Post by admin on Oct 17, 2003 22:37:15 GMT -5
Latest news from Jerryland
Posted: 0:30 AM (Manila Time) | Oct. 18, 2003
Inquirer News Service
IMAGINE paying a full month's salary to get baked under the sun, soaked in the rain, stampeded over by a crowd, seated in the bleachers-and not even see Jerry Yan.
Unspeakable.
Jerry Yan, of course, is arguably the most wildly desired worldwide among the four Asian hunks that comprise the celebrated Taiwanese boy band F4. Or Flower 4, whatever that means. And so when only co-band members Vaness Wu and Ken Zhu arrived in Manila recently for a live concert, together with "Meteor Garden" co-star Barbie Xu, more than a few diehard fans were disappointed.
Jerry's good looks appeal strongly to Filipinos. Much like Piolo Pascual, Jerry has maintained a fairly clean-cut image with just a touch of boyish mischief-"maginoo pero medyo bastos," if you will.
The character he plays in "Meteor Garden" certainly reinforces this image. Dao Ming Si is a spoiled rich kid with a violent temper. The only one who stands up to him is his love interest San Cai, his opposite in terms of upbringing and lifestyle. This classic yin-yang tale has thousands riveted to their TV set every afternoon.
Spinach or siomai?
PRICELESS. Who wants to bid for this bandana?
In real life though, Jerry Yan-Cheng Xu in his native tongue-is a lot nicer than Dao Ming Si. Born in Taiwan, this 26-year-old stunner (he makes no effort to hide his real age) has a streak of the child in him.
His superheroes are Spiderman and Popeye. Does he like spinach? Perhaps. But his ultimate comfort food is beef noodles with siomai. This will surely endear him to dimsum fanatics. We fearlessly predict sales increases in Chow King, Hen Lin, Joe Kuan and the like.
But this doesn't mean Jerry doesn't appreciate the finer, more sophisticated things in life. His dream date is an afternoon (or evening) with his girlfriend, picnicking on the beach, sharing a bottle of wine. Discovering his preference would surely be scintillating.
But is it true?
Now the question on the mind of every hyper-ventilating fan, female or otherwise: Does Jerry have a girl? A story has been circulating in Jerryland that he is married, without children. This is supposedly "first hand" information from some girl's uncle who was Jerry's friend, pre-F4. Some speculate that Barbie (San Cai in the show) have a thing going on off screen. Then again they could just be good friends.
Beyond "Meteor Garden," the F4 guys have an album called "Meteor Rain," which features the TV series' theme song, "Qing Fei Dei Yi." And of course, there's the Pepsi endorsement, which is a biggie. Also there's "Meteor Garden 2," which apparently has the cast running around in Spain, bringing the challenge to the very home of the telenovela.
Whatever else Jerry has lined up, his legion of Filipino fans eagerly await his coming to our shores-possibly, hopefully in November. As the newest endorser for Bench, Jerry has agreed to visit, solo, to launch the campaign. Until then, look around and check people around you who may have started holding their breath