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David Evans

A quick glance at our diary reveals that the icing on the cake of the conference season this year is pencilled in for the week of May 20-25.

The cherry on the icing that is the Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA) investors' forum will be the mid-week party.

And the glaze, on the cherry, on the icing will be the 'special guest' at the party.

In 2000 we had Welsh rarebit Tom Jones. Last year we had Irish pop-tarts the Corrs. And this year (synthesised drum roll) it is believed to be Blondie.

CLSA would not comment but we will.

Ooh, ooh, ahh, ahh.

Sevens blues: Just over 48 hours to go and the doors to the Hong Kong Stadium will swing open to mark the start of the Credit Suisse First Boston Hong Kong Sevens.

The international event promises to be the usual mix of quality rugby, fine wining and dining, and impeccable behaviour from the fans.

In years gone, stadium fans have been entertained between matches by the antics in the South Stand, beer and the quintessential Sevens anthem.

A Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU) staffer told us the anthems are adopted by fans from the series of advertisements that are run during match intervals.

The ad with the catchy tune tends to become the anthem for that year.

For the past five years the anthems have been:

2001 - Baha Men's Who Let the Dogs Out?

2000 - Lou Bega's Mambo Number 5.

1999 - Chumbawumba's Tubthumping.

1998 - Blur's Song 2.

1997 - A jazzed-up version of sponsor Cathay Pacific Airways' theme tune of the time.

However, rumour has it that a shortage of suitable 'anthem' songs for ads over the past 12 months may leave fans twiddling their thumbs during the many intervals.

Some sources have said that - shock, horror - one of the previous year's songs may have to be repeated.

Our HKRFU staffer said that a change in the rules meant that there was now an extra two minutes between matches and the union had 'put together some soundbites'.

'Some old songs, some really new songs and something in between,' she said.

Centenary music: Staying in tune, PricewaterhouseCoopers is dancing to a different one - Fame.

The Big Five accounting firm - celebrating 100 years in Hong Kong - is among the sponsors of the Hong Kong performance of the musical which will run from June 6 at the Lyric Theatre.

From movie to TV series to West End hit, Fame  tells the story of a group of wannabe performers who spend most of their day dancing around the college canteen in their underwear.

'Bringing alive the can-do spirit of seven youngsters with a burning ambition to achieve their dreams, this hit musical showcases their exciting roller-coaster ride as students attending New York's High School for the Performing Arts,' a press release says.

Unconfirmed reports say fellow accounting firm Arthur Andersen is also considering sponsoring a musical - Les Miserables  (shareholders).

Fame file: Coming to a hotel near you.

Kevin Spacey, Billy Crystal, Helen Hunt, Randy Newman and a whole host of A-list Hollywood celebrities.

According to The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, as Oscar fever heats up this week with the 74th Annual Academy Awards taking place this Sunday in Los Angeles, celebrity presenters and performers from the evening's presentation ceremonies might be spotted (at the hotel) very soon.

Really?

'Each presenter, including host Whoopi Goldberg and nominees Halle Berry and Denzel Washington, will receive an elaborate gift basket including a certificate valid for a two-night stay in a suite at any Ritz-Carlton hotel or resort in the world,' a press release says.

STOP PRESS: Halle Berry might  be spotted with Lai See  in the Big Apple in Wan Chai in the early hours of Sunday where he could  be proposing to her with a rock the size of Gibraltar.

Graphic: whee20gbz



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