Cantopop () is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop. Cantopop draws its influence not only from other forms of Chinese music, but from a variety of international styles, including jazz, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, electronic music, western pop music and others. Cantopop songs are almost invariably performed in Cantonese. Boasting a multinational fanbase especially in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, and in Guangdong province of mainland China. Hong Kong remains the most significant hub of the genre.

History

1920s: Shanghai origins

Western-influenced music first came to the Republic of China in the 1920s, specifically to Shanghai. Artists like Zhou Xuan (周璇) acted in films and recorded popular songs, and was possibly the first Chinese pop star.

In 1949 when the People's Republic of China was established by the communist party, one of the first actions taken by the government was to denounce pop music as pornography. As a result, many first generation Cantopop artists and composers hail from Shanghai. and Elvis, Johnny Mathis and Beatles were popular.]] The previous decade laid the ground for the creation of Hong Kong's new pop music. Many local bands mimicked British and American bands. Two types of local Cantonese music appeared in the market nearly concurrently in 1973: one type cashed in on the popularity of TVB's drama series based on the more traditional lyrical styles. The other was more western style music largely from Polydor Hong Kong. Notable singers from the era include Liza Wang and Paula Tsui.

Television was a new technological marvel, available mostly to the rich, and on-air content was highly valued and respected. Soap operas were needed to fill air time, and many popular Cantonese songs became TV theme songs.

New talents such as Beyond also emerged as contenders. Other artists that should be mentioned are Sammi Cheung and Faye Wong, whose popularity are, arguably comparable to the Four Heavenly Kings.

The tension and economic instability from the 1997 sovereignty handover also created a culturally challenging atmosphere for the industry. Establishment of Basic Law and language ordinances made the adoption of Mandarin official.

at the height of the group's popularity]]

2000s

At the turn of the century, Cantonese was still dominant in the domain of C-pop. The deaths of stars Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui in 2003 rocked the industry. A transitional phase also took place with many overseas-raised Chinese artists such as Nicholas Tse and Coco Lee gaining recognition. As a result Cantopop is no longer restricted to Hong Kong, but has become part of a larger Pan-Chinese music movement.

In 2005 Cantopop began a new upswing. Major companies that drove much of the HK segment included Gold Typhoon Music Entertainment (EMI, Gold Label), Universal Music Group, East Asia Entertainment & Amusic and Emperor Entertainment Group. Some of the most successful performers of the era include Joey Yung, Twins, Eason Chan, Miriam Yeung, Leo Ku, Janice Vidal. The new era also saw an explosion of groups such as at17, Soler, Sunboy'z, Hotcha. In a new trend in promoting groups, many artists later end up going solo such as Stephy Tang, Kary Ng or Kenny Kwan. The decade have also been dubbed a People's singer era (親民歌星), as most performers promote frequently in public and are highly approachable. This is as opposed to the 90s and previous era Big-card singers (大牌歌星), who were impossible to approach.

A number of media-buzz incidents also took place. The largest was the Edison Chen photo scandal involving Edison Chen and a number of high-profile female celebrities like Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan and Cecilia Cheung caught in sexual acts with explicit photos uploaded online. The scandal garnered the attention of international media including CNN and MSNBC. and The Guardian. The scandal raised a number of questions regarding legal issues and netizen's online rights that went far beyond the usual music discussion. Other events include the street fight between Gary Chaw and Justin Lo. As well as Jill Vidal and Kelvin Kwan drug-trafficking to Japan.

2010s

The first major award of the decade 09 JSG award was a highly controversial one with the on-going HKRIA tax case. Afterwards ATV launched the show Asia Millionstar (亞洲星光大道), and despite the channel usually struggling to compete with TVB ratings, the show was largely a success. It managed to launch a concert for the Asia Millionstar family. TVB also launched a competitor show The Voice, and then copied on the concert idea. Many artists however begin with financial hardships. For example Yumiko Cheng owed her company thousands of dollars. Others include Elanne Kong crying in public with only HK$58 left.

Labels

PolyGram, EMI, Sony, Warner and BMG were established in Hong Kong since the 1970s. Local record companies such as Crown Records (娛樂唱片), Wing Hang Records (永恆), Manchi Records (文志) and Capital Artists in the past have each invested heavily and became successful local labels that competed well in the market. As TV drama themes lost favor in the mid-80s, market power soon drifted to the multi-national labels. Sales are tracked at the IFPI HK Annual Sales Chart.

Criticism

Unoriginality

Cantopop has been criticised as being bland and unoriginal, since most stars tend to sing songs with similar topics with emphasis on "maudlin love ballads". Even in its early form, Cantopop featured many songs edited or inspired by English or Cantonese opera songs, which persisted during the 1980s golden era.

In the late 1990s, there was a shortage of creative talent due to the rising demand for Chinese songs; meanwhile, China and Taiwan had nurtured their own local industries posing serious competition to Cantopop. Renowned local lyricist Wong Jim wrote his 2003 thesis on the subject.

One critic portrays the Cantopop industry in this period as "favoring smiling saccharine pap over actual substance".

However, there are still many sideline musicians like Beyond (who emerged from the "band fever" of the 1960s) and Tat Ming Pair whose songs reflect the darker, less-expressed side of society.

Artists

Male

{| |valign=top|

Jay Chou

Albert Au

Kenny Bee

Danny Chan

Daniel Chan

Eason Chan

Jackie Chan

Jaycee Chan

Jordan Chan

Jason Chan

Sammul Chan

William Chan

Pak Ho Chau

Wakin (Emil) Chau

Edison Chen

|valign=top|

Adam Cheng

Ekin Cheng

Kevin Cheng

Ronald Cheng

Hins Cheung

Julian Cheung

Jacky Cheung

Leslie Cheung

Louis Cheung

Steven Cheung

Endy Chow

Alex Fong

Khalil Fong

Andy Hui

|valign=top|

Ken Hung

Kelvin Kwan

Kenny Kwan

Michael Kwan

Leo Ku

Aaron Kwok

Leon Lai

Bowie Lam

Chet Lam

George Lam

Raymond Lam

|valign=top|

Jan Lamb

Andy Lau

Wilfred Lau

Gene Lee

Hacken Lee

Edmond Leung

Tony Leung

Don Li

Gallen Lo

Justin Lo

Lowell Lo

Juno Mak

Dennis Mak

Pong Nan

Deep Ng

|valign=top|

Edwin Siu

William So

Alan Tam

Roman Tam

Patrick Tang

Alex To

Nicholas Tse

Wong Cho Lam

Deric Wan

Dave Wang

Paul Wong

Bosco Wong

Anthony Wong

James Wong

Charles Ying

|valign=top|

Shawn Yue

Samuel Hui

Yip Sai Wing

|}

Female

{| |valign=top|

Bobo Chan

Connie Chan

Chelsia Chan

Flora Chan

G.E.M. Tang

Kit Chan

Priscilla Chan

Vincy Chan

Kelly Chen

Sammi Cheng

Stephanie Cheng

Yumiko Cheng

Teresa Cheung

|valign=top|

Mandy Chiang

Cecilia Cheung

Rachelle Chung

Sherman Chung

Linda Chung

Niki Chow

Vivian Chow

Renee Dai

Theresa Fu

Fiona Fung

Denise Ho

Paisley Hu

Deanie Ip

Grace Ip

Ella Koon

|valign=top|

Kellyjackie

Jade Kwan

Shirley Kwan

Susanna Kwan

Gigi Lai

Vivian Lai

Vivian Sui Yan Lai

Sandy Lam

Winnie Lau

Coco Lee

Annabelle Louie

Eunix Lee

Tiffany Lee

|valign=top|

Isabella Leong

Cathy Leung

Gigi Leung

Toby Leung

Rain Li

Prudence Liew

Candy Lo

Mimi Lo

Karen Morris

Anita Mui

Kary Ng

Yan Ng

Cass Phang

Fiona Sit

|valign=top|

Stephy Tang

Vangie Tang

Teresa Teng

Kay Tse

Jenny Tseng

Kate Tsui

Paula Tsui

Janice Vidal

Jill Vidal

Liza Wang

Emme Wong

Faye Wong

Ivana Wong

Linda Wong

Bianca Wu

Myolie Wu

|valign=top|

Sally Yeh

Miriam Yeung

Charlie Yeung

Frances Yip

Joey Yung

Charlene Choi

Elanne Kong

G.E.M.

|valign=top| |}

Groups

2R

4ando(son)

AMK

At17

Beyond

Bliss

Cookies

Cream

Dear Jane

Dry

E-Kids

Echo

EO2

Fama

Freeze

Grasshopper

HotCha

Krusty

I Love You Boy'z

The Jade Band

LMF

Mister (Mr)

MP4

Online

Ping Pung

PixelToy

Purple Nine

Raidas

Rubberband

Royals

Shine

Sky

Softhard

SohBim

Soler

Square

Sun Boy'z

Swing

Taichi

Tat Ming Pair

Twins

The Pancakes

The Raiders

The Wynners

VEGA

YLK Organization

Zarahn

Zen

Major awards

{|class="wikitable" ! width=40% | Award ! width=20% | Year started ! width=20% | Origin |- | IFPI Gold Disc Presentation || 1977 || Hong Kong |- | RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards || 1978 || Hong Kong |- | Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards || 1983 || Hong Kong |- | CASH Golden Sail Awards || 1987 || Hong Kong |- | Ultimate Songs Awards || 1988 || Hong Kong |- | Metro Hit Music Awards || 1994 || Hong Kong |- |}

Cantopop radio stations

{|class="wikitable" ! width=20% | Station ! width=20% | Location ! width=50% | Frequencies and Platform |- | CRHK Radio 2 || Hong Kong || 90.3 FM |- | RTHK Radio 2 || Hong Kong || 94.8 FM, 95.3 FM, 95.6 FM, 96.0 FM, 96.3 FM, 96.4 FM, 96.9 FM, and Internet live streaming (channel 2) |- | Chinese Radio New York || New York ||1480AM |- | WNWR || Philadelphia || when it is not doing the news and talkshows |- | KMRB || Los Angeles || 1430 AM |- | CHMB || Vancouver || 1320 AM |- | Fairchild Radio || Vancouver || 1470 AM, 96.1 FM |- | Fairchild Radio || Toronto || 1430 AM, 88.9 FM |- | Fairchild Radio || Calgary || 94.7 FM |- | Music FM Radio Guangdong || Guangdong || 93.9 FM, 99.3 FM and internet stream media |- | SYN FM || Melbourne || 90.7 FM - Cantopop show as part of Asian Pop Night. |- | 2AC 澳洲華人電台 || Sydney || (proprietary receivers) |- | 2CR || Sydney Melbourne || (proprietary receivers) |- |}

See also

Music of Hong Kong

Hong Kong musical tongue twister

Hong Kong English pop

Chinese hip hop

J-pop

References

External links

C-Pop Fantasie - Online resource for c-pop, providing lyrics, downloads, video shows, and more.

