Canne's prizes revive HK films
HONG KONG - By lifting the Golden Palm for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival this year, Tony Leung gave Hong Kong's drooping film industry a much needed boost.
Film-selling website to shut down
WASHINGTON - Reel.com, a website aimed at selling to film-goers, will shut down, the owners said on Monday, citing a cash crunch.
Chinese erhu meets Western jazz
IT was a slightly unusual marriage - the Chinese erhu, an ancient Chinese stringed instrument, and a six-piece Japanese jazz band - so it was difficult to know what to expect as we arrived at the crowded Shanghai Centre Theatre for a recital titled "Shanghai Dream."
'Some Like It Hot' - century's best comedy
LOS ANGELES - "Some Like It Hot" and "Tootsie" - films in which some of Hollywood's great male stars dress up as women, were named on Tuesday as the two funniest American films of all time.
The aroma of Spanish wine
MIGUEL Torres, chief executive officer of the leading Spanish Torres Winery, was very enthusiastic introducing his wines in Shanghai two days ago despite the fact that his joint venture in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, is running in the red.
Striking the right note for kids' future
CHILDREN play pianos while their parents wait outside. A common scene in local piano schools.
Lucky meeting brings singwes together
By Tracy Tao
THE soft 1970s songs of Filipino band "Infinite" sounded enchanting in the Lobby Bar of the Huating Hotel as drizzle fell on the streets outside. April R. Fernandez, 28, one of the band's three singers, took a short break from her set and came to talk to me about how the members of her band had been brought together by fate. "All three of us have loved music since childhood, though we didn't all study music at school," she told me. She first met her two partners, 29-year-old Shalee Sampaga and 36-year-old instrumental music player and backing singer Leo B. Goniales, in 1994 in a music agency office in Manila. "At that time, we belonged to different bands though," she said. For the next few years, their paths took them in different directions. In 1997, April had been travelling and working with her old band for a long time and decided to take a rest and go home to see her sick mother. She has four sisters and three brothers, but most of them have had to leave home to find work. "You know, so many Filipinos are forced to leave the country to earn a living abroad," said April. "Our country has many problems - violence, the coup and very high unemployment." When she arrived back at her mother's home, she was surprised to meet Shalee and Leo discussing renting a room in the house. Shalee and Leo had just returned from singing in Beijing. We treasured the luck which brought us together again and decided to form our own band, April told me. They chose the name Infinite with the wish that the band, their friendship and hopefully also good fortune would last forever. "But nothing is infinite, is it?" April asked. "As for me, I miss my home, my fragile mother and my husband." Band members here are not all just floating people with no ties, April said. She does not dream of travelling round the world all her life but of a stable life spent with her husband. "Shanghai is very beautiful, prosperous and tantalizing for us," April told me with tears in her eyes. "But I had to leave the Philippines just one week after I was married." She confided in me that although this is the first time she has come to China, she may make it the last contract she fulfils abroad. A few minutes later and April had to return to the stage and start smiling again. Outside, the light rain continued and some passers-by glanced in at the two beautiful singers. Infinite perform every night except Monday from 7:00 pm to 12:00 am in the Lobby Bar of Huating Hotel. Add: 1200 Caoxi Road N.
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