Yoyo Chen Wins Top Prize in “Dub of War”; Crystal Fung’s Emotions Spiral Out of Control
Airing its finale on May 28, TVB variety show Dub of War <好聲好戲> saw three finalists Yoyo Chen (陳自瑤), Crystal Fung (馮盈盈), and Owen Cheung (張振朗) battling for the top voice acting prize. The trio re-enacted scenes from classic film Thunderstorm <雷雨>, with Yoyo impressing the judges with the most outstanding performance.
Accepting the Outstanding Voice Performance Championship award, Yoyo squealed, “I got it!” Thanking her voice acting coach and partners she worked with, Yoyo said, “This award is not my sole achievement, but the achievement of everyone.” She thanked Wong Cho Lam (王祖藍) for creating the show, and Liza Wang (汪明荃) for supporting all the contestants.
Crystal’s Breakdown
While Yoyo took home the championship, Crystal’s emotional breakdown in the finals was alarming.
Cho Lam observed that Crystal had poor control over her own emotions, “I worry that this field might not be suitable for you. You have been crying so much since this morning’s rehearsal that no one dared to interrupt you. This is only a small scene in a drama, yet your emotions are already magnified like this. How are you going to act in an [entire] drama?”
Cho Lam continued with his assessment of Crystal, “Being immersed in your role is good, but it can become a problem when artistes can’t remove themselves from their roles. I think your pressure is overpowering your ability. The pressure you put on yourself is so huge that it even gives me pressure. It makes me think that I shouldn’t have started this show.”
Previously, Crystal had revealed that the pressure of competing in Dub of War led to irregularity in her menstrual cycle. Thanking the judges for their feedback and advice, Crystal said, “I know that I put a lot of pressure on myself during this competition. In order to better immerse myself into the role, I build up real feelings and real tears since the morning’s rehearsal. My stubbornness caused my pressure to overpower my ability.” Thanking Cho Lam for pointing out the problem, Crystal promises to learn more in the future so she can better enjoy this acting journey.
Reflecting on her overall performance in Dub of War, Crystal wrote on social media. “There are definitely some flaws after re-watching my performance. My emotions weren’t accurately portrayed, and my pronunciation was not clear enough. I know that there are many areas that I need to improve on….Though it was not perfect, I tried my best.”
This article is written by Hailey for JayneStars.com.
I watched all the episodes so far, yoyo definitely deserved it. She was the only one who perfected every scene and showed her diversity and different dynamics. Jonathan was the one that surprised me most, even though he was just a guest. Everything that Wong Cho Lam said was on point, kudos to him.
Great show. It was clear that Yoyo was above the rest.
Funniest moment was Stefan Wong getting (valid) criticism for his performance. He should have prepped more even if he knew he was just a guest on the show and not a participant.
I really love this show so far!! Got my family hooked and watched all the episodes!
Yoyo is an amazing voice actress and all her performances proved it. I knew she was gonna win when she did her first one!
Can’t wait for another season! I’m addicted now haha.
low eq w/ this CF girl. what’s new?
Brilliant from YoYo! Proves that there are plenty of talent out there but not given the opportunity to shine. She grabbed the opportunity and showed versatility in every role.
That was very harsh on Stefan Wong who probably thought he could take it easy and get treated like the other foreigners earlier on the show. Unlike YoYo (who was praised by Liza Wang and suggested that TVB should let her star in a drama), Stefan got rubbished by rubbished by the judges for his lazy preparation and poor Cantonese after 15 years in the industry. Looks like it’s the end of the road for him.
YoYo will not have to live in the shadows of her husband anymore. Will exceed his popularity within another year, I reckon. Had always had the beauty but given unlikable roles till recently…
I honestly started to like CF after watching a few of these. She is really candid and hardworking.
Same with Priscilla, where she acknowledged audience do not like her voice and she’s working on it. One of the judges commented that pris is a better dubber than actor, which was ouch but she took it openly.
People have to stop 2 comparisons: Yoyo to Crystal and Yoyo to her husband.
Comparison #1 If Crystal Fung cried all day to prepare for the role, it just proved she really cares. And the role was small, so she REALLY cares. She might not have as much control of her emotions because she isn’t as experienced as Yoyo. Yoyo started off as a teenage model guys and she is now well over 30, so that’s 15+ years of experience. Crystal comes straight out of a pageant and only 26. I think she did a fine job in AI Romantic but I blame the writers for her character inconsistency.
Comparison #2
Yoyo entered the industry before Vincent but wasn’t given as many opportunities, so you only have luck and the media to blame for this. She dedicated more time to raising her child versus her hubby. That’s not living in his shadow, that’s working as a team. Perhaps Vincent would have taken the back seat when Yoyo started rising but they were already separated or estranged or whatever the media says.
Talent is scouted very early on, but people do lack opportunities like Wayne Lai. Wayne won best actor 3x after 40 in his 30+ year tenure. Some are given many opportunites early on: Fala Chen received 2 best supporting actresses awards in her 8 year tenure before turning 34.
@jesspepperwang crystal fung definitely better than charmaine sheh, myolie wu and gigi lai when all were at 26 age in terms of speaking skill and acting.
Anyway if people like joe ma and natalie tong can get best actor and actress, the awards are meaningless.
@xrc56 I’m still trying to unravel the mystery of nat getting best actress.
@jesspepperwang Oh, I thought Crystal wasn’t that great in the AI series. The only reason why she was “tolerable” to me was that her character only needed one facial expression the entire time. She has improved significantly since she had joined but doesn’t change the fact that she is not female lead material YET. The reason everyone hates her is that she’s “bad” and EVERYWHERE as TVB are low on good actors at her age range. Pretty much all the same criticism every miss HK contestant faces in the first 5 years of the industry.
