Hong Kong's Four Heavenly Kings are not reuniting on stage for anniversary gala, Latest Music News - The New Paper
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Hong Kong's Four Heavenly Kings are not reuniting on stage for anniversary gala

Despite talk that the four Heavenly Kings will reunite on stage for the 25th anniversary celebration of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule on Friday (July 1), it looks like only Andy Lau will be at the gala event.

According to a trailer of the event released by Hong Kong broadcaster TVB on Sunday, the list of performing celebrities includes Lau but not the other three Heavenly Kings - Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung and Leon Lai.

The last time all four Hong Kong stars - who were huge in the 1990s and 2000s - performed together was at the 10th anniversary concert in 2007.

This year's gala event will have three hosts - Liza Wang, Luk Ho Ming and Janis Chan.

Besides Lau, other performers include Alan Tam, Nicholas Tse, Law Kar Ying, Chinese pianist Lang Lang and singer Vincy Chan, a former contestant of Singapore's Project Superstar singing contest in 2005.

There had been talk earlier that the four Heavenly Kings would perform together at the gala event as an unverified list of performers circulating online had listed all their names.

Meanwhile, in the run-up to the anniversary, Hong Kong director Stephen Chow has granted a rare interview to China's CCTV.

In the interview, Chow expressed hopes that Hong Kong film-makers can take advantage of China's huge market.

He told CCTV's Zhu Dan that he has dreamt of becoming an actor since he was a child, as he loved watching movies when he was young.

Chow, who turned 60 last week, started his career as an extra in 1980 before going on to become an established comic actor in movies such as All For The Winner (1990), Fight Back To School (1991) and King Of Comedy (1999).

Chow then turned his hand to directing, helming movies with themes ranging from culinary in The God Of Cookery (1996), sport in Shaolin Soccer (2001) to fantasy in CJ7 (2008).

Zhu noted that there were many Chinese elements in Chow's movies, likely referring to movies such as Forbidden City Cop (1996) and Kung Fu Hustle (2004).

Chow said he included these Chinese elements as he understood them.

"I think this is the biggest advantage of Chinese movies," he said. "There are many wonderful stories to be told due to China's deep culture and history."

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