Leon Lai - Dawn: It's Just The Beginning

January 2005 – Star Bios
LEON LAI
Dawn – It’s Just The Beginning


Bearing a name (Lai Ming) with the meaning of “dawn” in Chinese, the multi-talented recording artist and actor Leon Lai Ming was born in Beijing to a CEO father of one of Hong Kong’s biggest cellular phone companies, and moved to Hong Kong at the age of four. While in Hong Kong, Lai got teased about his indigestible Cantonese. He later moved to England and studied at King's Way Princeton College, but again got teased since there were only a handful of Chinese people in England.

Singing His Way To Success
Two years later, he returned Hong Kong where the beginning of his stardom twilight shone as he entered the New Talent Singing Contest held by the TVB in 1986. Lai came in third place and started his singing career with one of Hong Kong’s most powerful recording companies, Polygram. Immediately, his first two albums reached number one on the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) album chart, and he became the Prince Charming of girls in Hong Kong as his electric eyes and cute smile magnetized their souls.

Four Great Heavenly Kings
Constantly reinventing himself and trying different things, Lai has established himself into an influential icon from a bashful and unimposing sweetheart in the entertainment industry. As his voice hypnotizes hearts of his audience, Lai is named as one of the four most popular male singers along with Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok, which the media refer to as the “Four Great Heavenly Kings”. In 2002, Lai was even selected to sing “Charged up”, the 2002 World Cup theme song, for the Greater China Region.

In addition to winning the Most Popular Singer award in 1993 and 1995, Lai has also won the Song Of The Year award four times – not a surprising turnout since his fan club “Leon Family” can be found in Hong Kong, Macau, China, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and United States! Having won numerous singing awards, Lai announced in 1999 that he would no longer accept any honors in Hong Kong.

Great Actor
Lai’s acting also caught the attention of moviegoers after winning the Best Actor title in the 2002 Golden Horse Award for his performance in “THREE: GOING HOME”. Interestingly, this award-winning actor is paranoid in carrying out kissing scenes due to the incident of hurting his neck when he attempted his first kiss during teenage years.

Bighearted Donor
Despite his hectic schedule, Lai has been a generous contributor to the community. He has been a member of The Community Chest Campaign Committee, and in December 1995, his contribution to children is recognized by being appointed as the UNICEF Special Representative to Youth at UNICEF Headquarters in New York. Moreover, Mrs. Tung, the wife of Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa, once invited Lai for dinner on behalf of the Red Cross. Lai was even awarded the Medal of Honor on 12 October 2003 by Mr. Tung.

In the award-winning thriller INFERNAL AFFAIRS III, Leon Lai stars as a slick cop in this finale to the epic of gangster mole Andy Lau Tak Wah and police mole Tony Leung Chiu Wai. Be ready to drool over Lai’s great looks and let his attractive treat entangle you on Saturday, 29 January at 21:00 on STAR CHINESE MOVIES!