Pop Saves Hong Kong, in Tofu Magazine #2

Hong Kong Vintage Pop Radio

www.hkmusic.cn: Cantopop song listings (in chinese)

www.mysongspage.com, lyrics and chords for Cantonese, English & Mandarin songs.

香港50-80年代粵語流行曲唱片目錄 Disc index

Come back to love blog

Lee HC's 黑膠樂園 Disc index

香港樂壇25年的發展 article

[音乐评论][粤语流行四十年]

Category:Cantonese Category:Cantonese songs Category:Cantopop Category:Chinese styles of music Category:Pop music genres Category:Fusion music genres Category:Chinese culture Category:C-pop Category:Hong Kong music

Name	Alan Tam
Chinesename	譚詠麟
Tradchinesename	譚詠麟
Simpchinesename	谭咏麟
Pinyinchinesename	tan2 yong3 lin2
Jyutpingchinesename	taam4 wing6 leon4
Ancestry	Xinhui, Guangdong
Birthdate	August 23, 1950
Birthplace	Hong Kong
Othername	Lucky LunPrincipal (校長)Principal Tam (譚校長)
Website	Alan.Tamwinglun,
Goldenhorseawards	Best Actor1981 If I Were for Real
Awards	Golden Needle Award 1996 Lifetime Achievement

Alan Tam Wing-Lun, MH is an award winning Hong Kong Cantopop and English pop singer and actor. During the early 1980s he played a major role in developing the cantopop scene as he was known for singing romantic ballads with modern arrangements. As of 2008, he is still active in the music industry, releasing new albums on a regular basis. Since the late 1980s, he has served as a mentor for the cantopop music industry, earning the nickname the "Principal" or "Principal Tam".

Career

Early years

Tam developed a passion for music in his secondary school years in Hong Kong. He formed a band called "Looser" with his friends. The Wynners performed mostly in English language, Tam was one of the two lead singers in the band until it split in 1978. His 1984 albums of (愛的根源), (霧之戀) and 1985 (愛情陷阱) formed a successful trilogy of albums. From 1981 to 1988 he won a top 10 song award every year. This was in addition to his winning a top 10 song award every year from 1983 to 1987 for the Jade solid gold awards. In 1993, he released the English album "My Love", in collaboration with Korean singer Kim Wan-Sun.

The Hong Kong press frequently reported a fierce rivalry between Tam and fellow singer Leslie Cheung. Although both artists were at peace with each other, it was the fans who created the spectacle of a musical feud. In the late 90s the singers brushed aside any doubts about their friendship, and even appeared in galas and other special programmes. In 1999, Leslie Cheung, together with other 17 singers, participated in the Album "Paying Tribute to Alan Tam" (誰可改變15週年紀念集) and collaborated to produce the single remix of Tam's popular songs "Illusion" (幻影) and "Foggy Love" (霧之戀).

In 2003, he teamed up with fellow artist Hacken Lee for a major world tour entitled "Left Alan Right Hacken" (左麟右李) which expanded from Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, Southeast Asia to parts of Canada and United States.

One of his signature fast songs "Love Trap" (愛情陷阱) earned him the 25th Anniversary Jade Solid Gold song honour award in 2006. By 1995 he had already sold more than 20 million albums. By 2005 he had launched more than 104 albums, and 800 songs. He has taken part in 264 concerts, of which 189 were individual concerts. Just a month after he was elected, the Edison Chen photo scandal caused a media storm. The Guild condemned the increasing circulation and uploading of obscene photos on the Internet. Tam was interviewed daily by different media on the handling of the case. He statement, "The circulation of such obscene photos has created a bad atmosphere in society."

After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake Tam helped set up a relief committee to look after the livelihood and schooling of orphaned children. He was on a HK committee along with Eric Tsang, Jackie Chan and Eason Chan.

As an entrepreneur

In 1997 an announcement was made in Admiralty, Hong Kong to launch a Star East Entertainment restaurant concept boasting 40 celebrity investors. It was one of the most publicised investments made by Tam in collaboration with actors Natalis Chan and Eric Tsang. In 2000 a merger was made between Star East and Planet Hollywood.

External links

Alan Tam Dot Com

TAMWINGLUN.Com (譚詠麟.COM)

Profile at HKCuk.co.uk

IMDb entry

References

Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Hong Kong actors Category:Hong Kong singers Category:Cantopop singers Category:Hong Kong film producers Category:Hong Kong Buddhists Category:Hong Kong people of Xinhuiese descent

Name	Vincent Wong
Chinesename	王浩信
Birthdate	July 07, 1983
Birthplace	Hong Kong
Othername	Signal Wong
Occupation	Actor and Singer
Label	TVB
Yearsactive	2005 - Present
Partner	Yoyo Chan

Vincent Wong (, born 7 July 1983) is a Hong Kong TVB actor.

Filmography

TV series

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! TVB Anniversary Awards |- |rowspan=2|2008 || Your Class or Mine || Ching Gwok-ho (Benny) || |- | War of In-Laws II || Mark || |- | 2009 || Born Rich || Szeto Fung (Tiger) || |- |rowspan=3|2010 || Can't Buy Me Love || Yu Man-kit || |- | Gun Metal Grey || Carson Ko || Nominated - Best Supporting Actor (Top 15) |- | Home Troopers || Tong Sau-lai || |}

Film

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 2010 || Black Ransom || || |}

Theme songs

War of In-Laws II (野蠻奶奶大戰戈師奶) Sub-Theme Song - "Most Difficult to Pass Today" 最難過今天 by Myolie Wu and Vincent Wong (2008)

External links

Official Yahoo Blog of Vincent Wong

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Hong Kong actors Category:Hong Kong television actors Category:TVB actors

Name	Stephy Tang
Tradchinesename	鄧麗欣
Simpchinesename	邓丽欣
Pinyinchinesename	Dèng Lìxīn
Jyutpingchinesename	dang6 lai6 jan1
Ancestry	Dongguan, Guangdong
Origin	Hong Kong
Birthdate	October 15, 1983
Birthplace	Hong Kong
Occupation	Singer, Actress
Genre	Cantopop
Label	Gold Label Records
Yearsactive	2002 - present
Associatedact	Cookies (previously)

Stephy Tang (born 15 October 1983) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. She was formerly the lead singer of the pop group Cookies.

Biography

Tang graduated from the Buddhist Sum Heung Lam Memorial College and the Department of Fashion Design at IVE. In 2002, she joined Cookies, a music group in Hong Kong, and became the lead singer. She sang with Alex Fong in 「好心好報」, 「好好戀愛」, 「十分．愛(合唱版)」 (which won a Jade Solid Gold Award for the best duet in 2006),「我的最愛」,「重愛」 and 「七年」, with whom many rumors about their relationship have been reported by the media. She was featured on Beautiful Cooking, a TV program on cooking on TVB. She is able to speak English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

Music

Stephy started her singing career in the band Cookies. The main style of music from Cookies was teen pop. When Stephy started her solo singing career, her record company, EMI, wanted a change to a more grown-up look and style. Some songs on her first album, Coloring Stephy, had a more mature and soft jazz influence than her previous music in Cookies. Generally, the album was widely heard and was popular, and it was certified Gold by IFPI Hong Kong.

Her second solo album was Fantasy. The album had a total of five editions. One was a deluxe edition which contains a DVD featuring her music videos from this album. The only difference between the other four was the color themes of the album covers: red, yellow, blue, and green, which were four different themes for photo shoots.

Her third album is Dating Stephy. This album also features different covers, and a special edition was released three months after the original release. The album also sold as well as her previous two. There was no official announcement of the certification, as Gold Label Entertainment Ltd and EMI Music Hong Kong did not participate in IFPI Hong Kong. However, the newspapers announced that Dating Stephy has sold over 30,000 in one month, and it was at least Gold certified.

Her latest album is titled Stephilosophy. Some songs from this album were included in her recent concert.

In 2007, she performed at the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Charity Gala at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with many other artists.

Stephy performed her first headline solo concert, called Stephy, See Thru Live 2007. It was held December 7–9, 2007 at the newly built Star Hall in Hong Kong. A live album was released featuring songs performed at this concert.

She also did a mandarin version of "Breaking Free" from High School Musical with Anson Hu.

Stephy released her new album The Red Album in November 2008. Some tracks in this album, such as "女兒紅", have led to media attention on the improvement in Stephy's voice. Thus, rinsing her clear of her title as 走音王 (Queen of Offkey singing).

In July 2009, Stephy published her first romance novel, 陪著我走. The book takes the form of a diary about a girl who has recently broken up with her lover. She goes on a cruise and writes about the things she sees and does. This book also includes 100+ pages of photos, making it a photo book as well. However, shortly after its release, many people realized that the book contained many incorrect words (they were correct phonetically, but not the correct Chinese character).

In December 2009, Stephy released her collection of "Greatest Hits" plus "New Songs" songs in a 2CD+ DVD Collection called 'Music Cafe' which includes four new songs, including 陪著我走 (Running alongside me) which served as the same name as her novel. The collectors edition comes with a mousepad with Stephy's face which is available in two designs.

Discography

Cookies

Cantonese Album (EP) #Happy Birthday (2002) #Merry Christmas (2002) #All The Best (2003) - first album as Mini-Cookies #4 Play (2004) # 4 in Love (2004)

Karaoke Album #Holidays (2002) #Channel Cookies (2003)

Mini Concert Album

903 California Red: Eleven Fires Concert (2004)

Solo

Cantonese Album #Coloring Stephy (2005 August 5，2nd ver：2005 September 28) (Certified Gold 25,000 units shipped in September) #Stephy Fantasy (2006 March 28，2nd ver：2006 June 5) (has sold 20,000 copies) #Dating Stephy (2007 February 14，2nd ver：2007 May 10) (has sold 35,000 copies in May) #Stephilosophy (2007 December 21) (Certified Gold 20,000 units shipped in December) #The Red Album (2008 November 27) #Music Cafe (2009 December 23) #No One Knows (2010 July 15)

Other Albums

17 May 2006 - All About Women (金牌女兒紅) - Track 05 - Let It Flow, and Track 08 - 偏愛 (with Kary Ng (吳雨霏))

14 June 2007 - Another Chivas Music Experience Concert Live - Track 10. 愛與痛的邊緣

Filmography

2002: Nine Girls and A Ghost (九個女仔一隻鬼) Starring: Edison Chen, Cookies

2003: Feel 100% 2003 (百分百感覺2003) Starring: Stephy Tang, Shawn Yue

2003: Dragon Loaded 2003 (龍咁威2003) Starring: Stephy Tang, Ronald Cheng, Vincent Kok. Cameos: Miriam Yeung

2004: Dating Death (失驚無神) Starring: Stephy Tang, Theresa Fu, Don Li, Edwin Siu

2004: My Sweetie (甜絲絲) Starring: Stephy Tang, Sammy Leung, Kary Ng, Ella Koon. Cameos: Miriam Yeung

2005: Stephy voiced Maggie, Lindsay Lohan's character, in the Cantonese version of "Herbie, Fully Loaded".

