Kay Tse (Traditional Chinese: 謝安琪 / Simplified Chinese: 谢安琪) (born March 13, 1977) is a Hong Kong pop singer. She was a newcomer to the music industry in 2005, and is known for her versatile vocal range and styles, including pop, alternative, rock, jazz, and soul. Since 2008, she has become one of the most popular female Hong Kong singers.
In 2002, whilst still a university student majoring in American Studies at the University of Hong Kong, Kay Tse entered a university singing competition and won First Prize. She also entered an inter-schools singing competition in 2003 and made the final five, impressing one of the judges so much that he offered her a professional contract with his small music label. At the time she was working as a piano teacher.
Tse’s debut Cantonese album “Kay One” was released on May 6, 2005 to an unsuspecting Hong Kong public. The album includes 2 non-Cantonese songs, an English version of 《我歌…故我在》 (“The One and Only”) and a Mandarin version of 《姿色份子》named “Plastic Roses” (《塑膠玫瑰》).
Initially, due to the dearth of love songs in her albums, Tse was not popular in the mainstream Cantopop market. Nevertheless, many music industry insiders have tipped her singing ability to have big potential (despite her plain looks) and regard her as one of a new breed of ‘non-idol’ singers who sell their singing ability rather than their looks.
Tse had several hits in 2005. These include the songs:
《姿色份子》, a fast catchy pop tune mocking the Asian dieting trend; 《我歌…故我在》, a slow ballad expressing a singer’s feelings on the stage; 《臭男人》, a funky song that makes fun of different types of men; 《開卷快樂》, a fast Jazz song satirizing the tabloid magazines; 《跟我走》, an encouraging, grateful song accompanied by a touching music video to thank her loyal fans who like and follow her music even though she doesn’t release many love songs to cater to the mainstream.
On January 1, 2006, Tse won the Bronze Award for CRHK 2005 Best Newcomer, along with Ivana Wong and Janice Vidal who won Silver and Gold respectively.
Despite not appearing in public for most of 2007 for maternal leave, Tse was still one of the top three female singers with the most airplay on the radio.
In 2008, 囍帖街 sung by Kay Tse became the undisputed Cantonese song of the year and has won almost every major award in several categories (including best song, best melody, best lyrics, and best album) for that year in Hong Kong, China, and overseas. Thus, Kay Tse also won the coveted Hong Kong Four Stations Media Award for being the artist who won the most awards in 2008. Consequently, her popularity rose sharply and she has since become one of the top female Hong Kong singers in just a few years.
In 2009, Tse will release a Mandarin album targeting mainland China and Taiwan markets.
Since 2006, Tse has won the CASH Golden Sail Music Awards for best female performance three times. in 2006 for 亡命之途 in 2008 for 17度 (note: 囍帖街 was also in final 5) in 2009 for 年度之歌
