Lee Lik Chi on Kevin Cheng and Raymond Lam: “They are Not Good Enough!”
Hong Kong director and writer Lee Lik Chi (李力持) did not think twice to make disparaging comments on Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎) and Raymond Lam (林峯), saying they are not of the caliber yet to command the reported high remuneration in China.
“China is not the same as Hong Kong. Actors such as Kevin Cheng and Raymond Lam are not worth that kind of price in China. Now, Sun Honglei (孫紅雷) – that is what 500,000 RMB is worth!” Kevin Cheng currently commands 500,000 RMB per television episode in the mainland market, according to news reports.
Kevin Cheng’s Mandarin is Not Good Enough
Lee Lik Chi revealed that Kevin Cheng was initially cast in mainland drama, The Four Scholars of Jiangnan <江南四大才子>, however due to conflict in schedules, Hawick Lau (劉愷威) was cast instead. Lee Lik Chi praised Hawick’s commitment, “Hawick has worked in China for many years. Yet, to play a convincing role, he actually seeks a teacher from the Central Academy of Drama to coach him in his Mandarin pronunciation.” Lee Lik Chi’s approval of Hawick’s decision hinted at a lack of good Mandarin communication skills in Hong Kong actors. He stressed that to do well in China, an actor needs to, first and foremost, be able to speak Mandarin reasonably well.
Asked about Kevin Cheng’s Mandarin skills, Lee Lik Chi said, “You go and ask him yourself. Anyway, if you cannot speak good Mandarin, how can you communicate and get along with your team mates, not to mention demanding a fee of 500,000 RMB!” Revealing that Kevin has a habit of requesting for change of scripts, Lee Lik Chi scorned, “It’s not an actor’s call to change scripts. Unless of course, you’re someone like Sun Honglei!”
Not afraid that Kevin will be offended, Lee Lik Chi added, “I am not even afraid of Stephen Chow (周星馳), why would I be afraid of Kevin Cheng?” Lee further added that Kevin only had one drama, Bu Bu Jing Xin <步步惊心>, that was extremely popular in China.
Raymond Is Not Yet Up to Standard
Regarding Raymond Lam, Lee Lik Chi said, “He should be able to command a fee of 500,000 RMB per episode, since TVB said so themselves. Raymond’s future looks good, as his language skills are okay. But it is not based on what awards he has won, which makes it sound like an electronics salesman’s pitch, especially when the singing is out of tune.”
Great Admiration for Stephen Chow
Referring to the recent media report on Stephen Chow burning his friendships due to financial controversies, Lee Lik Chi said, “Stephen and I parted ways, but we are still on good terms. Actually, so what if he’s mean, as long as he has talents? Furthermore, only an unscrupulous person can make a laughingstock out of other people.”
Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West <西遊：降魔篇> will open in cinemas in February 2013. Lee Lik Chi foresees that with a strong cast, it may even break the 1 billion RMB box office mark, even beating Jackie Chan’s (成龍) CZ12 <十二生肖>.
Source: Ming Pao
This article is written by Karen for JayneStars.com.
Jayne,
Do you have the full article or clip for this? I’d like to read more in depth about what Lee said about Raymond…because I don’t understand the relationship between his “singing out of tune” compared to his value in China as an actor.
Raina,
The article source is cited above. From Ming Pao, Lee Lik Chi said about Raymond:
“香港演員別浪費氣力，普通話都未講得好，那有這麼高價錢？你的確可以配音，但其他演員會歧視你。林有50萬元一集？我當然覺得『好堅』，因為無自己講，應該有前途，他語言方面可以，但不是你得過什麼獎，這樣講的話只是電器推銷員，連唱歌都走音。”
He’s basically saying that while Raymond’s Mandarin is good and has won awards, however the singing is out of tune.
Thank you Jayne for the clarification. I was scratching my head because I originally interpreted it as “Raymond is singing out of tune that is why he isn’t worth the amount he gets for his dramas per episode.”
who the hell is this sung hong lei? Is he famous ?
@ lox100
He’s a mainland actor. He has acted in a lot of movies. Very reputable. Yes, he’s famous.
I don’t believe Raymond sings out of tune.
Wow, I never even heard of this Lee Lik Chi guy before now. I looked him up on the internet http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0497758/.
