English Name: Jacky Cheung
Chinese Name:
Cantonese Name: Cheung Hok Yau
Nicknames: Hok Yau, Cheung Tin Wong (Heavenly Sky King Cheung), Little Jackie Chan, �q�� , King of Songs
Royalty: Jacky Cheung was given the label/title of "Heavenly Sky King" by the Hong Kong media in the early 1990s, There are 4 Heavenly Sky Kings, the other 3 being: Andy Lau Tak Wah, Leon Lai Ming, & Aaron Kwok Fu Shing.
Mandarin Name: Chang Xue-You, Zhang Xue You
Birthdate: July 10, 1961
Place of Birth: Hong Kong
Raised In: Hong Kong
Orgin/Ancenstry: Tianjin, China (Jacky says he no longer has any relatives there 6/2002)
Currently resides in: Hong Kong
Blood Type: B
Star Sign/Zodiac Sign: Cancer
Traditional Cancer Traits: Emotional and loving, Intuitive and imaginative, Shrewd and cautious, Protective and sympathetic, On the dark side....Changeable and moody, Overemotional and touchy, Clinging and unable to let go
Chinese Horoscope: Ox
An Ox's Characteristics: Honest, Loyal, Popular, Sincere, Steadfast, Reliable, Stubborn, Impatient, Inflexible, Narrow-Minded, Sulking
If you ask me (Leon Lee), we all have these traits/characteristics, I really don't rely or believe in this horoscope. Why should I read my daily horoscope & have that make or ruin my day/week. Screw that! Life is full of ups & downs, good & bad times, we all have to deal with life's situations. Go with the flow, so there is no need for me to read that crap! hahaaa!! Keep a positive menality. Life is good, enjoy it!!
Education Level: Form 7, which is equal to the senior year in high school in the USA.
Primary School Education: North Point Public Primary School, Class of 1967
Languages Spoken: Cantonese, Mandarin, English
Height: 5'10" or 178cm or 1.76m
Weight: 145 lbs. or 64 kg
Jacket Size: 48 (Hong Kong measurements)
The famous scar on his face (on Jacky's right side of his face, below his eye, and above his nose area): During his childhood, Jacky played sword fighting, using sticks, with his cousin and his cousin swung the "sword" too close to Jacky's face, cutting him by accident. (AIYA!) (Thanks to AL & JC for the info!)
Jacky's autograph/signature: Jacky's autograph signature dated 5-25-2002.
Puppy Love Age: 20
Marital Status: Married to May Lo Mei-Mei on February 15, 1996, in London, England.
Family Members: Wife May Lo Mei Mei (aka Lo May May, May Law Mei Mei), their older daughter Zoe Cheung Yiu Wah, younger daughter Zia Cheung Yiu Ching, parents, 1 older brother, 1 younger sister
Father's occupation: sailor
As a child in primary school, Jacky wrote that his wish was to become a sailor. Jacky said, "At that time I worshiped my father. He was a majestic-looking sailor."
Maid: Filipina Maid (Filipino Maid)
Jacky's former occupation before becoming a singer: first job: worked in the Hong Kong Trade Center, computer clerk, customer service representative with an Airlines Company, Cathay Pacific
Jacky's childhood: Jacky grew up in common circumstances, squeezed into a 100 square foot room with his parents and two siblings (brother & sister), while "the rest of the apartment was occupied by at least 15 of our relatives," Jacky adds with a chuckle.
Jacky & May have 2 daughters, Zoe Cheung Yiu Wah: Yiu-Wah means "precious pure jade" was born on August 3, 2000.
Zoe Cheung Yiu Wah's nicknames: BB, Jeh Jeh (big sister), Baby Cheung
"Zoe Cheung Yiu Wah looks just like me!" Daddy Jacky Cheung announced proudly. 12-14-2000
Fatherhood has also made Jacky rethink his priorities. "I don't think being a father has changed my singing style that much. However it made me realize the importance of my baby. Previously, it was very normal for me to stay in the studio until very late at night. But now, if I come home late at night, the baby would have fallen asleep!"
