SINGAPORE : Talk about being sporting.

High-jumping into the spirit of the Olympics, MediaCorp TV Channel 8 will roll out a new sports-themed drama, Beach.Ball.Babes, on July 7, just before the Beijing Games kick off on August 8.

The 20-episode drama about volleyball boasts a "royal" cast that includes former beauty queens Joanne Peh and Jade Seah, two of MediaCorp's "princesses" Jesseca Liu and Dawn Yeoh, as well as Fann Wong's groom-to-be, Christopher Lee.

Another volleyball show, you ask?

Well, it has been years since Chen Liping was seen in The Winning Team. Besides, this latest take serves up a lot more eye candy as a lot of the action takes place at the beach which means beach babes Joanne, Jade and Jesseca will be steaming up your TV screens in their bikinis.

But sports has always had a firm place in local Chinese dramas, from 1980's Flying Fish which starred one-time TV poster boy Wang Yuqing to the more recent The Champions (2004), featuring hot young stars like Fiona Xie and Felicia Chin.

"We try to do one or two sports dramas every year," Kok Len Shoong, MediaCorp's Senior Vice-President for Chinese Drama Productions, told Today. "This year, it's especially significant because of the Olympics."

So, why volleyball, or beach volleyball, to be precise?

"Beach volleyball is a new item at the Olympics. We think it'll be of great interest to our viewers," Kok explained.

IT TAKES BALLS

Shooting Beach.Ball.Babes also challenged its stars in more ways than one. For instance, Jesseca had to shed her goody-two-shoes, sweety-pie image to play the bratty, self-absorbed leader of the volleyball team.

For Jade, the hardest part wasn't having to don a bikini for the show. "Language! It's still my biggest problem," lamented the first-time actress. "I'm less fluent in Chinese than I thought."

But the leggy actress is getting help from two language coaches and she's not about to give up yet. "It just means I have to work a lot harder than everyone else," she said, adding that she would take on a role in another Chinese drama in a heartbeat.

Then of course, there's the infamous scene in which Jesseca and her teammates have the humiliating task of having to go "shopping" at the Tiong Bahru wet market in their bikinis as a forfeit after losing a bet against the rival team.

Naturally, some people tut-tutted and called it "indecent", while others saw this as "a silly excuse for another bikini parade". They were referring, of course, to the notorious scene in The Champions which saw Fiona, Felicia and Jeanette Aw running down Orchard Road in their bathing suits.

"In the good old days of Chen Liping and Xiang Yun, there was no need for actresses to be skimpily dressed to win viewers over," said housewife Helen Koh, 56.

Some of the actresses were a little apprehensive about shooting the scene, too. When Joanne first heard she had to do the bikini-in-a-market scene, she went, "Huh? Can don't do or not? It'll be so embarrassing!"

But ever the trooper, she simply shrugged off the idea of the adverse effect it might have on her image and popularity, saying: "It's for professional reasons that we running around half-naked, lah!"

However, Kok quelled misconceptions that MediaCorp is trying to adopt a "sexier image" just for the sake of it. "This is a family-friendly channel. How much skin-baring can there be?" she asked.

"From the beginning, the scene was purely plot- and character-driven. It was written to capture the immaturity of today's youngsters who act on impulse without thinking about consequences," she said. "People shouldn't only look at that scene. They'll have a better idea when they watch the show in entirety."

Touche.

And, as Soh Bee Lian, Beach.Ball.Babe's executive producer, pointed out: "People are very open-minded nowadays."

And despite the naysayers' protests, we bet most Singaporeans would be more than glad to see a bit of sex-y in this city.

To get in even better shape for her role, sporty actress Joanne told Today that she does yoga, plays golf, runs and hits the gym to keep fit. Judging from what the press and her co-stars have said about her "good figure", we're guessing all that hard work has paid off.

THE FULL MONTY (OF GENRES)

According to Kok, you can expect to see at least one sports-related drama on Channel 8 next year. But as it's still early days, all she would divulge was that it would be about table-tennis. (Do we smell a Li Jiawei-esque love tale in the subplot?)

Still, while sports-themed dramas generally cater to the younger set, the Channel 8 team is mindful not to neglect viewers in other age groups when brainstorming its drama line-up every year.

"We always try to ensure variety and diversity so that there's something for everyone," said Kok. To drive home her point, she listed comedy, light-hearted family drama, crime thrillers and dramas with a social or health message as examples of the kind of shows viewers will continue to see on Channel 8.

Sounds like there'll be plenty to keep us occupied and make the wait for July 7 a lot more bearable, yes?


Beach.Ball.Babes will premiere on July 7 at 9pm on MediaCorp Ch 8. - TODAY/ar