For those living in Asia, particularly the Chinese, you must have heard the name ‘Sammi Cheng’. In case you don’t know, she is a Hong Kong cantopop singer and actress who has been very successful in film and music industry. She has been always referred to as a diva and has been one of the most prominent female singers in Hong Kong since the 1990s, the golden decade of Cantopop music. When I was a kid (in 90s), she is one of my favourite idols. I love to listen to most of her songs and most of her movies are my favourite too. Even in present time, whenever she is coming to Malaysia to hold a concert, I wouldn’t miss it.
Her fame should not be questionable. It has come to my surprise that even some of my Malay and oversea friends recognized her. in 1990s, Cantopop music peak to fame throughout Asia-Pacific with many notable artists like the Four Heavenly Kings (Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Leon Lai) while the females are represented by Faye Wong, Sammi Cheng, Kelly Chen, etc. Sammi Cheng has also been referred by media as Cantopop Queen till these days, furthering proving her popularity that never fades and cementing her position as one of the leading Hong Kong artists to date. She had also been famous for bringing in unique fashions to her dressings in her concerts.
Let’s look back at little bit of her history in the entertainment industry that spans approximately 25 years. Sammi entered the industry at a very young age of 16 by participating into a high profile new talent singing contest in 1988. Despite winning only third place in the competition, the sponsoring record company saw her potential and offered her a recording contract. From there on, her success began. She won her first major award, winning best new prospect award in 1990. In following years, she had been among the big winners of every annual music awards, having won ‘Best Sales’, ‘Best Cantonese Release’, ‘Best Hong Kong Female Singer’, ‘Most Favourite Asia-Pacific Female Singer’, ‘Gold Song Gold Award’, etc.
She also broke the record as being the youngest female singer to hold more than 50 accumulated concert nights in Hong Kong. To date, she had produced over 80 studio albums, 10 live concert albums, over 110 singles (songs) with over 30 covers and had hold over 130 concert shows. I personally like many of her songs (particularly romantic songs) and will frequently play her popular songs in present days too when current music couldn’t be compared to the previous 1990s Cantonese classics.
Well, she had been very successful in films too. Before involving in films, she had appeared in several TV series back in 1990s when she is still a newcomer. Her first film debut was in 1992, in ‘Best of the Best’ with Jacky Cheung. From there on, she had been actively involved in many films and had been paired with many other heavyweight stars like Ekin Cheng, Anita Mui, Leon Lai, Stephen, Chow, Andy Lau, Richie Ren, Louis Koo, Sean Lau, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Eason Chan, Cecilia Cheung, etc. Her most iconic and popular works are most probably ‘Needing You’, ‘Wu Yen’ (won her Best Actress Award in Hong Kong People Choice Award), ‘Love on a Diet’, Marry a Rich Man’, ‘My Left Eye Sees Ghost’, ‘Love For All Seasons’, ‘Yesterday Once More’, ‘Everlasting Regret’ (earns Best Actress nomination in Venice International Film Festival), ‘Romancing in Thin Air’ and most recently ‘Blind Detective’.
Despite not winning any Best Actress Award in annual Hong Kong Film Awards (she held record for being the female with most nominations but without single win in the category), her performance in movies is always complimented for being relaxing and entertaining. I like to see her in movies. On her recent performance in ‘Blind Detective’, she did another amazing job. All to best to her in future nominations. I hope she will win soon. She totally deserves it. On the other hand, now I wondered why there isn’t a wax figure of her in Madame Tussauds Museum in Hong Kong or a star (handprint) of her in Hong Kong’s Avenue of Stars, since her popularity is no doubt apparent.
She had also been actively involved into charity and community works too. Her 25 years of contribution to Hong Kong entertainment industry which has left an immense impact to the whole Asia Pacific should be recognized further. I’m taking off a bit of my time to highlight on that here. And one more thing, do you wonder why I suddenly wrote a post about her on this day? Today is actually her birthday. She turned 41 this year. Never looking old, and body fit all the time. Amazing. Most of the other singers coming out in similar period with her back in 1980s and 1990s had either settled down, married, or retired, but Sammi appears to have not given up, never rests and still standing high. All the best to her!
(All images and several information in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web).