Is baby Zoe displaying any singing talent? "I sing lullabies to lull her to sleep, and Zoe would sing along," he rhapsodised. "But she is a soprano!"
Zia Cheung Yiu Ching, is the younger sister, baby sister of Zoe Cheung.
September 5, 2000: Asked yesterday about how the baby girl is doing, Cheung replied: "She's gained ten pounds and grown a few centimeters. I think she looks like me more than my wife. She's really tempermental. At first, she was no trouble to take care of. Now, she cries all the time. A real pain." When asked if he has gotten used to taking care of his baby, Cheung boasted: "I'm the champion of the house! I'm so good at it, I can write a book called 'How To Be A Father!" Cheung added: "Having a baby brings up a lot of mixed emotions. You are happy and you are scared. If she doesn't have a bowel movement you are scared. If she cries you are scared. But, most of the time she brings me joy. The most unforgettable moment for me was the fourth day when I saw her smile for the first time. I was overjoyed. I was holding her at the time and she smiled at me."
December 13, 2000: Jacky was asked when he would give his daughter Zoe a little brother or sister, Cheung: "Soon! We are planning to have another child in two years. I don't know if two will be enough. This is something that I can't decide by myself."
April 29,2002: Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok Fu Shing, and Gigi Leung Wing Kei were invited to an activity organized by the "End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation (ECSAF)". Each of them brought an object for auction to raise funds for the organization. Aaron brought his jacket and cap which he wore when he participated in a car race in Italy. Gigi brought a pair of boxing gloves which she used in her "G For Girl" concerts. But it seemed that they could not compete with what Jacky brought, an egg with drawing done by his artistic 21-month-old daughter Zoe. The base price was $300 but someone had already bidded $8000 for the egg. Jacky said Zoe drew the picture on the egg and he wrote her name on it. He also said, "My daughter now calls me papa or daddy. But sometimes she calls me 'Hok-Yau-Yau'." (Jacky's Chinese name is Cheung Hok-Yau.) (Thanks to AL for the story.)
See Jacky's handwritten letter to the media announcing his baby's birth to the general public & media, along with candid closeup photos of Jacky, May, & Zoe.
March 2003 update on Zoe: "She's only two years old but is already very good at expressing herself. When she has done something wrong and is afraid that I would hit her, she would give me an innocent look and say, 'Don't hit me ah!' When she needs to take medicine, she would cry, 'Don't force me to take this medicine ah!' "
Additional facts: After four years of marriage to Jacky Cheung, May Lo, gave birth to a girl (Zoe Cheung Yiu Wah) on Aug 3, 2000. It was a smooth delivery and the happy father (Jacky Cheung) was present during the birth. Obviously, the baby's first wails were music to Cheung's ears, and he proclaimed reportedly that the cries sounded infinitely better than his singing.
Even more facts: Jacky met May in 1986 while making the movie "Devoted to You". This is Jacky's second movie and this is the one and only one movie that they made together. They were a pair in the movie. The one kiss scene was shot 16 times and Jacky said he didn't even dare to look at May after taking so many NG (no good) shots. Then they really fell in love afterwards. They were married on February 15, 1996 in London, England. Well it's not a secret but they probably didn't want to be bothered by the media so that's why they chose London. Only Jacky's family attended the wedding. Their daughter Zoe was born on Aug 3, 2000. (Thanks to AL.)
Jacky's godfather: veteran actor Bowie Wu Fung
May's godsister: singing diva Anita Mui Yim Fong
Jacky's long time music producer & friend: Michael Au Ding Yuk (Michael is also the producer for Priscilla Chan Wai Han & Ronald Cheng Chung Kei).
