~ Loong-Updates~ (Malaysia Entertainment & Event Updates Blog ) : February 2013

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

Korean Sensation IU replaces Rainbow and Girls Day in TWIN TOWERS @LIVE 2013

Korean Sensation IU replaces Rainbow and Girls Day in TWIN TOWERS @LIVE 2013

Take notes to all K-pop fans, Korean pop and TV sensation IU will be coming to Malaysia in place of Rainbow and Girls Day.

Besides IU, Local artists Atilia, K-Town Clan, Caprice and Mizz Nina will also be performing to complement the International and K-Pop line-up.

Due to unforeseen circumstances,the two Korean K-Pop acts previously announced, Rainbow and Girls Day will not be able to perform at the Twin Towers @Live 2013.

In their place is K-Pop sensation cum actress; IU who will take to the stage to entertain the crowd with fellow headliners, Backstreet Boys on 23 March. IU debuted on Mnet M! Countdown in September 2008 with her debut single "Lost Child" which was later released as the title track from her debut mini-album Lost and Found several weeks later. She shot to stardom with her full studio album Growing Up as well as composed and sung for multiple Korean dramas and completed her solo tour of South Korea in April 2012. Her latest single album released in May 2012 was titled “Spring of a Twenty Year Old”. IU is expected to release her new album within the first half of 2013 featuring a more mature theme.

Local Music Biggies Join Twin Towers @Live 2013 Line-Up

In addition to the international line-up for the two-day event, notable local household names are also set to perform alongside existing artistes from the US and Korea.

Atilia and K-Town Clan have both been signed on to bring the Malaysian vibe to the opening day’s performances on 22 March. With her breakthrough genre of music, Atilia has worked with award winning writers, composers and artists on her last album Indah and will bring her unique blend of Jazz, R&B and Bossa Nova to the audience.

TWIN TOWERS @LIVE 2013 ANNOUNCES SECOND INTERNATIONAL ACT – BACKSTREET BOYS

TWIN TOWERS @LIVE 2013 ANNOUNCES SECOND INTERNATIONAL ACT – BACKSTREET BOYS

Kuala Lumpur, 27th February 2013 – Twin Towers @Live 2013 is set to be held during the weekend of 22 and 23 March 2013 at the base of the iconic PETRONAS Twin Towers. Today the officials have announced that the much adored boy band of the late 90’s, Backstreet Boys will be their second international act for this amazing event!

Following the earlier announcement for American pop-sensation Demi Lovato and K-Pop stars U-Kiss who will be performing on the 22 March; the Backstreet Boys has been signed on to headline the second and final day of the music gala on 23 March with their biggest hits repertoire.

Meet and Greet Tavia Yeung 杨怡 in Kinohimitsu Beauty Festival @ Malaysia ( 2nd March 2013)

Tavia Yeung 杨怡 appearance in Kinohimitsu Beauty Festival @ Malaysia (March 2013)

In conjuction with Kinohimitsu Beauty Festival, Tavia Yeung will be coming over for a meet-and-greet sessions with Malaysia fans!

Below is the details of her meet-and-greet session:

Meet & Greet Tavia Yeung
Date: 2nd March 2013 (Saturday)
Time: 2pm
Venue: East Atrium, Ground Floor, MidValley Megamall,

Feeling excited to see her in person? Anyway, not to forget, you can also check out this beauty festival too, here's the details of Kinohimitsu Beauty Festival:

Kinohimitsu Beauty Festival
Date:27th February 2013 - 3rd March 2013 (Wed-Sun)
Venue: East Atrium, Ground Floor, MidValley Megamall,

There will also be a Crossover Live Party with 988DJ (KK & Anson) @ 3/3, 2pm

For more info regarding the event,check out:
https://www.facebook.com/kinohimitsu

Shiga Lin and Pakho Chau Official Album Promo Tour @ Stage Club (8th March 2013)

Shiga Lin and Pakho Chau Official Album Promo Tour @ Stage Club (8th March 2013)

Take note to all Shiga Lin and Pakho Chau's fans, they are coming over to Malaysia this March 2013 for their official album promo tour.

