Loveboat.
29 July 2008 @ 03:21 ; 0 Comments
We are now at the final stretch of Beach.Ball.Babes, a contemporary Chinese drama serial portraying a volleyball team, torn apart by their headstrong leader (Jesseca Liu). In the midst of it all friendships, relationships, family issues, blah blah blah... everything culminates to this Friday's finale wherein, of course, a final volleyball match will settle the score and wrap the show up nicely.
Don't get me wrong, I am actually enjoying the show. Despite the predictability of the storylines and the less-than-stellar acting from the cast, I have never really paid that much attention to any Chinese drama serial since the 90s. (Yes yes, I am old.) Most of my television dedication is solely towards English shows because- let's face it, they bring across a variety of topics to deal with that are never tiresome, predictable, typical. (Of course, that is not to say they have more hits than misses because really, not every single thing on Earth is truly that great, right?)
Right so the show. People kept comparing it to The Champion just because of the similar fashion involving the girls having to strip down to their bikinis and humiliating themselves in public in the form of pulling absurd stunts (running down Orchard Road vs retrieving things from the market). And I say- hey man, what's with all the unjust comparisons? Of course they had to put that down in the script. How else would they get hot blooded males to catch the show if not to see girls in bikinis performing outlandish things? But seriously, we are talking about a Singapore television production nowadays here. That hardly accounts for any originality.
Oh, and do you want to know what the funny thing is? I missed the first episode. Aarrrrghhhhh. So I didn't get to see them in action. Damn. (Oh, and I entirely missed The Champion too. But who didn't know about the whole Fiona Xie + two bikinis + running down Orchard Road = clothed sex/dry humping?) (And I don't think I wanna sign up with mob tv just to watch a repeat of the latter.)
Okay okay back to the show- digress much? So I have been diligently watching the show every single weeknight, parking myself on my bed, in front of the telly, as we all tune in to find out the developments of Jesseca and Joanne Peh's friendship (drama mama, but well played out- I guess), Jesseca and the guys wooing her (Yanfang and Feipeng FTW!), Dawn Yeoh's parentage (sOoooOoOOOoo drama mama and absofuckinglutely! unnecessary) and Christopher Lee showing off his body at almost every beach scene (of course, there's nothing wrong with that- I mean, they gotta balance all that estrogen with a dash of testosterone, right?)
Predictability of plot? Check.
Boobs and bods being flaunted at every single minute? Check.
Melodrama? Check.
Clichéd usage of dialogue and scenarios? Check.
The best thing to come off the show was, surprisingly, Joanne Peh. I didn't really think that she could make it as an actress - most of the time she come off stiff and seems to spit out her lines instead of making them real; but here, she has shown tremendous improvement. I was really moved by her crying scenes- they seemed to come naturally for her nowadays. Perhaps it's too early to write her off just yet. Let's hope she maintains this standard for her future work. The same cannot be said for Dawn Yeoh, (un)fortunately. She still plays the naïve, innocent girl next door which is starting to get on my nerves. Has she been typecasted into those kind of roles? It's time to switch it up, girlfriend. I never really paid attention to Jesseca before to gauge her performance but she was believable. As for the males, the one playing Jesseca's younger brother was okay. The Feipeng dude tends to overact, and Christopher Lee should stop with all these May-December relationships and focus on being a proper actor ala Tay Ping Hui. Geez. Just because you still have a good body for your age doesn't give you the right to show off. And the tan is making him appear all leathery. Gross much?
Four episodes left, and then the new Fann Wong/Jeannette Aw drama will air. I can't wait for that one. Trailers so far have been piquing my interest, and the show sounds promising. Very drama. Ooooh.
