Lala Hsu (traditional Chinese: 徐佳瑩; simplified Chinese: 徐佳莹; pinyin: Xú Jiāyíng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chhî Ka-êng; born 20 December 1984) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter. Hsu was born in Hualien County, Taiwan, and grew up in Taichung.
Lala Hsu | |
|---|---|
_(1).jpg) Hsu performing at the 12th Migu Music Awards in Shanghai, 2018 | |
| Born | 20 December 1984 Hualien County, Taiwan |
| Alma mater | Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Spouse | Bill Chia (m. 2018) |
| Children | 2 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Mandopop |
| Instrument(s) |
|
| Labels | AsiaMuse (2009–present) |
| Lala Hsu | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 徐佳瑩 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 徐佳莹 | ||||||||||||
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Hsu was a contestant in the third season of CTV's One Million Star in 2008. She won the contest with a self-composed and written song on 15 August of that year.[1][2] She released her self-titled debut album on 29 May 2009. She has since published five albums to date; Lala Hsu in 2009, Limits in 2010, Ideal Life in 2012, Missing in 2014 and The Inner Me in 2017.[3]
In 2010, Hsu won the Best New Artist award at the 21st Golden Melody Awards for her eponymously named album, Lala Hsu, becoming the first One Million Star alumni to win a Golden Melody Award. In 2015, she was nominated in six categories at the 26th Golden Melody Awards for the album Missing.
In 2016, Hsu was a participant of the fourth season of I Am a Singer which gained her wider attention in mainland China. A significant rise in popularity lead to numerous invitations to perform the theme songs of film and television works.
In 2018, Hsu was named Best Mandarin Female Singer at the 29th Golden Melody Awards.[4]
Early life
Hsu's father is a retired ROC Air Force ground officer and her mother was a kindergarten teacher. She is the third child among her brothers and sisters. The singer worked as a nurse in Taichung Veterans General Hospital before her debut.
Debut
Hsu won second place in a singing competition held by her high school. In junior college, she was the drummer and conductor of her school's Orchestra Club. She also served as an intern at the Affiliated Hospital of Chung Shan Medical College and worked in Taichung Veterans General Hospital. During university, Lala participated in the "Campus Golden Melody Award" competition, winning awards in the "Girl's Individual Singing Group" (singing award) and the "Semantic Creation Group" (creative award). She participated in four "Campus Golden Melody" compilations.[5]
Hsu took part in the third season of One Million Star singing contest in 2008, and performed well.[6] Hsu stated that her aim in participating the contest was to set up a "Starlight Chicken Restaurant" with the prize money, and she had already written a song for the restaurant. In the sixth episode, her performance of the song "Riding a White Horse" scored 25 points, making her the fastest contestant to reach the full score since the launch of One Million Star.[7] On 15 August 2008, she won the finals with an average score of 21.47 points, paving the way for her to become a professional singer.[8][9][10]
Career
Hsu is the protégée of composer Su Tongda. "Riding a White Horse" was a collaboration between Hsu and Su.
On 29 May 2009, Hsu released her debut album Lala Hsu. The album was up for six awards at the 21st Golden Melody Awards. This include Song of the Year ("Riding a White Horse"), Best Mandarin Album (Lala Hsu), Best Composer (Hsu and Su Tongda, "Riding a White Horse"), Best New Artist, Best Arranger (Su Tongda, "Riding a White Horse") and Best Single Producer (Su Tongda, "Riding a White Horse").[11][12]
On 26 June 2010, Hsu was awarded the Best New Artist at the 21st Golden Melody Awards.[13] On 3 September of the same year, Hsu released her second studio album, Limits.
On 6 June 2012, she released her third studio album, Ideal Life. The album won several awards at home and abroad including the 2012 Top Ten Albums, and Albums and Singles of the Year at the Annual Association of Chinese Musicians Awards. In 2013, Hsu was nominated for Best Mandarin Female Singer for the first time at the 24th Golden Melody Awards.
On 13 June 2014, Hsu released her fourth Mandarin album Missing. On 21 March 2015, she held the "Total Eclipse" concert in Taipei Arena. It was her first concert in the Arena. In the same year, she was nominated for six awards at the 26th Golden Melody Awards, including Song of the Year, Best Mandarin Album, Best Mandarin Female Singer, Best Composer, Best Lyricist and Best Arranger.
