Twenty-three years ago, Coco Lee kick-started her music career after placing second in Hong Kong’s biggest televised singing competition and earning a record deal shortly after that. Her performance of Whitney Houston’s ‘Run to You’ that night offered a glimpse of the powerful vocals showcased in her most well-known works like ‘Do You Want My Love’ and the Oscar-nominated theme song of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, ‘A Love Before Time.’
On October 14, Lee is part of the impressive lineup of performers (including Usher and Charli XCX) at Asia’s first Fashion Rocks, a concert that brings together the biggest names in fashion and music at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. “I’m a very spontaneous performer; I feed off the energy from the crowd,” Lee tells us. “Besides performing, I’m also hosting! It’s definitely going to be a high-energy show. I’ve seen all the past shows in the US and I’m super excited.”
After releasing 15 albums in English, Mandarin and Cantonese and selling more than 10 million records worldwide, the Chinese-American pop diva is enjoying another career high in 2016, thanks to another singing competition.
Earlier this year, Lee competed in the fourth season of I Am A Singer, one of China’s most watched reality TV programs (similar to American Idol but contestants are all well-known singers from across Asia). She went on to knock out top notch singers like Taiwan’s Jeff Chang and K-Pop heartthrob Hwang Chi-Yeul over several elimination rounds with her takes on ‘Earth Song’ (Michael Jackson), ‘Stay with Me’ (Sam Smith) and ‘Bad Romance’ (Lady Gaga) among other Chinese hits.
She considers her trilingual ability (English, Cantonese and Mandarin) to be an advantage for her career, as it allows her to be both “East and West” at the same time. “These three languages have such different intonations that I think my voice sounds different when I sing in each – they all bring out a different side of me. But if I have to pick one, I’m probably most comfortable with singing in English.”
Reflecting upon her time on I Am A Singer, Lee says, “It was the most intense, stressful, yet fulfilling experience I’ve ever had. I’ve never cried so much in my life! There were times that I thought I wasn’t going to make it to the end, but I’m glad I never gave up.”
Lee is not ruling out the possibility of participating in similar shows in the future, saying, “Right now I feel like I’m living a ‘new me’ – someone who’s more daring and open to trying things that I would’ve been too afraid to do before… like joining I Am A Singer, so anything is possible.”
Oct 14, 8pm, RMB380-2,580, Shanghai Oriental Sports Center, see event listing.Special discount for That's readers available here.
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