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Leon Lai (黎明; pinyin: Lí Míng; Cantonese: lai4 ming4; born December 11, 1966) is a Chinese actor and a Cantopop singer.

Biography

Born in Beijing, China as Lai Chit (黎捷), Leon was the only child in his family. His parents divorced when he was four. During his youth, he attended King's Way Princeton College (England). Before he became a singer in Hong Kong, he worked as a salesperson for a cellular phone company. After becoming the second runner up in the 5th New Talent Singing Awards, held by the TVB in 1986, he went to be taught singing by Dai Si Zong(戴思聪) and in the same year, he also obtained a recording contract with Capital Artistzh.wikipedia.org. However he didn't get to release any album for four years. As a result, his teacher arranged to have him signed a recording contract with Polygram (now known as Universal Music) and then got the contract with Capital Artist to be annulled after some negotiation. In Polygram, he released his first album "Meet In The Rain" which propelled Leon into instant stardom2002 ent.sina.com.cn. After several years at Polygram, Lai then signed a new contract with Sony Music on March 23, 1998.

Leon has been associated with many female celebrities since he began his career. One of his most famous rumoured ex-girlfriends is Shu Qi. Apart from Shu Qi, he has been rumoured to have relationship with Dai Yun Hui, Wang Zu Xian, Seto Asaka, Michelle Reis, Kim Hee Sun, Lee Na Young, Wang Xiu Linsouthcn.com. Currently, he is dating a model Gaile Lokent.sina.com.hk.

Career

Singer

Together with Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok, Lai was among the four most popular male singers during the 1990s, when the media referred to them as the "Four Heavenly Kings" (Chinese : 四大天王).

In the early stages of his career, he mainly sang cantopop, but due to the influence of producer Mark Lui, he expanded his repertoire to include popular electronic songs with compelling music videos. In 2002, he was selected to sing "Charged up", the 2002 World Cup theme song for the Greater China Region.

He won numerous singing awards before announcing in 1999 that he would no longer accept any awards in Hong Kong. He won the "Most Popular Male Singer" award in 1993 and 1995 for TVB Jade Solid Gold. He has also won the "Song of the Year" award four times. In the 1996 year of awards, Leon Lai won a personal record 16 awards in the Hong Kong music scene. A tie with fellow singers Sky King and Jacky Cheung. This gives both artists one more award. The 4 stage Joint Award of Best Musicians. Awarded to the musician with the most awards won in the year ending award shows. Lai's 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 2004, Leon Lai 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.

Actor

In 1996, Lai was nominated for the Best Actor award at the 16th Hong Kong Film Awards for the film Comrades, Almost a love story. However, he did not win. In 2002, Lai took the spotlight at the Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese-language version of the Oscars in Taiwan. He won Best Actor for Three: Going Home. In 2004, Lai wrote the story Leaving Me, Loving You together with Wilson Yip and also became the creative/production controller of the movie. However, the movie was a flop.

In 2005, Leon acted as one of the seven warriors, Yang Yun Chong, in the Tsui Hark directed Wuxia film, Seven Swords.[1]. In the same year in the film Moonlight In Tokyo, Leon unexpectedly acted as a chinese retard who pretend to be a Korean gigolo in Japan.[2]

In 2006, Leon wrote and directed a musical film titled A Melody Looking which was shot in New York. It features Leon and the rest of the Amusic family of singers.[3]

Societal contributions

Apart from being an actor, he took part in the production of advertisement for "Dress Casual Day" of the Community Chest. In the recent years, Lai has participated in many charity events. He has been a member of The Community Chest Campaign Committee and in December 1995, 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 organisations to raise funds.

Lai has been elected as one of The Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) in 1997, giving him a formal recognition of his professional endeavours and commitment to the community. He was also awarded the Medal of Honour (M.H.) on 12 October 2003 by Tung Chee-Hwa, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR.

Filmography

Films

(Note: the indication of a # next to the title means that it was a supporting/minor role.)

Television series

Discography

Cantonese

(# Literal translation)

Mandarin, Korean and Japanese

Note: Albums are Mandarin albums unless otherwise stated

Concert

Advertisement

Awards

Trivia

• Literally, his stage name (黎明 - Lai Ming) means dawn in Chinese.

See also

• Cinema of Hong Kong

References

External links

• A Music
• Leon Lai Family (Hong Kong) 黎明家族 (香港) - fansite
• Leon Family (Taiwan) - fansite
• Leon Lai Fans Club 黎明之友 - fansite
• Karazen: Leon Lai Album Reviews & Lyrics
• Leon IMDB Entry
• Leon at UNICEF

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