MediaWorks artistes share their learning experiences in Taipei/Shanghai
December 1, 2000 - Six MediaWorks artistes (Michelle Chia,
Ericia Lee, Sean Lee, Darren Lim, Evelyn Tan and Bryan Wong) from
the Chinese Media and Entertainment (CME) unit of SPH MediaWorks
Ltd visited Taipei between November 13 and 30 for a training programme
which included visits to television stations, singing lessons and
speech classes.
The six artistes visited two television stations, Chinese Television
Network and China Television Company, where they went behind the
scenes of television operations. The artistes have met up with the
top management of both stations. They are impressed by the artistes
and expressed great interest in working with them in the future.
The group also attended nine of the most popular and successful
television variety shows in Taiwan, including Super Sunday, presently
aired in Singapore.
Said group leader, Darren, "The trip has been an eye-opener
for us and gave us the opportunity to explore with our counterparts
in Taipei how we may improve our hosting skills. We have also benefited
from the singing lessons and speech classes, paving the way for
us to become versatile presenters once Channel U goes on air."
Channel U is the Chinese channel of MediaWorks which will go on
air with TV Works, its English equivalent, in mid 2001.
The group’s singing coach is Mr Xie Wende, a well-known singing
instructor in Taiwan, who is responsible for grooming many new singers.
Mr Xie was also the Chinese Vocal Director for Disney movies and
oversaw the Chinese vocal dubbing for popular movies like ’Mulan’,
’Hercules’ and ’Tarzan’.
Providing Mandarin speech training for the group is Ms Qiu Peiyu,
a speech specialist who has extensive experience in tutoring actors,
singers and newscasters. Ms Qiu takes on multiple roles as a television
and radio show host who also does vocal dubbing. She won the distinguished
Jin Zhong award in Taiwan this year for best compere in a children
programme.
Kym Ng, another MediaWorks artiste from the CME unit, was in China
between November 5 and 24 where she attended an intensive speech
training session in Shanghai under a renowned Mandarin speech master.
Kym also found time to appear on a travel programme during a visit
to Shanghai TV and Broadcasting.
"The trip to Shanghai is time well-spent and a good opportunity
for me to improve my hosting skills and vocal skills and to prepare
myself to meet audiences with a fresh new image when Channel U goes
on air." Said Kym.
Kym’s speech trainer is Mr Zhao Bing, a Professor/Speech Specialist
at an established Shanghai drama college, who gave her personal
guidance in pronunciation, voice control and other vocal techniques
over 15 lessons.
The training trips for the seven artistes is part of MediaWorks
programme to develop its’ artistes talents and to hone their skills,
with the intention for them to become versatile artistes who can
take on multiple roles like compering, singing and acting.
Issued by Singapore Press Holdings Limited.
SPH MediaWorks Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Press
Holdings (SPH) Limited formed to lead the Group’s foray into the
broadcast industry, Listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange,
SPH is the national newspaper publisher in Singapore, with one of
the region’s most advanced printing assets. It publishes 12 newspapers
in the four official languages, and six periodicals. SPH newspapers
reach a daily readership of 3.1 million with a combined circulation
of 1.3 million. Besides MediaWorks, SPH also holds stakes in MobileOne
(Asia) Pte Ltd (M1), a mobile phone and paging service provider,
and in Singapore Cable Vision (SCV), a cable TV and broadband access
operator. Its public listed subsidiary SPH AsiaOne Ltd provides
Internet portal services with online news and e-commerce facilities.