In January 2016, she participated in the fourth season of Hunan TV I Am a Singer. Her performance of "Lost Desert" scored her first place in the first episode. Subsequently, she was invited to perform the theme songs for several film and television works. In July 2016, she held her "Total Eclipse" concert tour in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
On 22 April 2017, Hsu debuted her "You Made My Day" concert tour at Taipei Arena.[14] In May of the same year, she held the tour in Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Malaysia. She released her fifth Mandarin studio album The Inner Me by the end of that year and received the Best Mandarin Album and Best Mandarin Female Singer at the 29th Golden Melody Awards the following year.
In January 2020, Hsu came back to participate in the eight and final season of Hunan TV's Singer and ended in fifth place. The following year, she participated with Harlem Yu in ETtoday's Jungle Voice 3 as principal instructors.[15]
On 22 June 2022, Hsu released her sixth Mandarin studio album Gei.[16]
Musical style
Hsu's music is known for its subtle, unique narrative lyrical composition style, integrating elements of Taiwanese opera into her songs. Using the Mandarin language and the linguistic flexibility of Hokkien(Southern Fukienense), the logic of the two different languages is put together naturally and smoothly. The rhythm of the main song is usually fast, while the chorus is mostly clear, lyrical, and easy to memorize. In the accompaniment and harmony, she tries to create a unique approach to chord progression, which is different than other pop music.
Personal life
Hsu married Taiwanese director Bill Chia (Chinese: 比爾賈) in August 2018.[17][18] They have one son (born on 6 December 2020) and one daughter (born on 17 December 2022).
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Lala Hsu (LaLa首張創作專輯) |
|
| Limits (極限) |
|
| Ideal Life (理想人生) |
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| Missing Person (尋人啟事) |
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| The Inner Me (心裡學) |
|
| Gei (給) |
|
Extended plays
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Lala Was a Student – One (「徐佳莹的学生时代」ONE) |
|
| Lala Was a Student – Two (「徐佳莹的学生时代」TWO) |
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| Lala Was a Student – Three (「徐佳莹的学生时代」THREE) |
|
| Lala Was a Student – Four (「徐佳莹的学生时代」FOUR) |
|
Live albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| On the Way to the Ideal Life (繼續·理想人生) |
|
| Total Eclipse (日全蝕) |
|
| I Am a Singer 4 (收•音) |
|
| You Made My Day (是日救星) |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHN | TWN | ||||
| NetEase | |||||
| "Song of Airport – On the Road" (在旅行的路上 機場之歌) | 2013 | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "One Minute More" (只要一分鐘) | 2014 | — | — | — | Missing |
| "The Rain is Coming" (大雨將至) | — | — | — | The Imperial Doctress OST | |
| "Suddenly Missing You" (突然好想你) | 2015 | — | — | — | Herstory with Mayday |
| "Little Princess" (小公主) | 2016 | — | — | — | Total Eclipse |
| "You Made My Day" (是日救星) | — | — | — | The Inner Me | |
| "What I Learned from Mom" (媽媽教會我) | 2019 | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Prototype" (雛形) | 2021 | — | — | 7 | Gei |
| "None of the Above" (以上皆非) | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||
Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Disco" (迪斯可) | 2010 | Limits |