Below are the details of their promo tour in Stage Club:

Date: 8th March 2013
Time: 8.00 pm
Venue: Live @ STAGE CLUB

Love their new albums, Shiga's "MOVIN ON" and Pakho's "Imperfect Collection"?
Then, you should check out this event!

For more info, please visit:
https://www.facebook.com/GAMENT

Friday, 15 February 2013

TWIN TOWERS @LIVE 2013- FANZONE TICKETS AVAILABILITY

TWIN TOWERS @LIVE 2013- FANZONE TICKETS AVAILABILITY

Date: 22th-23th March 2013

Venue: Plaza KLCC

Gate opens from 5pm-2am.

There is an update on Twin Towers @Live 2013's ticketing mechanism.
There will be a special PETRONAS Motorsports merchandise promotion for FanZone tickets to watch top acts performing at the TWIN TOWERS @LIVE 2013!

This package is only available at the PETRONAS Twin Towers Gift Shop located at the PETRONAS Twin Towers Skybridge Visitors Centre in KLCC.

Purchases of RM150 worth of merchandise entitles you to 1 (one) FanZone ticket voucher*.
Purchases of RM300 or more and get 2 (two) Fanzone ticket vouchers*.

Vouchers can be redeemed at the 2013 PETRONAS Malaysia Grand Prix showcase at Suria KLCC from 16th March. The package is applicable only on selected merchandise and subject to terms and condition.

Offer starts on the 6th February til the 6th March 2013 or while stocks and ticket vouchers lasts.

Here's the links to the previous posts regarding Twin Towers @Live 2013:
Official Announcement: http://loong-updates.blogspot.com/2013/01/twin-towers-live-2013-announcement.html
Girl's Day added to the show: http://loong-updates.blogspot.com/2013/01/kpop-group-girls-day-add-to-twin-towers.html

Wednesday, 13 February 2013

"I Love Hong Kong 2013" "2013我爱香港HK 恭喜发财" Movie Review

"I Love Hong Kong 2013" "2013我爱香港HK 恭喜发财" Movie Review

Introduction

"I Love Hong Kong 2013" is the third installment of the franchise. The story this time is set in modern time with flashbacks of the past during 1970s. Majority length of the movie has taken place in the flashback of the past.

In the current days, Sung Chi Hong (Alan Tam) has been faced with financial problem due to his personality of loving to help others. He has become guarantor for his ex-worker but his ex-worker runs away from the debt leaving Sung in a deep financial trouble. He is also forced by his wife Mei Yeung Yeung (Veronica Yip) to sell off his Chinese restaurant. Apart from that, he is also approached by his used-to-be buddy Ha Shek Sam (Natalis Chan) who has now treated Sung as a foe due to several incidents in the past. Ha offers to buy the restaurant from Sung. The restaurant meant a lot to Sung, thus he has a struggle within himself on whether to sell it off. Under this situation now, it leads him to the point of committing suicide because of feeling worthless in this world. But he was saved by the Angel (Eric Tsang). Angel has a conversation with Sung and tries to ask him to recall back his past in order to let him gain back some faith in himself.

Sung recalls back how his young self (Bosco Wong) first met with the cunning Ha Shek Sam (Michael Tse), how he met his wife Mei Yeung Yeung (Kate Tsui) and what are the things that he has regretted about.

Will the Angel be able to make Sung change his mind of committing suicide?

What are the things which has happened which has caused the breakdown in the friendship between Sung and Ha?

Is there any obstacles which Sung and Yeung Yeung have faced together in the past?

Let's check out this movie in your nearest cinema during this Chinese New Year season and decide whether you love Hong Kong too!

Review:

"I Love Hong Kong" franchise is back again with a great lineups of TVB actors, actresses and some veterans who we have not seen in years such as Alan Tam and Veronica Yip. The great line-ups of familiar faces are definitely delightful for the audience especially for the TVB fans.

