The F1 Chinese Grand Prix took place in Shanghai this past weekend, and the special guest for Saturday’s (April 20) sprint race was none other than our very own JJ Lin.
The 43-year-old, who is a fan of F1, was invited to hand out plaques to the top three placing drivers, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Sergio Perez. One commentator for the race, however, clearly did not know who JJ was. As the singer took the stage, the commentator was heard saying: “This young guy is a lucky audience member picked from a crowd of racing fans to present the awards.” Netizens who caught the live stream couldn’t help but cringe at the situation. For starters, he referred to JJ as “this young guy”. Others also criticised the commentator for “not doing proper research”.. JJ, on the other hand, was unfazed by the whole situation. The singer remained in a cheery mood, taking to social media to share snaps from the weekend. He posted a photo with his pal Kick Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu, with the caption: “So proud of the first and only Chinese F1 driver @zhouguanyu24 , fulfilling his dreams with today’s historical first race in China! Happy to be witnessing this with so many race friends!” This year’s Chinese Grand Prix was the first to happen since 2019. The event was cancelled from 2020 to 2023 due to the pandemic. Its long-awaited return drew a star-studded audience, including Daniel Wu, Hannah Quinlivan, and Jimmy Lin and wife Kelly Chen. They showed up in support of Guanyu, who was racing on home ground for the first time.
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Mediacorp actor James Seah is understandably excited after winning his first Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes award.
So much so that he remembered to give a shoutout to his dog Moon but forgot to thank… JEMS, his fan club. “Yes! I was so taken aback by the win that I forgot to thank those who voted for me!” he sheepishly told reporters. But can you truly blame The Sky Is Still Blue actor, who had to wait more than a decade for his turn on stage? When asked how he felt about the long wait, he muses for a bit before offering, “Good things are worth waiting. More to come!” “I guess deciding to cut my hair short this year helped?” he jokes. James also defended himself about thanking his furkid on stage, saying: “Moon was always there with licks and cuddles whenever I was nervous or insecure about my performance.” His speech also prompted fellow Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes winner Jeremy Chan, who went on stage after James, to cheekily thank his “two cats” for the award. For now, James says he is making good on his promise to his fans by throwing a party to celebrate his win. “I want to plan a huge gathering to celebrate, and it will probably be somewhere we can all sing karaoke,” he shares. Son Ye Jin Charms Fans During First Visit To Taiwan, Introduced Herself In Mandarin At Event4/26/2024 Though Korean actress Son Ye Jin is one of the most popular K-stars around, with many fans around the region, she has never visited Taiwan.
Naturally, the 42-year-old actress’ arrival at Taoyuan airport attracted a crowd of adoring fans and photographers who turned up to catch a glimpse of her. Donning a pair of sunglasses and dressed in a pink knitted jacket, Ye Jin smiled and waved to the crowd before she was whisked away to the Grand Hi Lai hotel. The Crash Landing on You star later turned up for a press conference looking every bit a fairytale princess in a Barbie-pink off-shoulder dress. Introducing herself in Mandarin, she shared that it was her first time in Taiwan and how the atmosphere seems very similar to Korea. However, it seems that was all she prepared before switching back to her native tongue. She also shared how she looked forward to eating xiao long baos after the event and if possible, making a trip down to nearby Jiufen to visit the site where sky lanterns are released. When quizzed about what she does to maintain her porcelain-looking skin, Ye Jin shared a couple of secrets with those present and said she often eats in and keeps her meals light and simple. Ye Jin also said that exercise is important to get healthy skin and is partially influenced by her actor husband Hyun Bin to play golf to maintain her figure. The couple got married in 2022 and welcomed their son, nicknamed “Little Sweet Bean” in November 2023. It was third time lucky for He Yingying, who won her first Top 10 Most Popular Female Artiste trophy at Star Awards 2024 last night (Apr 21). She was previously nominated for the category in 2017 and 2021.
