Kay Tse

Kay Tse

Tse on 11 September 2010.
Background information
Origin Hong Kong
Born (1977-03-13) 13 March 1977
Hong Kong
Occupation Singer, musician, model, actress
Genre(s) Cantopop, Mandopop
Instrument(s) Vocal, piano, guitar
Voice type(s) Lyric coloratura soprano
Label(s) Avex Trax (2005–2007)
Cinepoly (2007–2012)
Stars Shine International (2010–present)
Years active 2005–present
Spouse(s) Louis Cheung (m. 2007)
Children James Cheung
Ancestry Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai, China
Influenced by Faye Wong
謝安琪
Simplified Chinese 谢安琪
Traditional Chinese 謝安琪
Cantonese Jyutping ze6 on1 kei4
Hanyu Pinyin Xièānqí

Kay Tse On-kay (Chinese: 謝安琪; born 13 March 1977) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer. She is a prominent figure in Cantopop and Hong Kong popular culture and is frequently referred to in the media as a "grass-roots diva" and "goddess."[1] She is known for her versatile vocal range and her ability to sing in various music genres.

Tse's claim to fame was her 2008 song, "Wedding Invitation Street" (囍帖街), which was widely successful and sweeped prestigious year-end music awards. She is considered one of the four current premier female Cantopop singers along with Joey Yung, Miriam Yeung and Denise Ho.

Tse is married to fellow Hong Kong singer Louis Cheung, with whom she has a son.[2]

Life and musical career

Early life and discovery

Kay Tse was born on 13 March 1977 in Tai Po, Hong Kong, the only child of a Hakka family.[3][4] She first started to learn to play the piano by the age of six, which she eventually obtained an eighth grade.[5] She also learned to play the guitar. From the age of 11, Tse attended Valtorta College, a state-funded Catholic school in Hong Kong's New Territories. In 2002, when Tse was a university student majoring in American Studies at the University of Hong Kong, she entered a university singing competition and took first place. She then entered an inter-schools singing competition in 2003 and made the final five, impressing one of the judges Adrian Chow (周博賢) so much that he offered her a professional contract with his small music label "Ban Ban Music". At that time Tse was working as a piano teacher.

2005–2006: Career beginnings, Kay One and K sus2

Tse's Cantonese debut album, Kay One, was released on 6 May 2005. The album combines various genres together, most prominently canto-pop and jazz. Kay One spawned four singles altogether, with her debut single Beauties 《姿色份子》 being a fast, up-tempo tune, lyrically, it talks about the Asian dieting trend. Another notable single is The One and Only 《我歌。。。故我在》, which is a slow ballad, showcasing Tse's versatile vocal range. On 23 December 2005, the album received a re-release edition titled Kay One (Album), this edition includes a bonus track called Follow Me 《跟我走》, which was released as the fifth single of the album. The song is rock influenced, which Tse talks about her music and her fans. The single managed to reach number 1 on the TVB Billboard chart, becoming her first number one song. In addition, the album contains two non-Cantonese songs, with The One and Only being the English cover of second single of the same name, and Plastic Rose 《塑膠玫瑰》 being the mandarin version of Beauties《姿色份子》.

By 2 June 2006, Tse released her first extended play. K sus2 was expected to be released on March, 2009, but it was later postponed. The EP is largely more rock-influenced than her previous album. It includes six new songs along with three music videos. The first single Gloomy Festival 《愁人節》 impacted radio stations on January, 2006. It received positive reception from critics for raising public concerns about the disadvantaged groups in the society. The song received many airplays on various stations and it became her first single to peak within the top 10 in all four major charts, while reaching the summit of TVB billboard chart and the 903 Top 20.[6] In late April, another track named "A Deadly Journey" 《亡命之途》 was introduced on Hong Kong Sina and impacted the radio station. It reached a peak of number-three on "903 Top 20". In July, "Foreign Maids' Love Song" 《菲情歌》 from the EP has started to be broadcast in various media. On 19 June, Sammy Ha, manager of Kay Tse, announced that K sus2 will be reprinted for the high demand.[7]

2007–2008: Marriage, Compilation albums, Wedding Invitation Street and rise to prominence

Tse performing at the Sina Awards in 2007.

The First Day is the third album and first compilation album of Kay Tse. Released on 18 January 2007, the album contains 12 songs, including 3 new songs which are The First Day 《第一天》, Soul behind the Window 《後窗知己》 and Obstacles 《節外生枝》. The song Obstacles 《節外生枝》 was released as the first single of the album and it climbed to the peak of number 1 on "903 Top 20", "TVB Billboard", and "RTHK Chinese-pop Billboard" becoming Tse's most successful single since her debut. The remaining 9 songs are Tse's greatest hits which re-arranged by several arrangers, such as Ted Lo, Adrian Chou. And the songs which are re-arranged have given new names, for example, Beauties 《姿色份子》 is the remastered version of Beauties 《姿色份子》. In March, Cinepoly released the second version which included a bonus DVD of her farewell concert in January 2007. In late January, Tse married fellow Hong Kong songwriter and recording-artist Louis Cheung who also debuted in 2005. The ceremony took place in Regal Airport Hotel near Hong Kong International Airport.[8] 3/8 was the first album released after giving birth to her son on 11 December 2007. 3/8 was Tse's second Greatest Hits album containing 15 of Tse's singles along with 3 new songs which are 3/8, Zhong Wu Yan 《鍾無艷》 and The retired life of Wonder Woman 《神奇女俠的退休生活》. All of which were released as singles to promote the new album. She explained that the album title is called "3/8" because she believes she has only finished 3/8 of her life, especially her music life, and it helps to summarize what she had done in past 2-year music journey.

