Sammi's news archives: May 2001

Sammi's good friend Andy Hui has been holding his concert for the past few days but all this while, Sammi was busy filming in Japan for "Chubby Love Story". But on the 28th however, Sammi flew back to Hong Kong. Apparently, she had taken a day's leave to be back in order to attend Andy Hui's concert. Filming was delayed in Japan as they could only film scenes with Andy Lau only. About 20 odd fans were at the airport to receive a Sammi with little make-up on. Maybe for this reason, she evaded reporters requests for photographs and interviews and thus we could not know if she was indeed here to attend Andy Hui's concert.

On the last day of Andy Hui's concert, there was still no sign of Sammi. Andy, on seeing that Sammi was not around, seem to be less cheerful, but his good friend and guest Dicky Cheung brightened things up a lot. The next day, Sammi finally appeared at the airport on her way back to Japan. It was then when we knew that Sammi came here to see a doctor regarding her skin allergy and in the end decided to give Andy's concert a miss in order for her skin to recover.

During the filming of "Chubby Love Story" in Japan, Sammi's face in patches of red. It seems that her skin finally developed an allergy to the make-up which she has to wear everyday for the filming. On that day, the director decided to shoot another scene instead, a kissing scene between Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng. Normally the 2 person involved would discuss on the scene but Andy and Sammi did not think it was necessary. "I'll just pretend that Sammi is my girlfriend," says Andy. The scene went on very well indeed in the end.

In the movie, "Roommate Buddies", Sammi has to act as a chain smoker. In the whole filming process, Sammi smoked about 180 sticks of cigarettes. Even with her asthma problem, and her clean image to uphold, she did not request for any changes to the character but take it as it is since it was necessary for the portrayal of the 'bad girl' image in the movie. The director even ordered the 20 packs of chocolate flavoured cigarettes from Malaysia for the sake of Sammi.

Sammi's past albums have mostly featured the left side of her face, so much so that it prompted Warner to call her the 'Left-faced Queen Of Pop'. It's not that Sammi looks better on her left, she looks as great at any angle. However, for the cover of her latest album, there were a total of 6 pictures to choose from and they thought of voting for the picture that is to be the cover photo. Even Stephanie Sun, Warner's new artiste from Singapore, took part in the vote. Sammi did so as well through email as she was in Hong Kong filming. The end result? Another cover photo showing the left side of her face again.

The music video for "Complete" is a breakthrough for Sammi where MTVs are concerned. In the MTV, she takes on the role of mopping floor, washing clothes, brushing teeth and even killing cockroaches. During one scene, Sammi was sitting on the toilet bowl crying. Towards the end of the MTV, Sammi suddenly runs out to the balcony and lets off a yell. "The music video tells people that no matter what happens, life has to go on. Just straighten out your thoughts, put your mind to it, and all the unhappy things will soon pass," explains Sammi. And certain scenes do remind us of Kinki, the role Sammi reprised in "Needing You"

During the filming of "Roommate Buddies", Sammi, in order to get into the good books of Tony's mum, had to wake up early in the morning and join Tony's mum in practising swordplay. However, Sammi as clumsy as she was, accidentally injured Tony's mum and had to accompany her to see a doctor in the end. After the filming, Sammi remarked that she actually envys the old couples who were taking their morning walks in the park where filming took place, "The morning air is so fresh, and they are so carefree. Unlike me, I seldom have the time to go to the park early in the morning."

Part of Sammi's promotional tour includes a jigsaw puzzle contest and a autograph session. Held indoors, the typhoon did not so much as dampen the fans' mood. After Sammi started the timer for the jigsaw puzzle contest between 2 groups of fans, she went on to attend to the thousands of fans who came for her autograph. While signing for her fans, Sammi kept a constant lookout for the contestants. "I also like to do jigsaw puzzles in my free time. But once I was doing a 1000 piece jigsaw, I only finished half of it and I went to sleep because it was too difficult to do!" exclaimed Sammi. When Sammi saw that the puzzles are almost completed, she rushed to assist both groups. In the end, it turned out that the group consisting of a mother and son with their friends won. And coincidentally, that day was Mothers' Day.

Sammi Cheng's and Andy Lau's character in "Chubby Love Story" is finally reveiled. The results are truly stunning as well as funny! With Steve Johnson given the important job of transforming a slim Sammi into a 200lbs lady, the effects were really great. So much so when Sammi emerged from the make-up room, the production crew simply stared in disbelief. However, the make-up would only last 3 to 4 hours due to body heat and room temperature. Thus Sammi and Andy each have an air-conditioned room to rest in during breaks to prolong the make-up, and for them to relax comfortably.

