Sammi Cheng

Sammi Cheng Sau-man is a Hong Kong singer and actress. She is one of the most prominent female singers in Hong Kong, with album sales of over 25 million copies throughout the Asia-pacific. Most notably in the 1990s, she was dubbed by the media as the "Cantopop Diva". Having success in entertainment industry for over three decades, Cheng also played roles in Hong Kong rom-com films in the early 2000s that were box office hits. For her performance in the 2022 film Lost Love, she won 4 best actress honors including the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress.
Since her debut, Cheng has won the IFPI Hong Kong Music Top Sales Awards for the best-selling Local Female Vocalist of the Year nine times. From 1993 to 2010, Cheng won a total of 12 Top Female Vocalist awards, 14 Best-selling Local Female Vocalist Awards and has 7 albums that are the Best-selling Cantonese Release of the Year. She had also previously won the Most Popular Hong Kong Female Artist Award in annual Top Ten Jade Solid Gold Awards Presentation for three times, and in a year winning also the Gold Song Gold Award, the highest-ranked award which is the last to be presented at the ceremony. She also received Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award for Female Singer in 2011 Metro Radio Hits Awards. She had also won many top honors in various Chinese music awards held in Asia, including the MTV Asia Award for Favorite Artist Hong Kong 3 times, in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
She has produced over 80 studio albums, 10 live concert albums, over 130 songs with also over 30 cover songs and had received numerous awards from acting to singing. She also starred in close to 40 films and 7 television dramas and had held approximately 200 concerts up to date with over 11 concert tours. She is one of the female artists with most concert shows in Hong Kong Coliseum, at 115.

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Early life

Sammi Cheng was previously named Twinnie Cheng. Contrary to popular belief, "Twiny" is not her birth name. The name came about when Sammi was still in school and her English Language teacher wanted everyone in class to have an English name. When Sammi turned to her sister for help, her sister came up with the name "Twiny". The name was later changed to "Sammi" as "Sammi" sounds a little like "Sau Man". Cheng received her education at SKH St. Peter's Primary School and Tang Shiu Kin Victoria Government Secondary School.
She has three sisters and one brother. Two of her sisters are twins.

Career

Music

Sammi Cheng entered the entertainment industry at the age of 16 through the New Talent Singing Awards in 1988. Although she came in third in the competition, the sponsoring record company Capital Artists saw her potential and offered her a recording contract. Cheng at the time was still in school, and had to balance her studies with her rising singing career. In December 1988, Sammi Cheng and David Lui recorded two songs—"Cherish This Moment" and "Chrysanthemum Tears" —for the television drama series Deadly Secret.Sammi released 3 full-length studio albums prior to leaving school: "Sammi (album)|Sammi", "Holiday (Sammi Cheng album)|Holiday" and "Never Too Late (Sammi Cheng album)|Never Too Late". One of her first major awards was the 1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards, where she was recognized as a best new prospect.

1990–1992: Eponymous debut album, ''Holiday'' and ''Never Too Late''

In September 1990, Sammi Cheng released her debut album, Sammi (album)|Sammi, which sold 30,000 copies in Hong Kong —a respectable achievement for a newcomer. The lead single was "Longing", followed by "Loving You Still" as the second single. The third single was "Fascination". The fourth single, "Disillusion" —a cover of the English song "A Long and Lasting Love"—and The final single was "Parting". As a newcomer under Capital Artists, Cheng did not receive a budget from the label to produce music videos, so the music videos for the first three singles were produced by a television station instead.In addition, this album earned Cheng the "Outstanding Newcomer" award at the 1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. After receiving it, Cheng was widely praised for her strong potential. Music critic James Wong Jim commended her sweet voice, attractive appearance, and stage presence, while the media predicted that she would become one of Hong Kong’s leading divas in the future.
On 18 June 1991, Sammi Cheng released her second studio album, Holiday (Sammi Cheng album)|Holiday. By this time, Cheng's vocal abilities had improved significantly, allowing her to handle several technically challenging songs with ease. The album was noted for its consistent style and distinctive image, which helped her gain moderate popularity for a period.
The lead single, "The Season That Never Came ", topped two major music charts in Hong Kong. The second single, "Valentino," was featured as a recommended song on the TV program "Jade Solid Gold." The third and fourth singles were "Friends" and "Love Lost in Vienna ", respectively. Her appearance in the television drama "A Life of His Own" boosted album sales, earning the album platinum certification with total sales reaching 70,000 copies in Hong Kong.
Cheng's rising popularity in Hong Kong also brought her to the attention of Taiwanese audiences, with journalist Mai Ruoyu from Min Sheng Bao |Min Sheng Daily News praising her outstanding performance and noting that her new album reached number one on the charts. Cheng was described as a promising new star among leading female artists. The Cantonese album was also released in Taiwan, giving local fans an introduction to her music. Additionally, the album received positive reviews from Singaporean media, who commended her vocal quality, emotional delivery, and versatility, highlighting her ability to stand out among young newcomers.
In July 1992, Sammi Cheng released her third studio album, Never Too Late (Sammi Cheng album)|Never Too Late. For this album, Cheng departed from her previous youthful image by adopting a short hairstyle and more mature fashion, fully showcasing the charm of a sophisticated young woman. Due to its more sophisticated style, the singles from the album did not achieve the same chart success as those from her previous release, but the album still surpassed 60,000 copies and achieved platinum certification in Hong Kong. In addition, Cheng emerged as the most promising young female singer of her generation, widely regarded as a top contender to become the next diva of the Hong Kong music industry, and received the "Best Youthful Female Artist" award at Metro Broadcast Corporation|Metro Radio's "Beauty Awards" for this album, The lead single was "Say U'll Be Mine." The second single was "Doll's View of the World", followed by the third single, "I Don't Want to Leave Tonight". The fourth single was "2gether," the theme song for the TVB Japanese drama adaptation "Rookie Cops", and the fifth single was "If You Love Me", an insert song for the drama File of Justice.

1993–1994: ''Sammi Cheng's Happy Maze'','' Big Revenge'',''Ten Commandments'',''Time, Place, Person'' and ''Sammi''

Sammi Cheng capitalized on the attention received from her duet with artist Andy Hui, "Do you really have me in your heart?", winning the 1993 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards with that song. Cheng then went through a transformation, dying her hair orange, changing her style. Her 4th studio album "Sammi's Happy Maze" was also released, which include the hit single "Chotto Matte", meaning 'wait a moment' in Japanese. Her new image fitted well with the new single, which was a remake of a Japanese song by Maki Ohguro. The success helped Sammi and boosted her singing career. In 1994 she continued to capitalize on her wild, new image. Her first album of that year was "Big Revenge". The album included the hit "Ding Dong", which became one of Sammi's signature songs. But with her new fame also came a lot of backlash from the media. Critics argued that Sammi purposely westernized her Cantonese. Instead of saying "Ding Dong", Sammi pronounced it as "Deen Dong". Despite the criticism, the song was one of the most popular dance songs of that year. In 1994 the racy and controversial cut of "Ten Commandments" was banned from the radio for a few days after its initial airplay of the track including tiny bits of what can be recognized as pornography soundtrack. In 1995 Cheng disappeared from the public eye for nearly half a year. Later that year, it was revealed that Warner Music Group had signed her. She let her hair color return to black and temporarily abandoned the wild image she used to have.