2006: Marriage with a Fool (獨家試愛) Starring: Stephy Tang, Alex Fong, Pace Wu, Philip Ng, Leila Tong. Cameos: Theresa Fu

2006: Love @ First Note (戀愛初歌) Starring: Alex Fong, Kary Ng and Justin Lo. Cameos: Stephy Tang, Miki Yeung, Theresa Fu

2007: Love in Macau (千般愛) Starring: Stephy Tang, Alex Fong, AisinGioro Qixing

2007: Love Is Not All Around (十分愛) Starring: Stephy Tang, Alex Fong, Linda Chung, Terry Wu, Miki Yeung, Hins Cheung, Sammy Leung. Cameos: Philip Ng

2007: In Love with the Dead (塚愛) Starring: Stephy Tang, Shawn Yue , Cold Yu

2007: Trivial Matters (破事兒) Starring: Stephy Tang, Eason Chan, Gillian Chung, Shawn Yue, Juno Mak

2008: L For Love♥ L For Lies (我的最愛) Starring: Stephy Tang, Alex Fong, Leila Tong, Alice Tzeng, Terry Wu, Miki Yeung

2008: La Lingerie (內衣少女) Starring: Stephy Tang, Janice Man, Ronald Cheng, Kathy Tong

2008: Nobody's Perfect (絕代雙嬌) Starring: Stephy Tang, Kary Ng, Sammy Leung, Chelsea Tong

2009: Love Connected (保持愛你) Starring: Stephy Tang, Kay Tse, Chelsea Tong, Sammy Leung, Terry Wu, Justin Lo, G.E.M

2009: Poker King (撲克王) Starring: Stephy Tang, Louis Koo, Sean Lau, Josie Ho, Cherrie Ying

2010: Once Upon a Chinese Classic (越光寶盒)

2010: 72 Tenants of Prosperity (72家租客) Starring: Stephy Tang, Jacky Cheung, Eric Tsang, Anita Yuen, Bosco Wong

Series

2003: 戀愛自由式 (Aqua Heroes) Starring: Stephy Tang, Edwin Siu, Theresa Fu, Bobo Chan, Matt Yeung, Leila Tong, Chris Lai. Cameos: Moses Chan

2007: 森之愛情 (Colours of Love)

Books

2002 - Delicious Cookies

2006July 18 - 不要忘記 (Bat Yiu Mong Gei)

2007March 19 - Stephy & Alex 十分愛

2008March 13 - 我的最愛Stephy & Alex電影寫真

2008July - 內衣少女電影小說 (La Lingerie Movie Novel)

2009July 22 - 陪著我走 Visual Diary (Pui Jeuk Ngo Zau)

2009December 18 - Heart Sweet 心甜

References

Category:1983 births Category:Cantonese-language singers Category:Cantopop singers Category:Hong Kong singers Category:Hong Kong actors Category:Hong Kong female singers Category:Cookies (group) members Category:Living people Category:Hong Kong people from Dongguan

Name	Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing
Caption	Leslie Cheung at the Cannes Film Festival
Tradchinesename	張國榮
Simpchinesename	张国荣
Hakkachinesename	Zong Gwet Win
Pinyinchinesename	Zhāng Guóróng
Jyutpingchinesename	Zoeng1 Gwok3wing4
Birthname	張發宗 (Traditional)张发宗 (Simplified)Zhāng Fāzòng (Mandarin)Zoeng1 Faat3zung1 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Mei, Meizhou, Guangdong, China
Birthdate	September 12, 1956
Birthplace	Hong Kong
Deathdate	April 01, 2003 (Suicide)
Deathplace	Hong Kong
Othername	哥哥 (Go4go1; lit. Big Brother)
Origin	Hong Kong
Occupation	Singer, actor, director, songwriter
Genre	Cantopop
Instrument	Singing
Label	Polydor, Capital Artists, Cinepoly, Rock, Apex Music, Universal
Yearsactive	1977–2003
Parents	Cheung Wut Hoi
Hongkongfilmwards	Best Actor1991 Days of Being WildBest Original Film Song1995 He's a Woman, She's a Man
Hkfcsawards	Best Actor1994 Ashes of Time
Goldenhorseawards	Best Original Song1993 The Bride with White Hair
Awards	Chinese Performance Art AssociationSpecial Achievement Award 1993 Farewell My Concubine Japanese Critic SocietyBest Actor 1993 Farewell My Concubine Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award1999 Golden Needle AwardChinese Pop Music Media Awards 2001 Best Male Singer AwardCCTV-MTV Music Awards2000 Biggest Asian Artist Award

Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing (12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003), nicknamed elder brother (哥哥), was a film actor and musician from Hong Kong. Cheung was considered as "one of the founding fathers of Cantopop", and "combining a hugely successful film and music career".

In 2000, Cheung was named Asian Biggest Superstar by China Central Television, and voted/ranked the 1st as The Most Favorite Actor in 100 Years of Chinese Cinema in 2005. Recently, he was voted into CNN's "top five most iconic musician of all time" placing behind Michael Jackson and The Beatles.

Childhood and education

Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing was born in Kowloon, Hong Kong. His birth name was Cheung Fat-chung (張發宗), which was later changed to Cheung Kwok-Wing. Cheung was the youngest of ten children in a middle-class Hakka family. Cheung Wut Hoi, his father, was a fairly well-known tailor, whose customers included the American actors William Holden and Cary Grant. His parents divorced when he was quite young. While in Hong Kong, Cheung attended Rosaryhill School (Stubbs Road, Hong Kong).

At the age of 13, he was sent to England as a boarder at Eccles Hall School. He was asked to leave the school due to his unusual behaviour. He worked as a bartender at his relatives' restaurant and sang during the weekends. It was around this period that he chose his name, "Leslie". According to Cheung, he chose this name because "I love the film Gone with the Wind. And I like Leslie Howard. The name can be a man's or woman's, it's very unisex, so I like it."

In several of his interviews, Cheung stated that he had had a fairly unhappy childhood. "I didn't have a happy childhood. Arguments, fights and we didn't live together; I was brought up by my granny."

Cheung attended the University of Leeds in northern England, where he studied textile management. He dropped out of university at the end of his first year, when his father fell ill. After his father's recovery, Cheung did not return to England to complete his studies.

Career

Early career

In 1977, Cheung won second prize by singing Don McLean's "American Pie" at the Asian Music Contest held by Rediffusion Television (RTV). He signed a contract with RTV, which subsequently became Asia Television Limited (ATV) and began his career in the entertainment industry. He also signed a music contract with Polydor Records, releasing Day Dreaming (1977) and Lover's Arrow (1979).

The early days of his career were not easy. He was once booed off the stage during a public performance, and his first two albums were not welcomed by the public. He left Polydor Records at the end of his contract. Cheung's first film, The Erotic Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓春上春) in 1978 was a soft porn film. Cheung later stated that he was unaware of the sexual nature of the film when he signed the contract.

With the popularity of Cheung and Tam, fans of these two stars became increasingly hostile to each other, starting a long-standing conflict that soon put heavy pressure on both singers. In 1988, Alan Tam publicly quit all pop music award ceremonies. In 1989, Cheung announced his intention to retire from his music career as a singer. Cheung then set a record by being the first singer ever in Cantopop history to hold a retirement concert series (Final Encounter of the Legend), which ran for 33 consecutive nights (he was 33 at the time) at Hong Kong Coliseum. In 1990, he left Hong Kong at the peak of his music career and emigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where he reportedly "found peace and tranquility." Cheung gained Canadian citizenship in 1992 and returned to Asia full-time in 1995 for his re-emergence in Chinese-language popular music.

From 1986 to 1989, Cheung acted in a number of movies that are considered as Hong Kong classics by film critics and Asian movie fans. In 1986, Cheung co-starred with Chow Yun-fat in A Better Tomorrow (directed by John Woo), which was widely considered as a trend starter for Hong Kong triad movies in the 1980s. Cheung played Kit, a righteous and idealistic young cop. Cheung's role in the movie was widely considered his debut as a serious actor. He also starred in the sequel, A Better Tomorrow II (1987). Also in 1987, Cheung starred in Stanley Kwan's Rouge where he played Chen-Pang Chan, an infatuated, opium-smoking playboy and doomed lover of a beautiful prostitute, Fleur (played by Anita Mui). Further, in the same year (1987), he appeared in Tsui Hark's A Chinese Ghost Story (directed by Ching Siu-tung). Cheung played Ling Choi Sin, a well-meaning but cowardly debt collector who had fallen in love with a beautiful ghost (played by Joey Wong). His performance in these movies won him two Best Actor nomination from Hong Kong Film Awards. The success of A Better Tomorrow and A Chinese Ghost Story made his name known in the Japanese and South Korea film markets.

Golden age in film

The mid-80s to mid-90s was a golden age in Hong Kong's film industry, which coincided with Cheung's film career. In 1990, Cheung acted as Yuddy, a handsome, ruthless bad boy, philanderer and narcissist in Wong Kar-wai's movie Days of Being Wild. His performance in Days of Being Wild won him the Best Actor Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 1991 and his first nomination of Best Actor at the Golden Horse Film Festival (Taiwan). He also acted in two other Wong Kar-wai movies. In the 1994 martial arts film, Ashes of Time, he starred as Ouyang Feng, a swordsman and assassin who spent his days in a desert. His role as Ouyang won him the Best Actor Award at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards. In 1997's movie Happy Together which centrally depicts a complex relationship between two gay lovers (although Wong insists that it isn't essentially a "gay" film), he played the capricious Ho Po-wing, who goes to Argentina with his lover Lai Yiu-fai (played by Tony Leung Chiu-wai).

