英语文摘:The lust and caution of yet another fashion magazine cover issue

BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhuanet) -- In my column two weeks ago, I revealed the return of diva Faye Wong on the September issue cover of Elle. Now I am happy to announce her competition - Zhang Ziyi on the Septmeber cover of Bazaar.

I have received several emails doubting Wong's September appearance, but just so you know, she has already finished shooting two sets of cover photos, so it is almost 100 percent sure that we shall be seeing her face on Elle soon.

However, it is not entirely impossible for the editors, or agents, to change their minds.

Did you ever wonder why a poorly-shot photo of Stephen Chow and his animated CJ7 were on the cover of Esquire's July issue?

In fact, actress Tang Wei had already been shot for the cover but her fickle agent, whose name I will not expose, although she did turn down my interview request for no specific reason back when Tang was promoting Crossing Hennessy in April, refused Tang to be interviewed for the magazine which resulted in the star being pulled from the cover at the last minute.

I can understand the denial of the interview at that time, as Tang was recovering from being banned due to those famous nude scenes in Lust Caution, but after agreeing to a cover shoot for Esquire and then denying an interview for the magazine, that just doesn't make sense.

Poor Esquire had no choice but to move Chow's photos and interview from the inside to the cover.

This is not the first bad collaboration between Tang and Esquire. Remember Fan Bing-bing's controversial but successful, in my opinion, June issue cover? Where she dressed as Che Guevara? The idea had been originally designed for Tang and when her agent backed out, Fan became the hero.

As far as the July issue is concerned, Tang's photos by top local photographer Chen Man were supposed to be moved inside for a promised 10-page spread, but as we have seen since the magazine's release, the promised 10 pages became one and I cannot say that Esquire should to be blamed.

A word of advice to celebrity agents: It is one thing to keep your talent low-profile and another to cross fashion magazine editors. The media circle is indeed a small one. After the Esquire incident, I know that GQ abandoned its plans for Tang to grace their cover and they will, more than likely, not be the only one to do so. It seems Tang's return journey still has a long way to go. Maybe a more cooperative and friendly agent is needed.