And she became popularly known in the international film scenes after starring in the controversial Chinese film by director Li Yu, “Lost in Beijing” (苹果). The film was banned by Chinese authorities in January 2008, even though it was successfully released internationally by French company Films Distribution.

Bingbing has a very busy schedule this year filming several high budget movies. After “Shinjuku Incident”, in which she starred alongside Jackie Chan was released in April, she starred in director He Ping’s US$6 million historical drama film “Wheat” (麦田).

She also starred in a Chinese-Korean film, “Sophie’s Revenge”(非常完美), which also starred Zhang Ziyi.

In the upcoming all-star film “Bodyguards and Assassins” (十月圍城), Bingbing will star alongside Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Nicholas Tse, Tony Leung Ka Fai and Eric Tsang. The movie is scheduled to be released December 18 this year.

Next, she will be starring in director Wong Jing’s US$20 million sci-fi actioner “Future X-Cops” (未来警察) alongside Andy Lau.

In the latest news, it was announced that Bingbing will also be starring as the female lead opposite Nicholas Tse as the male lead, in the US$29 million budget kungfu action epic, new “Shaolin Temple”. Andy Lau, Jackie Chan and Wu Jing would also be co-starring.

Fan Bingbing at the start shooting ceremony of New Shaolin Temple which was held at Shaolin Temple

To mark the 7th anniversary of Pink Ribbon in China,  Trend Health magazine will be featuring 3 top Chinese celebrities baring their bodies to endorse the Pink Ribbon campaign.

Singer Mao Amin, actresses Ning Jing and Hao Lei are doing nude photoshot for the magazine, following last year’s celebrity trio of Joan Chen, Ma Yili and Ke Lan.

Pink ribbons is an emblem for raising awareness of breast cancer.

“It is about health and beauty rather than sheer exposure of my body, a bright and strong inside has a great impact on women’s health. Chinese women are still a bit shy when it comes to talking about breast health, so by participating in this photoshot, I hope to make more people pay attention to the issue”,said actress Ning Jing.

While actress Hao Lei said,”it means a lot to me to be able to help many more women become aware of their bodies, health and beauty. One has to accept and face breast cancer instead of ignoring or denying the disease.

Top chinese actress Li Bingbing will be starring in the upcoming Huayi Brothers’upcoming spy thriller, “The Message” (“Feng Sheng”), where she’ll be doing her first ever nude scene.

The movie was set during China’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). It also stars another chinese top actress Zhou Xun.

The story follows the assassination of an official of the Japanese-controlled puppet government. Five suspects were imprisoned by the Japanese to flush out the planted agent.

The movie is co-directed by Taiwan’s Chen Kuo-fu and China’s Gao Qunshu. Chen also wrote the screenplay for the movie. Chen previously directed the very successful thriller “Double Vision”.

The movie ending is kept secret until the 30th September premiere. Also, audience have to wait till then to know which of the 7 versions produced by directors will hit the big screen. Yes, they filmed 7 versions of the movie.

But despite that, Chen says he isn’t worried the first batch of viewers will spoil it for the rest. “Suspense is an important element for a spy thriller, but it isn’t everything,” Chen told China Daily. “Watching the film is a lot of fun. It’s like, you open a pot and find out what the food is, but that won’t spoil your appetite for it.”

Oscar-winning designer of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” Tim Yip created all the costumes for the movie.

Xin.sg – Saturday, September 12

At the Extraordinary V Conference held last Friday at Zirca, local MediaCorp actress, Joanna Peh was seen to be in the company of rumoured boyfriend, Bobby Tonelli. The pair was visibly engrossed in the performance and occasionally exchanged smiles and glances, appearing relaxed and comfortable in each other’s company.

In an interview, Joanne expressed that she is unafraid of appearing alongside with Bobby at public places. “We meet up quite often.” The actress continued and explained that her curiosity was piqued after she read about the ‘Little Nyona’ segment. As all the tickets were sold out for last Friday’s show, Joanne approached Bobby, who is an artiste under Fly Entertainment and asked him if he had anymore free tickets.

When Joanne was questioned about her relationship with Bobby, she averted the question by beating around the bush and replied, “What do you count ‘dating’ as? I have not been dating for a long time!”