Let's start off with the storyline. The plot this time shares some similarity with one of the old movie, "It's a Wonderful Life" whereby an angel appears to help a compassionate but frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been if he has never existed. The story telling for "I Love HK 2013" is actually quite good, wisely highlighting the important events which has led Sung to who he is now. It makes us know more about the character development of the protagonist in a well-balanced pace.

However, beware to those of you who are expecting this movie to provide the similar amount of humors like in the previous installments. This movie in comparison with the previous ones, provides less high quality jokes for you to laugh at. Most of the jokes are either quite de javu or only works on those with low laughing threshold. But that does not mean that the movie totally sucks. It tackles the audience in another way, which is to provide some lessons in life, make us gain some insight of the importance of our existence, importance of family and also provide some sentimental moments which may touch your soul a little. So, if you are expecting a full-fledged funny comedy, you will most probably be disappointed!

Regarding the effects of the movie, there is some minor scenes whereby CGI effect has been used. In my opinion, I think the CGI effect is quite pointless and should have just been avoided . ( Eg. CGI effect during the conversation between Sung and the Angel on the rooftops. They should have just film that part without CGI because the unnecessary low-quality CGI effect flaws the scene.)

As for the cast's performance, I personally think Bosco, Michael and Kate have truly stolen away the limelight this time. Mainly, I think because of their longer appearance time compared with other actors/actresses. Despite Alan and Veronica respectively being the protagonists in the modern setting, their appearance time is so brief that it feels like they are just cameos in this film. But nevertheless, all of their acting do not disappoint us. Bosco has done a great job in portraying the naive Sung and he is actually quite funny throughout the film. Michael has also done a great job in portraying a cheeky character and he has proven to us that he can act and not being fixated to just Laughing gor-alike character. Kate on the other hand is quite cute and lovable in this film. She has a good chemistry with Bosco in this film. Not to forget, I personally think Joyce Cheng has also done a pretty decent job in providing a little silly yet funny scenes for the audience.

About the soundtrack in this film, there were a few scenes whereby pre-recorded singing was done by the protagonists. These songs are parodies from some of those classical cantonese songs. It is quite entertaining actually because the lyrics that they have replaced inside the parodies are well-written and quite fitting with the the plot. However, the background music between each transition of scenes are just not as good and memorable as the previous installments.

Overall, I do not think it is the best in the franchise and I wouldn't say it is a super funny movie either, but it is definitely a meaningful Chinese New Year movie!

What I like about the movie:

Great line-ups of casts
Good story-telling with well-balanced pace
Nice performance and nice chemistry between the casts
Meaningful with some touching moments

What I dislike about the movie:

Lack of high quality jokes
Unnecessary CGI effects
Less memorable background musical score

Verdict:

This movie deserves a 6.5/10.0!

A movie with its core aimed at providing some heartwarming moments and instill some insights for us to know the importance of our own existence!

Lower down your expectation for laughter and jokes, then you can enjoy the movie! If you are aiming for a laughing-out-loud, this is definitely not the movie for that!

(Reviewed by W.L Jack @ http:loong-updates.blogspot.com)

Sunday, 10 February 2013

Future Music Festival Asia 2013 + A State of Trance 600 @ Sepang (15th and 16th March 2013)

Future Music Festival Asia 2013 + A State of Trance 600 @ Sepang (15th and 16th March 2013)

Venue: Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Date: 15th & 16th March 2013

Future Music Festival Asia is invading Malaysia soon this 15th and 16th March 2013 with its massive lineups as seen in the posters above.

On 15 March 2013, fans of trance music and Armin Van Buuren should be in excitement because Future Music Festival Asia 2013 will be presenting ‘A State of Trance 600: The Expedition World Tour’. The event on Day 1 will be dedicated solely to celebrate Armin’s legendary 600th‘A State of Trance’ (ASOT600) show. This stage will also see a host of other top acts handpicked by Armin van Buuren himself share the stage.