You are right with your second point except for the Wayne comparison. Wayne entered the industry during a time of a lot of competition, especially when he was in the same age range and category as the Siu Sangs in the 80s/90s. While it did take him a long time to get the recognition, is understandable compared to the competition during that time.
While Yoyo deffo didn’t get enough opportunities, she was also competing against the likes of Linda, Charmine, Fala, Nancy, Tavia, etc. Although she is clearly far more capable than the likes of most of the current “fa dans”. Meanwhile Vincent – yes he got lucky too, and TVB was low on Siu Sangs a the time as Samuel, Raymond, Ron and Bosco were close to leaving, and eventually left.
@eleven can’t deny FYY is trying hard. She’s still young, just got to see if TVB will continue investing in her. Agree with you re Vincent and Yoyo, she lacked the factors then, seems to get prettier as she age. I’m probably going to offend his fans but if not for the lack of lead actors, doubt Vincent would have made it very far. He (personal opinion) lacks the charm and good looks Bosco, Ron etc have.
PS: I like Pakho ;0
I LOVED this show. I didn’t think I would but I really enjoyed it, I hope they do another season.
Yoyo deserved to win hands down. She did not take her foot off the pedal, whereas I felt Owen and Crystal did near the end. Regardless of whatever is happening with Vincent, I am SO happy she’s getting the spotlight. Agree with everyone that said for many years she put her career on the side to support him and raise their daughter but she is talented and a good person, she deserves to shine now.
As for FYY — it’s not a secret that I don’t like her but I do have to admit that I genuinely believed her and think that she was trying her best. I don’t agree with Wong Cho Lam’s comments about her and I think that was a bit unfair and harsh. Same with Stefan, I think learning a language you aren’t fluent in is hard, doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in the business. He was also a guest, no need to critique him so harshly if he wasn’t in the competition.
@tt23 but it also tell us that he didn’t make an effort. Every minute on the stage is a chance for audience to remember you. Waste that minute and you waste a chance. I’m sure TVB did not pick the artiste randomly.
No one knew who Fred was, only him as the boy that’s hanging around the leads, till he made full use of the singing competition to shine.
I think filming Life After Death was a real turning point for Yoyo for her acting. It’s like she opened up totally new methods of approaching characters. And then the whole resting btch face at the awards ceremony only pushed her popularity higher. I loved the scene with Jonathan, both were really good!
Owen and Sisley both showed why they are the up and coming A Listers. Their ability is so good. Agree this show deserves a second season with a variety of artists.
Priscilla is improving a ton. And she really has that voice for cartoons. Hope her performance in the seven pricess drama is solid.
I still am not a fan of Crystal but I guess she is working really hard. She is better in AI Romantic, less weird mouth movements compared to Sinister Beings. I just feel like she loves to make a big deal out of things, so I guess that’s why WCL made those comments. But, it’s obvious her performance at the end of the last scene of the competition was not up to par.
I’d love to see Griselda (Lenna) Yeung on this show. Another super underrated actress. Anyone else you want to see?
@bubbles23 yes to griselda! Telford wasn’t too bad either in the finale, would like to see him do a season. I think even up and coming or established actors — I think the show proved that it isn’t an easy job so I would love to see those actors challenge themselves. Like Yoyo said, how can they move an audience through dubbing? I was surprised at the emotional power of the show.
Stefan Wong tried the dubbing of the scene again. He felt bad about the failure the day before. I think he did a lot better this time around althought not perfect.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=260413619202677¬if_id=1622303343214372
@kidd thanks for the link! He definitely did better here! He might have been nervous. But hopefully the tips they have him will motivate him to try harder and make a name for himself.
@abcd
Yes, hopefully the tips will help him and motivate him. This tips not only will help him in dubbing work, but, will also help in his acting work.
It is incredibly tragic that a talented veteran actress like Yoyo is reduced to doing reality show of this kind. Any of them actually. So what’s next for her? Is she going to be lead in the next series? Or she is going to lead the dubbing dept in TVB where she’s behind the scenes? I’ve seen a few clips, never liked dubbing which is unnecessary but I get the concept, I don’t get why it had to be done with them. Give to unknowns, new actors, new people who wants to be dubbing kings and queens. Using Yoyo and the likes is like wasting talent here. So she won. She’s not gonna lead the next series. I don’t know what TVB is doing but all these just sounds desperate to me.
As for Crystal, maybe she should stop telling people her menstrual cycle. Other than that, yeah it’s a lot of pressure. That’s what TVB does, to newcomers. Make them so pressured when later their eyes glaze over and they stop caring. Wong Cho Lam should look into himself and design a program to address mental health, not game shows after game shows. Have TVB forgotten they make TV dramas? Why not aspire to return to the great 70s or 80s?
Watching the dubbing convinces me Owen Cheung is not a leading material.
@funnlim I’m watching first few ep and actually Crystal fung diction is very clear. She is only let down by lack of acting experience. In contrast there’s one who is so experienced but she is so ott in acting that it was hard to hear. Its all subjective but some I feel is obvious. Dubbibg at the end is an art. Matthew ho has a weak voice so for him to do deric wan is terrible. Judges were honest which is great. But opinions can be so different on same subject matter.
@funnlim
Is the experienced actress you refered to the one who dubbed for Charmaine Sheh’s Deng Jeh?
I also think she’s OTT, and surprised that she got 7 green light.