The actress revealed that the both of them often chit-chat over meals together, “Both parties have to be interested in each other before they can go out together.” Quizzed at the progress of their relationship, Joanne remarked, “Sometimes when we are at crowded places, he will hold my hand and protect me. He is afraid that I will get lost.”

Despite her non-committal replies on their relationship, Joanne pointed out that the both of them have only gotten to know each other one year ago from the Channel 8 hit series, The Little Nyona. She believes that it is necessary for a relationship to have a stable beginning and divulged that they are still at the beginning stage.

“He is very patient and really listens when I speak. He is not a judgmental person,” she said.

If you want to read tea leaves about China, the just concluded Happy Girls talent show offered a basketful of foliage.

The Hunan Satellite Television program was unsurprisingly a ratings champion, beating even most primetime shows while occupying an unenviable 10:30 pm to 1 am slot. With other regulator-imposed constraints, such as no mobile phone voting, the show still managed to stand out when almost all other televised singing contests have fallen by the wayside.

Formerly Supergirl, the show started in 2004 and went nationwide the next year, turning into a business dynamo and a cultural phenomenon. However, it was accused of being a copycat as it was obviously patterned after American Idol. But Wei Wenbin, the big boss of the local office of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), the government agency overseeing the industry, was unapologetic when I interviewed him two years ago.

“Everyone has access to foreign programming and everyone is attempting to imitate the best. The trick is in localization.”

And he was right. The Hunan programmers got the inspiration from American Idol, but they did not stop at imitation. Instead they went several steps further. For example, they started charging for voting by text messaging, thus creating an alternative source of revenue. They lengthened each broadcast to as much as four hours, maximizing advertiser exposure. They organized fan club activities that were strikingly similar to political campaigns in Western countries. They secluded the finalists and created the facade of friendly competition. They forced them to sign long-term record or performance contracts before allowing them to edge ahead in the final rounds. (Some of these practices were banned for this season.)

In other words, it was full of “Chinese characteristics”. Had they borrowed (or bought) the US format wholesale, they could not have won over so many viewers.

So, lesson No 1: Learn from the best, but always customize for your own market.

South Korean singer-actress Lee Hyori gave a mini concert Wednesday at Beijing Science and Technology University, her third time performing in China.

The dancing diva hit the stage with “U GO GIRL” and “Hey, Mr BiG” from her latest album, “It’s Hyorish,” and collaborated with Taiwanese singer Wilber Pan on their new single “Zhi Yao Ai Shang Ni,” or As Long as I fall in Love With You, which is the background song for a Hyundai Motor commercial.

“I was very nervous when I came to China for the first time, and the second time was better,” Lee said.

Link: Hyori Lee (photos)

A disappointed Joey Yung has failed to clinch the 2008 Most Popular Artist Award at this year’s Hong Kong Jade Solid Gold award ceremony, which honours the best of the Chinese music industry of the previous year. Had she won the prestigious nod, it would have been her sixth trophy and smash the late Anita Mui’s record of a five-year winning streak. Instead, she lost to rival singer Miriam Yeung, and went home with the 2008 Asia Pacific Most Popular Hong Kong Artist Award.

Eager to bounce back from this failure, the Hong Kong singer-actress is currently focusing all her attention on penetrating the Mandarin music market and has been working hard promoting her upcoming Chinese album. During the filming of an upcoming music video, she was prepared to drench herself from head to toe for a breakup scene-in the rain, no less-and had no complaints about it.

In the song, “Busy”, Joey portrays a makeup artist who neglects her boyfriend due to work commitments and eventually breaks up with him. To aptly bring across the poignancy of the emotional scene, the director specifically requested for a rain shower in which Joey reminisces about her past memories with her ex. The dedicated and driven one was said to complete the entire shoot overnight.

In an earlier Cantopop album, A Time For Us, Joey managed to successfully produce two popular hit songs which received positive response from listeners. With a Chinese album in the making, and two hit songs in her pocket, she might be able to reclaim her 2009 winning title at next year’s awards and begin another row of continuous wins.

SINGAPORE : Singer, actress, model – Hong Kong star Kelly Chen has worn many hats since entering showbiz in 1995. But it is her latest role of motherhood that Chen is most proud of.

