In life, some people like it to be peaceful, some like it to be full of adventures; Leehom belongs to the latter group. Born into a family with rich medical background, his father and brother are both doctors, hence his ambition was to be one too, no less. at the age of 18, when he first got into college, he took up pre-med as his course of study. However, after tackling for a year in his studies, he discovered that ambitions and interests are 2 very different things. He decided to quit his pre-med studies and plunge into musical studies. His family thought that was a very risky thing to do as the perception of music then was that it could not provide a future, but Leehom perservered.
A year and half ago, Leehom rose to a "heavenly king" status and received the highest honour "Best Male Vocalist" that the Taiwan music industry can offer. Despite all the honour and recognition he got in Taiwan, Leehom was willing to give it up and headed for the Hong Kong market, to be a newcomer again, in Hong Kong. His recording company reacted strongly against him shifting to Hong Kong, as past experiences have shown that only 1 out of 10 made the successful transfer into the Hong Kong market. Leehom ignored all the warnings given and persisted in taking the risk. "I treasure the idea of taking risks. If life were without risk, then it would be a very plain, boring one," says Leehom.
Hardworking and uprising Leehom
Wang Leehom hardly knew a word of cantonese when he 1st came to Hong Kong. However after spending a year or so, he was about to speak 80% correctly, during this interview. Though some of his cantonese still made reporters muddle and caused quite a few laughs, this is always the case when learning a new language. You will never master it unless you make mistakes and learn from it.
"My performance in Hong Kong so far has not been very satisfactory, beacuse i set a very high standard for myself, hence it is impossible for me to make it til perfect, but i am very happy. I've done 3 films, released a cantonese song middle of this year and recently had and EP which too, has a cantonese song in it. My cantonese has therefore improved quite a bit. Every time i visit a new place, i like to understand the culture there. Learning their language is one of the ways. Come to think of it, i only learnt mandarin when i 1st went back to Taiwan. However, cantonese is harder to master than mandarin. After so long, my knowledge of it is still very basic. Other than problems in pronounciation, my age is also a factor. You pick thing ups faster when you are young."
Other than differences in pronounciation, Taiwan and Hong Kong are basically very similar, very tiring work.
"I do not feel that working in Hong Kong is execptionally tiring, actually it is the same in Taiwan. I released 7 albums in my 5 years in Taiwan. My peak working period is always 2 to 3 months after a new release, all the promotions, autograph signing events, and school shows...after that, i would head back to the studios to record more music. The difference is that in Taiwan, i arrange my own free time when i am not doing promotion events. In Hong Kong, my time are usually arranged by the recording company or the movie company. I felt as if i lost my freedom with them arranging what time i leave and wake up..."
Though Leehom lost much of his freedom, it did not go wasted as he reaped quite a few returns. Recently, Leehom as been hyped by the local media as the "Most prominant uprising male star" in the coming year 2001. Leehom remained nonchalnent with these titles. "Maybe it is because i have long term plans for my music. I have thought of turning into a "superstar" overnight but i feel that my only wish now is that each of my new album would do better than the last one. I would not do anything which i feel uncomfortable about in order to be more popular. I just hope that more people will appreciate my music.
Hear the rushing of the heart when choosing a girl..
Leehom has been busy working for the past year, only going home twice a year and each visit home lasts only 4 days. Hence he hopes that he can go on a holiday once he has the chance. "I joined a big group of friends last feburary for a tour. It was great fun! I hope to do it again soon but i do not know if my friends would be free then. Normally i fly all over the world alone for work commitments, hence i do not like to holiday alone. Going with a bunch of friends or a girlfriend would be best."
Wow, Leehom hardly talks about his relationship matters so since now that he has spoken, we grabbed the opportunity to question him about the matters of heart. Although Leehom confesses that he has no girlfriend now, we questioned him about the qualities he look for in a girl. Ladies! All listen up!
"There is actually no guideline or whatsoever. All my past girlfriends are very different. Some are whites, blacks and even mixed-bloods. It is hard to say what i look for. Just as long seeing her makes my heart jump, that is the one!"
Hmmm...If Leehom were ever to have a girlfriend, would he tell the media? "Of course not! I do not want my relationship to become coffee talk," says Leehom. But the media reporters are no less paparazzi and what if Leehom had been secretly filmed with his new gal? "That is out of my reach then. I like Taiwan better in this case. There are no 'paparazzi' in Taiwan. I have been in Taiwan for 5 years but there has yet to be any rumours about me."
Releasing an English album after doing the movies
In this milliennium year, Leehom set a goal to participate in movies and he did it with 3 movies, no less!
"The filming was actually just what i expected it to be, just as tough and tiring. I only did not expect that filming would take up and waste so much time, cos you would never know when the director would ask you to take your place to start the scene. You can only sit and wait. Sometimes you only get to shoot a few scenes for a full day, so the rest of the time is actually very boring."
Despite all that have been said, Leehom admitted that he has learnt a lot of things from the experience. "It is usually a solitary effort when making music. You make your own choices but it is very different for filming. It is all about teamwork, hence the pressure is spread out, not as stressful as working alone in music. You have to believe in the director, your co-workers so as to create the 'sparks' and produce a good movie."
Leehom tasted how it was like to injuried due to work for the 1st time when he was hurt while filming. Leehom expressed that he was quite shocked when he 1st bled on the scene. However the shock soon got over as he was more worried if he would be able perform his best in the next scene than his injury.
"I tried once when i injuried my thigh and for the next scene, i was supposed to a high kick. It was hurting quite terribly but once the director yelled 'action', i had to put it aside and complete the scene. I suffered quite a few bruises after the filming ended so when i went back home recently, i had to wear long sleeves and pants to hide the bruises. I did not want my family to worry and fuss over them."
With regards to any goals Leehom made for the year 2001, he said that he hopes to do an album in the language he knows best --English. "I have already started preparing for the english album. I have completed some songs to be recorded for the album which I hope would be out next summer. The reason behind this album is that i want to do an album that is really me, an album that people would know it is Wang Leehom when they hear it, therefore it has to be in a language that i am best in, not because i want to target the American market. Although the recording works has just begun, i know that it is going to be in a style very different from my past albums. I believe that when the album eventually comes out, it is going be a very refreshing change for my fans."
