Kay Tse

Template:Infobox Chinese-language singer and actor Kay Tse is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer. She was a newcomer to the music industry in 2005, and is known for her versatile vocal range and expertise in various music genres, especially in jazz.

Tse is yet to crack the main stream Cantopop market but many music industry insiders have tipped her singing ability to have big potential, and regard her as one of a new breed of "non-idol" singers who sell their singing ability rather than their looks. Her focus on singing songs describing the voice of grass-root and society has won people attention.

Due to the huge success of album <Binary>, Tse won many awards in January 2009. Media praised her as "Grass-Root Queen", increasing her influence in HK music. Joey Yung, Miriam Yeung, Denise Ho, and Kay Tse are currently deemed as the 4 key HK female singers.

Discovery

In 2002, when Tse was still a university student majoring in American Studies at the University of Hong Kong, she entered a university singing competition and won the 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) very much that he offered her a professional contract with his small music label called "Ban Ban Music". At that time Tse was working as a piano teacher.

Discography

• May 6, 2005 - Kay One
• December 23, 2005 - Kay One Plus
• June 2, 2006 - K sus2
• January 18, 2007 - The First Day
• March 1, 2007 - The First Day (2nd Edition), included a bonus DVD of Kay's The First Day concert footage.
• December 11, 2007 - 3/8, a greatest hits album with 3 new songs
• July 25, 2008 - Binary, includes "17 degrees", "Wedding Invitation Street" and "10 honor student" from TVB's 'The Money Maker Recipe' "Wedding Invitation Street" would become of the hittest song of 2008,increasing Kay's popularity across Hong Kong
• March 19, 2009 - Yelling (album)

2005: Kay One

Main article: Kay One

Tse's debut Cantonese album, Kay One, was released on May 6, 2005. The album includes 2 non-Cantonese songs, a song called "The One and Only" (the English version of "我歌...故我在") and Mandarin version of "Beauties" (Chinese: 姿色份子) called "Plastic Roses" (Chinese: 塑膠玫瑰). On December 23, 2005, a re-release version of Kay One called Kay One Plus was released with a bonus track named "Follow Me" (Chinese: 跟我走).

Kay One and Kay One Plus contain several hits in 2005 and 2006 include:

• "Beauties" (Chinese: 姿色份子), a fast catchy pop tune, mocking the Asian dieting trend;
• "The One and Only" (Chinese: 我歌...故我在), a slow ballad, showcasing Tse's versatile vocal range;
• "Awful Men" (Chinese: 臭男人), a groovy, funky song and the only love song on the album;
• "Joyful Reading" (Chinese: 開卷快樂), a fast jazz song, mocking Hong Kong paparazzi;
• "Follow Me" (Chinese: 跟我走), a rock-influenced song, containing Tse's confessions about her music and fans. It reached number one on "TVB Billboard" (Chinese: TVB勁歌金榜) on February 8, 2006 and became her first no.1 single on that chart [1].

2006: K sus2

Main article: K sus2

K sus2 is the first EP of Kay Tse. It is considered to be released in June 2, 2006, despite the fact that the release date has been postponed since March. The album contained 6 songs and 3 music videos. It was believed that K sus2 would have more rock tunes.

A Brit-pop track called "Gloomy Festival" (Chinese: 愁人節) impacted the radio stations from January, 2006. It is often praised for raising public concerns about the disadvantaged groups in the society. "Gloomy Festival" received many airplays on CRHK and it eventually reached number-one on "903 Top 20" (Chinese: 903專業推介) on March 9, became her first no.1 single on that chart [2]. On April 19, "Gloomy Festival" became Tse's second no.1 single on "TVB Billboard".

In late April, another track named "A Deadly Journey" (Chinese: 亡命之途) was introduced on Hong Kong Sinaand impacted the radio station. It reached a peak of number-three on "903 Top 20". In July, "Foreign Maids' Love Song" (Chinese: 菲情歌) from the EP has started to be broadcasted in various media.