He really has not done so much with his own career except for having some success by attaching himself with stephen chow.
I can’t stand it when someone who has not had a great career themselves feels the need to critique other people.
I agree. Furthermore, he is a director and writer so acting wise he can comment, but singing? What qualities does he have to be able to criticize Raymond’s singing? How funny.
Raymond sells his music and his voice. You don’t need to be a professional in that field to offer some critique… you just need to listen… If LLC was trying to pass it off as a critic’s review in some music magazine, now that would be a different matter.
But that guy’s right! Ray keeps on screwing up his live performances by either going out of tune or forgetting the lyrics. If Ray was an american singer, then that would be ok, but this is HK and we like good live performances and if a singer can’t sing live, he/she should not be a singer.
What other show has Raymond gone off tune? The only recent one that I know of is the JSG award show. He’s usually very good with his live singing.
You don’t need to sing well in order to criticise another person’s singing…
Actually, critics should know the basic fundamentals of singing 101 in order to give constructive criticisms. Put it this way, though it has become the norm to “criticize” people for their acting, singing, but how many of them actually have the credentials for it? Many have long forgotten that if they don’t have basic knowledge in a certain field, facts, experiences etc, they’re only voicing opinions, no where should it be classified as criticisms.
The JSG End of being naive performance is that terrible? I watched the full show and it isnt that terrible comparing to some other performances. Forgetting lyric is one of his characteristic and it dun affect his live skill or singing. YanYanKong, maybe you are making too big deal of a chance. Or its the only chance for you to attack so you have to repeat it times? I guess. Most of time he dun sing off tune or off key, why you dun mention?
Recently , lee lik chi directed and produced few flop movies. He is basically hosting a programme in atv and produced a few malaysian chinese movies. His hk career in movie is basically over
Yanyankong,
“ngo yan kau lei”
what right or qualification do you have to judge raymond’s performance? So you mean you can sing better than him?From the clip, he sings alright
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=EtlCvxbVSUw
& Please don’t pretend to be LF’s fan if you are not. You double head snake.
Hahaha… Don’t worry about putting up w/ her lah. I think she’s a fan of Ron, not ray.
Then mind your Ron’s business!!
He sounds like out to get some attention.
he just wants attention.but i do agree that raymond and kevin are not to that standard to earn that much yet. i think their actings are medicore….
especially kevin.
just my opinion
This Lee Lik Chi, whoever, sounds spiteful to vent his criticism on Kevin and Raymond. Of course, Kevin’s just been on the mainland scene for not so long, besides, their voices are all dubbed, so what’s with the language problem? If Kevin had to speak Mandarin in a series I am quite sure he would make sure that he also would hire an expert to make sure his Mandarin is perfect. Also, one has not heard that he demands 500,000 per episode. He may command 500,000 which is quite different.
I wouldn’t say spiteful. His words just sound more harsh in print. Lee Lik Chi is a friend of a boss I used to work for. He’s commenting on them from a business perspective which is no surprise because film-making is a business.
Personally, I feel Kevin have never improved. I first saw him in The Legendary Siblings starring Jimmy Lin and Alec Su, and I thought even till this day he never really improved. But I must say the man has charisma on stage and screen, so perhaps that makes up for everything? I’m certainly not taking away any of his successes because I do believe certain people make their way to stardom just solely on hard work/effort, which I respect.
As for Raymond, I can see he halted his acting career for his music, therefore most improvements were made in the latter. However, Raymond definitely has the ability to continue and improve, acting wise. Though the man is 33, I don’t think he’s reached his peak. In due time, he’ll show what else he can bring to the table.
Agree that Raymond definitely has the ability to continue and improve….he is young and talent!
How dare you talk about my Kevin like that?? What has he said about you?? NOTHING so keep your smack talking to yourself.
People who like to make others feel bad are insecure about themselves. True story.
To command high pay, not only must the artist be good he also must be popular!
Both LF & Kevin are very popular, especially LF!!!!
Who is tis Sun Honglei anyway???
Sounds like this Lee Lik person is in LOVE with this Sun Honglei. Like a little school girl crying for attention.
