Produced by Soh Bee Lian and written by Chen Sew Khoon and Goh Chwee Chwee, the MediaCorp Channel 8 drama serial runs for 23 episodes.

The show focuses on the relationships between family members and friends, with a tinge of supernatural element infused in it. Always working hard for the family, Meifeng undergoes a drastic change in personality after being possessed by the God of Beauty. Instead of working doubly hard like usual, she turns stubborn and unleashes all her unhappiness after being taken for granted over the past few years.

“Because the God of Beauty is a child, he acts like one and we all know children don’t take orders from people. So when Meifeng is tasked to do something, he (possessing her) would refuse to do them, asking why she is the only one doing everything while the rest don’t do anything,” Zoe says.

Due to Meifeng’s inability to conceive, her mother-in-law (Shujiao, played by Zhu Mimi) treats her badly and prefers Isabella to her because the latter is more ambitious and capable. After the possession of the God of Beauty, a lot of misunderstandings about the business are created between Meifeng and Isabella. However, Michelle notes that it’s just in Isabella’s nature to be strong-headed when it comes down to business.

She says, “Isabella is not actually bad. She’s just “bad” because she cares a lot for the business. On top of that, the God of Beauty kept stirring troubles for her, thus forcing her to be “bad””.

Apart from local actors, the show also featured Hong Kong actor Tom Price, as a tenant living with the Jin’s, Romeo Yang. Coming to Singapore because of his love for Chinese culture, the Singaporean-American meets the youngest daughter, Peiling (Tracy Lee), from the Jin family and falls in love with her over time.

Tom says, “Romeo’s a sweet guy and is very innocent when it comes to love. He sees that Peiling is a nice girl and they both get along quite well, thus falling in love with her.”

Photos courtesy of Randall Sim & MediacorpTV.

Having a cast consisting of veterans and child actors, Double Bonus is bound to crack you up with its comedic moments. The show also vaguely reminds you of previous MediaCorp production, With You, because of the spirit possession and the presence of the supernatural element.

Double Bonus debuts Jan 3 and runs every weeknight at 9pm on MediaCorp’s Channel 8.

The Queen of Caldecott Hill is back. After a 2-year hiatus,  Zoe Tay, MediaCorp’s Big Sister (阿姐), as she is affectionately known to fans, makes her comeback to the local drama scene in the 25-episode series “Devotion”.

And it was clear that her status as the Queen remained unchallenged. At a press conference for the media at Goodwood Park Hotel, she had the honour of being the last woman to appear onstage. Actor Brandon Wong, who hosted the conference, imposed a 3-minute limit for the cast to introduce themselves. “This is to prepare you for Star Awards,” he jovially referred to the practice of award winners exceeding the time limit allocated for thank-you speeches.

To that, the rest of the cast offered to let Tay speak throughout the conference, to which Wong jokingly quipped, “You see, how much love they shower on you!”

The cast of Devotion, seated during a press conference at Goodwood Park Hotel.

Indeed, love is what Tay’s character, Liu Zhao Di, envisions. Zhao Di is a woman born in the 1960s who suffers abandonment from her family and the hardship from raising 5 adopted children, one of which turns against her.

The show, which goes by its Mandarin Chinese title of “Ah Di” (“阿娣”), airs after police drama C.L.I.F. ends it’s run on Monday, Jun 27.

And in what is seen as an effort to bring younger stars to recognition, executive producer Soh Bee Lian brought 3 existing, well-known artistes into the cast – Zhang Zhen Huan, Kate Pang (both starred in A Tale of Two Cities) and Shanghainese-born actress Zhou Ying (from blockbuster series Breakout), together with former Star Search 2010 finalist Adeline Lim debutant Jeffrey Xu.

Xu plays Zheng Yi Min, an autistic person in the drama. In order to understand his role better, he took it on himself to observe children suffering from autism, an experience which pained him emotionally. “It hurt me when I saw these autistic children with accidental, self-inflicted injuries and just looking at how lonely they were, I really feel for them.”

The youthful cast of Devotion, with the girls (behind, from left) Kate Pang, Adeline Lim, Cynthia Wang, Zhou Ying and the guys (front, from left) Jeffrey Xu and Zhang Zhen Huan.

Besides these young talents, Zoe Tay took the opportunity during the 2-hour press conference to give special mention to even younger stars – child actors. And it seemed to her that those kids were already showing signs of a competitive streak. “The children would be extremely serious about their roles, even fighting among themselves over who is a better actor!” She exclaimed in disbelief.

The same degree of disbelief was also displayed by Zhou, who allegedly baulked upon reading the script. Referring to her previous role in Breakout as Tang Ying, a girl who wakes up from a decade-long coma, Zhou said, “It was easier (acting as Tang Ying) back then, but this script requires me to evoke stronger emotions.”