In 1992's historical masterpiece Farewell My Concubine (directed by Chen Kaige), Cheung acted as the Peking opera star Dieyi Cheng, a Beijing opera artist who reaches fame with his exquisite performances of female roles. Farewell My Concubine is the first Chinese film to have won the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival. It also won more than twenty other film awards including a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film and Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Film and Best Cinematography. Cheung's performance in the film won him international fame as a film star and set his steps in the mainland China film industry. In 1996, he worked again with Chen Kaige, playing the role of a misty gigolo, Zhongliang Yu, in Temptress Moon. In 1998's A Time to Remember (directed by Yip Ying), he acted as Jin, an underground Chinese Communist leader. His Hong Kong background caused a heated debate at the time, but the film still achieved box office success in mainland China and in 2004 won a "Most Popular Foreign Film" Award at the Pyongyang Film Festival.

Other important movies Cheung starred in during this period include The Bride with White Hair (with Brigitte Lin, 1993), He's a Woman, She's a Man (with Anita Yuen, 1994), The Phantom Lover (1995), and Viva Erotica (with Shu Qi, 1996). His performance in these movies won him three Best Actor Award nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards and three Best Actor Award nominations at the Golden Horse Film Festival from 1990 to 1998.

As a versatile actor, Cheung also acted in many comedies. In 1991, teamed again with Chow Yun-fat and Cherie Chung, Cheung played a skillful and charming thief in John Woo's Once A Thief. In 1992's All's Well, Ends Well, he acted as an effeminate brother who would later realize the meaning of true love. Other well-known comedies included The Eagle Shooting Heroes, It's a Wonderful Life, and The Chinese Feast. Cheung was also a box office attraction in Hong Kong; from 1990 to 1998, 13 out of 39 movies in which he starred were listed as yearly top ten box office movies.

Although Cheung quit his career as a pop singer from 1989 to 1995, he continued his music career as a composer. He composed more than ten songs during that time. In 1993, he won Best Original Movie Song Award from Golden Horse Film Festival for the theme song Red Cheek, White Hair to the movie The Bride with White Hair (as a composer). In 1995, he composed all three theme songs for the film The Phantom Lover. As a composer, Cheung won four nominations for Best Original Movie Song Award at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards and two nominations for Best Original Film Song at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Return to music

In 1995, Cheung signed a contract with Rock Records, returning to music as a singer. At the same year, he released his first post-"retirement" album, Beloved. Beloved achieved large market success with the award of IFPI Best Selling Album, but it did not receive much acclaim from music critics as it is a collection of Cheung's movie theme songs from 1993 to 1995. In 1996, Cheung released possibly his most highly acclaimed album, Red. Red was a fusion album, mixing smooth jazz, R&B;, trip hop, etc., into Cantopop, forming a consistent unique style. Cheung worked since then on cutting-edge music as well as Cantopop, his new music style being markedly different from before his earlier retirement. In this album, Cheung also composed another important song in his music career, Red. In 1998, Cheung released his first album in Mandarin (and also the only one originally in the language), Printemps.

In 1997, Cheung held his first post-retirement concert series: World Tour 97, which lasted from 12 December 1996 to 17 June 1997. Like with the refinements to his musical style, Cheung introduced a new image to his audience. The most daring part possibly was the closing dance "Red" where Cheung did a tango duet in a pair of red high-heels with a macho dancer. World Tour 97 included 55 concerts: 24 concerts were held in Hong Kong Coliseum and 31 concerts were held in the cities around the world. Among them, six concerts were held in Japan and mainland China respectively. World Tour 97 was the first concert series that Cheung held in these two areas.

In 1999, Cheung started a music company, Apex Music, signing a distribution contract with Universal Music Group(UMG). Important albums released via UMG includes Count Down With You (1999), Big Heat (2000), and Untitled (2000). The hit songs released by him during this period include "Passing-by Dragonfly", the top one hit song, "Big Heat", and "Left Right Hands", Top Ten Gold Song of the Year (1999). He also composed the song I (first released in album Big Heat), which was considered by him as a song of self-statement. In 1999, Cheung was awarded the Golden Needle award (lifetime achievement award in Cantopop music). In 2000, Cheung had been assigned as the "Music Ambassador" of Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong (CASH) until his death. Cheung also composed the theme song "Noah's Ark" for the CASH Golden Sail Award.

The later years

In 2000, Cheung held his last concert series, Passion Tour. Passion Tour included 43 concerts, lasting from 31 July 2000 to 16 April 2001. It was his most disputable, and possibly best concert. Cheung worked at the first time as the art director as well as the singer for the concert. He invited Jean-Paul Gaultier to design all eight costumes for the concert. However, the costumes, together with his long wig and beard, were criticized bitterly by Hong Kong media at the early stage of the concerts. Cheung later disclosed that Gaultier was very angry about the criticism and claimed in an email (sent to Cheung) that he would never design costumes again for any Asian performer. Despite the early criticisms from the media, Passion Tour achieved huge success. Passion Tour was highly welcomed in Japan and made Cheung hold 10 concerts there. Together with World Tour 97 concerts, Cheung set a record of foreign artists of holding 16 concerts in Japan. In China, Cheung set a record yet to be broken by holding two consecutive night concerts in Shanghai Stadium (capacity of 80,000). He was also awarded the "Grand Salute Award" (2000) by Mingpao Weekly (Hong Kong) and "Music Salute Award" (2000) from Chinese Pop Music Media Association (mainland China) for his work in Passion Tour.

By the end of the 1990s, Cheung had begun to focus on acting in non-romance roles. In The Kid (1999, directed by Jacob Cheung Chi-Leung), he starred as a poor single father who fostered an abandoned baby boy. In the action thriller Double Tap (2000, directed by Lo Chi Leung), he played a psycho killer, Rick. In the 2002 psycho thriller Inner Senses (directed by Lo Chi Leung), he played psychologist Dr. Law, who discovered his own emotional issues when he tried to treat his patient Yan (Kar Yan Lam). His performance in these films earned him another Best Actor nomination from the Hong Kong Film Awards. He also garnered another two Best Actor Award nominations from Taiwan Film Festival. During this period, Cheung began to try his hand at film direction. In 2000, he directed his first movie, the 45 minutes From Ashes to Ashes. In 2002, he began to film his first regular length movie Stealing Heart. The film was not completed due to the deterioration of his health.

Sexual orientation

Cheung was bisexual and once said in an interview in Time magazine: "It's more appropriate to say I'm bisexual. I've had girlfriends. When I was 22 or so, I asked my girlfriend Teresa Mo (his colleague in ATV of the time) to marry me."

Despite numerous tabloid rumors, he denied his homosexual/bi-sexual orientation for the first half of his career, until his stance relaxed considerably after emigrating to Vancouver. In the early 1990s he became one of the few Hong Kong actors who dared to play gay characters onscreen.

Cheung's first gay role was Cheng Dieyi in Farewell My Concubine (1993). Cheng Dieyi was a Beijing opera singer or Dan (male actor who plays female roles) who had fallen in love with his male singing partner. In Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together (1997), Cheung played another gay role, Ho Po-wing. He was nominated for the Best Actor Award at the Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in Happy Together.

In 1995 a Hong Kong tabloid published a photo of Cheung with another man, Daffy Tong Hok-Tak (唐鶴德). In a 1997 concert, Cheung openly revealed that Tong was his "most beloved" after his mother. The Hong Kong media eventually accepted the two men's relationship and the tabloid gave Tong the nickname Tong Tong (in the style of Gor Gor). After Cheung's death, Cheung's family published a full-page obituary in a Hong Kong newspaper, in which Tong was listed as a surviving spouse (未亡人). Tong, together with Cheung's eldest sister, was also designated as the executor of Cheung's estate.

Death

Cheung committed suicide on 1 April 2003 at 6:41pm (HKT). He leapt from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, located in the Central district of Hong Kong Island. He left a suicide note saying that he had been suffering from depression. He was 46 years old.

As one of the most popular performers in Asia, Cheung's death shocked the Asian entertainment industry and Chinese community worldwide. Rumors about the cause of his death spread so fast that his family urged tabloids to let Cheung rest in peace, and not to sensationalize his sexual orientation and reasons for suicide. The day after Leslie's death, his long time partner, Tong, confirmed that Cheung suffered from (clinical) depression and had been seeing psychiatrists for treatment for almost a year. He also revealed that Cheung had attempted suicide in 2002. Later at his funeral, Cheung's niece disclosed that her uncle had severe clinical depression and suffered much over the past year (2003).

Despite the risk of infection from SARS and the WHO's warning on travels to Hong Kong, tens of thousands attended Cheung's memorial service, which was held for the public, on 7 April 2003, including celebrities and other fans, many from other parts of the world such as mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, the United States and Canada. Cheung's funeral was on 8 April 2003. For almost one month, Cheung's death dominated newspaper headlines in Hong Kong and his songs were constantly on the air.

Cheung's last album Everything Follows the Wind (一切隨風) was released three months after his death.

Cheung's suicide note (translation): "Depression! Many thanks to all my friends. Many thanks to Professor Felice Lieh-Mak (Cheung's last psychiatrist, 麥列菲菲). This year has been so tough. I can't stand it anymore. Many thanks to Mr. Tong. Many thanks to my family. Many thanks to Fei-Fei (Lydia Shum Din-ha). In my life I did nothing bad. Why does it have to be like this?"

Cheung's suicide note (Chinese): "Depression! 多謝各位朋友，多謝麥列菲菲教授，這一年很辛苦，不能再忍受， 多謝唐先生，多謝家人，多謝肥姐. 我一生沒做壞事 為何這樣?"

Extra information

It was reported that Cheung got the nickname "gorgor" (哥哥, elder brother) when he acted in the movie The Bride with White Hair with Brigitte Lin in 1993. However, Cheung said he was first called gorgor by Joey Wong when they worked for movie A Chinese Ghost Story. In Miss You Much Leslie concert (2008), Susan Hwuang, a close friend of Cheung, said Carina Lau Kar Ling was the first one who called Cheung "gorgor" when they played Mahjong back in 80s.* His last public singing appearance was in the late Anita Mui's last 2002 concert as a guest performer, shortly before his death. There, he sang a duet which they had recorded in the 1980s and a new song "Extinct Season of Glory". He directed and acted in the video of the song "Extinct Season of Glory".

Leslie Cheung is the first generation of Pepsi stars in Asia.