Lf and kevin might be popular in HK, but not as popular as Sun Honglei in china! this man did not rise to stardom based on his looks and charm, but through his brilliant acting skills.
raymond main language is mandarin, his start working at tvb8 before start filming drama
Nope, his main lang is still Cantonese but he can speak Mando and also Hokkien.
Though Kevin Cheng’s Mandarin may not be up the standard in Mainland China, his Mandarin is not that bad. Kevin lived in Taiwan for a number of years, and he should be a lot better in Mandarin than any other artistes, such as Charmaine Sheh, Ada Choi, Myolie Wu, Bosco Wong, etc. I am not sure about Raymond Lam as his families are Mainlanders and he was brought up there.
His mandarin is A LOT better than the ones you named. He speaks good mandarin but not those proper Mainland China mandarin of course. You know what? I HATE Taiwanese idol drama accent. Oh how much I loath that accent!
I like Taiwanese’s Mandarin though, very soft and gentle. I heard that the Mandarin in Beijing is very harsh. I personally don’t speak Mandarin, so I am not in a position to comment.
I agree with sandcherry. Taiwanese mandarin is much smoother and a lot easier on the ears compared to mainland china’s mandarin. Their sentences comes out boggled and often times, I have no idea what theyre saying because of how hard they try to enunciate the tones, especially the third tone. But I guess it is all subjective.
Qiong yau mandarin is ok but those idol dramas had me shaking my heads. Beijing mandarin is lovely if not too extreme. Listen to Vicki Zhao and you will know what I mean as to lovely.
By the way great picture of Kevin. That is so BBJX II.
Have not listened to Kevin’s Mandarin so can’t comment on him but Raymond Lam’s Mandarin is excellent.
I’m with Funn Lim – Qiong yau’s series mandarin is ok. The dubber of Ruby Lin’s HZGG Zhi Wei did an excellent job -elevated Zhi Wei by several notches. What a lovely, crystal clear voice!!
I haven’t not watched any recent Taiwan idol dramas but have watched several Kangxi Lai le talk/game shows and I dislike the Taiwanese coy way of speaking with their drawn out ‘ye’ to every sentence.
And yes, Beijing mandarin is lovely if not too extreme with the tongue rolling.
And good dubbing actually elevated the characters in the series. Baidu netizens praised the past Mandarin dubbers (but bash the current newer ones) for TVB siu sang and fadans.
I’m personally baffled that he criticised Kevin’s Mandarin but praised Hawick considering the latter’s Mandarin is horrible even to my beginner’s ear.
LF’s Mandarin is obvious excellent given his upbringing, so the guy criticises his singing instead… which have absolutely no relation to what he should be able to command for acting.
I do agree with him that actors going to Mainland should be able to speak Mandarin in order to communicate, but since they are dubbed, it hardly needs to be perfect. Even if HK people demands it of people who come to HK.
Yea, Kevin’s mandarin is not too bad. It is a lot better than many others from HK as Sandcherry mentioned. Ray’s definately should be good since he was born in China and all. Ray knows Taiwanese as well.
I like tha taiwanese idol series accents way more than mainland ones, although I have more of a Beijing accent. But I think it also depends on who speaks it too..Some sound really harsh and whiny while some don’t sound so bad. However, those dubb voices are really harsh for the most part.
Those dubb voices are bad…really bad.
Of course Raymond Lam knows Taiwanese. Born and raised in Xiamin, which is just across the strait, his native dialect is Hokkien. Like Christine Kuo, Fala Chen, and Eliza Sham, Cantonese is actually his “acquired” dialect.
I speak in a Taiwanese accent due to the influence from my father so when I hear Beijing Mandarin, I was unconfortable with it. Beijing accent is harsh b/c of the tongue rolling and the ‘er.’ And yes, dubbed voices sound terrible…they need to get rid of it.
LF was born in Xiamen, yes, but he moved to HK when he was 2 and live there most of his life (except 1.5 years in Xiamen colleague)
Well who says remuneration commensurate with talent? Remuneration commensurate with bankability and bankability depends on viewership. And Kevin’s mandarin is better than a lot of people! I mean some worked there longer and still speak with heavily accented mandarin.
China actors when they’re good, they’re great! They’re classically trained and they speak well, deliver lines well, etc. But there is a new batch of China actors, those idol types, those who may or may not be classically trained but some of them are such bad actors.
