Is 2021 The Year of Ruco Chan?
Last year was a challenging year for Ruco Chan (陳展鵬), as many of his dramas were delayed for broadcast and his anticipated return to the music industry was put to a halt because of the pandemic. Signing with music label Sky Team Entertainment last week, Ruco finally returns to his roots as a singer from 21 years ago.
Making his appearance as “Big Brother” at Sky Team Entertainment’s press conference, Ruco was accompanied by TVB executives Ho Lau Chuen (何麗全) and Virginia Lok (樂易玲). Asked why Ruco did not sign with TVB’s subsidiary Voice Entertainment instead, he revealed that Ms. Lok had asked him to sing again four years ago and made the arrangements for his new music contract.
“When TVB asked me to become a singer again, I was a bit conflicted. When an actor sings off key, it’s acceptable, but it’s not the same for a singer,” Ruco confessed his worries. Furthermore, his acting schedule can be erratic which leaves him little time to practice singing, but “the right timing” this year convinced him to pursue his music dreams again.
Launches New Music Video
His new company, Sky Team, regards Ruco as an important asset and reportedly spent a six-figure sum promoting his new song “Zero Year” <零歲> even during the pandemic. A global live-streaming show is in the works for Ruco to perform his new song for worldwide fans, and the music video will be released soon.
The new single is written by Schumann (舒文), who won the CR2’s Best Producer award, and Riley Pong (林若寧) who won CR2’s Best Lyricist award last year. With the golden duo at helm, they tailor made a song for Ruco which has a very different feel from his previous drama theme songs. The song talks about children, as he wanted to share his feelings as a father and dedicate the song to his daughter.
Other singles are also in the works, but Ruco said his album will not be ready for release this year.
Three Dramas to Air This Year
Since winning Best Actor in 2016, Ruco has not appeared in many dramas and his fans misunderstood that he was staying home to raise his daughter. However, this year viewers will see a lot of Ruco on screen again.
Three of Ruco’s dramas are awaiting broadcast, including Chinatown <唐人街>, Sinister Beings <逆天奇案>, and I’ve Got The Power <超能使者>. He is currently filming police drama Guardians of the Dark <黯夜守護者.> with Alice Chan (陳煒). TVB has plans to release two to three of his dramas consecutively to help him maintain a high level of popularity this year.
Ruco Performs “Zero Year”
This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.
Is he a good actor? I can’t decide. I’ve been watching some of his older dramas and I’m not sure to be honest.
@tt23 depends on which one you have watched. There’s definitely some where he did alright in and some where he exceptionally well. I recommend Brothers Keeper, Captain of Destiny, outbound love, and eye in the sky
@jcc10 I’ll try those, thank you!
@tt23 Did you watch Reality Check? I think that’s one of my favs from Ruco
@bubbles23 I’ll try that one too!
@tt23 I like Ruco’s older series, like the ones mentioned above. He is pretty to look at. He is best in emotional series and some action series like Ruse of Engagement. He’s good at one-sided romances but in general, doesn’t really have great chemistry with any of female co-stars. He can play cheeky roles but doesn’t seem to let go enough for all out comedy.
@potatochip I thought he was good in ruse of engagement but the ending was lame and Aimee was not a strong co-star for him.
@tt23 That ending was terrible. Unfortunately, he was with Amy again in Outbound Love. His characters in Outbound Love and Captain of Destiny are my favorites of his.
Like a lot of actors, Ruco did well when he was fighting his way up the TVB ladder. Once he reached the top, his acting has been lazy. You will be lucky to be able to distinguish his roles from his last handful of series…
@jimmyszeto Succession War was different, but the character was poorly defined and unlikeable.
I don’t have any hopes for Chinatown or that superhero series because they are going to be like AFWFW and both have the same cast.
The series he’s recording with Alice might be interesting.
I feel like Ruco has been out of the limelight so long that I wonder if he still has appeal or any star power left at TVB, to be honest. Like Nancy Wu, I don’t know what happened to either of them. It’s like they fell off the face of television the past few years. And we all know the saying, “out of sight, out of mind.” Especially for artists, you gotta maintain some type of exposure here and there to still be relevant. I enjoyed his acting in the past but ever since AFWFW, it started going downhill for me. Like all other TVB dramas, they milk the same theme until audience gets sick of it. So when he did Unholy Alliance, I was over it. And now they want to show Chinatown. I just want refreshing content. I also don’t get how TVB decides their drama lineup. I feel like some artists get over exposed like Samantha Ko with her 3 or 4 series back to back last year or 2 shows with Vincent back to back. And most of the actors and supporting cast are the same. The series are getting really redundant to watch. I’m looking forward to Ruco’s return on screen but I wonder if his career might be done with as a big brother at the station.
Oh and just listened to his song… he sang live but there seems to be some off notes. I liked his song in the movie Outbound Love but I don’t really identify him as a singer and don’t see him making any substantial presence in the music industry. He’ll probably just sing mostly theme songs for dramas.