Voted as #1 in Commercial Radio's Top 10 Most Beautiful People in Hong Kong.

Voted as the winner of the 10 Hottest Celebrities of the Millennium in Hong Kong.

In 2000, many websites and newspapers reported that Leslie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Zhu Ling Ling and Michelle Reis were elected as Four Peerlessly Beauty in Hong Kong. Among them Cheung is the only man, and all the rest are women.

In 2010, voted as #1 in the list "19 most beautiful men from Hong Kong cinema" made by CNNGo .

His song "Monica" was crowned as Song of the Century.

Named Asian Biggest Superstar by CCTV-MTV in Beijing China.

The first Hong Kong actor who acted in a mainland China film, Farewell My Concubine (1993).

Supports charitable organizations such as Hong Kong Red Cross, Children's Cancer Foundation Hong Kong, and End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation.

Member of the jury at Tokyo International Film Festival in 1993 and the Berlin International Film Festival in 1998.

One of 10 Chinese Cultural Idols of the 20th Century. His wax figure at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong was unveiled on 31 March 2004 (first anniversary of his death). It's put in "Historical and National Heroes" room (Cheung is the only singer/actor in this room). The look is reminiscent of Cheung in his famous role as Beijing opera impersonator Cheng Dieyi in the film Farewell My Concubine. A 2006 Hong Kong study on the celebrity suicide events suggested that Cheung's death may cast negative effects on the people already depressed during the SARS period: in April 2003, there were 134 suicides in Hong Kong (Hong Kong population is of 6.9 million). Among them, 13 mentioned Cheung in their suicide notes. However, the historical statistic given in the paper show that the suicide rates in the months before and after April 2003 were consistent with that of April 2003. The paper does not analyze the effect of the SARS and economy depress on the suicide rate either.

To remember Cheung, some his fans donated benches with Cheung's name to parks at the places they live, such as Hibiya Park in Tokyo or Stanley Park in Vancouver.

Cheung was called the Elvis of Hong Kong earlier in his career. Coincidentally, the year Elvis Presley died was the year Cheung started his singing career.

There are some songs about Cheung, the most famous one is Gor Gor, written and sung by Lam Hon Yeung.

Achievement lists

Selected awards

RTV Asian Song Contest Runners-up with the song "American Pie" 1977

Overseas Chinese Daily News The Best Newcomer Award 1977

RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award winner with the song "Monica" 1984

TVB Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Award winner with song "Monica" 1984

Commercial Radio Chinese Pop Songs Award winner 1984

RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award winner with song Wild Wind 1985

TVB Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Award winner with song Wild Wind 1985

Commercial Radio Chinese Pop Songs Award winner 1967

RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award winner with song Who Can Be With Me 1986

TVB Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Award winner with songs Who Can Be With Me and, Love in Those Years 1986

Commercial Radio Chinese Pop Songs Award winner 1986

RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award winner with song Sleepless Night, Summer Romance is also the Best Selling CD of the year and IFPI Best Selling Album in 1987

TVB Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Award winner with song Sleepless Night

RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award winner with songs Silence is Golden and Up Close 1988

TVB Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Award Most Popular Male Singer 1988

CRHK Ultimate Song Chart Awards Best Male Singer 1988

TVB Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Award winner with song Start From Zero, and also winner of the Most Popular Male Singer 1989

Commercial Radio Ultimate Song Chart Male Gold Award 1989 winner LESLIE, album is also the IFPI Best Album of the Year

IFPI Best Selling Album winner with Fondness 1999

RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award Millennium Gold Song Award for "Monica" 1999

RTHK Golden Needle Award (lifetime achievement award in Cantopop) 1999

RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award winner with song Left Right Hand 1999

CRHK Ultimate Song Chart Awards Top Ten Albums for Countdown With You 1999

CRHK Ultimate Song Chart Awards Best Song Award for Left Right Hand 1999

Metro Radio Hit Music Awards Best Song Award for Left Right Hand 1999

Metro Radio Hit Music Awards Top Ten Best Hits for Left Right Hand 1999

TVB Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Awards Music Salute Award 2000

Mingpao Weekly Outstanding Male Singer Award 2000

Ming Pao Weekly Grand Salute Award for Passion Tour 2000

Joint Award by RTHK, CR, TVB & Metro Radio for the Best Album of the Year winner with album Untitled 2001

Chinese Pop Music Media Awards Best Male Singer Award 2001

Chinese Pop Music Media Awards Best Concert Award for Passion Tour 2001

Chinese Pop Music Media Awards Top Ten Chinese Songs for Passing Dragonfly 2001

"Sprite My Choice" China Original Music Pop Chart Awards Golden Song Award for Fever 2001

"Sprite My Choice" China Original Music Pop Chart Awards Millennium Outstanding Achievement Award 2001

RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards Silver Jubilee Award of Excellence 2002

Chinese Pop Music Media Awards Lifetime Achievement Award 2003

Chinese Pop Music Media Awards Top Ten Chinese Songs for So Far So Close 2003

CASH My All-time Favorite Song for I 2003

CASH Golden Sail Music Awards Best Alternative Composition for So Far So Close 2003

Hong Kong Film Awards winner Best Actor for Days of Being Wild 1991

Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival winner Best Original Movie Song for White-haired Beauty 1993

Chinese Performance Art Association Special Achievement Award for Farewell My Concubine 1993

Japanese Critic Society Best Actor Award (Foreign Movie) for Farewell My Concubine 1994

Hong Kong Film Awards Best Original Film Song Award for Chase 1995

Winner of HK Film Critics Society Best Actor Award for Ashes of Time 1994

Taiwan Golden Horse Awards, Udn, Phoenix TV, and World Journal Global Top Ten Chinese Movie Stars Award 1996

Ming Pao Weekly Performing Arts Awards Most Outstanding Actor for Inner Senses 2002

Nikkei Entertainment Japan Top Ten Best Actors in Asia 2004

NHK Japan Top Ten Favorite Movie Stars 2006

Hong Kong Film Awards Eternal Glory Performing Arts Award 2004

Hong Kong Film Awards Most Favorite Actor Award in 100 Years of Chinese Cinema 2005

Hong Kong Film Awards Silver Jubilee Best Actor Award 2006

Standard Chartered Hong Kong Platinum Multi-Talented Award 2000

CCTV-MTV Music Awards Biggest Asian Artist Award 2000

Sina China Top 10 Cultural Idols of the 20th Century 2003

Sina China Most Missed Artist 2007

Sohu China "Remembering My 1997" Most Memorable Celebrity 2007

CNNGO Asia's 25 greatest actors of all time 2010

CNNGO 19 most beautiful men from Hong Kong cinema No. 1 2010

Discography

I Like Dreamin' (白版碟) 1977

Day Dreamin' 1977

情人箭 (Lover's Arrow) 1979

風繼續吹 (The Wind Blows On) 1983

一片痴 (Craziness) 1983

張國榮 Leslie ("Monica") 1984

夏日精選 - 全賴有你 (Summer Best Collection - All Because of You) 1985

為你鍾情 (For Your Love Only) 1985

張國榮(迷惑我) Leslie Cheung (Allure me) 1986

Stand Up 1986

張國榮 (當年情) (The Past Love) 1986

愛慕 (國語) (Admire) 1987

Summer Romance'87 1987

Hot Summer 1988

Virgin Snow 1988

Leslie '89 張國榮 (側面) (Side Face or Profile) 1989

Salute'89 1989

Final Encounter 1989

Dreaming 1990

寵愛 (Beloved) 1995

紅 (Red) 1996

FROM NOW ON (single) 1996

Printemps 1998

這些年來 (EP) (All These Years) 1998

陪你倒數 (Count Down With You) 1999

Big Heat (大熱) 2000

Leslie Untitled (EP) 2000

Leslie Forever 2001

Crossover 2002

一切隨風 (Everything Follows the Wind) 2003

Filmography

{|border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" !Year !Title !Role !Hong Kong Film Awards |- |rowspan="2"| 1978 || Erotic Dream of the Red Chamber || || |- |Dog eats Dog || || |- |rowspan="3"| 1980 || On Trial || || |- |The Drummer || || |- |Encore || || |- |rowspan="4"| 1982 || Energetic 21 || || |- |Crazy Romance || || |- |Teenage Dreamers || || |- |Nomad || Louis || Best Actor Nomination (1983) |- |rowspan="3"| 1983 || The Drummer || || |- |Little Dragon Maiden || Yang Guo || |- |First Time || || |- |rowspan="4"| 1984 || Merry Christmas || || |- |Double Decker || || |- |Behind the Yellow Line || Paul || |- |Intellectual Trio || || |- |1985 || For Your Heart Only || || |- |rowspan="2"| 1986 || Last Song in Paris || || |- |A Better Tomorrow || Sung Tse-Kit || |- |rowspan="3"| 1987 || Rouge || Chan Chen-Pang || Best Actor Nomination (1989) |- |A Better Tomorrow II || Sung Tse-Kit || Best Actor Nomination (1988) |- |A Chinese Ghost Story || Ning Caichen || Best Original Film Song Nomination (1988) |- |1988 || Fatal Love || || |- |1989 || Aces Go Places V: The Terracotta Hit || || |- |1990 || A Chinese Ghost Story Part II || Ning Caichen || |- |rowspan="3"| 1991 || Once a Thief || || |- |Days of Being Wild || Yuddy || Best Actor (1991) |- |Party of a Wealthy Family || self-imagined version of Tsang Siu-Chu || |- |rowspan="2"| 1992 || Nam Kong Legend: Anti-Punk Squad || || |- |All's Well, Ends Well || So || |- |rowspan="5"| 1993 || Farewell My Concubine || Cheng Dieyi || |- |The Eagle Shooting Heroes || Huang Yaoshi || |- |All's Well, Ends Well Too || David Copper Feel || |- |The Bride with White Hair || Zhuo Yihang || Best Original Film Song Nomination (1994) |- |The Bride with White Hair 2 || Zhuo Yihang || |- |rowspan="5"| 1994 || Ashes of Time || Ouyang Feng || |- |Long and Winding Road || || |- |Over the Rainbow Under the Skirt || || |- |He's a Woman, She's a Man || Koo Ka-Ming || Best Original Film Song (1995)Best Actor Nomination (1995) |- |It's a Wonderful Life || Roberto || |- |rowspan="2"| 1995 || The Phantom Lover || Song Danping || Best Original Film Song Nomination (1996) |- |The Chinese Feast || Sun || |- |rowspan="6"| 1996 || Temptress Moon || Yu Zhongliang || |- |Yang Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema || || |- |Viva Erotica || Kwok Wing || Best Actor Nomination (1997) |- |Shanghai Grand || Hui Man-Keung || |- |Who's the Man, Who's the Woman || Koo Ka-Ming || Best Original Film Song Nomination (1997) |- |Tristar || Zhong Guoqiang || |- |rowspan="2"| 1997 || All's Well, Ends Well 1997 || || |- |Happy Together || Ho Po-Wing || Best Actor Nomination (1998) |- |rowspan="3"| 1998 || Ninth Happiness || || |- |A Time to Remember || || |- |Anna Magdalena || Editor || |- |rowspan="2"| 1999 || Moonlight Express || Kar-Bo / Tetsuya || |- |The Kid || Wing || |- |rowspan="3"| 2000 || Double Tap || Rick Pang || |- |Okinawa Rendez-vous || Jimmy Tong || |- | From Ashes to Ashes || || |- |2002 || Inner Senses || Jim Law || Best Actor Nomination (2003) |}

See also

Cinema of Hong Kong

References

Further reading

Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, World Music Volume 2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, BBC Radio, 2000, ISBN 1-85828-636-0

Klein, A. (2003). Farewell, Leslie Cheung. Los Angeles City Beat. Retrieved 17 December 2005, from .

