Wherever bird flies, fans are sure to flock

Wherever bird flies, fans |are sure to flock
THE SHINE ON Thongchai “Bird” McIntyre’s super star hasn’t tarnished at all, judging by reactions to a recent first glimpse of his upcoming TV series. He might be 55, but the singer everyone calls “Phi Bird” still flutters in millions of hearts. Having once been a TV mainstay, Bird is back for “Kol-kimino”, a series in which he has a leading role among younger stars.
Production has yet to begin on the Channel 3 series, but when Bird, Araya “Chompoo” A Hargate, Phupoom “Ken” Phongphanu and Nattarika “Namphueng” Thammapreeda went for their costume fitting recently, you absolutely knew there had to be a photographer there, and the pictures have been widely circulated.
Bird’s appeal hasn’t faded at all since the day his debut album was released in 1986. He has groupies following him everywhere. This is a bit of a worry for Arunocha “Nong” Panuphan, who’s producing the new TV series. She says even planning a press conference has to be done very carefully. “I want to have it at our office, but he’s got such a huge fan base that maybe I need to provide a bunch of big tents for them!” The usual religious ceremony, a custom for the launch of any new film project, is taking place today and Nong expects a mob there too.
Production actually begins on May 5, on location in Japan. With Bird in a leading role, Nong certainly has no need to worry about publicity. Not only will his fans be stalking him, but the reporters too. His new Facebook fan page (which someone else created for him) has more than 1.4 million followers. Publicity will be a snap.

Mario conquers Asia
So Bird is Thailand’s premier superstar, even after almost three decades in the business. Now young actor Mario Maurer is poised to become a regional superstar, his roles having snagged attention around Southeast Asia and in China too.
Mario’s early movies gained him “beloved star” status in the Philippines and Indonesia and the blockbuster “Pee Mak Phra Khanong” only cemented his appeal. Well, if not cement, then at least wax. Unveiling his likeness at Madame Tussauds at Siam Discovery recently (immortality epitomised), he revealed that he’s just returned from Shanghai, where he received a “best dressed” award, and is next off to Singapore for another exciting project.
“I’ll be going there at the end of this month to star in a movie,” he said. “Filming will take about 20 days and each of my trips will last seven to 10 days.” He’s playing an overseas Thai student in a movie that has a mostly South Korean production crew. “And the lead actress [his love interest, it should be noted] is Chinese, so it’s kind of a regional project.”
Mario calls the movie shoot overseas “a good chance”, but is fretting about his preparations. “I need to speak English and Mandarin in the film. I think I’m very rusty now, so I need time to perfect them.”