Jacky & Michael formed their own talent/music production company in 2000, ioi limited & imusic workshop
Jacky on his ioi limited/imusic workshop company: January 4,2000, "I'm going to start my own company, a production and recording company, but not publishing, to produce some other artists' albums," he said.
What does "ioi" mean? It was a name that Jacky himself came up with, "ioi" stands for "CREATOR", in Cantonese Chinese, he has named his company: "CHONG LIM CHEH",
.Jacky on recording / music production:
"I need more time to do my own production now so it suits me to do only one or two albums a year. I will be signing a new contract soon and will start on a new album soon." (as of Jan. 2003)
Jacky Cheung's closest friends: Harlem Yu Cheng Qing/Yu Cheng Ching, Annie Yi Neng Ching, Eric Tsang Chi Wai, Jackie Chan (Sing Lung), Willie Chan, Florence SF Chan, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Priscilla Chan Wai Han, Manyee Lam. Richard Lam Chun Keung, Richard Lam is also known as C.K. Lam, Blackie Ke Shou Liang (a.k.a. Blackie Kor, Blackie Ko, Au Sau Leung)
Favorite Colors: White, Earth Colors, Blue
Favorite Animal: horse
Former Fear & How he overcame it: Jacky says he was once scared of dogs; he dealt with that fear by locking himself into a room with a Great Dane for a few hours.
Favorite Food: ice cream, "black" egg with tofu, chicken
Foods he dislikes: beef/steak
What do you like to eat? What do you dislike eating?
"I do not eat goose, duck, mutton, beef....my mother does not eat them..... actually I don't have any special dishes.....I eat simple food just to satisfy my hunger when I need to....I don't mind eating lunch boxes .. sometimes I would feel like having a BBQ pork with rice or a fried egg....but I don't think I ever crave abalone or anything expensive.....I don't need anything fancy for eating or for my home...... I am a simple person."
Cellular/Wireless phone service provider: Here's Jacky using his Nokia cellular phone on May 27,2002 upon his return to Hong Kong.
Places he wishes to travel to: many many places!
Favorite place: home
Favorite country: China, Hong Kong
Favorite vacation spots for May & Zoe: Disney World and Universal Studios in Japan
Hobbies: singing, swimming, watching cartoons, playing basketball
Favorite Sports: tennis, swimming, & basketball
Favorite Tennis Player: Pete Sampras (whom Jacky has played against before in Hong Kong!)
Favorite Clothes/Fashion/Style: Casual & Comfortable, He set a trend with those jean overalls.
Who picks your clothes for the photo shoot or show? Do they choose for you?
"They usually do the choosing. Sometimes I do it myself. Actually the "they" is my wife." Jacky has a personal assistant that has been with him for many years, who chooses clothes for him.
How he fights a cold/runny nose: he would take chinese medicine everyday
Lost & Found?!? Back in October 1993, Jacky Cheung & special guest Vivian Lai Sui Yan toured various North American cities during their North American Concert Tour 1993. Jacky had recently finished a long and successful string of live concerts in the famed Hong Kong Coliseum. Most, if not all of you JC fans recognize his famous Donald Duck face dress vest that he wore during that concert series. Unfortunately for Jacky, he lost the vest while on tour in New York. His assistants had dropped of that favorite vest of his at a local NY dry cleaners, but when they returned to get their clean laundry, the vest was missing. Now here is the weird thing that I saw that same night. I was watching the Late Show with David Letterman show on CBS TV.....and guess what? Letterman's good friend & musical director of the CBS Orchestra: Paul Shaffer, was wearing the DONALD DUCK vest! AIYA! Most of us know that the Letterman show is taped in New York. Aiya! Oh Well.....Shit happens. How ironic, I will let you make your own conclusions. If you want to contact Paul Shaffer about the Donald Duck vest, you can click HERE!