Tse released her second album, Binary, in mid-2008. The album was well received by critics, and along with its second single, Wedding Invitation Street 《囍帖街》, which peaked at the summit of all four major charts. Thus giving Tse her first four chart number one song and received overwhelming positive reaction. Wedding Invitation Street also won many awards in the award ceremony at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009, these include "Song of the Year" and "Media Award – Single". With a total of 16 awards won, Tse secured her first "Media Award – Performer", which is an award presented to the artist scoring the most award of the year.[9] The album was very successful with sales exceeding thirty-thousand copies sold within the first year of release, and it was rewarded Platinum record. This album marks Tse's rise to prominence as one of the most popular female recording-artist of Hong Kong. In November, Tse was admitted to hospital for suffering Pneumothorax, and it was reported this is the fourth time the condition have occurred. Tse subsequently stayed in hospital for a week.[10]

2009–2010: Yelling, Yelling LIVE 2009, Mainland China

Tse during a performance on March, 2010.

Yelling was released on 19 March 2009. It contains 10 songs, one of which is Mandarin. The song titled "Farewell Party" and is the Mandarin version of "Wedding Invitation Street". The album has yielded 5 singles. The first two singles released from this album have peaked at Number 1 in the four major singles charts, further establishing Kay's popularity (such a feat is rare nowadays). Tse also released a second edition of this album which includes a bonus CD. The bonus CD includes MVs of 3 songs from the current album and 9 past hits. Her first stadium concert, Kay Tse's Yelling LIVE 2009, was announced in support of Yelling and begin in March 2009. The concert was later extended to include a date in Macau and Guangzhou in December, 2009, becoming her first concert held outside of Hong Kong. In fall 2009, HMV Hong Kong announced Yelling was the 9th biggest selling album of the year and sold excess of fifteen-thousand copies, seeing off competition from well established female acts such as Joey Yung and Miriam Yeung.[11]

Tse's seventh studio album Slowness was released on 21 December 2009. The album received positive critical reception. The lead single released during November is called "Living" 《活著》 and has reached the summit of three of the four major local charts. Three subsequent singles were released up to May 2010, achieving moderate success. All of the singles was not able to chart on the weekly 'TVB Billboard' chart as a disagreement between Tse's record label, Cinepoly and TVB meaning all artists belonging to the Universal Music Group will not receive any airplay until an agreement is reached. For the same reason, Tse did not receive any awards at the TVB Annual Music Awards. As of August 2011, no agreements has been made. In promotion of the new album, Tse began a series of university mini concerts which spanned from January to March, 2010.[12] In late May 2010, Tse released her first mandarin song "Ten Years" 《拾年》, the song was selected as the title song for "The Tenth Chinese Music Media Awards". Tse confirmed that she is in the studio recording her first mandarin album, and confirmed that the lead single have been completed. In addition, she announced that her eighth Cantonese studio album will be due late 2010.[13] On 23 August 2010, Tse along with her management held a press conference to announce she had renewed her contract with her current record label, Cinepoly, a subsidiary of the Universal Music Group. During the conference, it was revealed the seven-figure deal is a 5 years long contract. Tse released her debut Mandarin album, My Second Home 《第二個家》 on 5 November 2010. The album debuted at number 2 on the HMV albums chart. The first single of the album, "Weakness" 《脆弱》 was released to radio on 23 August.[14] After 2 months on the charts, the song jumped to the peak of the "903 Top 20" and "997 Top 20". Her following single, "Goodbye" 《再見》 was released to mainstream radio in November 2010 to coincide with the album launch. The title track, "My Second Home", has been released as the third single of the album and is currently charting in Taiwan.

2011–present: Your Happiness

Following her mandarin debut album, Tse launched her first mandarin concert tour for promotion. The series of concerts took place in many cities across China and Taiwan, including Taipei, Beijing and Shanghai. In January 2011, Tse was featured on the theme song "Movement in the City" 《大城小動》 for the RTHK production "Hong Kong Stories". In May, Tse premiered her first single from her upcoming eighth album "Twentieth of December" 《十二月二十》. The single was described as "last moment on Earth [...] lyrically about the rich-poor and class divides in Hong Kong". The single garnered positive reception, with many calling the style more in line with her earlier releases, the single reached the peak on three singles charts. On 15 August, Tse debuted her follow-up single "Your Happiness" 《你們的幸福》, in addition, she announced that it will also serve as the title for the next album, with the release date set as 13 October 2011.

