Blog Archive

Tuesday, April 29, 2008


Twins is a Hong Kong-based female Cantopop duo created in the summer of 2001 by Albert Yeung's Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG). Twins is made up of two young ex-models, Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin (蔡卓妍) and Gillian Chung Yan-Tung (鍾欣桐), who by birth is originally Chung Ka-Lai.

Biography
See also: Twins discography
Like most other new singers, Twins made a great deal of effort to boost their popularity. During their first two years, they released 3 EPs and 3 albums, all of which sold very well. Most of their songs stayed at the top of many different musical charts for several weeks. Their achievements helped highlight and cement their popularity amongst other new singers. Twins had their first concert in 2002 and three more in 2003, one of which was held in Guangzhou. Between 2001 and 2003, they received a total of 48 musical awards. This was a remarkable feat for the relatively new group at the time, and it showed that their effort had been highly appreciated. In 2003, they received the largest number of awards in the annual prize presentations from the four major Hong Kong media organizations, which are RTHK, MetroRadio and TVB.

Singing career as a group
When Twins started their singing careers, there were very few musical groups in Hong Kong. However, after Twins' success, other music producers realized there was a huge market for group singers. As a result, more singing groups were formed.

Twins' effect
Twins have been subjected to a wide range of criticism concerning poor singing skills, unclear Mandarin pronunciation, and lack of a reckoning status as singers (since they showed that they have been distracted from their singing career), although most of the criticisms are unverified. Nevertheless, Twins have entered the Mandarin market successfully and their popularity keeps increasing in the Chinese music industry. Twins spoke Mandarin well when they became guest stars in Mainland China and Taiwan TV programs. Many TV hosts praised the singing, dancing, and acting skills, and attractiveness of Twins. In particular, Charlene has attracted many directors and movie investors, thus having a non-stop movie schedule for 2007. Gillian also participated in many Chinese drama series in 2006-2007. Twins state that they are currently trying hard to improve in all aspects of their performance (singing, dancing, acting), and have recently started to take singing lessons with popular entertainment voice coach Christine Samson. Twins will be releasing their third Mandarin album in late 2007.

Appraisal and criticism
The Hong Kong musical industry has shown, many pop group bands break-up after they acquire a considerable level of popularity. The Twins are not immune to this and there have been rumors that Twins is also facing the same fate. It has been suggested by EEG that their concerts due for early 2006 may be their last. However these rumours have been around before and have proved unfounded and purely for entertainment purposes in generating gossip for tabloids.
At the 2006 Hong Kong Entertainment Awards ceremony Choi tearfully acknowledged that there have been criticisms of the Twins' singing abilities and that she hoped that they could better improve in the coming year.
Twins overcame rumours of splitting up when they attended the May 2006 MTV Asia Awards in Thailand together. They were nominated for and won the Hong Kong Most Popular Singer Award. Twins garnered many more votes than Andy Lau, who was predicted to take home this award. This is arguably the most important award for their profile.
(February 2007) They have also recently celebrated their sixth year together in the Hong Kong music industry and with this the release of a special sixth anniversary new+best selection CD/DVD. Most rumours of a split have ceased and they have reaffirmed to their fans they will celebrate in another six years time.
(September 2007) To celebrate their sixth anniversary since entertaining the entertainment circle, Twins will embark on a multi-city North American concert tour, with special guests Sun Boy'Z. They will perform live on September 15,2007 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.[1] Other stops on their tour will include Toronto, Los Angeles, and Atlantic City. It is their first time performing on a major tour across several North American cities.

Twins' fate in the coming future
Apart from their singing careers, Twins have also been involved in a number of advertisements, television series and films. Within their first three years, they had appeared in 18 advertisements, a television series, and 16 films, being cast as main characters in 6 of these.
The Twins have also been selected to promote several social campaigns in Hong Kong, such as summer activities for the Hong Kong Home Affairs Bureau in July 2003.

