, I was still being photographed, wouldn't I be even more angry?"

Leon, who had put his efforts in movies last year, would concentrate on his album this year. Currently, he was recording his new album. If all things went smoothly, the album would be released at the end of this month. As for any new films, it would be decided after September.

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After "Comrades, Almost A Love Story" and "Three - Going Home", Leon and Peter Chan will cooperate again in October, together with Jacky Cheung, Vicki Zhao and Anthony Wong etc, to create a musical film about a romance in the tumultuous period of old Shanghai in the 30s to 40s.

A year ago, Leon's cooperation with Peter Chan in "Three" had brought him the honour of the Golden Horse Best Actor. This year in October, the two of them will cooperate again to create a 40 million musical. As known, the inspiration had come from the Oscars Best Movie, "Chicago". As there were very few musicals like "Chicago" being filmed in Hong Kong, Peter Chan always had the intention to film a musical based on the 30s-40s old Shanghai. Besides Leon, there would be other actors/actresses including Vicki Zhao, Jacky Cheung and Anthony Wong.

In selecting the actors/actresses for the movie, Peter Chan would consider the actors/actresses who knew how to dance and sing first. And the reason for choosing Leon as one of the leading actors was besides that he is a singer, the main reason was because he has a special gentlemanly charm. The new movie will talk about the luxurious and absurd life of the upper class in 30s-40s old Shanghai, in which a moving love story occurred. Leon and Vicki Zhao will play a pair of lovers in the tumultuous times.

The role of the other leading actor, Jacky Cheung, would also be very heavy. As Jacky Cheung had acted in the musical play "Snow Wolf Lake" before, there should be no difficulty for him to act in a musical. As for Anthony Wong, besides the reason that he knew how to sing and dance, Peter Chan was full of admiration for his performance as a social dance teacher in the movie, "Princess D". Therefore, even he knew that Anthony Wong was a very busy man, he still strongly invited him to act in the movie.

Actually, besides being the producer for the movie "Three 2", directed by Fruit Chan recently, Peter Chan was also working on the first draft of the script. As he had always placed great importance in the script quality and in addition, doing a musical is a new challenge to him, he was especially anxious. Similarly, doind a musical is something new to Leon as well. Yesterday, reporters called Leon's manager Joe Chan, he confirmed and said, "Peter Chan really has a musical asking for Leon to act in it. From what I know, the director is still working on the script and therefore, I'm not sure about the details of filming this movie. However, the most pressing problem now is Tsui Hark's 'Seven Swordsmasters of Mt Tian' will begin filming at Xinjiang in September. The filming will last at least 4 months, and in October, Peter Chan's musical will begin filming at Shanghai. It's very difficult to schedule the time. For this, I have to discuss with the two directors first."

Although Leon was very interested in both movies, there was a clash in the schedules. If he accepted both movies, it could be seen that it would be a very tiring October for him, working in Mainland. Next month, Leon would have to go to mainland to practise swordplay for "Seven Swordsmasters of Mt Tian". As known, Tsui Hark had already found instructors to teach Leon and Charlie Yeung swordplay. Joe Chan said, "As both movies are good movies, there would be lots of preparation work. However, I hope that Leon would be able to film both movies. Actually, for the next half of the year, Leon would be very busy. Besides filming, he also had to record his album. He will not ignore his music career because he is busy with filming movies."

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Leon recently shot a music video (MV) for his new song "One Vs One". Leon, who had always liked to use Korean beauties in his MV, had changed his taste this time, inviting a Japanese model, Chi.Ho, to be the leading actress. Leon pointed out that the model looked very similar to Chan Suk Lan, and joked that she was "pirated Chan Suk Lan".

While filming, Chi.Ho wore 2 pieces of sexy clothings, one of which was a bikini. As most of the shooting crew were male, she felt very uncomfortable and had to NG for many simple requests. In the end, Leon had to explain to her personally the action and the expression required, then she managed to finish her job.

