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Sammi Cheng Sau-Man is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. Having enjoyed much success in the Hong Kong music industry, Sammi has been known as a diva and has been one of the most successful female singer in Hong Kong since the 1990s. Her albums have sold more than 25 million copies through Asia-pacific.^[3] Most notably in the 1990s, she was dubbed by the media as the " Cantopop Queen".

Sammi Cheng breaks the record of having the most best sales albums and The Best Sales Local Female Vocalist awards in the Hong Kong Cantonpop industry since her debut. From 1993 to 2010, Sammi Cheng won a total of 12 Top Female Vocalist awards,^[4] 14 The Best Sales Local Female Vocalist Awards and has 7 albums that are The Best Sales Cantonese Release of year.

She had produced over 80 studio albums, 9 live concert albums, 97 singles (songs) with 27 cover songs, had received around 200 total awards from acting to singing, performed in over 20 films which many received box-office hit, starred in 7 TV dramas in early years, had held over 100 concerts up to date with over 12 concert tours. She is also being recognized as the leading Asian female singer brought in unique fashion to singing performance especially in her concerts.

Early life[link]

Sammi Cheng was previously named Twinnie Cheng.^[5] Contrary to popular belief, "Twinnie" is not her birth name. The name came about when Sammi was still in school and her English Language teacher wanted everyone in class to have an English name. When Sammi turned to her sister for help, her sister came up with the name "Twinnie". The name was later changed to "Sammi" as "Sammi" sounds a little like "Sau Man". Cheng received her education at SKH St. Peter's Primary School and Tang Shiu Kin Victoria Government Secondary School.^[1]

She has three sisters and one brother. Two of her sisters are twins.

Career[link]

	Beware of women (小心女人) noicon A 1990s cantopop instrument arrangement by Sammi Cheng.
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Music[link]

Sammi Cheng entered the entertainment industry at the age of 16 through a high profile, annual TV singing contest, the New Talent Singing Awards in 1988.^[6][7] Although she came in third in the competition, the sponsoring record company, Capital Artists, saw her potential and offered her a recording contract. Cheng at the time was still in school, and had to balance her studies with her rising singing career. Before finishing school, Sammi had managed to release 3 full-length studio albums: "Sammi", "Holiday" and "Never Too Late".^[8] One of her first major award was the 1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards, where she was recognized as a best new prospect.^[9]

In 1993, Cheng realized that in order to rise from a top B-list artist to an A-list artist, she had to create a unique image for herself. She capitalized on the attention received from her duet with artist Andy Hui, "Do you really have me in your heart?" (其實你心裡有沒有我), winning the 1993 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards with that song.^[10] Cheng then went through a complete 180-degree transformation, dying her hair orange, changing her style.^[8] Her 4th studio album "Sammi's Happy Maze" (鄭秀文的快樂迷宮) was also released, which include the hit single "Chotto Matte" (Chotto 等等).^[8] Her new image fitted well with the new single, which was a remake of a very upbeat Japanese song by Maki Ohguro. The success helped Sammi and boosted her singing career.^[8] In 1994 she continued to capitalize on her wild, new image. Her first album of that year was "Big Revenge" (大報復). The album included the mega hit "Ding Dong" (叮噹), which became one of Sammi's all-time signature songs. But with her new fame also came a lot of backlash from the media. Critics pointed out that Sammi purposely westernized her Cantonese. Instead of saying "Ding Dong", Sammi pronounced it as "Deen Dong".^[8] Despite the criticism, the song was one of most popular dance songs of that year. In 1994 the racy and controversial cut of "Ten Commandments" (十誡) was banned from the radio for a few days after its initial airplay of the track including tiny bits of what can be recognized as pornography soundtrack.^[8] In 1995 Cheng disappeared from the public eye for nearly half a year.^[8] Later that year, it was revealed that Warner Music company had signed her. She let her hair color return to black and temporarily abandoned the wild image she used to have.^[8]