| "Oasis" (綠洲) | ||
| "Dare to Celebrate" (不怕慶祝) | 2012 | Ideal Life |
| "Steady" (明天的事情) | 2014 | Missing |
| "Gone with the Wind" (耳邊風) | ||
| "Combat" (格斗场) | 2016 | Non-album release |
| "Perfect Landing" (完美落地) | 2017 | Non-album release |
| "Ten Years of Us" (我们的十年) | 2018 | Non-album release |
Soundtrack appearances
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHN | TWN | |||||
| Baidu | Billboard | |||||
| "Jianghu" (江湖) | 2008 | — | — | — | — | Jianghu.com OST |
| "Palette" (調色盤) | 2012 | — | — | — | — | Touch of the Light OST |
| "Cuckoo" (布穀) | — | — | — | — | The Girl Who Swims Breaststroke OST | |
| "Rolling! My Baby" (翻滾吧！我的寶貝) | — | — | — | — | ||
| "One Minute More" (只要一分鐘) | 2014 | — | — | — | — | One Minute More OST |
| "The Rain is Coming" (大雨将至) | 2016 | — | — | — | — | The Imperial Doctress OST |
| "Oblivion" (遗忘之前) | — | — | — | — | ||
| "You Only Live Once" (潇洒走一回) | — | — | — | — | New York New York OST | |
| "Blossom" (女人花) | — | — | — | — | MBA Partners OST | |
| "All I Need" (我所需要的) | — | — | — | — | My Fair Lady OST | |
| "It's Cold Without Your Love" (湫兮如风) | — | — | — | — | Big Fish & Begonia OST | |
| "Never Alone" (不要再孤单) | — | — | — | — | Love O2O OST | |
| "Finding You" (当我找到了你) | — | — | — | — | Suddenly Seventeen OST | |
| "My First Memory" (最初的记忆) | 2017 | — | — | — | — | Rush to the Dead Summer OST |
| "Shining with Love" (因爱闪光) | — | — | — | — | Our Shining Days OST | |
| "A Love is Hard to Wish for" (一爱难求) | 2018 | — | — | 23 | — | Legend of Fuyao OST |
| "The River" (一江水) | — | — | — | — | Eagles and Youngster OST | |
| "Beautiful Encounter" (最美的遇见) | — | — | — | — | All Out of Love OST | |
| "Really Stupid" (真的傻) | 2019 | — | — | — | — | Fall in Love at First Kiss OST |
| "One Sentence of the Universe" (一句话的宇宙) | — | — | — | — | The Sound 2 OST | |
| "Missing" (寻人启事) | — | — | — | — | If I Can Love You So OST | |
| "Angel Love Elephant" (天使愛大象) | — | — | — | — | Triad Princess OST | |
| "I Will Always Be Here" (我一直都在这里) | 2020 | — | — | — | — | Boonie Bears: The Wild Life OST |
| "Time Knows Love" (在你不知道的时间里爱你很久) | — | — | — | — | Love You Forever OST | |
| "Get the Sun" (得到太阳) | — | — | — | — | Run for Young OST | |
| "Twisted Fate of Love" (今夕何夕) | — | — | — | — | Twisted Fate of Love OST | |
| "Colorless Flower" (沒顏色的花) | — | — | — | — | Miss Andy OST | |
| "Reluctantly" (不舍) | — | — | — | — | Douluo Continent OST | |
| "You Have Me" (你有我) | 2021 | — | — | — | — | Hand in Hand OST |
| "The Farthest Distance" (最远的远方) | — | — | — | — | Never Say Goodbye OST | |
| "Ask Kalpa" (問劫) | — | — | — | — | Kalpa of Universe OST | |
| "The Time Monologue" (光阴独白) | — | — | — | — | You Are My Glory OST | |
| "Far Away from You" (远距离练习) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | Stay with Me OST |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | ||||||
Collaborations
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "If You Think" (自以為) (feat. Khalil Fong) | 2011 | 15 |
| "Under the Willow" (柳樹下) (feat. R. Chord) | Growing Up | |
| "Shhh……" (噓……) (feat. Soft Lipa) | By Bicycle | |
| "Break-up Night" (分手夜) (feat. Lie Gramophone) | 2012 | Future Primitive |
| "Flaming Beacon" (烽火) (feat. Europa Huang and William Wei) | 2014 | Non-album single |
| "Always in Love" (feat. Amber Kuo and Apay) | 2015 | Begin Again |
| "To See Love" (看见爱) (feat. Various Artists) | 2016 | Non-album single |
| "Yuan Zou Gao Fei" (远走高飞) (feat. Kim Ji-mun) | 2017 | Hello 1 |
