April 21, 2006

Jackie in the News

Jackie Chan records Beijing Olympics pop song

HONG KONG (AP) -- Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Alan Tam and other Hong Kong entertainers will record a pop song to promote the 2008 Beijing Olympics, an assistant to Tam said Thursday.

The song, titled Olympics Beijing, is separate from the official theme song for the 2008 Games, the assistant, who only gave her surname, Lam, told The Associated Press. She said the Mandarin-language song, written by Eddie Ng, will be aired in China. It was unclear if the song would be released on CD.

Lam said Chan has signed on for the project but hasn't recorded his part yet. Others who have already completed their portions are Lau, Tam, Hacken Lee, Shirley Kwan, Andy Hui, William So and Jordan Chan, she said.

Other big names in the entertainment industry are involved with the Beijing Olympics, a major source of pride for the Chinese.

Famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou will oversee the design of the opening and closing ceremonies. American director Steven Spielberg has also signed on as a consultant for the two ceremonies.

Jackie Chan and Hong Kong stars meet to discuss privacy protections

HONG KONG (AP) _ Jackie Chan and other stars met behind closed doors at a Hong Kong hotel Wednesday to discuss ways to better protect their privacy against the territory's aggressive paparazzi.

Chan didn't comment to reporters immediately after the meeting but the stars released a statement demanding better laws regulating the photographing of individuals in their homes.

The stars said they believe in freedom of press, but that it shouldn't include voyeurism.

"We think there's a distinction between 'public interest' and 'what the public is interested to know,''' the stars said in their statement.

Hong Kong has a vibrant press and an equally active entertainment industry. The result: Pop stars and celebrities are intensely scrutinized by the media. Sending reporters abroad to tail big stars is common practice.

The stars said Hong Kong journalists have become increasingly disrespectful of privacy, alleging that they engaged in dangerous car chases, assumed false identities to enter private places and even bribed morgue workers so they can take pictures of dead bodies.

"What you wear or who you are with or how much your meal costs have nothing to do with the public interest,'' actor Anthony Wong said as he left Wednesday's meeting.

Veteran singer Alan Tam said the stars studied local laws and examples of invasion of privacy in other countries.

"When new laws are passed, maybe we can sleep well and don't have to shower or go to the bathroom in the dark. It could make a big difference,'' Tam said.

Other stars attending the meeting included actors Tony Leung Ka-fai, Simon Yam and singers Andy Hui and Jordan Chan.

American Teacher Promises to Dress Up as Jackie to Encourage Reading

A student at Mississippi Magnet Elementary finished a book this winter that helped the St. Paul School District mark a milestone: 10 million books read in seven years.

It's not clear who the student was, but it was the school's tally submitted to central administration in late March that pushed the district over the 10 million mark, said district spokesman Rich Goldsmith.

The number isn't significant in itself, but it does show kids are reading more than the 25 books per year that former Superintendent Pat Harvey began requiring in 1999, Goldsmith said.

In 1999, there were about 45,000 students in the district, which meant just more than 1 million books to be read per year. Enrollment has since dropped a few thousand, but even if it hadn't, the required total would be fewer than 8 million books by the end of this school year.

Why the accelerated pace?

Part of the reason has to do with Mississippi Magnet and the district's 50 other elementary schools.

At Mississippi, in the city's North End, each of the 500 students has read an average of more than 100 books so far this year, said school librarian Janet Ryan.

Primary-school books are often short, she said, and the totals count books read during the school day as well as those brought home.

Ryan says she was thrilled it happened to be Mississippi that pushed the district over the 10 million mark. "We put so much emphasis on reading in this school."

A celebration is being planned, she said.

Don't be surprised if it involves Principal Andy Xiong dressing up like film star Jackie Chan.

That's a pledge he made to students if they read 30,000 books this year, Ryan said, and given that they are well past that now, "we will hold him to that."

(Source: TwinCities.com)