Besides Chi.Ho's sexy performance in the MV, Leon's image was also very special. He looked very striking, dressed in lemon yellow. It was also very rare to see him with tanned face, thick eyebrows and right parting flat hair. Leon, who was always willing to spend on shooting MV, spent a few hundred thousands on building the shooting set alone, and adding the post-production fees, the whole MV cost near to one million.

Leon said, "Actually, we initially planned to go to Thailand for 3 days to shoot the MV. But I couldn't leave because of work, and had to change the location to Hong Kong. We even had to squeeze 3 days of work into 1 day. The filming crew had to produce 6 different sets in one day and the filming time was only 24 hours. Therefore, I have to thank the filming crew for their help. They knew that I had to finish the filming in one day and everyone worked very hard, even when it's time for meals, nobody went to eat." In addition, Leon had recently become the spokesperson for a Japanese brand TV (Panasonic), and this MV would be the new commercial for this product.

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Yesterday, Leon officially become the spokesperson for Panasonic VIERA Plasma TV. At the press conference, he received the latest 50-inch VIERA plasma, but as he had already bought one for himself earlier, he planned to put it at his company to share with his colleagues.

Leon revealed that recently he was busy with his new album. His management company and Peter Lam's company would cooperate to form a new record company, which would be responsible for producing Leon's future albums. Details would be announced officially at a press conference later.

It had been rumoured that Leon would be holding a concert in the Hong Kong Coliseum this December, but Leon said yesterday, "We were not able to book the December slot, so we postponed to March next year. But recently, we knew that it was not even possible to book the March and April slots, and had to postpone again."

It was pointed that in the music video of his new song, his image looked like William Hung. He hoped that these things would not become a topic again, and he said that the image was not designed by him. He said," I had to do a lot of things in 8 days. If even the image was designed by me, I would become a deity!"

Recently, TVB changed its system and all singers performing at "Jade Solid Gold" had to sing live. Leon said that 99% of Hong Kong singers could sing live. It was only sometimes that due to problems with the venue and sound system, and they had to mime. However, he said that this was not the important point. The most important thing was how a media could help a singer in promotion, produce interactivity and make the audience interested in the programme. Nevertheless, he said, "It is good for singers that TVB has breakthroughs."

About TVB releasing VCDs of singers' music specials it had filmed in the past, Leon said that at that time, the music specials were only for promotional purpose. Now they became a product and besides, the record companies had sponsored the music specials too, so the singers and record companies should receive a little bonus. He felt that at least it was a thought, they could not expect everyone to do work for free. Asked whether he would go and ask for it himself? He said, "I won't take the initiative to do it, let TVB decide first. It doesn't matter much to me, it's ok as long as the feeling is comfortable and reasonable. Furthermore, the record companies should be the ones who ask for it."

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Leon's new song "1:1" will be plugged on radio stations today. Previously, Leon had worked overnight to shoot the music video. Actually, besides the Japanese model who looked like Sheila Chin in the MV, there was also a mysterious guest star, Anthony Wong.

The MV of "1:1" talked about modern men and women liked to go outside to play, but they discovered in the end that their spouses who were always beside them were the best. Aftering finishing his filming for a new movie in Japan, Anthony Wong immediately went back to Hong Kong to work overnight for Leon's MV. In one of the scenes, Anthony Wong was playing with a beautiful woman. His image was very comical, with Captain Hook's moustache pasted on.

As Anthony Wong was wearing a furry leopard suit, when the filming crew sprayed water, he was immediately drenched, and started shivering. Seeing this, Leon immediately shouted cut and brought a towel to Anthony Wong, and also asked the crew to shut off the air-con.

In another scene, Anthony Wong had to play golf, but after trying many times, he still could not hit the ball into the hole. Therefore, Leon had to took his place. Since the shot would only take the pair of legs, so Leon changed into Anthony's leopard suit and successfully hit the ball into the hole after a few tries.

