| Gigi Leung | |
|---|---|
| Chinese name | 梁詠琪 (Traditional) |
| Chinese name | 梁咏琪 (Simplified) |
| Pinyin | Liáng Yǒngqí (Mandarin) |
| Jyutping | Leung Wing-Kei (Cantonese) |
| Birth name | Leung Bik-Zi (梁碧芝; Liáng Bìzhī) |
| Ancestry | Xinhui, Guangdong |
| Origin | Hong Kong |
| Born | March 25, 1976 [1][2][3] Hong Kong |
| Other name(s) | Leung Wing-Kei |
| Occupation | Singer, Actress, Model |
| Genre(s) | Cantopop |
| Instrument(s) | Singing |
| Voice type(s) | Soprano |
| Label(s) | previously Warner Music currently Big Artiste Management part of Mei Ai Entertainment |
| Years active | 1995-present (acting) 1996-present (singing) |
| Spouse(s) | Sergio (m. 2011–present) |
| Official Website | Official Website |
Gigi Leung Wing-kei (born March 25, 1976) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress.
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Given the name Leung Bik-Zi (梁碧芝) at birth, at the age of 7 her mother changed her name changed to 'Wing-Kei' for superstitious reasons; as a child, Leung suffered from frequent asthma attacks and it was believed a change of name would bring better health. At 176 cm, Leung earned the nickname of 'Tall Girl'. She has a twin brother named Keith Leung (Leung Wing-Chun, 梁詠俊).
Gigi Leung attended Maryknoll Convent School. Later, she went to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University where she gained a diploma from the School of Design. It was during her study at university that she accepted a modelling assignment from the watch company City Chain and caught the attention of film director Lee Chi-Ngai who cast her in her very first movie, Doctor Mack (1995). The success of the movie brought her a further role in Full Throttle (1995), shot while she was finishing her diploma. For her supporting role in the film, Leung received a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards.
Her singing career began the following year with the debut album Love Myself (1996). Since then, she has sung both Cantonese and Mandarin songs. She is recognized not only as a Cantopop/Mandopop singer, but as a songwriter and lyricist as well, having written songs for both herself and other local singers. She has a contract with Warner Music Hong Kong, with more than a dozen albums to her name. She has performed in several full-scale live concerts including one entitled Funny Face in 2003. In 2008 25 March she signed a new company Big Artiste Management a subsidiary of Mei Ah Entertainment.
Since 1995, Leung has starred in over 20 movies, most of which are dramas and comedies. She has worked opposite acting veterans such as Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Andy Lau, Daniel Chan and Jet Li. In 2003, she starred with Takeshi Kaneshiro in Warner Bros.' first-ever Chinese-language film Turn Left, Turn Right. Notably, at the Hong Kong Film Awards, Leung was nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for roles in Tempting Heart (1999) and A War Named Desire (2000) respectively.
Primarily an actress on the silver screen, Leung briefly appeared in the TVB serial The Last Breakthrough (2004). She has also performed in a number of stage musicals including The Great Entertainer (2004). Other works include the Cantonese narration for the Japanese film Quill (2004).
Gigi is also very active in charity work. Apart from being the ambassador for different charities, she has helped to build 7 schools in mainland China to help poor children.[4] She is also the youngest-ever local (at age 27) to receive the "Ten Most Outstanding Youth Award".
Outside of the entertainment business, Leung has acted as the Hong Kong spokesperson for Japanese cosmetics company FANCL since 1999. She is also an ambassador to both United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)[4] and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Hong Kong. Other charity ambassador titles include Honourably Ambassador of Yan Chai Hospital, Special Ambassador to the Yan Aiu Hospital, Ambassador of Breast Cancer Fund and Ambassador of Society for Abandoned Animals (SAA). She also held numerous other special titles to numerous organizations. She joined her friends, Charlie Yeung, Valen Hsu and Angelica Lee to form the "Hope Foundation," a non-profit organization to help children in need.
Leung had a boyfriend named Kenny, who were classmates in college, at the beginning of her career. The couple broke up in summer 1999. It is implied that one of her songs 迫不得已 was dedicated to this relationship, which Leung wrote part of the lyrics.
In October 1999, Leung was reported to appear in Hong Kong singer/actor Ekin Cheng's house. Arguably, the exposure of their relationship to the public had a negative impact on her career, since Cheng was rumored to be still going out with local actress Maggie Siu. Although this was unsubstantiated and denied by Cheng, Leung was still regarded by some as the 'third' party. In January 2006, Leung and Cheng broke up and went their separate ways.
In July 2009, she was reported to be in a relationship with a furniture designer from France, known only as Sly.[5] Neither Gigi nor Sly admitted their relationship, but it was reported the couple separated in early 2010.
In Oct 3 2011, 35-year-old Gigi Leung married her Spaniard boyfriend Sergio on the island of Ibiza.
Cantonese
Mandarin
Gigi Leung's Sina microblog account has up to 470,000 followers, most of them are her young fans. On March 30, 2010, she blogged about the unjustly jailed Zhao Lianhai, who has a five years old son that fell victim to the poison milk and developed kidney stones in his kidney, the father-turned-activist began to utilise various means to voice his grievances. After receiving a message from website's administrator, Gigi Leung then deleted the relevant blog, resulted in hundreds of supportive messages from her fans.[8][9]