December 5, 2000 - TV Works, the English television channel of SPH MediaWorks Ltd, raised its curtains for five artistes ? Lum May Yee, Norleena Salim, Karen Tan, Adrian Pang and Imran Johri.

The five have signed contracts of between two and three years with MediaWorks and will be greeting television audiences when TV Works goes on air in mid 2001. In the meantime, TV Works has lined up various programmes and activities to give exposure to its artistes. The artistes are getting geared up with the help of Dick Lee, Creative Director of TV Works, who is responsible for developing their images on television.

Mr Ganesh Rajaram, Vice President of TV Works, said, "We are very excited by the five talents joining TV Works. Our team is designing the channel's programming content and exploring possible roles for the five artistes. With his wealth of experience in the local and international entertainment scenes, Dick will be instrumental in creating distinct television personas for the five but still retaining the unique local flavour to remain relevant to our local audiences. We are not stopping at five and are searching for more talented individuals to join us as artistes and will provide regular updates on our talent scouting efforts."

"We will not typecast our artistes to fit particular roles. Instead, we will groom them into versatile artistes who can play multiple roles like acting, hosting and singing. Their roles will also be unlimited in the field of acting where they may be cast in dramas, sitcoms and at an opportune time, even movies," added Mr Rajaram.

Many local audiences are familiar with Lum May Yee, one of the five artistes who has joined TV Works. The part-time model starred in two local movie productions, Twelve Stories and the recently released The Chicken Rice Wars. Audiences were treated to her singing talents when she sang My One and Only in the Twelve Stories soundtrack. May Yee also appeared in Eric Khoo's television series Drive.

Norleena Salim, another TV Works artiste, has been a favourite of the Singapore entertainment scene for the last 10 years. She entered her first singing competition, Electric Youth, at a tender age of 16 and appeared in her first musical, Fried Rice Paradise, at 18. By 21, Norleena was singing and hosting at Boom Boom Room. At 22, she touched the hearts of English television viewers with her outstanding portrayal of a 40-something housewife, Rosnah, in Under One Roof. Norleena won the Best Comedy Actress at the Asian Television Awards in 1998 for her role as Rosnah.

Karen Tan, a born actress, is no stranger to fans of theatre productions. Karen made her performing debut at five when she played a triangle, the instrument. She went on to tread the boards in many groundbreaking theatre productions, playing everything from a hooker, to a man, to a girl trapped under a collapsed building, a role which won her an award at the Cairo International Theatre Festival in 1992. Karen spent seven years in London where she appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in 1994 and 1995. She is best remembered by local audiences as the host for Ra Ra Show.

Adrian Pang is a successful stage actor who appeared in local productions like Hamlet, Little Shops of Horror and They're Playing Our Song, where he played opposite Lea Salonga. He has recently appeared alongside Sir Nigel Hawthorne in the film Second Generation and will be appearing in Tony Scott's Spy Game, in which Brad Pitt also stars.

Of the five artistes, Imran Johri is a fresh new performing talent. The former sitcom scriptwriter discovered his performing potentials when hosting an array of live events and will be making his television debut with TV Works.

The five artistes were unveiled at a launch party for TV Works' City Studio at Far East Square. Attendees at the Party with The Difference, hosted by Dick Lee, were treated to all things gold, from the venue décor, to the food, and even the drinks. The golden theme is selected to match the rich yellow of the TV Works logo. Some of the guests at the party included advertisers, representatives from advertising agencies, production houses and media. An estimated 500 turned up for the first half of the party while another 500 friends of TV Works jived to the music of London deejay, Christian Smith, from 10.00pm.


Issued by Singapore Press Holdings Limited.