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
Hsu in 2020
Born (1984-12-20) 20 December 1984 (age 39)
Alma materCentral Taiwan University of Science and Technology
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Years active2008–present
Spouse
Bill Chia
(m. 2018)
Children2
Musical career
GenresMandopop
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • drum kit
  • guitar
  • piano
LabelsAsiaMuse (2009–present)
Lala Hsu
Traditional Chinese徐佳瑩
Simplified Chinese徐佳莹
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXú Jiāyíng
Wade–GilesHsü2 Chia1-ying2
Southern Min
Hokkien POJChhî Ka-êng

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

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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

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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

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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]

 
Hsu in July 2023

On 22 June 2022, Hsu released her sixth Mandarin studio album Gei.[16]

Musical style

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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

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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

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Filmography

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Films

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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

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ 2010第21屆金曲獎得獎名單 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  2. ^ 《星光3》自創曲勝出 星光三徐佳瑩奪冠 (in Chinese). 中國時報. 16 August 2008. Archived from the original on 17 August 2008.
  3. ^ "徐佳瑩 (Lala Hsu) 個人檔案與歷年專輯" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  4. ^ "金曲獎第29屆得獎名單即時報 – 中央社 CNA". Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  5. ^ 校園金曲獎 活動回顧 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 30 June 2008.
  6. ^ 星光3班選20強 美國區4名過關 徐佳瑩23分成資優生 (in Chinese). 中時電子報. 17 March 2008. Archived from the original on 21 March 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  7. ^ 賴聖恩領軍台灣20強 徐佳瑩獲評審滿分激賞 (in Chinese). 中時電子報. 25 February 2008. Archived from the original on 29 February 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  8. ^ 《星光3》自創曲勝出 星光三徐佳瑩奪冠 (in Chinese). 中國時報. 16 August 2008. Archived from the original on 17 August 2008.
  9. ^ 徐佳瑩摘三班星冠 抱回250萬元 (in Chinese). 聯合報. 16 August 2008. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  10. ^ 星光三班 徐佳瑩奪冠 (in Chinese). 自由時報. 16 August 2008. Archived from the original on 18 August 2008.
  11. ^ 2010金曲獎入圍公佈 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  12. ^ 2010第21屆金曲獎入圍名單 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 16 May 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  13. ^ 2010第21屆金曲獎得獎名單 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  14. ^ 「讓我的音樂拯救你們」—徐佳瑩 是日救星演唱會. KKBOX (in Chinese). 27 April 2017. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  15. ^ ETtoday新聞雲. "《聲林之王3》12/3首播 庾澄慶、徐佳瑩重磅合唱 | ETtoday星光雲 | ETtoday新聞雲". star.ettoday.net (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  16. ^ 中時新聞網. "徐佳瑩新專輯《給》驚喜 兒子小樂高獻聲「我聽到都快哭了」 - 娛樂". 中時新聞網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  17. ^ Fang, Chia-lin (5 August 2018). 徐佳瑩結婚了!臉書「4宣言」甜蜜告白比爾賈 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). TVBS News. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  18. ^ Pin-yu, Shih; Yen-ni, Yu (6 December 2020). 徐佳瑩曬兒子小腳 報喜:我剛剛生了一個孩子 (in Traditional Chinese). China Times. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
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