The hardworking star, who continued to work throughout her pregnancy, gave birth to son Chace just barely two months ago via caesarean section and is already making her way back into the entertainment world.

On Friday, Chen graced the grand opening of Tod’s newly-renovated duplex flagship boutique at Paragon, and her in-store appearance for the Italian luxury brand isn’t her first professional assignment since the birth of her child. The previous day, Chen attended a press event for a renowned moon cake brand in which she is the spokesperson for.

“Compared to performing where rehearsals are necessary, I feel relaxed at simple events like these,” explained Chen, who was dressed in a beige trench coat dress and pink pumps that showed off her svelte figure.

The new mum admitted that she missed her baby boy and that this is the first time she is away from him for so long. To help herself cope, she had brought along 50 photographs of Chace and said that she cannot stop looking at them.

During the press event, the doting mother said she would give hubby, Alex, a call later to see how the baby is doing.

Being first time parents, Chen, who turns 36 this week, said that not knowing what Chace wanted at times was the most difficult part of taking care of a baby.

“It’s very different from before. Previously it was work that came first. Now my priority is my family. I feel that I am more caring, patient and very gentle especially towards my baby,” explained Chen on how motherhood has changed her.

She added, “I have cancelled my concerts and will slowly adjust myself back into having a busy schedule. I intend to release a Mandarin album next year and will return to Singapore to promote it.”

Chen’s rapid weight loss since giving birth has sparked rumours that she had used a surrogate mother to deliver her child. Chen replied in exasperation, “I think it’s ridiculous. It is so strange that people can come up with such stories. How an event that is meant to be happy and result in such conspiracies is beyond me.”

During her pregnancy, Chen had put on 21 pounds (9.5 kilograms). Not satisfied with her current post-pregnancy figure, she declared that she had another 9 pounds (4kg) to lose.

“It’s going to be very difficult. I delivered my child via caesarean section and hence, I do not dare to be too vigorous. I have to stick to simple exercises like yoga and not attempt anything like aerobics. The weight has to be gradually lost because right now, I am still breast-feeding.”

Motherhood has not only changed Chen’s physical appearance and life priorities, even her preference for bags are different now.

Revealed Chen, “I used to carry heavier bags with lots of metal hardware. But now, I prefer lighter bags. On one arm you have to carry your baby while the other carries a bag. I am not superwoman. I don’t have that much strength so a lighter bag would be good.

“Tod’s has many nylon bags that I adore. I like bags with many compartments, which allow me to put many different items in different sections, making it easier to use.”

Giving her take on the recent spate of celebrity secret marriages that included Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s revelation that he has been married since June last year, Chen said, “Being married is a joyful occasion. We should congratulate them. However the whole matter feels otherwise. I wish that everyone would relax a little and not criticise them. I have nothing but best wishes for them.”

-CNA/nc

The “Kagayaku Hitomi” (Sparkling/Bright Eye) committee asked 500 men and women (250 each) about several different things related to the eye. According to the results, it’s Kuroki Meisa (21) who has the most fascinating eyes among all female celebrities.

The 2nd place goes to Shibasaki Kou (27) and the 3rd place to Nakama Yukie (29). Members of the committee explain that all 3 of them have the “golden eye ratio” of 1:2:1 that is said to be the new definition of beautiful eyes.

Other questions of that public poll asked things like “What makes impressive eyes?” and most people answered that you need a black iris. “What are the ideal eyes?” was another question and going along with the previous question, you should have big eyes with a black iris. Big black eyes are popular in Japan? Not a big surprise, I guess.

Former Olympic Champion Gymnast Liu Xuan has signed with Hong Kong’s TVB network, the Chengdu Evening News has reported. “We signed the contract two months ago,” Liu Xuan told the newspaper, “and after that the first job I got was judging the Miss Hong Kong pageant.”

TVB is busy preparing a sports-themed show for her. Releasing albums and starring in films are also part of her work plan, Liu revealed.

Liu Xuan, 30, won China’s first Olympic gymnastics gold on the balance beam and China’s first all round medal in Sydney in 2000. In recent years, she’s been actively involved in the showbiz industry, appearing frequently on both big and small screens as a TV hostess, actress and singer.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she worked for TVB as its on-site gymnastics reporter.