Seven Castles

Leon Lai

                                      

December 19, 2007

 

Leon Lai (born on December 11, 1966) is a Hong Kong-based actor and a Cantopop singer. Born in Beijing as Lai Chit, he was the only child in his family originally from Meixian. His parents divorced when he was four. His Malaysian father and he migrated to Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution in China. His father used to tell stories of history to him when he was young. At the age of fifteen, he attended King's Way Princeton College (England) and returned back to Hong Kong at the age of seventeen. Before he became a singer in Hong Kong, he worked as a salesperson for a mobile phone company. He uses the stage name "Lai Ming" which literally means "dawn".

 

After getting the second-runner-up in the 5th New Talent Singing Awards, held by the TVB in 1986, he went to be taught singing by a music teacher and in the same year, he also obtained an artist contract from Capital Artist. However he did not get to release any albums for four years. As a result, his teacher arranged to have him signed a contract with Polygram (now known as Universal Music) and then got the contract with Capital Artist annulled after some negotiation.

 

In Polygram, he released his first album "Leon" and subsequent album "Meet in the Rain" which propelled him into instant stardom. After several years at Polygram, he then signed a new contract with Sony Music in March 1998.

 

Together with Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok, he was among the four most popular male singers during the 1990s, when the media referred to them as the "Four Heavenly Kings".

 

In the early stages of his career, he mainly sang Cantopop, but due to the influence of the producer, he expanded his repertoire to include popular electronic songs with compelling music videos. In 1998, his Korean song "After loving you" managed to reach the Top 10 in a Korean pop chart. He was the first Hong Kong singer to achieve this. He won numerous singing awards before announcing in 1999 that he would no longer accept any awards in Hong Kong. His music career gradually declined from the late 1990s. While he is still releasing new albums from time to time, his record sales are now less than impressive and his position has been overtaken by the newer generation of Cantopop singers.

 

In 2002, he was selected to sing "Charged up", the 2002 World Cup theme song for the Greater China Region. In 2004, he formed a new record production company, "A Music", East Asia Record Production Company Limited, with Peter Lam. The first album produced by the company, "Dawn" was released in September of that year.

 

In order to bring in new excitements for his music, he invited a famous music producer Jonathan Lee from Taiwan in 2005 to produce his new mandarin album "A Story". He returned to the Hong Kong Coliseum on in April 2007 to perform in his one-night-only "Leon 4 in Love Concert" where he performed not only his own hits but also hits of the other three heavenly kings namely Aaron, Andy and Jacky. He performed a total of 18 songs.

 

In the period before he participated in the New Talent Singing Awards, he enrolled in the ATV actor training class, however he did not complete the training with no apparent reason. Then, he applied for admission to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts but his application was rejected.

 

After the New Talent Singing Awards, he had some opportunities to star in a few TV series. On one occasion, he went for filming of a romantic series in Taiwan. There was a stark contrast in height between him and the popular lead actress who is only 1.60 cm in height. The actress then demanded that he squatted while filming so as to make up for the height differences. He had to act through all the scenes with the actress while squatting but he had to endure it, as he was not popular at the time. However not long afterwards his new TV series, "The Breaking Point", turned out to be a resounding success and propel him to widespread fame in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

 

A versatile performer, he has achieved sensational success in both singing and acting. He has also shown his talents behind the camera, directing several of his own music videos throughout the years, mixing contemporary settings with special effects. In 2007, he wrote and directed a musical film titled "A Melody Looking" shot in New York. It features him and the rest of the A Music family of singers. This film marks his debut as a director.

 

In the recent years, he has participated in many charity events. His contribution to children is further recognized by being appointed as UNICEF Special Representative to Youth at UNICEF Headquarters in New York. He also occasionally helps other non-profit organizations to raise funds. His tryst with serious charity work started when his father had carcinoma of the rectum at an advanced stage. The doctors said he was incurable. But when his father went through an operation, he prayed to the Buddha to let the operation be successful and he will do a lot of good things to thank heaven. The operation was successful and his father got cured. So when the cancer foundation and the U.N. organization approached him for help, he started getting involved in charity work actively.

 

He has been elected as one of The Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) in 1997, giving him a formal recognition of his professional endeavors and commitment to the community. He was also awarded the Medal of Honor (M.H.) in October 2003.

 

He has been associated with many female celebrities since he began his career. One of his most famous rumored ex-girlfriends is Hsu Chi. He is currently in a relationship with one of the famous models in HK named Gaile Lok.

 

He is hot, cool, handsome, awesome, fantastic, excellent, fabulous, great and terrific! Many of his fans see him as their "Prince Charming" or their "Knight in Shining Armor." His "electric" eyes and cute smile can easily freeze a girl in her path and his "sweet and warm smile" can melt people! 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2007年12月19日 星期三 05:39】【注册】【打印】