I generally find that the bad actors in mainland idol dramas tend to be pop singers/Taiwanese starlets. On the whole though, the average level of competence in the mainland acting scene is the highest in the Chinese speaking world (barring anomalies like Liu Yi Fei) and the ones who hit it big like Sun Honglei, Jiang Wen, etc. are just out of this world.
I do kinda agree with him about Kevin and Raymond they have a long way to go in their China career seems like HK is where their main priority should be besides mostof their fans are from HK anyways it works out for them.
Exactly who cares if a person is mean as long as they got talent how their personality is off screen have nothing to do with their professional work. Not everyone is all goody two shoes
I personally really hate china drama or movie I dont watch any of those drama or movies. I hate the sound of those mandarin I only watch taiwan dramas. I really like the language/accent of it…
I don’t mind the language, I do mind those ridiculous plot holes, the stretched storyline (always 40 episodes), ridiculous and annoying sub plots and supporting characters, seriously bad cgi that basically defy physics (yea, you can have wuxia and kung fu and ppls flying from one side of the mountain to another, but you still must obey logic of when u land from a high place to the back of the bird, the bird should dip a bit, not landing like a feather on the back of the bird, without using anything to lessen the impact). And the latest is the number of plastic surgery actress they have, who can’t act and have distracting ducklips >_<
Heheh, bad CGI… TVB, the penny pincher, is always guilty of that, but they still produced the best wuxia in the past. Ah, those days…
It’s hard to find a good wuxia that’s more plot driven nowadays; mainland dramas have a tendency to drag on and on, and they’re so focused on making everything look pretty.
People here do not care what you like or dislike. You are 100% irrelevant here
Kevin’s face look a bit Botox out in the above pic. Kevin, don’t mess with a good thing.
lee lik chee and sun hong fei are not good looking, between lee lik chee is not an actor, why is he commenting on other people’s acting, he should only be allowed to give his views on directing, what a silly person, hope every actor will reject working with him, let him do all the acting himself
Well, as much as its a harsh comment, it’s true. Just recently saw mysterious in the palace? Kelvin’s acting was quite bad, the main actress is pretty but acting is quite bad, the plot line is just basically a rip off a realm of conscience(?) from tvb with kelvin and Charmaine. Only watch 4-5 episode and I basically knew who the bad guy was -.- needless to say, bad acting, bad plot (no originality whatsoever), and Idk how on earth they manage 35 episode -.- cos i skip to the end and don’t feel like I miss much >_> and yes, so many cliche >_<
Anyway, kelvin's acting seriously hasn't improved. That's however doesn't mean he should asking for less per episode, after he's only human, and he has the same 24hrs like us all.
Raymond is not bad, I haven't managed to like any of his other roles/character, something about them that are slightly irritating, over acting perhaps. The only role I like so far is the one with tavia where he was a smart cookie xD. The dude comment on Raymond's singing should probably interpret as his singing is not great, so he should focus more on his acting rather than his singing
This guy is not making much sense to me in regards to his comments on Raymond. Since he was making statements on acting and how undeserving it is for both Raymond and Kevin to command high remuneration then he should stick to talking about acting and not make comments on Raymond’s singing. They are two different areas. How is being able to act and having good language skills related to him singing off key? Is he poking fun at Raymond’s singing?
I find this article amusing because finally someone has turned the table after all the bashing of the non-Cantonese TVB actresses in this forum.
Perhaps the most equitable thing to do would be to pay these HK guys the same rate and TVB pays these non-Cantonese actresses.
PS: I saw Kevin Cheng on the popular Chinese variety show Happy Camp to promote BBJX and found his Mandarin as atrocious as claimed in this article. They guy couldn’t even finish a complete sentence.
Sun Honglei? F off man. I never heard of this dude at all before. I google his name and found out his face. OMG. wanna poke. Although i feel tat eason chan having terrible look, but this Sun Honglei even worst.
Pls la ignorant. Having great acting skill doesnt means u worth that much. Still have to depend on their popularity and likeable anot. If Sun Honglei and LF standing on the street, the hot gals will immediately prefer to hug LF but not that ugly Sun Honglei. hehe. sorry for being harsh but i dislike telling lie. hehehe
-.- looks does not equate to talent. Sun honglei is leaps and bounds more popular than LF in China. Would reputable directors like Wong kar wai cast LF in his movie? no he wouldn’t. but he might cast Sun Honglei in their movies because he is a commendable actor which has bagged numerous accolades for his acting.
recommend a movie with sun honglei that shows his excellent acting please
Talent also does not equal to popularity bangang. Haha. Too ignorNt.
