THE stars came out on Saturday night to celebrate FM Select's second birthday but the feisty pop radio station's director, Larry London, had other reasons to get all excited.
''You should just see her,'' he mumbled somewhat breathlessly to your columnist, who happened to be keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings at the Hong Kong Convention Centre. ''She just walked passed me backstage and I nearly passed out.'' As the lanky London fanned himself furiously in an attempt to cool down, we inquired - not unreasonably given the circumstances - who the subject of this frantic ardour was.
''Veronica Yip, of course,'' he blurted. ''She's wearing the most amazing creation. And her hair - well that's something else.'' (The rest can't be repeated in a family newspaper).
Later, we did glimpse London outside Yip's dressing room chatting earnestly to the star. No doubt he grabbed the opportunity to express his feelings in person! London was leading his team of DJs - Harry Wong, Steve James, Angel Leung, Louie Castro, Rick O' Shea et al (but where was Bonnie Gokson?) - at the birthday bash, all decked out in regulation purple. For good measure he had even promised a $1,000 prize to whoever made the best impression on stage (and the behind the scenes jockeying to claim the reward was not a pretty sight).
Adding stellar quality to the occasion (and delighting no end the more than 1,500 lucky FM Select listeners who managed to get prized invitations to the do) were two Canto-pop kings - one apiece from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
From Taiwan came Wu Chi-lung, who has a sizeable following here, while the fact that Jacky Cheung managed to sell out 25 concerts next month at the Coliseum within hours of the tickets going on sale speaks volumes for his popularity.