You may not have heard of her yet — but Gigi Leung is the new Lady Gaga. In her home country of China, Gigi is the go-to pop star for outrageous, avant-garde fashion, catchy hit music and epically
You may not have heard of her yet — but Gigi Leung is the new Lady Gaga. In her home country of China, Gigi is the go-to pop star for outrageous, avant-garde fashion, catchy hit music and epically
You may not have heard of her yet, but Gigi Leung is the new Lady Gaga. In her home country of China, Gigi is the go-to pop star for outrageous, avant-garde fashion, catchy hit music and epically directed and designed live concerts. Gigi is also a well-known actress and has starred in over 20 films in China.
Gigi Leung Wing-kei hails from Hong Kong and stands out for her short pixie hair cut and model-esque height; she is also the most followed Hong Kong artist on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter—that’s more than Jackie Chan!
Her music is dubbed Cantopop, a form of Chinese music that pulls influence from jazz, rock and roll, electronic and pop music. Gigi has been in the music industry since 1996 and released 30 albums, but this newest incarnation of the singer includes outrageous stage outfits and sexy pop style and has garnered Gigi the most attention outside of China.
“Thinking back now, I realize that I was very lucky, because I began releasing Mandarin material together with my Cantonese albums, one after the other, when China was just starting to open up,’ she told The Wall Street Journal. “China is so vast that a pop song can be on heavy rotation for years, not just a season. And it takes even longer for some songs to seep into the villages of the hinterland.”
Gigi has not only spread through the airwaves but also the Chinese theaters. Gigi nabbed a role in the motocycle blockbuster ‘Full Throttle’ for which she received a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards.
“Nowadays, it’s a lot more difficult for Hong Kong artists to break into China. I’m really fortunate to have songs like ‘Short Hair’ that spread…I guess my fame built up and grew after a decade. It was definitely a long-term thing.”
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Part of the secret to Gigi’s longevity is her ability to reinvent herself; Gigi has totally switched up her style within the past few years. She cut her long dark hair into a pixie bob, switched her bohemian style to Gaga style outfits and pulled out the sexualized dance moves.
Gigi hasn’t made any remarks about her obvious Lady Gaga inspirations but it doesn’t really matter; she’s ushering in a whole new era of pop superstardom in China. Gigi is an international force to be reckoned with and GlobalGrind wants to give you the scoop on her first! Check out some great photos of Gigi Leung on the next pages and listen to her song ‘Short Hair’ below.
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