HK Artist Spotlight: Charlene Choi

One of my favourite Hong Kong artistes and singers is Charlene Choi, also better known as Ah Sa. She is best known to be in the group/duo called Twins along with Gillian Chung. Charlene has been in the entertainment industry for 12 years, and as well as being in Twins, she also has a solo career. If I am not wrong, Charlene is the number one most popular blog on Sina Weibo and also the number one most followed blog with over one million followers! 

Twins has always been heavily criticised for their live singing, but they still have had a large amount of fans supporting them throughout the years. Personally, I think Charlene has greatly improved in terms of singing, and singing live. She has learned to control her vocals more (although she may need a bit more practice), and she has also taken part in composing for her solo albums. Charlene’s live singing might not be on point all the time, but you cannot say she has not put in hard work. She is always trying to improve and change for the better, and has recently changed singing coaches to suit her better.

Not long ago, she released a full Cantonese album, "Montage". The title of the album is supposed to reflect on what she has experienced up until now. I love the whole edgy urban style going on. It looks very chic. The album consists of 10 new songs, which are very interesting and unique because the songs are all different to each other. Each song has a different sound to it, so I am sure that if you are interested in listening to it that there will definitely be a song that you will like! If you listen carefully to Charlene’s voice, you can hear that her voice is a lot smoother compared to her older songs.

The songs I recommend from "Montage":

明明 (Obviously), 鬆弛熊 (Relaxed Bear/Rilakkuma), 白頭到老 (Forever and Always), 瓦努阿圖 (Vanuatu). (Translations thanks to Charlene’s fans @AF forum.)

This album is also very interesting because the music composer Eric Kwok composes all ten songs.

Funny story, I actually thought "Obviously" was a very boring song at first.  After listening to it some more, I actually started to like it and find it very catchy.

I think the way Charlene sang "Forever and Always" is very cute, and I like how relaxed Charlene sounds when she’s singing "Relaxed Bear". "Vanuatu" is also a very fun song.

Other songs I recommend from Charlene:

簡簡單單, 早沾勿藥, 黑與白, 小玩笑, 魚樂無窮 (unplugged song), 二缺一, 小酒窩 duet with JJ Lin, 一直都在 duet with Raymond Lam and "Make a Wish".

I really like the idea behind 簡簡單單. Sometimes simple is enough! 早沾勿藥 is a lovely song. I really like it but I think it’s kind of underrated. 黑與白 is one of my favourites from the EP "Beauty Remains". I like how cute 小玩笑 is, it almost sounds acoustic. If I remember correctly, it is actually a remake of a Portuguese song. Of course we cannot forget Charlene’s popular 二缺一. I also like the two duets I recommended. This is an unpopular opinion, but I like the Cantonese version of 小酒窩 more than the Mandarin version.  Maybe it’s the language barrier, but I know the majority prefer the Mandarin version.

My favourite things about Charlene are how optimistic she is (her bright smile) and her fashion sense! I love her fashion style! 

I actually think she’s my fashion icon!

She’s had a lot of different styles for her solo albums as well. I really liked the style she had for her solo EP, "Beauty Remains" and also the idea behind it.

She re-used her old clothes and transformed them into elegant dresses, then went into an old warehouse for the shooting of the album. I like the dark and mysterious feel to it.

I really think Charlene has potential as an actress and maybe if there’s a chance, she could act in a TVB series in the future! She has just finished filming for the movie sequel "My Wife is 18".

If you are interested in following Charlene’s news, you should follow Charlene’s thread @Asianfanatics Forum. The fans there are really great at updating Charlene’s news. ^_^ I often get the news on Charlene from there, and they are also very helpful at translating articles, weibo posts, etc.  Not to mention, they are approachable and nice.