Held for the first time in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, Armin Van Buuren’s ASOT600 is only one of 6 events that has been announced to take place globally next year. Significantly, ASOT600 in Kuala Lumpur will celebrate Armin’s 600th radio show episode – one of the most popular radio mix shows on the planet – with an estimated 20 million people across 26 countries worldwide, set to tune in live to the event in Kuala Lumpur on March 15 next year.

Day 2 which will be held on 16 March 2013 will see one of the four Future Music Festival Asia 2013 stages feature the likes of PSY, Rita Ora, Fun., Bloc Party, Temper Trap, Rudimental, Stafford Brothers, Timmy Trumpet, and Tenzin.

On its other stage, (The Prodigy presenting their Warrior’s Dance Arena) will see the likes of Feed Me, Kill The Noise, Zeds Dead, and Borgore share the stage with one of the best live acts in the world, The Prodigy.

The epic Future Music Festival Asia which thrilled crowds of over 25,000 in March this year has been dubbed as the largest music festival to ever hit Southeast Asian shores. Malaysia is the only country to ever host Future Music Festival outside of Australia. Future Music Festival Asia 2013 is also the official opening event for the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix week and is organized by Future Entertainment Australia and Livescape Asia Sdn. Bhd. and is fully endorsed by Tourism Malaysia.

This year, the event attracted over 7,000 tourists from abroad with fans from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, India and Europe arriving in droves for the festival.

Are you ready for some Gangnam Style?

Ticket Details:

For more info, please visit:
https://www.facebook.com/futuremusicasia

The Big Four World Tour 2013 @ Arena of Stars, Genting Highlands (19-20 April 2013)

The Big Four World Tour 2013 @ Arena of Stars, Genting Highlands

If you guys are fans of Hong Kong music, you guys will surely know who are THE BIG FOUR.
The Big Four is an all-male Hong Kong musical group formed by veterans such as Dicky Cheung, Andy Hui, William So, and Edmond Leung in 2009.

Now they are coming to Malaysia on April 2013 for a world tour concert, here's the details for the event:

Venue: Arena of Stars, Genting Highlands
Date: 19&20 April 2013
Time: 8.30 pm

Venue Layout

Ticket Price:
PS1 RM483 , PS2 RM403, PS3 RM333, PS4 RM263, PS5 RM163

For more info, please visit:
http://galaxy.com.my/

Friday, 8 February 2013

Selamat Hari Natal - Natalie (presented by The Actors Studio Seni Teater Rakyat)

Selamat Hari Natal - Natalie (presented by The Actors Studio Seni Teater Rakyat)

Selamat Hari Natal - Natalie

"At the crossroads of redemption..."

".... our stories begin now".

The Actors Studio Seni Teater Rakyat proudly presents a production by Negri Samudra Theatre Co., Selamat Hari Natal - Natalie which will run in Pentas 2, klpac from the 14th to 17th February 2013 and in Stage 2, penangpac from the 14th to 17th March 2013.

This theatrical action drama is the masterpiece by actor, director, writer and Malay theatre provocateur; Hariry Bin Jalil with more than 15 years of experience.

Selamat Hari Natal - Natalie is a tale of an undercover government operative called 'NATALIE', whose mission is to investigate an underground revolutionary group in the 1970’s. NATALIE (Natalie Heng) finds herself befriending Azman Hassan (Zack) and Hariry bin Jalil (the director himself on Christmas Eve, two key persons in the terror group and upon learning more about their cause, struggles with her inner conflict of duty, camaraderie and love.

Will she be able to complete her mission successfully or join the revolutionaries?
Find out at klpac on February 2013 and at penangpac on March 2013.

"I believe, in order to attain an understanding of Love in its essence, we as human beings need to contrast it with opposing emotion such as hate, anger or revenge. These are the underlying elements in the story," says the director Hariry and he was inspired to write this script to express the duality as an individual’s when emotions come into play with the duties. "Personally, when faced with the question of love; I ask myself; do I truly understand the degrees of this emotion as at times I find that I am too at a crossroad of Love and Hate".

Hariry adds, "The journey of the characters shows that the love breaks barriers, gives strength and is a vital component in any endeavour as human beings to be more empathetic in understanding others’ situations. Love is an action, not just a word to be used frivolously".

Selamat Hari Natal - Natalie is the first of three original works written and directed by Hariry Bin Jalil. The works are commissioned and produced under The Actors Studio Seni Teater Rakyat programme. Coming soon, Kassim Selamat Tidak Buta, Sabariah Benar-benar Mati (April & May 2013) and Megabang Telipot, Aku Datang! (July & August 2013). These productions will be staged in KL and Penang.

SYNOPSIS
Special government agent NATALIE is assigned to infiltrate and thwart the movements of an underground revolutionary group driven by ZACK and MAN. While on her mission she becomes trapped in the crossfire between duty and love.

SHOW DETAILS

Kuala Lumpur

Date / Time:
14th – 16th February 2013 @ 8.30pm
16th & 17th February 2013 @ 3pm

Venue: Pentas 2, The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (klpac)

Ticket prices: RM33 (adults) | RM23 (students, disabled, TAS Card Members)

Promotions:
Valentine’s promo, buy 2 tickets only for show on 14th February: RM50 (adults) | RM30 (students, disabled, TAS Card Members)
Early bird applicable until 7th February: RM28 (adults) | RM18 (students, disabled, TAS Card Members)
Buy 10 tickets and FREE 1 (for group bookings only)
- Promotions non-stackable / mutually exclusive

Box Office 03 4047 9000 (klpac) | 03 2142 2009 / 2143 2009 (The Actors Studio @ Lot 10)

Penang

Date / Time:
14th – 16th Mar 2013 @ 8.30pm
16th & 17th Mar 2013 @ 3pm

Venue: Stage 2, penangpac

Ticket prices: RM33 (adults) | RM23 (students, disabled, TAS Card Members)
Promotions Early bird applicable until 7th March: RM28 (adults) | RM18 (students, disabled, TAS Card Members)
Buy 10 tickets and FREE 1 (for group bookings only)
- Promotions non-stackable / mutually exclusive

Box Office penangpac @ Straits Quay 04 899 1722 / 2722

_____________

Online ticketing www.ilassotickets.com

Websites www.klpac.org | www.theactorsstudio.com.my | www.penangpac.org

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/events/458684777529085/

Visuals (High Res) Click here

Thursday, 7 February 2013

KeQing (可晴) Meet-The-Fans Session @ Sungei Wang Plaza (24th February 2013)

KeQing (可晴) Meet-The-Fans Session @ Sungei Wang Plaza (24th February 2013)

Just in case you don't know her yet, she's KeQing. Well, she's from Malaysia.
She has been quite popular in Friendster a few years back. For those of you who read Mandarin blog, maybe you might have come across her blog as well.

She has been signed by EasternWorld Music since 2009. Recently she has released her latest album titled, "Searching For" 【寻找。。。可晴】 .

She's going to have her first meet-the-fans session for the latest album. Here's the details of the event:

Venue: Concourse Level of Sungei Wang Plaza
Date: 24/2/2013 (Sunday)
Time: 2.00 pm

For more information, please visit:
EasternWorld Music FB Page
or Sungei Wang Plaza FB Page

Tuesday, 5 February 2013

I LOVE HONG KONG 2013《2013我爱HK 恭喜发财》Promo Tour in Malaysia (Featuring Eric Tsang, Michael Tse, Koo Ming Wah,Joyce Cheng)

I LOVE HONG KONG 2013《2013我爱HK 恭喜发财》Promo Tour in Malaysia (Featuring Eric Tsang, Michael Tse, Koo Ming Wah,Joyce Cheng)

Do you guys love the previous two TVB CNY Movies, "I LOVE HK"?

If yes, then do take note here, as "I Love Hong Kong 2013" will be coming to your nearest cinema soon on 7th February 2013!

To promote the movie, a few casts from the movie will be coming to Malaysia on 6th February 2013 and 7th February 2013!