There was a "Sammi's Party" concert on the 11th held at the famous Si Men Ding in Taiwan. It was raining the whole day and there was even a possibility of a typhoon and Sammi was worried. But her fans did not let her down and even filled up the streets of Si Men Ding. On that same night itself, J-pop sensation Kinki Kids was also having their concert elsewhere and when Sammi knew about it she exclaimed, "Wah, what a coincidence, 2 'Kinki's performing at the same time!" (Sammi was known as Kinki in the movie "Needing You") Many of the fans came dressed glamourously and it was as if there were many Sammi around. Sammi herself picked out a fan from the crowd who she felt dressed most like her and gave her the top she wore for "His And Her Cafe" advertisement.

Sammi couldn't wait to attend Andy Hui's concert which was to be held at the end of this month in Hong Kong. "Of course I would want to attend Andy's concert. But immediately after the promotions for my albums are finished, I'll have to fly to Japan to complete the filming of the remainder of my movies. I really wonder if I'll have time to do so," said Sammi. A local DJ remarked about how Sammi would not be 'Complete' without Andy and likewise for Andy too, and that probably explains why Sammi is so eager to attend the concert. However, if Sammi do appear at Andy's concert, she would not go up onto the stage because she would want the fans to focus their attention on Andy and not on her being on stage. Likewise if Sammi is having her concert, she would prefer the fans to focus on her singing than other things. How thoughtful of her.

During Sammi's Taiwan promotional tour, Warner Records organised a press conference for her new album "Complete". At the conference, it was announced that since Sammi first joined Warner in 1995, she had chalked up a total of 800,000 album sales, 200,000 concert ticket sales and received 200 music awards from all over Asia. With such an impressive record, it's no wonder Warner would present to Sammi a diamond tiara for her hard work. "I felt like I'd just won Miss Hong Kong!" exclaimed Sammi. For the conference, Sammi was dressed in a French designed Cacharel dress and her hair was tied up like Chun Li, and she was often caught biting her fingers like Zhang Zi Yi. No wonder everyone loves Sammi's fresh new look. The ceremony also featured a mini movie of Sammi's concerts and movies and also 10 outfits from her various concerts.

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Immediately after her filming of "Chubby Love Story", Sammi went to Taiwan to promote her new album "Complete". In order to make things difficult for pirates, Warner held on to Sammi's album right till the release date. Not even the album cover was revealed until it was time. When it was finally released, Sammi's new look on her album comes as a surprise to many. On the cover was a Sammi with minimal make-up, dressed in the very basic black and white top, with her hair in its natural colour even! She didn't even bother to cover up her freckles at the top of her nose nor did producers use computer imagery to remove them. Definitely a really fresh look for her.

Sammi will be promoting her new Mandarin album "Complete" in Taiwan for a total of 8 days. Her schedule is very tight, from 10am to 1am, and her promotions will start from Taipei followed by Taizhong, then Kao Shiong and back to Taipei. Busy it may seem, but Sammi does not mind that schedule at all, and she even wants to make a world record with her promotion!. "It's really hectic but I don't mind it. What's important is that my fans are happy," says Sammi.

Sammi's next movie "Roommate Buddies" will be released in theatres next month instead of July. This is to avoid clashing with Sammi's other movie "Chubby Love Story" due for release at that time. Furthermore, producers would like to screen the movie early since Tony Leung had just been awarded Best Actor in the 12th Hong Kong Film Awards.

Sammi plays the role of a tomboy in "Roommate Buddies" who even smokes. But Sammi does not worry that it'll affect her image because it's only a movie. In the movie, Sammi got into an argument with her father and in a fit of anger, ran away. She met Tony who was kind enough to let her stay at his place. However, Tony's family members do not take to kindly of his actions and Sammi even got into a fight with Tony's sister. In the ensuing quarrel, Tony got kicked by Sammi even. In the movie, Tony had a celebrity girlfriend, but because Sammi was staying at Tony's place, and Tony could see her everyday, he began to fall for Sammi.

Sammi's new album "Complete", will be released on the 8th of May. But before the official release, 20,000 copies had been already been sold in the pre-order sales. Already the sales of Sammi's album is becoming a hot topic. Her 2 commercials for "His And Her Cafe" and "SK-II" are also being broadcasted on television. In addition to "The Only One", the 2nd single is the Ambient style song called "Sexyness". This style has been sung by Madonna in "Ray of Light" and All Saints in "Saint AndDevil". "I love the style of this song, very fresh and cool," exclaimed Sammi. When filming for this video at V-MIX KTV, the owner was delighted to closed the shop for a day just for Sammi. Furthermore, snippets of Sammi's different looks for "Complete" have attracted much attention. The promotions are certainly very successful.

Poor Sammi. In the filming of the movie "Chubby Love Story" in Hong Kong, she had to endure a total of 6hrs every day just to apply the make-up needed for her role as a 200lbs lady. If that was not enough for Sammi, she had to work more than 10hrs on the set, with all the "extra" flesh on her face. So miserable was Sammi that she cried. Even Warner Records pitied her and sent her faxes everyday to console her. All Sammi wants now is to finish filming and go to Taiwan to promote her new album "Complete". Not to mention the end of all her sufferings as well.