If you want to send him a letter via the good old snail mail/postal service, you can do so by writing to:
Late Show c/o Paul Shaffer
The Ed Sullivan Theater
1697 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Favorite brands: DKNY, Nike, Polo
Favorite Singers:
Sam Hui
Billy Joel
Elton John
Michael Kwan
George Lam
Barry Manilow
Alan Tam
Koji Tamaki
Favorite Bands:
The Beatles
The Carpenters
Chicago
Deep Purple
The Eagles
Favorite Music: Rock and Roll
Favorite Actor: Chow Yun Fat
Favorite Movies: The Shining, Dead Poets Society, �Ĥ@���W�x�@�~:Smile Again������
Respectable people: parents
How & When he began his singing career: "As a shy person, facing an audience was a huge challenge," recalls Jacky. So he entered a televised, territory-wide talent competition in 1984, breaking into the competitive & fad following world of Canto-Pop by beating out 10,000 other contestants.
Most Memorable Event: Winning the first-prize of the 18 Hong Kong Districts Amateur Singing Contest
Result & Reward: After winning the 1984 singing talent contest, he was signed to a recording contract with PolyGram Record Hong Kong
Awards: 1989 Golden Horse Awards (Best Supporting Actor), 1988 Hong Kong Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actor)
He has so many awards in music, it will be quite a task to list them all.
Former Record Company: 1985-2000: Polydor, Polygram Records HK Ltd., Polygram Records Taiwan.
Former Record Company: 2000-2002: Universal Music Group Hong Kong (acquired/took over Polygram), What's Music International Taiwan & Hong Kong (a division of UMG) What's Music International's website link has been dead for several months now, Go East Music HK (a division of UMG HK) I just checked this link & it is inactive too, what is going on here?!?
Current Record Company: 2002-PRESENT: Jacky signed on with What's Music International (Sheung Wah / Seung Wah) in July 2002. What's Music is a subsidary of UMG HK.
Current Record Company: Jacky Cheung officially resigned with What's Music International on May 27,2003.
Update April 2004: Jacky Cheung released his long awaited Cantonese CD album "Life Is Like A Dream" in April 2004 as a joint issue by Go East Entertainment, What's Music International and ioi Limited.
Jacky Cheung's mentor & close friend: Norman Cheng (Ronald Cheng Chung Kei's father) was a music executive with Polygram UMG for over 20 years, has signed on with EMI Music Hong Kong in February 2003.
Jacky Cheung's former manager: Willie Chan, who is the long time manager of international action superstar Jackie Chan (Sing Lung)
Jacky Cheung's current manager: Florence SF Chan (Chan Sock Fun), of Fun Music/Fun Entertainment Limited HK, handles all of Jacky Cheung's concert productions domestically & internationally.
Jacky Cheung's view on Hong Kong, the handover in 1997, life in the present & future: Cheung applies that same unpretentious realism to Hong Kong's impending transition, which he says "has lasted so long that the handover is not special anymore." He does vow to protest publicly if Beijing proves "unreasonable." But one thing he does not fear is the future. "There is no point in having a five-year plan when the world is constantly changing and out of your control," says Cheung. "It's much better simply to step back every now and then and look at yourself and what's going on around you."
Jacky Cheung's singing/music talent: January 4,2000: Despite his singing talent, Cheung is unable to read music. "I sing with my senses, a very direct first impression about the music," said Cheung, who is able to sing a ballad after listening to the tune twice. "I'm trying to improve my knowledge of music, and hopefully one day I will be able to read the notes as well. This will be one of my major challenges next year," Cheung said.
Jacky Cheung's view on singing Chinese songs versus English songs: "I've sung Chinese songs for more than 10 years, and I know all the pronunciations and enunciations very well. But English pronunciation was a bit tough, so I suffered a lot."
Jacky's message to those fans who suffered broken hearts after he married May Lo: January 4,2000, "If you don't love me because I get married, I can't do anything about that," said Cheung, who remains a big favorite even after his marriage.
