Charlene goes solo ???

Charlene Choi is going it alone as Twins partner Gillian Chung takes a break from the entertainment scene.

IT looks like Charlene Choi is pretty much going solo these days as her Twins partner Gillian Chung is taking a break from the Hong Kong entertainment scene.

Twenty-seven-year-old Chung, who is on extended vacation after her sex photo scandal with Edison Chen, will be going to Japan where she will mainly learn about singing and dancing.

That will effectively keep the gossip-plagued artiste out of the limelight for some time, as she will be unreachable for several months, at least.

Choi, 25, has her hands full juggling her packed filming schedules between two major Hong Kong films – Wind and Cloud: Storm Riders 2 and The Butterfly Lovers– which will keep her busy till mid-year.

She portrays Wind’s (played by Ekin Cheng) wife, Second Dream, in the much-awaited Storm Riders 2. She also stars as the female lead, Zhu Ying Tai, in The Butterfly Lovers alongside Wu Chun, of Taiwanese boyband Fahrenheit, who will be making his big-screen debut as Liang Shan Bo.

Playing president

NEWS that a film would be made about ROC Taiwan President-elect Ma Ying-jeou surfaced just days after he led his opposition party Kuomintang to an overwhelming victory in the Taiwanese presidential elections.

Clockwise from top left: Jet Li, Chow Yunfat and Takeshi Kaneshiro have been considered for the part of Taiwan’s President-elect Ma Ying-jeou in an upcoming film.

With a budget of US$20mil (RM64mil), the production is tentatively titled The Story of the President of Taiwan.

Taiwan director Wang Yu Ya has indicated that he has in mind candidates such as mainland Chinese Jet Li, Hong Kong veteran star Chow Yun-fat and Taiwanese-Japanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro to play the politician. Taiwanese media purportedly prefer Taiwanese actor Lee Chih Xi who has previously done frequent impersonations of Ma.

Handsome, intelligent, and articulate, Ma has such wide appeal that he has made an appearance on a TV talk show hosted by Taiwan’s 30 Magazine with American Chinese singer-songwriter Wang Leehom, during which they both strummed guitars and jointly sang I Understand.

Endorsement deal

NICHOLAS Teo has set a record of sorts for being the first non-Korean to be invited by South Korean electronics giant LG to endorse their LG mobile phones.

Malaysian Nicholas Teo has set a record of sorts for being the first non- Korean to be invited by South Korean electronics giant LG to endorse their LG mobile phones.

LG mobile phones are endorsed by Korean celebrities Hyun Bin and Kim Tae-hee in South Korea.

The Taiwan-based Malaysian singer-actor was appointed brand ambassador for LG Mobile on March 24 and unveiled as the Malaysian spokesperson for its new model KF510 handphone, which will be launched soon.

Often mistaken for popular Korean actor Kim Jae-won, the Sarawakian is also noted for his gentle smile.

He just staged his debut concert Nicholas (From Now On) Live in Malaysia at Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil, on Saturday.

Baby makes three

ROGER Kwok Chun On became a father recently when his wife Cindy Au gave birth to a boy at the Hong Kong Baptist Hospital.

The baby arrived two weeks ahead of the due date, but the couple remained calm, as they were well prepared. The Hong Kong TVB award-winning actor who is currently busy shooting series Cordial Heroes brought a camcorder into the labour room and taped the entire birthing process.

The couple named their son Brad, which means generous and magnanimous.

Since both of them like Brad Pitt, they hope that junior will grow up to be like the Hollywood actor.

Roger Kwok Chun On and Cindy Au Sin Yee with their newborn, Brad.