The Asia-Pacific and the Golden Horse Award (金馬獎) ceremonies might have handed out laurels to their new kings and queens last weekend, but in terms of style on the red carpet, local fashionistas had a list of winners and losers of their own.
Zhou Xu (周迅) won filmic kudos with her Golden Horse gong for best leading actress. She also came top of the worst-dressed list, two nights in a row. Fashion pundits said the Chinese actress looked like a flat-chested elementary schooler covered in paper scraps; the Miu Miu yellow layered dress she wore to Friday night's Asia-Pacific awards bash failed to impress. The red and navy outfit she donned the night after brought to mind a magician's assistant.
Tongues wagged and fingers pointed: The blame was apportioned to Zhou's stylist boyfriend Lee Da-chi (李大齊), who had to take full responsibility for the star's wardrobe malfunctions.
As for the movie men of the moment, who don't often stray far from the safety of stuffy suits, Jay Chou (周杰倫) was said to resemble a hotel doorman in a raincoat robe while Takeshi Kaneshiro's (金城武) decadent look with his long hair and full beard elicited gasps of shock instead of cheers.
The biggest surprise came at the Golden Horse awards after party. Making a sudden appearance at best actor winner Aaron Kwok's (郭富城) celebration party, Taiwanese tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘) hogged the limelight by confirming Kwok will star in the film Silver Empire (白銀帝國).
Already having put NT$6 billion into building a film studio in his
ancestral home Shanxi Province, China, the chairman of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海科技) announced he will enter the film industry after he retires in 2008. Gou said he plans to invest NT$9.8 billion in 100 films.
Though Gou's debut show business performance stole the show, his first contact with Taiwan's sweetheart Lin Chih-lin (林志玲) put the kybosh on the party atmosphere by drawing attention to the catwalk queen's complicated love life.
"I heard Barry Lam (林百里) [one of Lin's rumored boyfriend and the chairman of Quanta Computer Inc] talk about you before," said Gou.
"He is my dad's friend," Lin replied while extricating herself from the awkward encounter.
In other film-related news: Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) may be set for a meteoric rise in the movie industry after Hong Kong film tycoon Peter Lam (林建岳) said he is very keen on producing a film custom-made for her. It seems highly unlikely, however, that the film would transform the overly accessorized expressionless baby doll into a believable actress.
Contrary to the glamorous international movie business, artists from the local indie music scene are pretty much on their own fighting against the odds as bass player Ta Chun (大鈞) of the Chairman (董事長樂團) found out recently. Busy promoting the group's latest album, Ta was too busy to marry his pregnant girlfriend at the weekend.
The thoughtful guitarist scheduled the wedding for a weekday instead so his musician friends wouldn't have to cancel weekend gigs and lose out on their main source of income. Though economically constrained, the Tu nevertheless celebrated in the true spirit of a rocker at the wedding by encouraging guests to "drink as much as you can but don't get too liquored up and fight."
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