Other ventures
Featuring Both Charlene and Gillian:
Featuring Gillian:
Upcoming: 地獄十九層 出水芙蓉
Featuring Charlene:
Upcoming: Kung Fu Dunk (灌篮)

2002 June 14 Summer Breeze of Love (這個夏天有異性)
2002 September 19 Just One Look (一碌蔗)
2003 June 23 Twins Effect (千機變)
2003 November 6 The Death Curse' (古宅心慌慌)
2004 January 15 Fantasia (鬼馬狂想曲)
2004 February 3 Protege de la Rose Noire (見習黑玫瑰)
2004 April 8 Love on Rocks (戀情告急)
2004 August 6 Twins Effect II (千機變II: 花都大戰)
2004 November 25 6 AM (大無謂)
2005 March 24 House of Fury (精武家庭)
2005 July 21 Bug Me Not! (蟲不知)
2007 February 15 Twins Mission (雙子神偷)
2002 January 24 U-Man (怪獸學園)
2002 September 5 If You Care (賤精先生)
2003 June 12 Happy Go Lucky (低一點天空)
2003 June 20 Color of the Truth (黑白森林)
2003 October 23 The Spy Dad (絕種鐡金剛)
2004 April 23 Moving Target (新紥師兄)
2004 November 11 Beyond Our Ken (公主復仇記)
2006 February 17 49 Days (犀照)
2001 April 26 Heroes in Love (戀愛起義)
2001 September 25 Funeral March (常在我心)
2002 September 25 My Wife is 18 (我老婆唔够秤)
2003 March 13 Diva, Ah Hey! (下一站,天后)
2003 July 25 Good Times, Bed Times (戀上你的床)
2004 March 27 Papa Loves You (這個阿爸真爆炸)
2004 August 19 Hidden Heroes (追擊八月十五)
2004 September 24 New Police Story (新警察故事)
2004 September 28 The Attractive One (身驕肉貴)
2004 November 18 Leave Me Alone (阿孖有難)
2005 October 20 All About Love (再說一次我愛你)
2005 December 22 A Chinese Tall Story (情顛大聖)
2006 September 29 Rob-B-Hood (寶貝計劃)
2006 October 26 Diary (妄想)
2007 April 4 Super Fans (甜心粉絲王)
2007 June 19 Simply Actors (戲王之王) Film Collections
Television Shows (Gillian only):
Television Shows (Charlene only):

February 2002 The Great Monkey King Suen Wu Kong (齊天大聖孫悟空)
May 2003 Midnight - Stuck In The Lift (2半3更之困車立)
October 2003 Triumph In The Skies (衝上雲霄)
September 2003 Kung Fu Soccer (功夫足球)
December 2004 Sunshine Heartbeat (赤沙印记@四叶草2)
May 2007 Ying Ye San Jia Yi'(樱野3加1)
Flying Fox of the Snowy Mountain (雪山飛狐) (2007)
Project A (A計劃) (2007)
The Spirit Of The Sword(浣花洗劍錄) (Coming Soon)
Y2K (青春Y2K)(2000) Twins (group) Television Show Collections

2002 September 13-15 Ichiban Amazing Show (Twins Ichiban 興奮演唱會)
2003 January 18-19 Matsunichi Twins Guangzhou Amazing Show (松日Twins廣州興奮演唱會)
2003 June 25 Tou Hao Ren Wu Chang Hao Music Concert (頭號人物唱好音樂會)
2003 August 2 Netvigator NETCash Pop-up Concert ( 網上行叱吒樂壇Pop-Up音樂會)
2003 December 31 - 2004 January 4 Matsunichi Twins 04 Concert (Twins 04 好玩演唱會)
2005 June 3 Starlight Amusement Park Concert (Australia)
2006 January 4-7 Twins Star Mobile Incomparable Concert (Twins 星Mobile 一時無兩演唱會)
2006 August 18-19 Twins Concert in Genting Malaysia
2007 September 15 Twins in Concert Cow Palace, San Francisco/Daly City USA[2]
2007 September 22-23 Twins Concert in Atlantic City USA Concerts

2001 November Twins 1+1 Photo Album' 96 pages
2001 August Twins Love The Colorful Travel 112 pages
2003 August Twins Love Hong Kong 112 pages

No comments: