Hong Kong Beautiful TVB Artist Oceane Zhu Xuan

Profile
Name: Zhu Xuan 朱璇
English name: Oceane Zhu
Nickname: Xuan Zi 璇子
Date of birth: April 4
Place of birth: Beijing, China
Height: 174 cm
Weight: 52 kg
Measurements: 83 62 88 cm
Blood type: O
Horoscope: Aries
Profession: Artist, actress

Elegant Hong Kong TVB artist Oceane Zhu Xuan

  Name: Zhu Xuan 朱璇
English name: Oceane Zhu
Nickname: Xuan Zi
Occupation: artist, actress
Birthday: April 4
Constellation: Aries
Zodiac Year: Rabbit
Blood type: O
Height: 174 cm
Weight: 52 kg
Birthplace: Beijing
Family: Mom and Dad
Language: English, Mandarin, French
Favorite food: sweets, candy, chocolate
Favorite song: he only moment we were alone
Favorite City: Paris
Favorite color: the color of high purity
Favorite animal: cat
Mantra: OK
Hobbies: Comics, walk

More from the 29th Hong Kong Film Awards

A second batch, all from Zimbio, of red carpet pictures of the Hong Kong Film Awards.

First the impossibly elegant and still gorgeous Kara Hui Ying-Hung in a black boatnecked dress typical with its high neckline and snug fit, but given the deluxe treatment with a king's ransom in pearl accessories. Kara Hui looks great and clearly knows she does--at 50 she looks ready to take on the world again in "My Not So Young Auntie".

One more a slightly different pose and film speed (or whatever one calls the difference in skin tone from one shot to the next in digital photography)

Three of Kelly Lin Hsi-Lei. How do you improve on perfection? Super-glam black evening dress that looks like it was cut and sewn specifically for her. Her hair down but it works--everything works in this look. Kelly Lin is an extremely attractive actress and each part of this outfit shows off her beauty. A quick flip of her head or a bit of help from a fan offstage gets Kelly a casual wind-blown look in the last picture.

Zhu Xuan showing that red works really well on the red carpet. She is still sporting the short, wavy hair that fits her semi-retro look very well.

Zhu Xuan with Fala Chen who is wearing a completely different style--nice contrast between the two--which also looks great.

Here they are again--this time Fala Chen shows why the competition for the best light can seem like a rugby scum or ice hockey face-off. No one wants to disappear into anyone's shadow.

There are pictures of Gao Yuan-Yuan in the post from a couple of days ago but with such an elegant look there can't be too many. Even her shoes work--or almost work--although they look like a pair that she found in the back of her closet from a sale a few years ago. She, Kelly Lin and Kara Hui could give lessons on the not so simple art of looking relaxed and gorgeous while being blinded by flash bulbs, deciding where to stand and figuring what to do with your hands.

Another lady in red. Irene Wan Pik-Ha in what looks like Dior from the Fall/Winter 2009 collection or something based on that. The color works well as do the simple accessories. She has only been in a few movies over the past several years although was very decorative during the early 1990s and looks as if she still could be.

Lynn Hung Doi-Lam in a very formal ball gown looking either apprehensive or even shocked. She might be wondering who stole her accessories and purse--the plain look doesn't go with that dress. Anyone who wore it at Cannes, for example, might be sporting a tiara as well as lots of jewelry.

But she might also have just gotten a look at Miriam Yeung Chin-Wah's shoes. While nothing was going to make that green Dior (or Dior knockoff) dress look other than hideous she seems to be going out of her way to flash her shoes which are made of cork and plastic. They are something to wear with a pair of tight jeans and a crop-top while strolling on a Saturday afternoon if you want to give the boyz a thrill but they are ridiculous on the red carpet.

Miriam Yeung has the shoulders, neck, arms and general lovliness for a very bare look but this dress should have been the last choice for her--or anyone else. There might be someone somewhere who would look good in this but she was far from the Hong Kong Cultural Center on the night of the awards.

Perhaps the strangest of all was this young lady, described on Zimbio as "Ho Chiu-ying, daughter of tycoon Stanley Ho". While there is no reason that a billionaire shouldn't buy a spot for his daughter on the red carpet at the Hong Kong Film Awards--this isn't exactly the Nobel Peace Prize--she shouldn't wear a modified hoop skirt that would be just the thing at the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville. She looks like Hong Kong's answer to Miley Cyrus.

Terri Kwan, Zhu Xuan at Prince of Tears Opening--How to wear (and not wear) a cheongsam

The the recent Taipei premier of "Prince of Tears" Terri Kwan wore a radically styled cheongsam with the usual demure neckline but with a more daring cut on on the back and particularly the sides. She paired it with pumps that closely matcher her dress and simple accessories and looked great. As did Zhu Xuan in a short eventing dress that looked like it was made of dyed feathers and Christian Louboutin T-strap pumps. Christian Louboutin seems to be one of the weapons of choice on the red carpet this season for Chinese stars. From szonline through Dennis Lee's blog.

A few pictures from the red carpet showing that Terri Kwan is fully aware of the power of the traditional Chinese dress, updated but still with much the expected structure.

Here are a couple of Terri Kwan and Zhu Xuan, the first particularly showing the bold cut of Terri's gown.

While the cheongsam is by no means foolproof--here Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki shows that it is not always flattering to the wearer. For example if the placement of the side slit makes it difficult to sit in a ladylike or even comfortable looking position:

And Paris Hilton shows a westernized, updated (updated to the Madonna Blonde Ambition Tour 20 years ago) and quite dreadful version, although picking on Paris Hilton's fashion sense really isn't fair.

The ne plus ultra of the cheongsam as a ravishing outfit, of course, is Maggie Cheung with her 32 or 33 different ones in "In the Mood for Love". Since the film was set in the 1960s and Maggie's character lived among people from Shanghai who had been uprooted to Hong Kong, the dresses were traditionally cut with the silk printed in astounding patterns. A few examples:

Here is a close-up to show the lavish pattern of one of them:

The lovely Tang Wei, while most notorious for her nudity in "Lust Caution" also wore great looking cheongsams during scenes in which she was allowed to keep her clothes on. For example:


And there is Gong Li. There is always Gong Li. Any actress who could look exquisite in a padded peasant's coat with a ratty scarf tied around her hair (which she did in "The Story of Qiuju") is going to be simply sublime in a cheongsam, particularly one cut like this one:

Zhu Xuan wants World Peace

Zhu Xuan has taken the same path as Maggie Cheung Man Yuk, Maggie Cheung Ho Lee, Michelle Reis, Teresa Mak, Anita Yeun and Valerie Chow to start a movie career in Hong Kong--competition in a beauty pageant. A 20 year old student in Paris she won the Miss China International Pageant held in Hong Kong in January, 2008, representing the Chinese residents of Paris where she was a student. The competion seems to be less for the title itself and more to catch the eye of decision makers in the entertainment business. It is clearly a film and TV centered event, sponsored by TVB with Eric Tsang acting as master of ceremonies and Kenny Bee on the judging panel for 2008. One recurring gag during the on camera interviews with the contestants is their difficulty with Cantonese. They are easy foils since few of the final five have been from Hong Kong--Zhu Xuan, for example, was born in Beijing and lived there for most of her life before heading to Paris.

The picture above of Zhu Xuan is from the Venice International Film Festival. Those below are from the final night of the pageant last year.

This is during one of the talent portions of the judging, her severe black bob reminding one of Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly in Chicago.



On stage, looking relaxed and quite lovely wearing a bikini and (one assumes) stilettos while being interviewed by Eric Tsang.


From a rehearsal for the big dance number.


And with her newly won crown set at a rakish angle, Miss Chinese International 2008.


For those who just can't get enough of the festivities an interview backstage in Mandarin with Dutch subtitles.

Terri Kwan, Zhu Xuan on the TIFF Red Carpet for Prince of Tears

The next stop for the Prince of Tears road trip was the Toronto International Festival where the plucky trio of Terri, Xuan and Yonfan hit the red carpet. More coverage of Toronto can be found at Dennis Lee's blog.

Our heroines' outfits seemed completely at odds with each other. The publicists may have wanted that contrast in an attempt to make a bigger press splash in a very important North American venue, they actresses may have not told each other what they were wearing or maybe they just threw on what they had. The last in unlikely since Terri Kwan wore a bright red ball gown with very little make-up and, it seems, no accessories while Zhu Xuan was carefully put together with an artistically ripped white T-shirt, black lipstick and funky accessories. Terri Kwan could have been on her way to box at the bullring in Seville or to audition for the chorus in "Carmen" while Zhu Xuan was looking for directions to the Sex Pistols concert where she planned to dive from the stage.

It was a very odd pairing but we are always happy to see beautiful women wearing almost anything.

The cut of Terri Kwan's dress combined with its lenghth and the endless ruffles make it seem very formal while the color says something else (not sure what) entirely.


She clearly decided not to let anything compete with the dress--no jewelry at all, not even earrings. This is partially due to the ambience of Toronto compared with Venice where the diamonds and platinum come out for every photoshoot lent by the merchants specifically for the world wide publicity their wares will get. Toronto (based solely on the coverage of the TIFF I have seen over the past few years) seems more informal. Venice, like Cannes, is partially a fashion show where Toronto is all about the movies. No matter what the case, Terri looked stunning. Here is a shot showing some detail of the dress and her minimal make-up and accessories look. Her lovely smile is the perfect finishing touch.

Zhu Xuan with her off the shoulder ripped T-shirt, spiky mascara, dark lipstick, dangling earrings and come-hither look presents a very different picture.


A couple of shots showing details and accessories: one transparent opera glove (?), clunky bracelets, five-pocket jeans, wide belt with a big buckle, unbuttoned vest. She makes it work but needs to get at least one more look--her smoldering, challenging look is very striking but loses its punch if seen all time time. She is very new to the business--she was a student in Paris who won the TVB sponsored Miss Chinese International Pageant just last year and has plenty of time to develop.



And the two of them, apparently still getting along.


All photos from Zimbio