“So this is how it feels to be on stage!” says Yingying, 29, excitedly in her acceptance speech. “I have been in the industry for almost nine years, and this is my first award – not too late or too soon, [the timing is] just right.” When reporters speaks with the actress backstage, she says she was “super, super shocked” when her name was called. “But I kind of kicked into auto pilot [mode] ‘cos I was afraid I would run out of time for my thank you speech,” she says. “I prepared a speech, but it was with the attitude of if win then win lah, don’t win it’s fine too, so I was really shocked. And I think I was the third person [Ed: she was actually the fourth] to be called up on stage. I was not expecting that.” The only things on her mind were to get on stage quickly and don’t fall. Apart from her fan club and managers, who actively helped her to cavass votes, Yingying attributes her win to friends and family who voted for her every day. “We have group chats and every day they would be like, ‘Time to vote or don’t forget to vote,’ and I am so thankful for that. I never asked them to do that for me, but out of love, they have been supporting me ever so silently,” she shares. When asked if she brought anything for good luck, she replies, “Not really but maybe next year onwards, I will wear the same pair of underwear.” Hearing this, Shaun Chen, who was next to Yingying, jokingly covers his nose. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t wash it!” she exclaims, before continuing, “But the interesting thing is, my stylist saw this outfit that I’m wearing [from British luxury label 16arlington] last year and he told me he was going to give this to me to wear to go on stage [at Star Awards 2024]. I told him I don’t know if I am going to be nominated or win anything, but he said that he has faith in me. So maybe this is my lucky charm. My stylist manifested my win.” Halle Berry is getting ready for her new horror flick Never Let Go to premiere in the fall, but one of her children may not be watching it. The Die Another Day actress, 57, discussed whether her two kids Nahla, 16, and Maceo-Robert, 10, would be watching the new scary movie in a new interview with reporters at CinemaCon.
When asked whether her kids would be watching Never Let Go, Halle said that her elder child is more of a horror fan. She said that Nahla is “going to like this” movie, but it may not be a good fit for Maceo-Robert. “My 16-year-old [daughter], yeah. My son would have nightmares for a very long time, so no,” she told Extra. “I mean, he saw a trailer of, like, a scary movie, and it took us a year to get him to go to bed by himself, so he won’t be seeing it.” Even though her son may not be catching the movie, Halle admitted that making Never Let Go gave her a new appreciation for her two children. ” I learned that from this movie. My children are my most valued treasures,” she said. Never Let Go is a psychological thriller about a family that’s haunted by a spirit for years, and one of the children wonders whether evil is real, according to IMDb. The movie is set to premiere on September 27. While Maceo may not catch Never Let Go anytime soon, Halle has shown that she absolutely loves getting to enjoy movies with her kids! Back in August, the actress revealed that her daughter treated her to go see Barbie for her birthday, along with boyfriend Van Hunt. The Bond Girl looked like she had a fantastic time with her daughter and beau. “My mini me (but not so mini anymore) and my VanO took me to the World of Barbie for my B-day!” she wrote. “I got to let my inner Barbie soar!!!! I love you guys …thank you!” Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater‘s romance has been going strong since last summer, and they’ve kept the details of their relationship out of the public eye. However, the two appeared in a Wicked cast reunion photo together, which was shared to Instagram.
“Over the rainbow to be reunited with this magical family!” actor Jeff Goldblum captioned the post. The image featured him standing next to Ariana, 30, Ethan, 31, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Yeoh and Jonathan Bailey as they posed in front of a makeup mirror. The “Yes, And?” artist puckered her face for the camera while she cuddled closer to Ethan. The selfie appeared to have been taken at CinemaCon in Las Vegas that day. Ariana wore a thematic pink mini dress to the event, honoring her character, Glinda, while Cynthia embraced Elphaba by wearing a bright green fashion piece. As the two leading ladies took the CinemaCon stage, they held hands and spoke to the crowd about the hard work that went into the upcoming adaptation of the hit Broadway production. “We both felt such a tremendous responsibility to honor these women and to pour our hearts, our souls, our tears — so many different pairs of lashes,” Ariana said before pointing out that playing Glinda was a “dream role” for her since she saw the show as a kid. “When I was 10 years old, I saw Wicked on Broadway for the first time. I remember it so clearly because that was the instant that I knew I really wanted to play Glinda one day. It became my dream role.” Ariana and Ethan met in 2022 while filming the upcoming movie. Both were married to their respective spouses at the time — Ariana was with her now-ex-husband, Dalton Gomez, while Ethan was with his estranged wife, Lilly Jay. In July 2023, multiple outlets confirmed that Ariana and Ethan were dating. By that point, the “Break Free” hitmaker had already split from Dalton earlier that year. They finalized their divorce in October 2023. As for Ethan, he filed for divorce from Lilly the same month that reports surfaced of his relationship with Ariana. As a result, the Broadway actor and the former Victorious actress faced controversy over the timing of their romance. Shortly after the news broke of Ariana and Ethan’s relationship, Lilly broke her silence on the situation, calling Ariana “not a girl’s girl.” Ethan and Lilly share a son together and were high school sweethearts. The co-parents have not finalized their divorce yet. The romance between celeb couple Taiwanese actress Shu Qi and Hong Kong actor Stephen Fung is still going strong.