Kei Mori, "夢想之欠片（Broken pieces of dreams）", Renga Shyobo Shinshya Co Ltd, Tokyo, Japan, 2004, ISBN 4-902603-55-1

Chitose Shima, "Leslie Cheung Interview", All About Leslie, p25-40, Sangyo Henshu Center Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 1999, ISBN 4-916199-10-3

Chitose Shima, Time of Leslie Cheung, Sangyo Henshu Center Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 2004, ISBN 4-916199-59-6

City Entertainment Editor Committee, Leslie Cheung's Movie World 2 (1991-1995), City Entertainment, Hong Kong, 2006, ISBN 962-8114-98-0

De Hui, Leslie Cheung's Movie Life I, II, Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, Shanghai, 2006, ISBN 7-80678-557-4J.272

External links

レスリー・チャン（張國榮）スマイル

In Memory Of Leslie Cheung

Leslie Cheung Cyberworld Official website of Red Mission, providing material on Cheung's music, movies, interviews, photos, etc.

Leslie Cheung Fan Club of China Official website of Leslie Cheung Fan Club of China, providing material on Cheung's music, movies, interviews, photos, radio, forum, etc.

Watch the documentary film "Leslie Cheung - Hong Kong Star", shown by German - French TV channel Arte on 30 August 2007.

Leslie Cheung Internet Fan Club Official website of the Leslie Cheung Internet Fan Club

张国荣遗书版本多

张国荣真假遗书之谜

张国荣遗书出现第二个版本全文寥寥五十余字

Category:Hong Kong film actors Category:Hong Kong male singers Category:Cantonese-language singers Category:Cantopop singers Category:Hong Kong Mandopop singers Category:Hong Kong people of Hakka descent Category:Cantonese people Category:Bisexual actors Category:Bisexual musicians Category:LGBT people from Hong Kong Category:Actors who committed suicide Category:Suicides by jumping from a height Category:1956 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Suicides in Hong Kong Category:Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group Category:Best Actor HKFA Category:Naturalized citizens of Canada

Name	Ken Hung
Tradchinesename	洪卓立
Pinyinchinesename	Hóng Zhuólì
Jyutpingchinesename	hung4 coek3 laap6
Ancestry	Chaozhou, Guangdong
Origin	Hong Kong
Birthdate	March 02, 1987
Birthplace	Hong Kong
Occupation	Singer
Genre	Cantopop
Label	Emperor Entertainment Group
Yearsactive	2007–present
Relatives	Chei Tai Hung
Website	Ken Hung's EEG Official Website

Ken Hung Cheuk Lap is a Hong Kong cantopop singer. He started his career after earning a second place in the EEG Singing Contest (aka 25th annual New Talent Singing Awards Hong Kong Regional Finals). During 2007, he went to help in the office for about 3–4 months cutting newspapers because Mani said he was too shy. Then he finally started recording songs. First song that came out was "Love.gutless" (愛．無膽). His singing tone was similar to Eason Chan and therefore compared to so that song became a hit and led to his rise in popularity throughout HK. And because of that, his first CD used the name of the song. His logo is 'little froggy', Ken said that Mani gave him that logo because she want him to sing like a frog, loud and clear.

During 2008, he suffered his first bout of hydrothorax, which stopped him from working for most of 2008 until the filming of Love is Elsewhere. However, the problem returned late in 2008, his condition deteriorated and he was hospitalized. He had to cease all work including the filming of the drama Prince & Princess 2 in Taiwan. He was later released from the hospital. He is now working on the promotion of the movie Happily Ever After.

Discography

2007 - Love. Gutless (愛．無膽) - 19 July

2007 - Love. Gutless 2nd version (愛．無膽) - 7 September

2008 - Go - 23 January

2008 - Next Attraction - 30 October - Informations from his official blog

2010 - Taste of Love + Best Selections - 29 March

2010 - Precious Moment - 24 September

Movies

2008 - Love Is Elsewhere (愛情萬歲) 17 April

2008 - Connected (film) (保持通話) 25 September

2009 - Happily Ever After (很想和你在一起) 27 August

2010 - The Jade and The Pearl

2010 - Perfect Wedding

Series

2008 - Dressage To Win (盛裝舞步愛作戰) 14 June

2008 - Prince+Princess 2 (王子看見二公主) (Taiwan)

2010 - The Winter of Flying Fish (魚躍在冬季)

Awards

2006 - EEG Singing Contest (second place) (Refer to New Talent Singing Awards)

2007 - Commercial Radio Hong Kong "Best New Male Singer" - Gold Award

References

External links

another Ken Hung's blog

Ken Hung's blog

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Category:1987 births Category:Hong Kong people of Chaoshanese descent Category:Hong Kong singers Category:Living people Category:New Talent Singing Awards contestants

Name	Kelvin Kwan
Tradchinesename	關楚耀
Pinyinchinesename	Guān Chǔyào
Jyutpingchinesename	Gwaan1 Co2 Jiu3
Birthname	Kelvin Kwan
Origin	Guilin, Guangxi, China
Birthdate	March 24, 1983
Birthplace	Canada
Occupation	Singer
Genre	Cantopop
Instrument	Singing
Label	Go East
Yearsactive	2006 - 2009, 2010-present

Kelvin Kwan is a cantopop singer from Go East, a subdivision of Universal Music.

Family background

Born into a wealthy family, Kwan was raised in Canada. His father is Hong Kong record producer William Kwan, an executive for the Hong Kong division of PolyGram, who played in the band Teddy Robin and the Playboys with his brother Teddy Robin in his youth. Due to the elder Kwan's close relationship with Hong Kong singer Alan Tam, Tam became Kelvin Kwan's godfather. Tam's relationship with Kwan continued to be a boost to Kwan's career; in August 2006, the pair recorded a music video of the duet "Big Cry Baby (大喊包)", which secured Kwan's popularity in the Hong Kong music industry. However, Tam has not been reticent in pointing out Kwan's flaws and errors publicly; in a September 2006 interview with the Sing Tao Daily, he criticised Kwan's public speaking abilities and suggested he concentrate harder on singing during performances; Kwan reportedly felt awkward and hurt by Tam's words. Regardless, Kwan still credits a great deal of his success to Tam claiming that he would not be where he is today without his help and guidance. Among the songs on the album was Big Cry Baby, which only 5 days after the album's release was ranked as China's 4th most popular duet by China Central Television.

Community service

Kwan and Jill Vidal participated in a number of community service activities aimed at preventing drug use and shoplifting. They were the spokepersons for the "Say no to drugs" campaign (向毒品說不), a program aimed to prevent the younger generation to avoid drugs. In 2006 and 2008 Kwan and Jill Vidal took part in a "Anti-drug promotion" (禁毒滅罪耀北區) in Hong Kong's north district. Kwan's godfather, Alan Tam, expressed disappointment with Kwan. On 28 March, he was released and he returned to Hong Kong On 2 April, he delivered a prepared speech where he expressed his "regret and remorse".

Kwan would not return to the entertainment industry until more than a year later when he released his next album, Here I Am on 22 September 2010.

Discography

2006-10-11: 關楚耀 首張同名專輯 (Self-titled Debut)

2007-11-20: 你當我什麼 (What Do You Take Me For)

2008-10-22: Hello...My Name Is

2010-09-22: Here I Am

References

External links

Yahoo Blog

Bee.WEBZINE Blog

Category:1983 births Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent Category:Hong Kong people of Canadian descent Category:Hong Kong singers Category:Living people

Name	Eason Chan
Tradchinesename	陳奕迅
Simpchinesename	陈奕迅
Pinyinchinesename	Chén Yìxùn
Jyutpingchinesename	Can4 jik6 seon3
Ancestry	Dongguan, Guangdong
Birthdate	July 27, 1974
Birthplace	Hong Kong
Occupation	Singer, record producer, musician and actor
Genre	pop, pop rock, soft rock, dance pop
Instrument	Piano, Guitar, Harmonica, Accordion, drums, Violin
Voicetype	Tenor, Falsetto
Label	Cinepoly Records (2004–present)Music Plus (2000–2004)Capital Artists (1995-2000)
Yearsactive	1995-present
Spouse	Hilary Tsui
Children	Constance Chan
Goldenmelodyawards	Best Male Mandarin Artist2003 Special thanks to...
Goldenmelodyawards	Best Album of the year2008 Don't Want To Let Go
Ntsawards	1995 Winner
Awards	Hong Kong's Most Popular Male Singer2006, 2007

Eason Chan Yik-shun (陳奕迅) is a prominent male singer in Hong Kong's music industry. Undoubtedly one of the most dominant male singers in the post-1997 era of Hong Kong music industry. Eason Chan has been praised by Time magazine as a front runner in the next generation of Cantopop.He is considered by some to be Hong Kong's third "god of song" after Samuel Hui and Jacky Cheung.

His Cantonese album U87 was nominated by Time Magazine as "Five Asian Albums Worth Buying" in 2005. Eason Chan was the big winner at the prestigious Golden Melody Awards in 2003 and 2009. In 2003, he won "Best Male Singer" and "Album of the Year awards" for his work in Mandarin album "Special Thanks To...". In 2009, Chan won "Album of the Year" again for his work in Mandarin album "Don't Want to Let Go".