| "Catfight" (傲嬌) (feat. A-mei and Eve Ai) | Story Thief | |
| "The River" (一江水) (feat. Mao Buyi) | 2018 | Eagles and Youngster OST |
| "Make Friends Now" (現在開始做朋友) (feat. Various Artists) | 2019 | Non-album single |
| "Unsure" (一無所知) (feat. Chen Linong) | 2020 | Antipathetic |
| "Is It the Best You Can Do" (进化) (feat. Hush) | Imperfect Imperfections | |
| "Begin Again" (尽管如此，还是) (feat. A Si) | 2021 | So What! |
Songwriting credits
| Year | Album | Artist | Song | Lyrics | Music | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credited | With | Credited | With | ||||
| 2010 | Second Home | Kay Tse | "Second Home" | No | — | Yes | — |
| Loneliness is Not the Hardest Part | A-Lin | "Whether Happiness Comes or Not" | No | Yes | |||
| 2011 | Non-album single | Lala Hsu | "Starting Point" | Yes | Yes | ||
| Longing for... | Rainie Yang | "Fast Forward" | No | Yes | |||
| Another She | Claire Kuo | "Originally" | Yes | Yes | |||
| Non-album single | Lala Hsu | "Our Talk Show" | Yes | Yes | |||
| Hi! Jing Wen | Jing Wen Tseng | "Ex-Boyfriend" | Yes | David Ko | Yes | ||
| Black Apple | Bibi Zhou | "Singlism" | No | — | Yes | ||
| 2012 | Home Girl | Sharon Kwan | "Rainy Days" | No | Yes | ||
| Die Sterntaler OST | Jing Wen Tseng | "Pointed Forward" | No | Yes | |||
| If You Luv Me | Eve Ai | "Critical Moment" | No | Yes | |||
| Love or Not | Cyndi Wang | "Become Strangers" | No | Yes | |||
| Keep Loving | Claire Kuo | "Love to Say Du Du" | No | Yes | |||
| 2013 | Prima Donna OST | Chien Chih-cheng | "Prima Donna" | No | Yes | ||
| For the Loved | Rene Liu | "My Enemy" | Yes | David Ko | Yes | ||
| Don't Cry | Issac Dang | "Consolation" | Yes | — | Yes | ||
| In Front of You | Jin Chi | "Lovelorn Party" | No | Yes | |||
| Zero | Naiwen Yang | "What Am I" | Yes | Naiwen Yang | Yes | ||
| Alone the Way | Jia Jia | "Not Equal" | No | — | Yes | ||
| 2014 | Girls | Shi Shi | "Live with You" | No | Yes | ||
| Until We Meet | Claire Kuo | "Part-Time Lover" | No | Yes | |||
| "Whatever" | No | Yes | |||||
| With You | Amber An | "New Home" | No | Yes | |||
| A Tale of Two Rainie | Rainie Yang | "Ripples" | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2015 | This is Me | Xuan Xuan | "Fortunately Love is Not So Deep" | No | Yes | ||
| Darling | Julia Peng | "Shut Up" | Yes | Yes | |||
| When Everything Around was Empty | Liu Xijun | "Even Now" | No | Yes | |||
| 2016 | Fanfan's Time to Give Thanks | Christine Fan | "Coincide" | No | Yes | ||
| The One I'm Waiting For | Chen Bing | "The One I'm Waiting For" | No | Yes | |||
| Non-album singles | Lala Hsu | "All I Need" | Yes | Yes | |||
| Meng Huiyuan | "We People" | No | Yes | ||||
| Morning Bound for Midnight | Diamond Zhang | "Half and Half" | No | Yes | |||
| 2017 | Story Thief | A-mei | "Catflight" | No | Yes | ||
| 2018 | About Jess | Jess Lee | "The Same" | No | Yes | ||
| Freyja | Valen Hsu | "Springtime Allergies" | No | Yes | |||
| #Unlovely | Summer Meng | "I'm Unlovely" | No | Yes | |||
| 2019 | Confession | Pets Tseng | "Confession" | No | Yes | ||
| Ten | Liu Yuning | "Empathy" | Yes | Yes | |||
| Non-album single | Vickeblanka | "The Last Mile" | Yes | No | |||
| The More Beautiful, The More Invisible | Naiwen Yang | "LaDiDa" | No | Yes | |||
| Delete, Reset, Grow | Rainie Yang | "Fearless Love" | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2020 | 29 | Lulu Huang | "Pure" | No | Yes | ||