Leon was very grateful to Anthony's help, he said, "I really want to thank Anthony, because he came to film the MV immediately after he came back. Furthermore, he had to go to the Performance Arts Institute to receive an award the next day. I'm really very grateful for his help." (19/7)

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News 1:
In order to let fans have a peep at the music video of the new song "1:1", Leon especially edited a 30-second Mandarin and Cantonese video clip to be downloaded free from the official website of his new record company, www.amusic.hk. The full version of the MV will be shown on TV next week.

Alvin Wong, the spokesperson for A Music, said as the website had only started yesterday, there were not many contents at the moment. About the security aspect of the website, he said that the MV could be watched or downloaded without any restraints. Asked why he had named the url of the website as amusic, he said that many people had given suggestions about the name of the new company, and Leon decided to name the new company as A Music in the end, as he felt that "A" means the best. It represents that both the company and its music are "A" grade. Of course, the url would be named after the company's name.

News 2:
Gordon Lau Ka Fai revealed that he would act in the movie "Seven Swordmasters of Mt Tian" together with Wu Jing, Jet Li and Leon Lai later. He smiled and said that although Leon did not have martial arts background, but he won in having market value. (22/7)

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Leon took a helicopter to Macau yesterday to attend an opening ceremony of a new game of the Macau Tower, as the spokesperson for Panasonic. Having tried bungy jumping for a commercial before, Leon was asked what was the exciting game that he most wanted to play. Leon fantasized, "If I'm leaving this world at 80 years old, I will board a spaceship together with my beloved wife and leave the Earth, and then die slowly and naturally."

Leon actually dreamt of dying in space, he said, "I want to go up to Space, if I can do that in life, I will be very happy. (But your wife may not die yet at that time?) Probably the medical technology will be so advance that anything can be adjusted, and it can be done together. (You want to die in space?) It would be very romantic to leave the world this way, to die together with your wife. It would be even better if it's a space tour, maybe at that time, it is already not a trend to die in space. (Won't it be very costly?) It's worth it if it's just the cost of one or two first class air tickets."

On the other hand, it was rumoured that Leon and Shu Qi had dinner at Happy Valley. As reporters were spotted, Shu Qi left by the back door. Leon said, "First, the restaurant does not have a back door. Secondly, that night I was discussing a project with my friends in animation, it was a dinner purely about work. Shu Qi was not present. So what if she was present? Shu Qi, Michelle Reis or whoever, what's the matter if they are present? I am busy with work recently, and doesn't have much time for dinner. For this 3 or 4 months, I have not been outside for dinner for more than 3 or 4 times. Even I have time, I would do something meaningful, readers would be bored if you keep writing about such things."

[ Last edited by leon_mclaren78 on 6-8-2004 at 02:53 AM ]

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Yesterday marked the establishment of Peter Lam's "East Asia Music (Holdings) Limited" and Leon's "East Asia Record Production Limited" and the alliance of the two companies. A grand press conference to celebrate the event and representatives from the media and other record companies came to join in the celebration. Leon's fans from all over the world sent flowers to congratulate him and over a hundred fans came to congratulate him too. At the alliance ceremony, Peter Lam presented a bronze fist to Leon to signify their cooperation to open a new dimension in music.

At the press conference, the music video of "1:1" from Leon's upcoming new album was shown for the first time. In the behind-the-scenes of the music video, it was seen that Leon had slipped and fell, but luckily he had only suffer light bruises.

Mark Lui, the company's director and music director, and Alvin Wang, director and administrative director, also introduced the newcomer, Ying Chang You (Charles?), to the media at the press conference. Leon said that he would give a lot of freedom to Ying Chang You, he could still continue with his designing work with Nike. Leon said, "The pay of his job is so good, of course he should continue with it. I hope he would treat music as an interest. In this way, he could then do a good job, because many singers would just anyhow make music if they have no money, and they would do it wrongly this way." Mark Lui, music director of East Asia Record Production Limited, predicted that Ying Chang You will release an album at the end of the year.

During the contract-signing ceremony, one of the supporting stands of the contract board suddenly fell to the ground and let out a very loud sound, Leon immediately said, "We started by landing with a thunder." From a singer to the boss of a record company, Leon was asked how did he feel. He said modestly, "Don't call me that. You can just call me a participant. I still cannot accept being called a boss!"