In August 2011, Tse was invited to the opening ceremony performance for the 2011 Summer Universiade being held in Shenzhen.

On 29 March 2013, Tse announced that she had signed to Gold Typhoon Music Co., Ltd.(金牌大風_(台灣)) and she would be releasing a new Mandopop song called I Have A Dream.[15]

On 30 June 2014, Kay's company released her new single Egg and Lamb (雞蛋與羔羊). The composer and writer Adrian Chow, claimed that he was inspired by the film 12 Years a Slave. The song soon became popular as the official MV collected about one million clicks on YouTube within two weeks of its release. However, it was alleged that the new song touched on sensitive political issues between Hong Kong and Mainland China. The song and the official MV on Chinese mainstream online music players and video websites were soon deleted respectively on the second day since its release. Also, the name of the song was blocked when searching on websites.

On 29 September 2014, Kay released her new Cantonese album Kontinue, her first since 2011 and the 12th album in her music career.

Musical theatre (2012)

In 2012, Tse performed as a principal cast member representing Chinese culture in Loving the Silent Tears, a Broadway-style musical production at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, USA. The musical is based on Supreme Master Ching Hai’s poetry collection, Silent Tears.[16][17]

Discography

Albums

Album # Album Information Awards
1st Kay One
EP K sus2
  • HKRM Chart no. 2
  • Release Date: 2 June 2006
  • Label: Avex Asia
2nd The First Day
  • HKRM Chart no. 1
  • Release Date: 18 January 2007
  • Label: Cinepoly
Best of 3/8
  • HKRM Chart no. 4
  • Release Date: 11 December 2007
  • Label: Cinepoly
3rd Binary RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs:
1. Top 10 Song (for 囍帖街)
2. Top International Chinese Song (for 囍帖街)
JSG Best Ten Music Awards:
1. Top 10 Song (for 囍帖街)
2. Four Channel Award (for Binary)
3. Gold Song Gold Award (for 囍帖街)
4th Yelling
  • HKRM Chart no. 2
  • Release Date: 19 March 2009
  • Label: Go East Entertainment
 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs:
Top 10 Song (for 年度之歌)
5th Slowness
  • HKRM Chart no. 3
  • Release Date: 21 December 2009
  • Label: Cinepoly
 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs:
Top 10 Song (for 雨過天陰)
6th My Second Home (Mandarin)
  • HKRM Chart no. 2
  • Release Date: 5 November 2010
  • Label: Cinepoly
 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs:
Top Mandarin Song (for 脆弱)
7th Your Happiness
  • Release Date: 14 October 2011
 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs:
Top 10 Song (for 你們的幸福)
Best of Kay Tse Best (3CD)
  • Release Date: 19 September 2013
8th Kontinue
  • Release Date: 29 September 2014

Tour

Yelling LIVE 2009

During 2009, Tse announced her first individual tour "Yelling LIVE 2009" to support the album Yelling. The tour was held during 5th-10 May with 5 dates. The location selected was Hong Kong Coliseum. Tickets for these dates sold out quickly. As a result, from high demand of tickets, two additional dates were added to a total of 7 dates. At December 2009, an extra date was added to extend the tour to Macau, marking her first concert outside of Hong Kong.

SLOWNESS University Mini Tour 2010

With the release of Tse's 7th album Slowness, Tse embarked on a mini concert tour in support of the new album. The tour started from January 2010 to March of the same year. The tour consist of nine stops, visiting the eight universities of Hong Kong, with the final concert as part of the charity show for Lions Clubs International held in Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Filmography

Awards

2006

Tse won the Bronze Award for "CRHK 2005 Best New Artist", along with Ivana Wong and Janice Vidal who won the Silver and Gold Award respectively.

2007

In the CRHK annual award, Tse's single "Gloomy Festival" 《愁人節》 scored number 10 of the CRHK Top Ten Recommendation, becoming her first end-of-year top 10 single.

2008

In the CRHK annual award, Tse won the Bronze Award for "Best Female Singer".

2009

In the Metro Hit Music Awards, Tse won 4 awards including "Favourite Female Singer", "Best Female Singer". Her single "Wedding Invitation Street" 《囍帖街》 also won "Favourite Single of the Year" and "Single of the Year". In the Ultimate Song Chart Awards, Tse won 5 awards. With the single "Wedding Invitation Street" becoming "Single of the Year" and "Favourite Single of the Year". The album "Binary" also won the "Album of the Year" award. Tse herself won the Silver Award for "Best Female Singer" and "Favourite Female Singer of the Year". In the Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards, Tse scored her first Top 10 with "Wedding Invitation Street", the single also won the "Single of the Year" award. In the CRHK annual award, Tse acored again "Single of the Year" for "Wedding Invitation Street" and "Album of the Year" for "Binary". In the Most prestigious ceremony of the year, the Four Station Joint Music Awards, Tse won 3 of the 4 available categories, including "Media Award – Single" for "Wedding Invitation Street", "Media Award – Album" for "Binary" and the most prestigious award of all "Media Award – Performer", which is awarded to the artist that have won the most award in the 4 main awarding ceremonies.

References

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