IT'S Oscar time again - and the stars are out in full force, pressing palms, swilling drinks and performing to an orgiastic press pack.
And in the middle of all the hype, along with the likes of Tom Cruise and Michelle Pfeiffer, will be two stars of our own: TVB's Paul George and new Eye on Hongkong co-host, Valerie Chow.
It is the kind of move that makes tight-fisted budget directors cringe, but TVB has nonetheless decided to send Eye on Hongkong to Hollywood to see the great party up close.
''The Oscar ceremony is one of our major properties, and for years we have had a close association with it,'' says Ms Veronica Chui, publicity manager for TVB. ''By sending a team to cover it live this year we are meeting the demands of the sophisticated movie tastes of our viewers.'' To rustle up that Oscar feeling in Hongkong, TVB Pearl is running Oscar-winning films for eight consecutive days leading up to Oscar night, beginning with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's N est , and including Kenneth Branaugh's Henry V, Dangerous Liaisons, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Martin Scorcese's GoodFellas, and Billy Crystal's City Slickers and Driving Miss Daisy.
The beautiful French film Cyrano de Bergerac, starring Gerard Depardieu, will also be aired, but, as is the case with most foreign films, the English and Cantonese subtitles will rob viewers of some of the best cinematography in years.
With so much competition in Hollywood during Oscar night, the Eye on Hongkong crew has not been able to finalise many of their interviews, but new executive producer Danny Leung hopes to set up shop in Bruce Willis' new Hollywood restaurant and rope in Willis himself, as well as his wife, Demi Moore.
