THAT'S one more out of the running. Canto-pop idol Leon Lai Ming has declared that he will neither be accepting any more music awards nor appearing in any music awards ceremonies. The singer's announcement has come as a shock to the industry because he has not exactly reached retirement age. This has given rise to speculation that the 33-year-old may be thinking of settling down, or at least turning his attention to love. As one newspaper so succinctly put it: 'Enough bread on the table, time now to look for love.' Surprisingly, his announcement has drawn criticism from some quarters who say he should respect the rules of the game. Even so, we are sure there must be quite a few younger singers who will be glad to have a shot at the slot that he is vacating. In the past few years, the awards have been so dominated by Lai, Jacky Cheung Hok-yau, Andy Lau Tak-wah and Aaron Kwok Fu-shing that they have ceased to be exciting. As we have said before, maybe it is time they thought of having a unified music awards ceremony; the industry is too small to support six.
Film festival set to get raunchy NEXT year's Hong Kong International Film Festival might draw a different stratum of society to screenings if a current proposal to include a section on sex films or Category III movies goes ahead. Under negotiation is the possibility of screening Sex: The Annabel Chong Story. Some of you might remember Chong as the Singaporean woman who made her way into the Guinness Book Of Records four years ago by having sex with 251 men consecutively. The film has won an award for Best Documentary at Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival. This version should not be confused with the no-holds-barred recording of the record bid which is available on porn Web sites as The World's Biggest Gangbang. It is more of a documentary on Chong and includes an interview with her. No doubt the sex scenes in the documentary version will be a lot less hardcore. However, this is all subject to approval by the festival committee of course.
Last minute of the millennium A GROUP of film aficionados got together to relaunch the Hong Kong Film Culture Centre (HKFCC) through which they hope to impart some knowledge and share their enthusiasm with young film fans. The original HKFCC was set up 20 years ago by a group of film-makers which included directors such as Tsui Hark and Clifton Ko Chi-sum, and was one of the few places where aspiring film-makers could take courses to learn the trade - indie director Fruit Chan Kwo (Made In Hong Kong) is one of the 'graduates'.
However, as talent started dispersing, HKFCC activities dwindled to a standstill. The new centre will not be offering courses any more since there are now film schools at local universities, but it will be organising film events.
First off the drawing board is an invitation to interested parties to submit a video of the last minute of 1999. The organisers will loop the best segments and exhibit it at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. In the meantime, the centre is also looking to sign up new members. Interested parties can find enrolment forms at the Hong Kong Arts Centre.
Entertainment Web sites spark friction LOCAL Internet wars are brewing among Hong Kong-based entertainment Web sites. Now that the business opportunities offered by Web sites are well known, everyone seems to be launching entertainment-related sites. With the copyright issues of Web sites still to be sorted out, some sites are rushing to sign as many exclusivity contracts as they can with local artists. One of those courting controversy is Stareastnet.com which is said to be stopping its artists appearing on other similar Web sites. Since a large portion of the local showbiz industry are shareholders in the entertainment group, other Web sites are accusing them of trying to monopolise the market. Of course, this is even before the television stations stake their claims on their contracted artists - some of whom are also Star East shareholders.