Being a singer for so many years, this was his first time participating in the investment behind-the-scene. He hoped that with this new attempt, there would be new space for development, and he also hoped to create new talents. He felt that the showbiz needed new blood, and he hoped to carry out his responsibility being a member of the music industry. He believed that many singers also wanted to do this, and now he was very fortunate to be able to do it. Having established the new company, he hoped the music industry would prosper.

Now, Leon had to do the work of both a singer and the boss, but he said that he would not participate in administrative matters, he would only pay attention to production work before-the-scene. Asked how much he had invested, Leon said, "I won't talk about money. The most important thing is every step. Just do your best and even if others don't accept, you would accept it."

Leon's first album with East Asia would be released in August. Asked whether he was under great pressure, Leon said that half a year before, he had already stopped all his work and concentrate on doing his album. No matter how much money you had invested, he felt that the most important thing would be the songs could attract everyone. Leon's new album was at its last stage of production, with the shooting of the cover and a small portion of the recording not done.

Despite the current slump in the music industry, Peter Lam still set up a new company, was he confident? Peter Lam said, "Even if sales are bad, someone has to do it. If nobody make new songs, how do we hold concerts? Even movies need music. Albums are very important, if we don't do, there would be negative impact." It was rumoured that the company would be signing Sammi Cheng, Peter Lam said that as long as a singer had potential, they would not exclude the possibility of signing him/her. Peter Lam expressed that setting up a new company with Leon was only a first step, there would be many more plans in future. After Leon's new album in August, a concert was planned for next year. It was pointed that Leon had very high expectations of his work, Peter Lam said that the company would try its best to coordinate with Leon's requests.

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Peter Lam held a birthday party the night before and many artistes came to celebrate his birthday with him, including Leon. Leon was asked what present he gave to Peter Lam, he replied jokingly, "I'm the present!"

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Yesterday, Leon attended a press conference for a donation drive of Community Chest. He hoped that people from all fields would participate enthusiastically. As the economic situation in Hong Kong was not good these two years, many charity organisations also suffered financially. Therefore, they had to raise funds through many different programmes. Besides this activity, there would be the annual "Dress Casual Day" later.

Recently, William Hung had visited Hong Kong and in many interviews, he had expressed that Leon is his idol. The public's reaction to William Hung was both good and bad, but as his idol, Leon actually quite admire this "international" fan.

Leon said, "I feel that he is an intelligent person. Why don't someone try testing his IQ, I believe his IQ is higher than many people. He knows that the audience watches him for laughter, and his jokes are just right, and he has individual characteristics. I feel that he's quite good!"

William Hung had previously come to Hong Kong as a guest to present awards, and he expressed that he hoped to present awards to Leon, and he felt that it was a pity to be unable to meet Leon. Leon said with a smile, "I don't accept music awards in Hong Kong anymore, maybe I could be the guest to present awards to him. It's not restricted to awards presentations, it could also be done in other events." Ever thought of cooperating with William Hung for a charity programme? Leon said, "It can be considered. It's not a bad idea as long as it's not too commercialised, the audience is happy and a good deed is done."

On the other hand, Leon performed in Mark Lui's concert the night before as the final guest. Among the singers who had cooperated with Mark, Leon had cooperated with him the longest and Mark had composed the most number of songs for him. Leon revealed that he and Mark would have arguments sometimes, and the arguments could become very ferocious, but after they had vented their anger, eveything went back to normal after 15 minutes. Leon said, "When men argue, they would not point fingers at each other and would not say hurting words to each other. Besides being a talented musician, Mark is also very admirable for supporting newcomers."

Mark said that cooperating with the singers was fate, he said, "I'm a lucky person, I get repaid for my hard work. Being buddies with Leon, we don't have any secrets between us. Besides meeting at work, we also meet at home through the computer screen, Leon could often see my pet cat on the screen."

Leon was still recording his new album, which would be completed at the end of August. After that, he would leave Hong Kong to go to Tianshan for the filming work of the movie "Seven Swordmasters of Mt Tian".