More of Jacky's view on singing English songs: January 4,2000: "I love singing English songs, although it's not my mother language," he added. "When I was a kid I listened to Western music. When you get older, you always remember the days when you were a kid."
Jacky Cheung's view on the importance of change in an artist: "A singer needs to change his/her style and evolve, or else there won't be any improvement," he declared.
Can you sleep in a new bed, in a hotel?
"Yes, I can sleep."
What do you think is important in a home?
"A mother or someone similar is what makes a home....she would clean your clothes, make your bed, cook, make sure you put on your clothes......a maid can do all this but it's different..... a mother puts her love in it because she is afraid you will catch a cold and so she'll make sure you drink the soup, etc..."
Can't your wife do all of this?
"Yes a wife can do all this but my wife cannot replace my mother yet."
Do you like going out?
"No, I don't really like going out..... I only go out when I have a purpose... going to get something or play tennis or take Zoe out.... I have been to so many countries but I can't recall the places or tell you anything about them because I am usually in my room ..... I was like this even before I entered showbiz."
What do you do at home?
"I watch TV, play with Zoe."
Are you usually in the sitting room / living room or your room?
"In my room."
How are you affected when you are perfomring live concerts?
Yes I am affected especially in 1995 when I was doing the 35 concerts in Hong Kong. Every night I did not sleep. I tell myself not to think about the show, but my mind keeps going back to what I did during the show and what mistake I made and how I could do it better. I would only fall asleep when it's morning around 9:00am and then I have to wake up at 10:00 am. I am better now; I understand now that I can't do anything about what has happened during the show and I tell myself that I should just enjoy myself when I am on stage and let it happen. The reaction of the audience in other parts of the world has been quite positive, they are very responsive. In Hong Kong during the 1995 concert, the audience are very quiet. I don't know whether they like the show or not, but abroad, you can tell whether or not the audience has enjoyed my show. I am afraid about the coming show in Hong Kong (Music Odyssey in January 2003). I am really afraid, really worried. You don't understand how I feel."
Is a happy blessed life a life without want? A plain and quiet life?
"Everyone said that I have a very happy (perfect family) life. A happy family/life. Do you call it a quiet simple life? I think I understand it a little more now, but someday, I will understand it more. I have not reached it yet. I do not feel that I have reached a blessed life because I feel I am not 100% able to feel happy or to give my family true happiness."
Do you like to drive?
"Yes I like to drive, but I know the responsibility. I suppose like all boys, I like to control the machine, you want to know whether you are good at it. When driving fast, you feel a little out of control, so you will be more careful. Driving gives me a good feeling, Yes I enjoy driving."
MARCH 2003 ON HEALTH & DRINKING: "My voice is even better than last year when I held concert here (Taiwan)." Rest and Chinese herbal medicine have cured his allergy. But when he drinks, in addition to his face getting red, his nasal will swell too. He says, "I only drink when there is a special occasion such as a celebration party."
KEY TO SUCCESS, QUOTED 9-27-2003: When asked about his key to success, Jacky said besides working hard, you also need to self-criticize all the time. He also encouraged them to persevere in your faith, make a clear distinction between right and wrong, then your diligence will finally reap the reward. (Thanks to AL for the translation.)
PREPARING FOR A CONCERT PERFORMANCE 10/2003:
Jacky Cheung's 5 tips:
1. don't eat spicy hot food before the concert;
2. if the song is accompanied with dances, it's better to sing and dance during rehearsals;
3. the day before the concert, in order to protect your voice, only practice those songs that you're not too familiar with;
4. on concert day, if you're too nervous and can't open up your voice, use coughing to achieve it;
5. it's better to chat with the staff or joke with them before going on stage so as to divert your attention, then perform the best you can on stage.
SPECIAL THANKS TO AL FOR THE TRANSLATION.
**Special thanks to Vanessa Fan of ANITARIUM.COM for her help in the translations!
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