In a saccharine sweet move to surprise his missus, Stephen, 49, went all out to celebrate Shu Qi’s 48th birthday and their eighth-wedding anniversary with a lavish party. According to pictures posted on Shu Qi’s socials, the couple, who were dressed in traditional Chinese outfits, was seen having a ball of a time. One shot even showed the couple unabashedly smooching, while another picture saw Stephen play the drums as microphone-holding Shu Qi posed for a picture. Stephen and Shu Qi even had a champagne tower which made us wonder if it was their attempt at having a wedding banquet? The couple got married at a low-key ceremony in Prague in 2016 in front of 20 guests and we're pretty sure there was no champagne tower then. Shu Qi also wrote the sweetest of messages to Stephen. “Thank you for everything you have arranged today. There are so many words to say. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Happy anniversary. Love you,” she wrote. Stephen response? A cute GIF with the words “I Know”. Awww. Shu Qi and Stephen first met on the set of gay romance movie Bishonen in 1997 and stayed friends until a trip to Japan in 2012 sparked their love. Zendaya Explains Why She Almost Didn’t Wear Wild Body Armor Suit to ‘Dune: Part Two’ Premiere4/25/2024 Zendaya is shining a light on one of the greatest red carpet fashion moments of her career. Nearly two months after showing up to the Dune: Part Two red carpet premiere in London in see-through silver body armor, the actress explained how the look came to be.
“I was like, ‘I wonder if I could wear that?’” Zendaya recalled to Vogue on April 9 as part of the publication’s “Life in Looks” series. “And so I sent it to [my stylist] Law [Roach] and I was like, ‘What if we wore this for the premiere?’” She continued, “He was like, ‘Are you being serious? Don’t play with me! Don’t get me started on something and make me do this and you’re gonna chicken out last minute and be too scared to wear it.’” One of the men who originally made the Mugler ensemble was unsure if Zendaya would be able to fit into the piece. “He was like, ‘We can try it but there’s also a world where certain parts won’t fit. Our proportions might be very different,’” Zendaya recalled. “My elbow is a little bit lower or whatever. We tried it on and it fit like a glove. It just felt like it was very meant to be.” As soon as cameras photographed Zendaya arriving at London’s Leicester Square in the outfit, the look spread online with critics sharing rave reviews. While the positive feedback was nice, the actress said the outfit wasn’t always the most glamorous. “Immediately, I think after wearing it for like 10 minutes or less than that, I got really lightheaded,” Zendaya recalled. “The medal conducts and holds onto heat very quickly and kind of traps heat in. I’m wearing a complete body suit so there’s a barrier so you already have a layer of material kind of on your skin. As the days were coming up, I was like, ‘This is a bad idea. Why did I do this?’” Now, Zendaya realizes that the fashion risk totally paid off. “I put it on,” she said. “I went out there and I did it.” Throughout her press tour for Dune: Part Two, Zendaya wowed fashion lovers with her must-see looks. At the sci-fi film’s New York City premiere, the actress wore a white floor-length dress with daring cutouts in the front. And at the premiere in Paris, Zendaya rocked a matching sleeveless crop top and a long, flowing skirt. When it comes to their sex life, Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright are ready to kiss and tell. During the latest episode of The Valley, the Bravo stars got candid about the lack of intimacy they were experiencing in their marriage.