| More | Zhang Zining | "The Lovely Bones" | Yes | Yes | |||
| Non-album single | A-mei | "Huan Huan" | No | Yes | |||
| 2021 | Each Well | Rene Liu | "Aside" | No | Yes | ||
| Delusions | Julia Peng | "In Vino Veritas" | No | Yes | |||
| Non-album singles | Wayne Huang | "Still Alone" | Yes | David Ko | Yes | ||
| 2022 | Christine Fan | "Solitary Moment" | No | — | Yes | ||
Filmography
Films
| Year | English Title | Chinese Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Rio | 里約大冒險 | Jewel | Mandarin voice (Taiwanese release) |
| 2014 | Rio 2 | 里約大冒險2 | Jewel | Mandarin voice (Taiwanese release) |
Television series
| Year | English Title | Chinese Title | Role | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Days We Stared at the Sun | 他們在畢業的前一天爆炸 | Lala | PTS: PTS Main Channel | Cameo |
Variety shows
| Year | English Title | Chinese Title | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | One Million Star (season 3) | 超級星光大道3 | CTV: CTV Main Channel | |
| One Million Star (season 4) | 超級星光大道4 | CTV: CTV Main Channel | Ep. 10 | |
| 2009 | One Million Star (season 5) | 超級星光大道5 | CTV: CTV Main Channel | Ep. 17 |
| 2010 | One Million Star (season 6) | 超級星光大道6 | CTV: CTV Main Channel | Ep. 16 |
| 2016 | I Am a Singer (season 4) | 我是歌手（第四季） | HBS: Hunan Television | |
| 2017 | Singer 2017 | 歌手 2017 | HBS: Hunan Television | Ep. 13 |
| One Night Food Trip – International Edition | 吃貨48小時－國際篇 | tvN Asia | ||
| 2020 | Singer 2020 | 歌手·当打之年 | HBS: Hunan Television | |
| 2021 | Jungle Voice | 聲林之王 | ETtoday |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nomination | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 21st Golden Melody Awards | Song of the Year | "Riding A White Horse" | Nominated |
| Best Composer | Nominated | |||
| Best Mandarin Album | Lala Hsu | Nominated | ||
| Best New Artist | Won | |||
| Association of Music Workers in Taiwan | Ten Best Songs | "Riding A White Horse" | Won | |
| 2012 | "Under the Willow" | Won | ||
| 2013 | 24th Golden Melody Awards | Best Mandarin Female Singer | Ideal Life | Nominated |
| Association of Music Workers in Taiwan | Ten Best Songs | "Not That Hard" | Won | |
| Ten Best Albums | Ideal Life | Won | ||
| 2015 | 26th Golden Melody Awards | Song of the Year | "Missing" | Nominated |
| Best Mandarin Album | Missing | Nominated | ||
| Best Mandarin Female Singer | Nominated | |||
| Association of Music Workers in Taiwan | Ten Best Songs | "Missing" | Won | |
| Ten Best Albums | Missing | Won | ||
| 2016 | 53rd Golden Horse Awards | Best Original Film Song | Big Fish & Begonia (Performer: "It's Cold Without Your Love") | Nominated |
| 2017 | Association of Music Workers in Taiwan | Ten Best Songs | "You Made My Day" | Won |
| 2018 | 22nd China Music Awards | Song of the Year | "From Now On" | Won |
| Most Popular Singer-songwriter | Lala Hsu | Won | ||
| 29th Golden Melody Awards | Album of the Year | The Inner Me | Nominated | |
| Best Mandarin Album | Won | |||
| Best Mandarin Female Singer | Won | |||
| Association of Music Workers in Taiwan | Ten Best Songs | "The Prayer" | Won | |
| Ten Best Albums | The Inner Me | Won | ||
| 2019 | Ten Best Songs | "Springtime Allergies" | Won | |
| 2022 | 33rd Golden Melody Awards | Song of the Year | "Prototype" | Nominated |
| Producer of the Year, Single | "None of the Above" | Won | ||
| 13th Golden Indie Music Awards | Best R&B Song | "Break Off" | Nominated |
References
External links