On June 19, Sammy Ha, manager of Kay Tse, announced in his blog that K sus2 will be reprinted for the high demand.

2007: The First Day

Main article: The First Day (album)

The First Day is the third album of Kay Tse and released in January 18, 2007 before her childbirth. This album contains 12 songs, including 3 new songs which are "The First Day" (Chinese: 第一天), "Soul behind the Window" (Chinese: 後窗知己) and "Obstacles" (Chinese: 節外生枝). The song "Obstacles" (Chinese: 節外生枝) had climbed to the peak of no.1 on "903 Top 20", "TVB Billboard", and "RTHK Chinese-pop Billboard". This is Tse most successful song in Hong Kong's billboard.

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 n" (Chinese: 姿色份子n) is the remastered version of "Beauties" (Chinese: 姿色份子)

In March 1, Cinepoly released the second version which included a bonus DVD of her farewell concert on January 2007.

2007: 3/8

Main article: 3/8 Kay Tse

3/8 was the first album released after giving birth to her son on 11 December, 2007. 3/8 contains 15 Tse's Greatest Hits and 3 new songs which are "3/8", "Zhong Wu Yan" (Chinese: 鍾無艷) and "The retired life of Wonder Woman" (Chinese: 神奇女俠的退休生活).

Kay explained her album 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.

2008: Binary

Main article: Binary Kay Tse

Binary is the second EP released in 2008, which helped Tse win many awards in the award ceremony at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009. Binary implies that songs could be viewed at two different angles. For instance, "17 degree" could refer to temperature or angle. As a result, all the songs on the EP could be viewed at least two different ways.

The EP was very successful with sales of over 20000 units, reaching Gold status. One of the songs called "Wedding Invitiation Street" <囍帖街> became one of the hit songs of 2008.

2009: Yelling

Yelling is Kay's latest album. It was released on 19th of March. It contains 10 songs,one of which is mandarin. This mandarin song is called "Farewell Party" and is the mandarin version of "Wedding Invitation Street"

The first single released from this album is called "祝英台". The second single from this album is "年度之歌".

Current Events

On November 25, 2006, Kay was rumoured to be pregnant. When asked by reporters she answered that there will be a press conference about the issue later on. Boyfriend Louis Cheung admits of being a father. At the press conference, she admits to being pregnant and announces that she will be marrying boyfriend Louis Cheung in January 2007. In December 2006, Easy Finder reports that on Notice of Intended Marriage, a document in Hong Kong Marriage Registry, indicates that Kay is 29 years-old. Her farewell concert was held in the end of January 2007. At the end of that concert, she stated she would be gone for a year.

On June 15, 2007, Kay gave birth to a 8 lb 8 oz (3.9 kg) baby boy named James.

On September 12, 2007, Kay performed for the CRHK 10-year anniversary live show which is the first performance after her pregnancy.

Kay starred as one of the 5 female leads in Patrick Kong's movie Love Connected (保持愛你), co-starring Stephy Tang, Justin Lo and other prominent singers in the Hong Kong Music Industry.

In May, 2009, Kay will perform in a series of concerts in Hong Kong Sports Stadium.

Awards

On January 1 2006, Tse won the Bronze Award for CRHK 2005 Best Newcomer, along with Ivana Wong and Janice Vidal who won Silver and Gold respectively.

In 2007 CRHK awarding ceremony, Tse's song called "Gloomy Festival" (Chinese: 愁人節) won the no.10 of CRHK top ten recommendation.

On January 1 2008, Tse also won the Bronze Award for Best Female Singer in the same awarding ceremony.

On January 1 2009, Tse won 6 awards in the 2008 CRHK awarding ceremony such as Silver Award for female singer, the favorite female singer of the year, the favorite song of the year-"Wedding Invitiation Street" <囍帖街>, the best CD of the year - Binary . The 2008 Jade Solid Gold Top Ten Selections took place on January 3 2009, . The Golden Song award went to Kay for "Wedding Invitiation Street" <囍帖街>.

External links

• Kay Tse Forum