“When Jax and I first met, it was awesome,” Brittany, 35, said in a confessional interview that aired on April 9. “We were having sex all the time, 24/7. We didn’t miss a day. And then it has just changed dramatically. I’m talking twice in the past year.” In his own confessional, Jax, 44, admitted that the romantic spark “is just not there right now.” “I will take blame. Yeah, I let that spark fizzle,” he shared. “It’s not fair to either one of us. Especially it’s not fair to my wife. She deserves to have a man be loving to her.” Previously, Jax said he wanted “sex three, four times a day all day.” Now, with 2-year-old son Cruz in the picture, the business owner said, “Now it’s like, ‘Do we do it this month?'” “I’m lacking in the intimacy part,” Jax told costars and fellow dads Jesse Lally and Danny Booko. “I feel like we have to schedule it.” Back in February, Jax and Brittany announced via their “When Reality Hits” podcast that they were separating and living under separate roofs. “Marriages in general are very hard and I’ve had a particularly rough year this past year,” Brittany said to listeners while holding back tears. “Jax and I are taking time apart and I made the decision to move into another home to take some space for the sake of my mental health.” The couple, who filmed an entire season of The Valley before announcing their breakup, also confirmed infidelity was not the reason behind the split. Now, viewers are getting a sense of what led to their changing relationship status as new episodes continue to air. “I remember when Brittany was pregnant we were making jokes like, ‘We’re never gonna have sex again,’” Jax said on the show. “I’m not gonna lie, it has been a little bit of an issue because, you know, your marriage and your sex life kind of take a back seat when you have a child. It’s a big deal and I don’t want it to become a bigger deal.” Aileen Tan, 57, bagged her second Best Supporting Actress trophy at last night’s Star Awards, thanks to her stellar performance as the big bad in SHERO. Her last win was in 2017, for her role in Hero.
However, the actress, who was left out of the Top 10 Most Popular nominees list this year, was not holding out hopes of bringing home a trophy this year. Speaking to reporters backstage after her win, Aileen is all smiles as she says: “Actually I’m very happy just to get an award. The competition this year is very fierce. I’ve been in the industry for 30 years, and I respect the rules of the game.” “When we act, it isn’t for the awards. When I joined the industry [in 1988], Star Awards wasn’t even a thing. I feel like as long as you do your part, and act well in every role you’re given, you will still get the acknowledgement you deserve,” she continues. When we ask Aileen if thinks playing a villain made her stand out, she lets out a boisterous burst of laughter as she says: “No leh, I think I stand out in any role I play. This is the eighth time I’ve been nominated for Best Supporting Actress! It’s the only time I’ve been nominated in a villain role, though.” Her candid rationale of why it’s not “nice” playing the role of a bad guy takes us by surprise, though. “It’s very bad for us psychologically and it might affect the way you think,” she says. “When you’re so into playing a character, and if you’re placing all your mind and energy into it… It’s very difficult. After you’re done playing the role, you have to readjust [your mental space], if not you’ll lose your mind and go around killing people! It’s really not good. But of course, if you accept the role, you have to play it to the best of your ability.” Gulp. So pessimistic she was about winning that Aileen “didn’t even prepare a thank you speech” for the night, and her manager was “really worried she wouldn’t show up”. She then reveals that she actually wasn’t feeling well that day, and had symptoms of vertigo. Her husband, director Gerald Lee, is equally, if not more, blasé. “He didn’t think I was going to win this year so he’s not watching [Star Awards]. Maybe he doesn’t even know I’ve won! Today, he said “Aiyah, you’re just there to make up the numbers.” “I’ve been nominated so many times, and for all three awards on some occasions. Even then, I’ve never won. This year, I was only nominated for one award — all the more he thinks I’m just here for fun! He told me “I won’t watch”, and I said “I know, it’s okay”,” chuckles Aileen. While the award has come as a happy surprise for Aileen, celebrations shall have to take a back seat for now. “I took some medication so I think I will go home and have a good sleep first. I can’t celebrate too much though. I’m wearing a qipao in Emerald Hill and it requires me to remain in good shape. I’ll be playing a villain again!” she shares with a smile. Will that get her lucky nom number nine? |