TV personality David Wu is someone who comes alive on stage. Recently Wu played the role of emcee at the opening of CHINA ROUGE – a venue he describes to P.Ramakrishnan as “a class apart”
For a generation that grew up on Asian TV of the 1990s, David Wu Dai Wai – “the Wu-Man” – is an easily recognizable face. As emcee at the opening of CHINA ROUGE, the Chinese-American ex-VJ’s trademark irreverent humor with a hip-hop flavor was a nostalgic treat for the audience.
A youthful-looking 45, Wu may have proved himself on numerous occasions over the past two decades, but the experienced host confesses to still getting pre-show jitters. “My hands shake a bit; my tummy feels funny,” he says, scanning pages of notes on CHINA ROUGE. “I don’t have a script per se – just bullet points… For a venue such as this,” he adds, glancing over the club’s high ceilings and imposing artwork and giving an appreciative whistle, “there’s a moment when you need to absorb it all.”
Switching seamlessly on stage between Mandarin and English, Wu is a born host – his stated nervousness not at all apparent – and the night goes without a hitch. But it wasn’t always so, says Wu. He remembers fondly the trial-and-error days of his early years in live TV. “We were making things up on the fly – we were so young, the station was so young,” he grins. Wu famously hosted Channel V’s Go West program, which taught American slang to young Chinese. “That entire show was made up in a few minutes,” he admits. “We had zero budget to work with – a room, a camera, a few props; and I started familiarizing [the audience with] hip-hop terms, sports terms – the slang that really isn’t taught in school... It’s amazing how that resonated, as I see the ripple effects years later… The strangest people come up and tell me about terms they learned!”
In the dot-com-bubble era, Wu’s fans might have thought they had lost him, as he swapped live TV for the world of Hong Kong cinema. “Man, I was in some bad movies!” he says, with his trademark self-effacing humor. “Um, how can I put this delicately? Ended up on late-night cable on an endless loop!”
Fortunately, with his easy wit and charm, Wu has since enjoyed a second successful career hosting events such as openings and award shows – mainly in China, and his newfound home of Taiwan.
How has he found this trip to Macau, and his first stay at the Galaxy MacauTM? “It’s been great – the hotel, the club,” he says. “It’s really a class apart.”
以下是為香港讀者翻譯的繁體中文譯本，採用符合香港語文習慣的詞匯與句式：
電視名人吳大維（David Wu）是一位在舞台上分外耀眼的人。最近，吳大維在「紅伶」（CHINA ROUGE）的開幕盛典上擔任司儀，他向 P. Ramakrishnan 形容這個場地「獨樹一幟，自成一家」。
對伴隨着 1990 年代亞洲電視長大的一代人來說，吳大維——「Wu-Man」——絕對是個面熟的面孔。在這位華裔美籍前 VJ 擔任「紅伶」開幕司儀的當晚，他那標誌性、帶有 Hip-hop 風格的幽默風趣，為現場觀眾帶來了一場充滿懷舊情懷的視聽享受。
現年 45 歲但保養得宜、外表年輕的吳大維，雖然在過去二十年間已屢次證明了自己的實力，但這位經驗豐富的主持人坦言，開場前依然會感到緊張。「我的手會有點抖，肚子也會感覺怪怪的，」他一邊瀏覽着關於「紅伶」的筆記一邊說。「我其實沒有嚴格的講稿——只有一些重點……對於像這樣的一個場地，」他抬頭環顧夜店的高聳天花板和氣勢磅礴的藝術品，發出一聲讚賞的吹哨，「你確實需要花點時間去好好感受這一切。」
在舞台上，吳大維在普通話與英語之間無縫切換，天生就是做主持的材料——他所說的緊張感完全無影無蹤——整個夜晚的節目進行得順暢無阻。但吳大維表示，事情並不總是這麼順利。他懷念地回憶起早期主持直播電視節目時邊做邊試的歲月。「我們當時完全是即興發揮——我們那時太年輕了，電視台也很年輕，」他笑嘻嘻地說。吳大維最出名的莫過於主持 Channel V 的《Go West》節目，該節目專門向年輕的華人教授美國流行俚語。「那個節目整集都是在幾分鐘內構思出來的，」他承認道。「我們當時完全沒有預算——就一個房間、一部攝影機和幾件道具；然後我就開始向［觀眾］介紹 Hip-hop 術語、體育用語——那些學校根本不會教的俚語……沒想到這能引起如此大的共鳴，多年後我依然能看到它的連鎖反應……各種意想不到的人都會跑來跟我聊他們學到的詞彙！」
在科網股泡沫的年代，吳大維的粉絲們可能以為要失去他了，因為他當時從電視直播界轉投了香港電影的懷抱。「天啊，我拍過一些爛片！」他用標誌性的自嘲幽默說道。「呃，我該怎麼婉轉地表達呢？就是那些最終只能在深夜有線電視台無限循環播放的電影！」
幸好，憑藉隨和幽默的風趣與魅力，吳大維此後在大型活動（如開幕禮和頒獎典禮）的主持領域迎來了事業的第二春——主要在中國內地以及他定居的新家園台灣。
這次澳門之行以及首次入住澳門銀河™（Galaxy Macau™）體驗如何？「真的很棒——酒店很好，夜店也很好，」他說。「這裡真的獨樹一幟，自成一家。」
No comments:
Post a Comment