The strong emotions Zhou had to portray were through her character Wang Yuan Fang, an adopted daughter of Zhao Di, who harbours resentment and hatred to her benefactor so strongly that she plots against her when Zhao Di reunites with her childhood love, Huang Da Ke, played by veteran actor Chen Hanwei. One part of her plot involved a bed scene with Chen, in an attempt to tear their love apart.

(From left) Chen Hanwei, Zoe Tay and Zhou Ying could not control their laughter as they rambled on about Zhou's bed scene with Chen.

Discussing that particular scene drew laughs from the entire cast, as Chen revealed that Zhou, who is known to be usually shy, became a little ‘too absorbed’ into her role. “She would get overly passionate at some points in time – the filming crew, mostly guys, were shocked when they watched how she acted!”

In defence, Zhou jokingly retorted, “But you know, when Hanwei knew that we had to perform that scene, he assured me by saying “Don’t worry, I’m very experienced in this!”", drawing laughs from Tay and the rest of the cast. In an attempt to ‘salvage his reputation’, Chen ‘fought back’. “At least I took care not to touch sensitive areas!”

According to Chen, the bed scene was not the hardest aspect of the show. “It’s acting as a 20-something for someone my age,” said the Malaysian-born artiste, who turns 42 this year.

Chen Hanwei as Huang Da Ke. The 42-year-old had to don a wig and put a considerable amount of makeup to look like a man in his 20s.

So how did he and Tay both pull off the retro, youthful looks? “Zoe and I both went for Botox together,” he joked. “No, rather, it was the wigs and makeup. But even if they blurred the camera focus, or shot from far away, viewers would still know that we’re ‘old’!”

But another actress who felt anything but old was Lin Meijiao. The 44-year-old plays Zhang Yu Xi, the wife of Brandon Wong’s character, Wang Rui Ji. Despite her absence, Wong filled the members of the media regarding her role and how she took to it. “Meijiao’s still very shy when it comes to filming more intimate scenes, there’s this youthful innocence to her, even though she’s been in showbiz for so long!”

Lin Meijiao as Zhang Yu Xi, the wife of Brandon Wong's character, Wang Rui Ji.

Despite playing just a supporting role, Wong has had his fair share of hardship during the filming process. “There was a point in time I had repeatedly kowtow on a hard surface for a scene. I thumped so hard to create that thumping noise, but as the ground was not hollow, I could not do so. At the end of the day, when I got home, my children remarked “Your head looks like a luohan fish!”, referring to the cichlids kept as house pets as a symbol of good luck. Devotion to carry out his role, indeed.

Wrapping up the conference, the cast gathered at the centre of the stage, giving a thumbs-up. “Devotion, #1 in ratings!”

“Devotion” debuts on Jun 28 and airs from Mondays to Fridays at 9pm, only on Channel 8.

Patricia, complete with 1 gloved hand, and Andie talk about the King of Pop in an UrbanWire exclusive interview!

By Melodie Lee

At just 25 years of age, the copywriter at local advertising firm Religion is the woman behind the recent saucy Carls’ Jr. print advertisement that reads: Some like it long. But most love it thick.

Currently working on campaigns for Burger King, Jayine is also the one responsible for the latest controversial Super Seven Incher and Topsy Turvy burger advertisements, which had people writing in to TODAY newspaper, to protest the raunchy text.

She laughs sheepishly and covers her face before saying hastily, “I’m sorry if I traumatised anyone!”

Dressed in a quirky getup of knee-length black-and-white striped leggings and a chilli red cardigan, topped off with a head of curly shoulder-length jet-black hair, she does not look like a local. She reveals that she is Korean, but says that having lived here most of her life, she feels “totally Singaporean”.

Amid her smatterings of ‘lah’s, Jayine trills excitedly about her short stint back in 2005 as Zoe Tay’s personal assistant.

She recalls that it was tough, getting up at 6.30a.m., “giving Zoe morning calls and hauling loads of clothes and bags around”. Of course there were the perks, which included truckloads of freebies. “I think Zoe and I were one of the first in Singapore to wear Crocs before they got popular here!” she says gleefully.
Seeing as she has always been doing work behind-the-scenes, does she sometimes wish she were out there in the spotlight? Her eyes flicker up toward the ceiling, lips pursed, before she replies that she likes it this way.

Then she looks down and sighs dramatically. “But my childhood dream was to be an actress! I wanted to be the first Asian in Hollywood!” she gushes. “Then I realised I had no talent, so I decided to stick to doing behind-the-scenes work.”

Jayine feels that working for television is “too physically demanding” and uninspiring; theatre work is mostly part-time and she doesn’t like the idea of her hobby becoming her job.

Hence she found the perfect solution. With absurd demands of creative juice involved and wacky colleagues, copywriting in an advertising agency became her way to go.

“I love naming new products, especially the burgers,” she says with a grin.

So what does she see herself doing after this job?

“Ask me in 15 years. Maybe I’ll have finally broken into the forefront and set up my own advertising agency.”

She adds cheekily, “Then I’ll get to boss other people around!”