Gigi Leung

Gigi Leung
Background information
Chinese name 梁詠琪 (traditional)
Chinese name 梁咏琪 (simplified)
Pinyin Liáng Yǒng Qí (Mandarin)
Jyutping Leong4 Wing6 Kei4 (Cantonese)
Birth name Leung Bik-zi (梁碧姿; Liáng Bìzhī)
Origin Hong Kong
Born (1976-03-25) 25 March 1976[1][2][3]
Hong Kong
Other name(s) Leung Wing-kei
Occupation Singer, actress, model
Genre(s) Cantopop
Instrument(s) Singing, piano, guitar, drums
Voice type(s) Mezzo-soprano
Label(s) previously Warner Music
currently Big Artiste Management part of Mei Ah Entertainment
Years active 1995–present (acting)
1996–present (singing)
Spouse(s) Sergio Crespo Gutes (m. 2011)
Children Sofia Crespo Leung (祈淑菲)
(2015-02-28) February 28, 2015[4][5]
Website gigileung.com.hk

Gigi Leung Wing-kei (born 25 March 1976) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress.

Biography

Given the name Leung Bik-zi (梁碧姿) at birth, at the age of seven her mother changed her name to 'Wing-kei' for superstitious reasons; as a child, Leung suffered from frequent asthma attacks and it was believed a change of name would bring better health. At 176 cm, Leung earned the nickname of 'Tall Girl'. She has a twin brother named Keith Leung (Leung Wing-chun, 梁詠俊).

Early years

Gigi Leung attended Maryknoll Convent School. Later, she went to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University where she gained a diploma from the School of Design. It was during her study at university that she accepted a modelling assignment from the watch company City Chain and caught the attention of film director Lee Chi-Ngai who cast her in her very first movie, Doctor Mack (1995). The success of the movie brought her a further role in Full Throttle (1995), shot while she was finishing her diploma. For her supporting role in the film, Leung received a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards.

Entertainment career

Her singing career began the following year with the debut album Love Myself (1996). Since then, she has sung both Cantonese and Mandarin songs. She is recognised not only as a Cantopop/Mandopop singer, but as a songwriter and lyricist as well, having written songs for both herself and other local singers. She has a contract with Warner Music Hong Kong, with more than a dozen albums to her name. She has performed in several full-scale live concerts including one entitled Funny Face in 2003. In 2008 25 March she signed a new company Big Artiste Management a subsidiary of Mei Ah Entertainment.

Since 1995, Leung has starred in over 20 movies, most of which are dramas and comedies. She has worked opposite acting veterans such as Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Andy Lau, Daniel Chan, Stephen Chow and Jet Li. In 2003, she starred with Takeshi Kaneshiro in Warner Bros.' first-ever Chinese-language film Turn Left, Turn Right. Notably, at the Hong Kong Film Awards, Leung was nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for roles in Tempting Heart (1999) and A War Named Desire (2000) respectively.

Primarily an actress on the silver screen, Leung briefly appeared in the TVB serial The Last Breakthrough (2004). She has also performed in a number of stage musicals including The Great Entertainer (2004). Other works include the Cantonese narration for the Japanese film Quill (2004).

Gigi is also very active in charity work. Apart from being the ambassador for different charities, she has helped to build 7 schools in mainland China to help poor children.[6] She is also the youngest-ever local (at age 27) to receive the "Ten Most Outstanding Youth Award".

Spokesperson

Outside of the entertainment business, Leung has acted as the Hong Kong spokesperson for Japanese cosmetics company FANCL since 1999. She is also an ambassador to both United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)[6] and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Hong Kong. Other charity ambassador titles include Honourably Ambassador of Yan Chai Hospital, Special Ambassador to the Yan Aiu Hospital, Ambassador of Breast Cancer Fund and Ambassador of Society for Abandoned Animals (SAA). She also held numerous other special titles to numerous organisations. She joined her friends, Charlie Yeung, Valen Hsu and Angelica Lee to form the "Hope Foundation," a non-profit organisation to help children in need.

Personal life

In July 2009, she was reported to be in a relationship with a furniture designer from France, known only as Sly.[7] Neither Gigi nor Sly admitted their relationship, but it was reported the couple separated in early 2010.

On 3 October 2011, Leung married her Spanish boyfriend Sergio Crespo Gutes[8] on the island of Ibiza. On 28 February 2015, Leung gave birth to her first child, a daughter,[9] Sofia Crespo Leung (祈淑菲).[4][5]

Filmography

TV Series

Discography

Cantonese

Mandarin

Concerts

The Sina microblog incident

Gigi Leung's Sina microblog account has up to 470,000 followers, most of them her young fans. On 30 March 2010, she blogged about the unjustly jailed Zhao Lianhai, whose five-year-old son fell victim to poison milk and developed kidney stones. The father-turned-activist began to use various means to voice his grievances. After receiving a message from the website's administrator, Gigi Leung then deleted the relevant blog, which resulted in hundreds of supportive messages from her fans.[12][13]

References

  1. ↑ 梁詠琪國際歌迷會 – 個人檔案
  2. ↑ EastDay News (13 December 2006). "擔心命運算不準 梁詠琪不小心透露真實年齡".
  3. ↑ ChinaTimes (13 December 2006). "擔心命運算不準 梁詠琪瞬間老4歲".
  4. 1 2 ahmike. "Gigi Leung(梁詠琪) and Husband Name Their Daughter Sofia".
  5. 1 2 ahmike. "Full Name Of Gigi Leung(梁詠琪)'s Daughter Is 'Sofia Crespo Leung'".
  6. 1 2 "Gigi Leung , Ambassador of China Children's Health". CRIENGLISH.com. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
  7. ↑ "HK star Gigi Leung to wed?". Channel News Asia. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
  8. ↑ "Gigi Leung shows love of all things Spanish at Loewe bag launch". South China Morning Post. 20 April 2014.
  9. ↑ "It's a girl for Gigi Leung and her Spanish husband". The Straits Times. 2 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Gigi Leung". imdb.com. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  11. ↑ "Gigi Leung". chinesemov.com. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  12. ↑ Gigi Leung (1 April 2010). "梁咏琪 微博". Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  13. ↑ Apple Daily (1 April 2010). "遭勒令刪去內地微博文章 撐維權爸爸 貼文抱不平 梁詠琪被河蟹了". Retrieved 1 April 2010. Video News
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