In 1995 she released her first album "Missing you" (捨不得你). In 1996, the company decided it was time for Sammi to expand her market and fan base beyond Hong Kong. They released her first Mandarin album, "Worth It" (值得). The album was number one on the Taiwan IFPI chart for six consecutive weeks.^[1] She won a number of awards, most notably she was voted back-to-back as the most popular female artist by TVB from 1995 to 1996.^[11] She would finish that year with her first concert titled "Sammi's X-Dimension Concert" (鄭秀文X空間演唱會). In 1998 she was also a featured star in a Heineken sponsored Music Horizons concert along with international singers such as Boyz II Men and Julian Lennon.^[12] By the time Cheng was 24 years old, she had already released four greatest hits albums.^[13]

In the 1990s, another female star, Faye Wong was one of her main rivals.^[14] When they were on stage together, they would be cold to one another. The rivalry was confirmed in the 1999 TVB music award night. Both Wong and Cheng were arranged to sit next to each other backstage.^[14] Cheng avoided Wong by repeatedly going off stage to fix her make-up. In addition, her fans were angry and hissed at Faye Wong when she went on stage to receive an award.^[14] Wong herself has insisted that the rivalry wasn't true, and that she was friendly toward Cheng.^[15]

In July 2004, she held 7 nights of "Sammi Vs Sammi" concerts in Hong Kong. She also broke the record as being the youngest female singer to hold more than 50 accumulated concert nights in the city.^[1]

Concert Tours/Specials[link]

Cheng performing at "Love Mi Sammi Cheng 2009 Concert" on December 31, 2009.

Tour Setlists[link]

Acting[link]

Cheng's acting career began with the TVB series Life of His Own in 1991.^[16] A year later she would begin her film career with the movie Best of the Best (飛虎精英之人間有情) in 1992 with fellow cantopop star Jacky Cheung.^[17] She would follow with another comedy film Feel 100% (百分百感覺) with Ekin Cheng and Gigi Leung.

In the late 1990s during the slump of the HK film industry she staged a box office revolution by starring in the film Needing You by acclaimed director Johnny To, co-starring Andy Lau and the movie Summer Holidiay in 2000. The films were hits at the box office hit in all South East Asia regions, and Hong Kong has cumulated nearly HK$60 million at the box office. The Needing You VCD received a sold out record of more than 200,000 copies.^[1] From this film, she was also a nominee for "Best Actress" as well as taking part in singing the "Best original film song" in the 2001 Hong Kong Film Award.^[18] Following the success of those movies she starred in a few more including Wu Yen, Love on a Diet, Marry a Rich Man, My Left Eye Sees Ghosts and many more. At the 62nd Venice International Film Festival Cheng was one of the front runner for the "Best actress" award for the film Everlasting Regret in 2005. Other contenders for the award included Monica Bellucci, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lee Young-ae and Isabelle Huppert.^[19]

Advertisements[link]

Cheng changes her look and image for every album, which enables her to gain extensive attention and appreciation from the music professional and the public. Sammi is a trendsetter of hair-coloring and has been chosen to be one of the Top Ten fashionable celebrities in Hong Kong. She has been signed and endorsed by many companies. Some of the bigger endorsements include SK-II skin care and Mona Lisa bridal service.^[20] Her first album with Warner Music, "Can't Give You Up" (捨不得你) released 3 hit singles, "Gentlemen, you are so fine today" (男仕今天你很好), "Can't Give You Up" (捨不得你) and "The Mourning Song for Love" (愛的輓歌). She was selected as the prominent celebrity for the endorsement of Panasonic using "Can't Give You Up" (捨不得你) as the theme song.^[1]

Post-break career[link]

Break (2005-2007)[link]

In 2005, Cheng had only one feature film release and no music projects. She became a representative for Veeko and Titus, a fashion and watch brand in Hong Kong, respectively. She also began writing Saturday columns for Mingpao magazine.^[13] In 2006, she released another greatest hits album, but there were no new tracks. The break was taken to recoup her energy from the entertainment industry.^[13]

During a break lasting more than a 1,000 days, she reflected upon her life, and became a born-again Christian.^[21]

Show Mi Tour[link]

After taking a break for about 2 years, she re-invented herself again, and held her 6th concert in HK from 18 to 25 May 2007 titled "Show Mi"(Mi being the nickname of SamMI given by her fans). Due to the huge demand for tickets, the four performances was expanded to eight. She returned to entertain at the age of 34, and invited fellow star Andy Lau and Denise Ho to perform with her.^[22] At the end of the first show, audience members continued to shout 'encore' for 15 minutes until Sammi came back out and sang "Our Theme Song" (我們的主題曲). The concert was expanded to the Show Mi Tour.

