|
My Favorite Singer is the now retired (sigh...) Vivian
Chow. I am not alone out there - there are a ton of fans
out there who agree with me. No matter what you think of her, Vivian
helped blaze the trail that other idol singers in Hong Kong have folowed.
The YES cards, the posters everywhere, the idol magazines in HK, these
all exploded when Vivian was their subject. The first explosion of
english language pages on Hong Kong pop contained more than their fair
share of Vivian pages. (at one point she was one of the most popular artists
IN THE WORLD in terms on number of internet webpages) She retired
in late 1997. I was fortunate enough to see one of her last shows
in Atlantic City. The emotion on her face was clear, especially during
the last few songs, the last few she sang not only that day, but for her
career. The crowd rushed the stage to get closer to her during the
encore. Anyone who has ever sat through a chinese concert (which
are VERY reserved, to a ridiculous extent), knew how her fans must have
been feeling.
|
| My favorite Male Singer, and one of my favorite artists overall is
Leon Lai. Leon was the second
singer I ever heard after Vivian, and one of the singers who really helped
get me into canto-pop. Leon is my favorite singer due to his songs.
He has a better mix of songs, fast and slow than the other idols.
Plus he is a more than capable singer (Now, he absolutely sucked when he
started. Listen to his recent cd's and his old cd's and the difference
is huge.) He just signed with SONY, and they are going to make him
huge. His material so far with them, though sparse, has been great.
I can't wait to hear his new album. (I have only heard the
first single, HAPPY 2000, which is a ridiculously catchy single.)
This, plus his burgeoning movie career, which has seen him star in several
films which have had success in the US (in the arthouses) as well as HK.
1999 will be Leon's year.
|
 |