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Screen Daily is reporting that legendary Hong Kong action maestro Tsui Hark is finally gearing up to begin shooting his first feature directorial outing since 2002抯 Black Mask 2: City Of Masks

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Leon appeared in Shanghai the day before for the promotion of the 2007 Special Olympics World Games. The event was co-hosted by the Shanghai Special Olympics Executive Committee and the Committee of 100 Cultural Institute (USA), with the participation of many children from China and USA. Leon changed his new song "1:1" to "Dancing into the future" to express his concern for children with intellectual disabilities and his support for the 2007 Shanghai Special Olympics.

While Leon was singing the song, many children dance for him. Leon, in casual wear, was in very high spirits and took many photographs with the over a thousand China and US children. However, he kept his lips closed tightly and seldom talked. That was because he was sick for these few days, besides a flu, he also had a bad cough. In order not to spread the flu to the children, he had to "isolate himself". At first, he had thought of wearing a mask, but he was afraid of scaring the children, so in the end he decided to talk as little as possible.

Since more than 10 years ago, Leon had done promotion for the Special Olympics. Till now, he is still giving his fullest support, and the Special Olympics committee was very grateful for his efforts. Leon said that as long as his schedule allowed, he would definitely give his support. Recently, he was busy with the recording of his new album. There were two songs remaining to be recorded. Although he was sick, he still continue with his recording work, and even his producer Mark Lui was infected by him. Later, he would be filming "Seven Swords" with Charlie Yeung. Recently, it was reported that one of the leading actors, Song Seung Heon had turned down the offer to act in the movie and his role would go to Donnie Yen. Leon said that he did not know about this matter and it did not affect him. He would practise hard for the swordplay and do his preparation work. 22/08

[ Last edited by leon_mclaren78 on 3-9-2004 at 06:33 PM ]

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Leon's second plugged song, "Cannot be a lifetime", was a slow and sad song. Therefore a sad, beautiful and romantic MV was specially made for this song. In order to produce the sad and beautiful feeling, Leon, doubling up as the director, actually wanted to find a place with real snow to film the MV, but there were no suitable places during this month. Therefore, he decided to make use of local places and created an unprecedented snow scene in Causeway Bay.

This snow scene was totally produced through computer effects. For the post-production of this MV, Leon flew overseas and back to Hong Kong many times. Leon said in order to produce a good effect, he had spent a lot of time and effort, as there was totally nothing at the set. The snow scene was all created through the computer. Nevertheless, he was very satisfied with the effect.

Leon, who always has an affinity with Korean pretty girls, found Han Na, who looked like Kim Hee Sun, to be the leading actress in the MV. Besides making Leon falling deeply in love with her in the MV, in real life, she had also won Leon's favour. She would be the first female newcomer of "East Asia Record Production Limited".

Asked how he had managed to sign her up, Leon said, "She has the same manager as Jeon Ji Hyun, and is a newcomer in Korea. I know their manager very well, so we talked about a cooperation. East Asia Record Production Limited will be responsible for her work outside Korea."

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"The Seven Swords", an 80-million production invested by Mandarin Entertainment (Holdings) Limited, gathering famous stars from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea etc, would begin its filming on 1 September in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Yesterday, the director Tsui Hark led the actors and actresses, including Leon Lai, Charlie Young, Sun Hong Lei, Lu Yi, Kim So Yeon, and martial arts instructor, Lau Kar Leung to announce the details in a press conference held in Beijing.

Although they had to film the movie at backward places like Tianshan and there would be many action scenes, Leon said excitedly, "To be sought out to act in a role never tried before, it's recognition to an actor and also a challenge. Director Tsui Hark has always been famous for his classic martial arts movie, it's an honour to be able to cooperate with him. As an actor, I've always hoped to bring different performances and a new feeling to the audience everytime. I hope that next year, the audience would be able to see my hard work and discover a new, different Leon Lai." To play this role, Leon had already started to practise swordplay and horse-riding earlier.