hen Chou Huei (周蕙) released her first album a decade ago, she was widely expected to become one of the four lesser “Queens of Heaven” (四小天后) of the Chinese-language music scene along with Jolin Tsai (蔡依林), Stefanie Sun (孫燕姿) and Elva Hsiao (蕭亞軒).
Dubbed the “bel canto diva” (美聲天后), Chou — who performs every Tuesday this month at Brown Sugar — is a talented singer with a voice that can take on many colors. Even her most conventional Mando-pop ballads have a degree of controlled elegance that can be quite appealing in contrast to the overblown sentimentality of the genre as a whole. But in 2003 a contract dispute derailed her career and forced her to take a four-year hiatus from the music industry.
“Had I followed up on the success of my first album and released an album every year for the past decade, I would have become a really egocentric person,” Chou said. “I was forced to take a break ... it’s allowed me to become a better singer because I understand the kind of frustrations the average person has to deal with.”
Chou spent 2004 traveling around the globe and returned with a new perspective on life, one that is reflected in her choice of album titles. Her 2002 release is called Lonely City (寂寞城市). Her 2007 album is titled Blossom (綻放).
Chou’s four-part “mini concert” at Brown Sugar is called Listen With Your Heart Chou Huei (醉心聆聽周蕙). Each Tuesday night she will choose 14 songs from a list of 20 to perform. The set includes some of her own hit ballads; two Shanghai-era oldies, Barbecued Pork Bun (叉燒包) and I Want Your Love (我要你的愛); Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance and Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out of My Head.
“These two [Shanghai] oldies are naughty and lively songs. I chose Lady Gaga and Kylie Minogue’s songs because I personally listen to dance songs,” Chou said during a rehearsal last week. “I think it’s important to change the mood for the audience a few times during the evening.”
Chou achieved fame overnight with an animated music video of her delivering a crystalline cover of Hong Kong pop diva Faye Wong’s (王菲) Promise (約定), but she did not show her face on an album cover until her fifth album of original material, which was released last year.
Contrary to her shy and introspective public persona, however, in private Chou is upbeat and even mischievous at times.
“I once fell off the stage while performing in China. My agent’s face totally turned green,” she said. “I just laughed and climbed back on the stage.”
Chou says she listens to an eclectic range of music including dance, rock and trip pop. “I listen to Lady Gaga to study her,” she said. “Many people see her as an entertainer who’s famous because of her bizarre antics, but I see her as an entertainer with substance who is worth emulating.”
Chou is now her own producer and is currently screening songs for her next album.
“I want to show my quirky side more on the next album,” she said. “It will be an album based on the theme of city life.”
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