Community work[link]

In 2003 Cheng performed at the 1:99 Concert to raise funds for SARS affected families.^[23] She had participated in the 2008 Chinese winter storm support effort where many artists including Andy Lau, Alan Tam, Kelly Chen, etc. recorded a song called "Warmth in the Snow" in support of those effected by the storm. She was also a participant of the Artistes 512 Fund Raising Campaign.^[24] In April 2008, she participated in the activities of World Vision. She traveled to Laos with fellow singer Gigi Leung, also a World Vision volunteer, to experience for themselves the struggles of the local people and children.^[25] They also visited the local children there to find out more on their situation where food and supplies are lacking. When Sammi returned to Hong Kong, she and Leung were invited to a radio program 903 to talk about the experience; she responded by announcing she had "adopted" 24 children.

Filmography[link]

• Best of the Best (飛虎精英之人間有情) (1992) with Jacky Cheung - as Heidi
• Feel 100% (百分百感覺) (1996) with Ekin Cheng - as Cherrie
• Feel 100%....Once More (百分百o岩Feel) (1996) with Ekin Cheng - as Yen
• Killing Me Tenderly (愛您愛到殺死您) (1997) with Leon Lai - as Cindy (朱金梅)
• The Lucky Guy (行運一條龍) (1998) with Stephen Chow - as Candy (葉玉芬)
• Needing You (孤男寡女) (2000) with Andy Lau - as Kinki
• Summer Holiday (夏日的麼麼茶) (2000) with Richie Ren - as Summer
• Wu yen (鍾無艷) (2001) with Anita Mui, Cecilia Cheung - as Wu Yen (鍾無艷)
• Fighting for Love (同居蜜友) (2001) with Tony Leung Chiu Wai - as Deborah (霍少棠)
• Love on a Diet (瘦身男女) (2001) with Andy Lau - as Mini Mo
• Marry a Rich Man (嫁個有錢人) (2002) with Richie Ren - as Ah Me (阿 me)
• My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (我左眼見到鬼) (2002) with Lau Ching-Wan - as May (何麗珠)
• Infernal Affairs (無間道) (2002) with Andy Lau - as Mary
• Love For All Seasons (百年好合) (2003) with Louis Koo - as Midget (滅絕)
• Good Times, Bed Times (戀上你的床) (2003) with Lau Ching-Wan, Louis Koo - as Carrie (屈小喬)
• Infernal Affairs III (無間道III：終極無間) (2003) with Andy Lau - as Mary
• Enter the Phoenix (大佬愛美麗) (2004) - (cameo appearance) as the head waitress in a Chinese restaurant
• Magic Kitchen (魔幻廚房) (2004) with F4's Jerry Yan, Andy Lau - as Yau (慕容優)
• Yesterday Once More (龍鳳鬥) (2004) with Andy Lau - as Mrs. To (盜太)
• Everlasting Regret (長恨歌) (2005) with Daniel Wu, Tony Leung Ka-Fai - as Wang Qi Yao (王琦瑤)
• Lady Cop & Papa Crook (大搜查之女) (2008) with Eason Chan, Richie Ren- as Molline Szeto
• Romancing in Thin Air (高海拔之戀II) (2012) with Louis Koo

TV drama[link]

• Life of His Own 浪族闊少爺(1991) : as 施敏
• File of Justice I 壹號皇庭 I (1992): as Fong Ga Kay (方家琪)
• Return of the Vampire 大頭綠衣鬥疆屍 (1993): as 飄雪/飄紅/Kitty
• Journey of Love 親恩情未了 (1994) : as 張家慧
• Detective Investigation Files II 刑事偵緝檔案 II(1995) : as Ivy
• Man's Best Friend 寵物情緣 (1999) : as Susan (歐子珊)
• The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra 齊天大聖孫悟空 (2002) :as (觀音大士)

External links[link]

• Samm's facebook fanpage
• [3]

References[link]

v t e Cinema of Hong Kong Actors Directors Cinematographers Ocean Shores Producers Shaw Brothers Studio Films A–Z Action films Writers Films by year: 1909–1929 1930s 1940s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012