Biography

Chan is the son of Chan Kau-tai, a former civil servant. Chan was sent to the United Kingdom for study at the age of 12. He attended St. Joseph's kindergarten, St. Joseph's Primary School in Hong Kong, Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire, England and later Kingston University majoring in architecture. Chan returned to Hong Kong before the completion of his degree to participate in the 1995 New Talent Singing Awards Competition. He won first place. Immediately after his victory, Capital Artists signed a contract with him, ending his future career as an architect while launching his successful career in music.

In 2003, Chan's father, who was Hong Kong Housing Department's chief building services engineer, came under investigation of the Independent Commission Against Corruption for taking bribes. In early 2004, he was found guilty, and sentenced to seven years in jail and fined Hong Kong $2.6 million for accepting more than HK$3 million in bribes.

Chan married his longtime girlfriend Hilary Tsui in 2006. His daughter Constance Chan was born on October 4, 2004. Constance Chan's name was given by Eason's good friend and famous songwriter Wyman Wong. Chan gave up smoking after the birth of his daughter. He reportedly did it for Constance and the health of his voice. However, in 2007, he admitted in his concert that he has resumed smoking due to stress from his then ongoing "Moving On Stage" world tour.

On December 9, 2009, Eason carried the 2010 Olympic Torch through the downtown of Montreal, effectively becoming the only person of Chinese descent to carry both the Summer and Winter Olympic torch.

Career

Eason Chan is a frequent winner of Asia's music awards. He is the second non-Taiwanese singer after Jacky Cheung to win Taiwan's Golden Melody Award. He won "Best Male Singer" in 2003 and "Best Album" twice in 2003 and 2009. He has won the prestigious Hong Kong's Most Popular Male Singer Award twice, in the year 2006 and 2007. He also won his first Asia Pacific's Most Popular Singer Award in 2007, and again in 2008. His album U87 (The name of the album came from his favorite microphone), released in 2005, has been recommended by Time Magazine as one of the five best Asian albums worth buying. U87 also won the top sale of album (non-concert, non-collection category) in Hong Kong in 2005. He was Hong Kong's highest selling male artist in 2002, 2003 and 2007. He has been one of Hong Kong's top selling artists for all years starting from 2000. His concert DVD Get a Life was the highest selling album of 2006.

Eason Chan has been praised by critics and fellow musicians alike as one of the top singers of his generation. Since the very beginning of his career, Eason has been one of the favorites to lead the new generation of Cantopop. He has been described as a breath of fresh air in the HK music scene. Over the last ten years, Eason Chan emerged as the leading male singer of his generation, fulfilling his role as an innovator and a leader in the HK music scene, winning prestigious awards one after another. Eason Chan has also been successful in his work in the Mandopop scene. He has won numerous awards in both Mainland and Taiwan, most notably Taiwan's Golden Melody Award. "Admit It" was another notable work of Eason Chan, which led to a nomination for Golden Melody Award's Best Male Singer; the award was ultimately won by Gary Chaw. Next year, he was again nominated for Golden Melody Award's Best Male Singer(for his work in Mandarin album "Don't Want To Let Go"), the award went to Jay Chou. However, Eason won Album of The Year for "Don't Want To Let Go".

Eason Chan has been named by Chinese critics as the next God of Songs (歌神) after Jacky Cheung. However, Eason has more than once clarified that he wishes to build his own name instead, and not just be the successor of Jacky Cheung. There is a duet called 天下太平 sung by Chan and Jacky Cheung in the album Perfect Match by Albert Leung，Ronald Ng (伍樂城) released in April 2006. Chan and Cheung have collaborated on other occasions as well. They sang a duet of Cheung's 頭髮亂了 in a fundraising campaign for SARS victims in 2003.

Chan not only sings but also plays a variety of musical instrument including piano, violin, accordion, harmonica, bass, guitar and drums. He frequently showcases his musical talent by incorporating instruments into his live performances. Chan is also a song-writer who has written many songs, some included in his albums.

In 2009, Eason Chan performed in "PAX Musica 2009" in Tokyo. He sang seven songs including a Japanese song by Koji Tamaki called "Mr. Lonely". This was his first time performing in Japan publicly. After that, Japanese Musician Ikuro Fujiwara openly praised Chan for his stage charisma and expressed hope to collaborate with Chan in the future. Eason Chan plans to promote his musical works in Japan in 2010.

Songs written by Eason Chan

#時代曲 (from the album 陳奕迅) #那一夜有沒有說 (from the album 與我常在) #反高潮 (from the album 我的快樂時代) #同聲一哭 (duet with Anita Mui) (from the album I'm So Happy of Anita Mui) #你會不會 (from the album Special Thanks To...) #蕭邦寫過的歌 (sung by Sammi Cheng) (from the album 愛是... of Sammi Cheng) #PG家長指引 (sung by Edmond Leung) (from the album PG家長指引 of Edmond Leung) #呼吸困難 (sung by Edmond Leung) (from the album Music Is The Answer of Edmond Leung) #下週同樣時間 (再見)(from the album 打得火熱) #溫室效應 (from the album 打得火熱) #怪物 (from the album Shall We Dance? Shall We Talk) #衝口而出 (with 王雙駿) (from the album The Easy Ride) #改造人 (sung by Nicholas Tse) (from the album 幸福) #我也不會那麼做 (from the album 反正是我) #沒有你 (from the album 反正是我) #落花流水 (with Eric Kwok) (from the EP Life Continues) #大得太快 (from the EP Life Continues) #戀愛盲 (Sung by Edmond Leung) (from the album The Story Of June of Edmond Leung) #新生活 (from the album 新生活) #2001太空漫遊 (with 陳輝陽) (from the album Shall We Dance? Shall We Talk) #Namasgar你好嗎 (from the album OST 十二夜十二首) #解藥 (from the album What's Going On...?) #粵語殘片 (With C.Y. Kong) (from the album What's Going On...?) #兄弟 (duet with Andy Lau) (from the album Listen To Eason Chan) #乜嘢啫 (from the album Listen To Eason Chan) #狂熱革命 (with Davy Chan) (from the album Listen To Eason Chan) #換季 (sung by Hacken Lee) (from the album Today Special of Hacken Lee) #沙龍 (from the album H3M, namely Hyper Horrendous Hybrid Maniac) #給你 (from the album 5/F Blissful)

Theme Concerts

Chan has held five major theme concerts at the famous Hong Kong Coliseum starting from 1999, a proof of his enduring popularity and his status as one of Hong Kong's most beloved singers. His first series of concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum, a total of four Eason's 99Big Live concerts, came four years after his debut in 1995. Even today, that amount of time is considered short for a singer to gain the general approval and public support needed to perform at such a prestigious venue. Two years later in 2001, Chan held a series of nine The Easy Ride concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum under the wing of his second record company, Music Plus. In 2003, he again held a series of seven The Third Encounter concerts with the support of Music Plus. In the spring of 2006, After a year of rest and another change of record company, Chan held his fourth theme concerts, a total of nine Get a Life concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum. A year later, Chan broke his own record while holding his fifth series of concerts named Eason's Moving On Stage. During October and November 2007, he completed a total of 16 hugely successful Chan's Moving On Stage1 concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum. As of January 2008, Chan has held 45 concerts at Hong Kong Coliseum.

Eason Chan began his Moving On Stage World Tour in Feb, 2008. The already completed stops include: Taiwan, US, Canada, Australia, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Malaysia, Macau, Singapore, Kunming, Tianjin, Chongqing, Beijing, Shenzhen, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Hangzhou. His following stops were Guiyang, Beijing, Foshan and Guangzhou. Eason Chan's Moving On Stage World Tour ended with Eason Chan's Moving On Stage 26 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (16 August 2009).

Months after his Moving On Stage Concerts came to a finish, Chan began another tour in Mainland China, called "Ninety Minutes of Bliss". Instead of playing at grand venues, Chan began this tour hoping to get closer to his fans by playing at smaller venues. He completed two concerts in Nanjing and three more in Shanghai before and during Christmas 2009. Two more concerts were held in Beijing on May 29 and 30, 2010.

In between his tour, Chan held his sixth record-breaking Theme Concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum for a total of 18 concerts, scheduled from March 20 to April 6, 2010. This new series is called Duo Eason Chan 2010 Concert (《DUO陳奕迅2010演唱會》).

After the May "Ninety Minutes of Bliss" concerts in Beijing, Chan went to Europe for his first ever European Tour scheduled for three cities, London on May 3, Manchester on May 6 and Rotterdam on May 8. The venues for the three concerts were respectively, Royal Albert Hall, Manchester Apollo and Ahoy Rotterdam. Tickets to his London and Manchester concerts were each sold out within hours of ticket release. Chan is the second singer after Roman Tam to perform in the prestigious Royal Albert Hall.

Musicals

On 18 August and 19 August 2005, Chan performed the musical Wrestling with God (人神鬥), the second programme of Love Music Tour 05 organised by Netvigator. He was the leading actor and producer. Stars featured in the show included famous comedian Jim Chim (詹瑞文), Cantopop singer Wilfred Lau (劉浩龍), Taiwanese talented singer Mavis Fan (范曉萱), Best Supporting Actress Winner of the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards Josie Ho (何超儀), pop duo at17 and Soler. The story was about the competition among different angels (played by the featured stars) to protect the only man alive in the world (played by Eason Chan). The secret guest, veteran singer George Lam (林子祥), played Chan's late father. The audience were impressed by the performers, who told the story through song and dance.

Charity work

Eason Chan has been ORBIS International's Sight Ambassador in HK since 2006. He has traveled to India and Sichuan, China, visiting kids and elders with visual impairment, in an effort to raise funds for Orbis. Eason has also been an active participant in HK's fundraising campaigns such as the 2003 fundraiser for SARS victims and the 2008 fundraiser for Sichuan Earthquake victims.

On 7 July 2007 Eason performed at the Chinese leg of Live Earth in Shanghai.

Controversy

Eason was reported commenting on an aspect of Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki's performance after she had finished her Hong Kong concert on 7 April 2007. He remarked that Ayumi Hamasaki might have been lip-syncing in her concert; this statement enraged many of her fans as lip-syncing is highly frowned upon in Asia. They threatened to not buy Eason's CD and wanted him to apologize for his words. Soon after, Grasshopper, a respected Hong Kong singing group, backed Eason's comments. Eason's label, Cinepoly Records, is not commenting on this incident. Hamasaki's record label and reporters came quick to her defense, stating that she did not lipsynch whatsoever and that the sound system was specially flown in from Japan which was the reason for the high quality of sound.