If you prefer empty vessels with a “pretty” face attached, that’s your choice. Some people prefer actual talent and find that it can add to a person’s charm.
LF can hug his wad of cash to sleep, but I bet he’d rather have more respect for his works than so-called popularity…
LF is a all rounder artist bangang. But i bet u wont know the meaning of bangang. haha. Too ignorant of u. You think people simply pay a person 500k per episode? stupid of you…
oh please.. it seems like the ignorant one is you for that matter, who doesnt even know who’s sun honglei. I would recommend some to you but what’s the point of doing so since your mind is so darn narrow. As an artist, one strives to gain recognition through their talent and not popularity. Ask yourself, when they pass on, how would they want people to remember them for? their talent or just their pretty face? Go figure.
You will never know what will happen in the future.
@939393 definitely you are the ignorant by assuming hong lei is more popular than LF in asia. hahaha.. what a noob ignorant of the century.
@raymond: Lf might be more popular, but he’s just popular. period. Most of his awards are based on popularity, none critically acclaimed. Sun Honglei on the other hand, might be more low key, but his works are all critically acclaimed and his awards are given by professionals in the movie industry and none condemned nor disputed.
If you want to see movies to stare at an actor, buy yourself a photo and save the price of admission. Sun Honglei is a genius and is well-appreciated by thinking people.
Well said, Tika & Sandcherry!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5xmSxaaBZ8&feature=endscreen
Just a simple interview…Raymond’s Mandarin is excellent.
That’s expected. He’s from Mainland.
Yup, cantonese is not his native dialect.
Haha too ignorang. Lf has entered china market or how long? And honglei is how old nw? Wat a noob on earth.
how does age matter? you’re ignorant for being unable to spell the word “ignorant” correctly. xD
not matter? how long LF enter china market and how long hong lei has been there? what a noobest on earth seriously.
and the fact that you are sore loser by saying hong lei is popular than LF. If he really that worth why he cannot receive 500k per episode but LF can? hahaha…939393 go cry under ur mama’s legs now ler.
stop butthurt on people’s success 9393 and being a useless. hahaha.
hahahahaha. seeing your comments reduces ur credibility as you only condemn and attack me with all sorts of words without basis. Shows how immature you are. the thing is sun hong lei doesn’t even film dramas, he’s already a leading actor in movies, while lf hasn’t even make a breakthrough in movies. Didn’t you know this fact? Now, one quote to describe you, and i quote from you “what a noobest on earth seriously”
hahahahahahaha
Gaymond Lam fans got furious!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hei homo- lover, your written sentence sounds obnoxious and pathetic.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
the homo- lover gaymond fan got furious!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
haha…haters so butthurt there…keke
you don’t deserve to use online name “tvb fan” with your gayish quote
How foolish is this Li Lik chi to command on the two actors! A value of an actor is complicated.. its all about charm and star quality. I would not expect a famous foreign star to speak the local language 100%, I would appreciate the actor to carry his own style, like I would not expect a Hollywood star to speak Canto when he films in HK!
Who cares whether their mandarin skills are good. Not like the audience ever hears their real voices. They can speak English for all I care. Won’t affect anything on screen.
Uhm, after reading this, I blv to Mr. Lee, language is the most important thing to an actor. I bet he will disagree with Tony Leung since Tony Leung commented that acting can surpass the barrier of language.
How is Mr. Lee’s Mando skill, anybody know?
One possible reason why Mr. Lee lashed out at Kevin is this. Kevin had asked for script writers to hand in their scripts and Mr. Lee was one of them. Kevin said that he had read and rejected it.That was also why Mr. Lee cricized Kevin for correcting scripts all the time. Kevin’s aim is to try and see that the scripts for his TV series were well and not haphazardly written. It has been confirmed that he and Yuan Hong will not be BBJX2 but they will instead be in a very anticipated series, Hua Xu Yin. Hopefully that will turn out tops.