Private life

Eason and Hilary Tsui(徐濠縈) met for many years, married in 2006. In 2004, Eason Chan's daughter Constance Chan(陳康堤) was born.

Discography

Studio Album

#Eason Chan 陳奕迅 (Cantonese, 1996) #Tear 一滴眼淚 (Mandarin, 1996) #Always With Me 與我常在 (Cantonese,1997) #Preparation 醞釀 (Mandarin,1997) #My Happy Time 我的快樂時代(Cantonese,1998) #New Life 新生活(Cantonese,1998) #God Bless Lover 天佑愛人(Cantonese,1999) #Wedding Blessing 婚禮的祝福(Mandarin,1999) #Happiness 幸福(Cantonese,1999) #Nothing Really Matters (Cantonese,2000) #Some Like it Hot 打得火熱(Cantonese,2000) #Shall We Dance? Shall We Talk! (Cantonese,2001) #It's Me 反正是我(Mandarin,2001) - Nominated for "Best Male Singer" in Golden Melody Award, Harlem Yu was the winner #The Easy Ride (Cantonese,2001) #Special Thanks To... (Mandarin,2002) - Won "Best Male Singer" & "Best Album of the year" in Golden Melody Award, he is the only singer to win these two awards in the same year #Five-star home 五星級的家(Cantonese,2002) #The Line-Up (Cantonese,2002) #Black. White. Gray 黑白灰(Mandarin,2003) - Nominated for "Best Male Singer" in Golden Melody Award, Sky Wu was the winner #Live For Today (Cantonese,2003) #Seven 七 (Mandarin, 2003) #I Had a Great Time (No release) #U87 (Cantonese,2005) - Recommended by Time Magazine as one of the five best Asian albums worth buying #How 怎麼樣(Mandarin,2005) #Life Continues... (Cantonese,2006) #What's going on...? (Cantonese,2006) #Admit It 認了吧(Mandarin,2007) - Nominated for "Best Male Singer" in Golden Melody Award, Gary Chaw was the winner #Listen To Eason Chan (Cantonese,2007) #Soliday (Cantonese,2008) #Don't Want To Let Go 不想放手(Mandarin,2008) - Won "Best Album of the year" & nominated for "Best Male Singer" in Golden Melody Award, Jay Chou was the winner #H³M (Cantonese,2009) #5/F Blissful 上五樓的快活(Mandarin,2009) - Nominated for "Best Male Singer" in Golden Melody Award, David Tao was the winner #Time Flies (Cantonese,2010) #Taste the Atmosphere (Cantonese,2010)

Filmography

Eason Chan is a notable actor who has starred in multiple box office hits. Chan started to act in films in 1997. He has starred or co-starred in over 20 films so far. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor by Hong Kong's Golden Film Awards in 2000 for his role in Lavender. In 2005, He was nominated for Best Actor by Hong Kong's Golden Bauhinia Awards for his work in Crazy N' The City. In 2008, He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor by Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards for his work in Trivial Matters.

References

External links

;Official Eason Chan's Profile at Universal Music Easyjoint - Eason Chan's International Fans Club イーソン・チャンオフィシャルブログ - Eason Chan's Official Blog in Japanese 陈奕迅 新浪微波 Eason Chan's Weibo ;Others

Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Kingston University Category:Cantopop singer-songwriters Category:Cantopop singers Category:Hong Kong actors Category:Hong Kong male singers Category:Hong Kong people from Dongguan Category:Hong Kong Mandopop singers Category:New Talent Singing Awards contestants Category:Old Dauntseians

Name	Donnie Yen
Caption	Yen at the 2007 Shanghai International Film Festival
Tradchinesename	甄子丹
Simpchinesename	甄子丹
Pinyinchinesename	Zhēn Zǐdān
Jyutpingchinesename	Jan1 Zi2daan1
Ancestry	Taishan, Guangdong, China
Origin	Hong Kong
Birthdate	July 27, 1963
Birthplace	Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Occupation	Actor, martial artist, film director, action choreographer, film producer
Yearsactive	1983 - present
Spouse	Cecilia Cissy Wang (2003 - present)
Homepage	http://www.donnieyen.com/
Goldenbauhiniaawards	Best Action Choreography2006 Dragon Tiger Gate
Goldenhorseawards	Best Action Choreography2003 The Twins Effect2007 Flash Point
Hongkongfilmwards	Best Action Choreography2003 The Twins Effect2005 2008 Flash Point
Awards	Iron Elephant AwardsBest Actor 2009 (''Ip Man)

Donnie Yen (born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director, action choreographer and film producer. Apart from being a well-known film and television actor in Hong Kong, Yen has also gained international recognition for appearing in many films together with other prominent and internationally-known actors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh. He is considered to be Hong Kong's top action star; director Peter Chan mentioned that he "is the 'it' action person right now" and "has built himself into a bona fide leading man, who happens to be an action star."

Early life

Yen's mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a Wudangquan (internal martial arts) grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen, is a newspaper editor. When Yen was two years old, he moved to Hong Kong with his family and they shifted to Boston, Massachusetts, United States when he was 11. His younger sister, Chris Yen, is also a martial artist and actress, who appeared in the 2007 film .

At a young age, under influence from his mother, Yen developed an interest in martial arts and began experimenting with various styles, ranging from tai-chi to wushu. Yen focused on practicing wushu after dropping out of school. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in the Boston Combat Zone, that they sent him to Beijing on a two-year training program with the Beijing Wushu Team. in Legend of the Wolf (1997) and Ballistic Kiss (1998), in which he played the lead character. Yen went on to choreograph fight scenes and appeared in minor roles in some Hollywood films, such as (2000) and Blade II (2002).

In 2003, Yen co-starred with Jackie Chan in Shanghai Knights. His role of the antagonist, Wu Chow, was originally offered to Robin Shou, who played his on-screen nemesis in Tiger Cage 2 (1990), but Shou turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts and Yen took the role.

Yen choreographed most of the fight animation in the 2004 video game Onimusha 3, which featured actors Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno. Yen continued to be active in the Hong Kong cinema in the 2000s, starring as Chu Zhaonan in Tsui Hark's Wuxia epic film Seven Swords, and as Ma Kwun in Wilson Yip's brutal crime drama film in 2005. Both films were featured at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Later that year, Yen co-starred with Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue in Wilson Yip's Dragon Tiger Gate, an adaptation of Wong Yuk-long's comic series Oriental Heroes. Yen also worked as action choreographer in Stormbreaker, starring Alex Pettyfer. Yen's continued to work with Wilson Yip in Flash Point (2007) in which he starred as the lead character and served as producer and action choreographer for the film. He won the Best Action Choreography at the Golden Horse Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in Flash Point.

In 2008, Yen starred in Ip Man, a semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the Wing Chun master of Bruce Lee. Ip Man marked Yen's fourth collaboration with director Wilson Yip, reuniting him with his co-stars in SPL: Sha Po Lang, Sammo Hung and Simon Yam. Ip Man became the biggest box office hit to date which featured Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.

Action choreography

Other than being a great martial artist and actor, Yen is also a world class fight choreography, and his on-screen choreography has been recognized through the numerous awards attained by him.

In recent years, Donnie Yen has attempted to include Mixed Martial Arts into his various movies, through the use of numerous martial arts and ground fights. Flashpoint, a movie fully choreographed by Yen using MMA was a huge success. Its ending fight is credited by many as being the best movie fight scene. His work as a choreographer won him "Best Action Choreography" awards at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and the 2008 Golden Horse Film Awards. Another notable MMA movie includes Sha Po Lung.

In the 2010 movie, , Donnie Yen once again acts as the fighter choreographer, For this movie, Donnie Yen mentioned that he included Jeet Kune Do elements as a tribute to Bruce Lee, who played Chen Zhen in the 1972 film Fist of Fury. Furthermore he incorporated many MMA elements in the film, coupled with the utilisation of Wing Chun. MMA is an interdisciplinary form of fighting utilising elements of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing and wrestling which can be evidently seen in the film.

Yen also stated that the concept behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do is similar to that of MMA, hence the incorporation of many forms of martial arts is a necessity in this movie.

Due to his notable success in the action choreography area, he is invited to choreograph most of his upcoming films such as The Lost Bladesman, Swordsmen and the Monkey King .

Personal Life

Yen married Cecilia Cissy Wang in Toronto in 2003. Wang was the champion of "Miss Chinese Toronto 2000" and winner of the "Miss Vitality" and "Miss Perfect Figure" awards. They have a daughter, Jasmine, born in 2004, and a son, James, born in 2007. Yen also has another son, Man-cheuk Yen, from a previous marriage.

Yen has stated that he is a big fan of the MMA organization, Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC in short, and has stated that he has watched almost every UFC event available.

See also

Donnie Yen filmography

Cinema of Hong Kong

Cinema of China

References

External links

Donnie Yen's Sina blog site

"An Action Star Moves to the Lead," New York Times article

Donnie Yen profile page at Hong Kong Cinemagic

Category:1963 births Category:People from Guangzhou Category:Chinese choreographers Category:Hong Kong actors Category:Hong Kong film directors Category:Hong Kong film producers Category:Hong Kong kung fu practitioners Category:Hong Kong wushu practitioners Category:Chinese martial artists Category:Living people Category:Taishanese people Category:Cantonese people Category:Best Action Choreographer HKFA Category:American people of Hong Kong descent Category:American people of Chinese descent Category:Hong Kong immigrants to the United States Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States

Name	Anita Mui
Caption	Mui performing 孤身走我路 (Walk My Lonely Path of My Life) at "Anita Classic Moment Live 2003" at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Hong Kong.
Tradchinesename	梅艷芳
Simpchinesename	梅艳芳
Pinyinchinesename	Méi Yànfāng
Jyutpingchinesename	mui4 jim6 fong1
Ancestry	Hepu, Guangxi
Origin	Hong Kong
Birthdate	October 10, 1963
Birthplace	Hong Kong Mui once held a sell-out concert at Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of Asia". That title has stayed with her throughout her career, and has been used as a comparison for both Eastern and Western media.
Title	Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actress
Years	1985for Behind the Yellow Line
Before	None
After	Deannie Yipfor My Name Ain't Suzie

Category:1963 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Deaths from cervical cancer Category:Best Actress HKFA Category:Best Supporting Actress HKFA Category:Hong Kong Buddhists Category:Hong Kong actors Category:Cantopop singers Category:Hong Kong Mandopop singers Category:Hong Kong singers Category:New Talent Singing Awards contestants Category:Cancer deaths in Hong Kong