Twins is a Hong Kong-based Cantopop duo created in 2001 by mogul Albert Yeung's Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG), with elaborate attendant publicity. It consists of two young ex-models, Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin (蔡卓妍) and Gillian Chung Yan-Tung (鍾欣桐), who by birth is originally Chung Ka-Lai.
Charlene Choi, also called Ah Sa/Sasa/Char, was born in Canada on November 22, 1982. Gillian Chung, also called Ah Giu/Ah Gill/Gill Gill, was born in Hong Kong on January 21, 1981. Twins started their career in the summer in 2001, and they are well-known for their first song "Tutorial School of Love" (明愛暗戀補習社). Although they have become hugely popular they have often been criticized for lack of singing ability. In the 2006 Hong Kong Entertainment Awards ceremony Charlene tearfully acknowledged that there have been criticisms of Twins' singing abilities and that she hoped that she could improve in the coming year.
Before they worked for Emperor Entertainment Group, Gillian studied in RMIT,Melbourne, Australia and worked as a part-time model during one of her summer vacations in Hong Kong. She was then introduced by her model company to EEG. Similar to Gillian, Charlene was also a part-time model who has appeared in several advertisements. She became famous after her participation in a television program, Y2K, organised by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). They were introduced to each other music industry professional and they tried out for the music industry and later formed the band now known as Twins. Charlene is often regarded as the more energetic and out-going one out of the two, while Gillian is known as the prettier and quieter one.
Like most of the other new singers, Twins has made a great deal of effort to boost their popularity. During their first two years, they released 3 EPs and 3 albums, all of them selling very well. Most of their songs stayed at the top of many different pop tables for several weeks. Their achievements highlighted their popularity amongst other new singers. Twins had their first concert in 2002 and three more in 2003, one of which was held in Guangzhou. Between the year 2001 and 2003, they received a total of 48 musical awards, which was a remarkable feat for junior singers, and it showed that their effort had been highly appreciated. In 2003, they got the largest number of awards in the annual prize presentations from the four major media, which are RTHK [1], Commercial Radio [2], MetroRadio [3] and TVB.
Other business
Apart from their singing business, Twins has also been involved in a number of advertisements, television series and films. Within their first three years, they had appeared in 18 advertisements, a television series, and 16 films, being cast as main characters in 6 of these. (Detailed information listed below)
The Twins have also been selected to promote several social campaigns in Hong Kong, such as summer activities for the Home Affairs Bureau in July 2003.
Twins' effect
Twins started their singing business, there were very few group singers, of which Beyond was one of the more famous groups. However, after the great success of Twins, other music producers such as EMI and Universal Music realized there was a huge market for group singers. As a result, more group singers, such as Shine, Cookies, at17, Boy'z and 2R started their singing business.
Among those group singers, 2R is commonly compared with Twins because they are similar in many ways. For example, both of them consist of two members, which presents an image of twins. Also, their singing style and the type of songs are similar, too.
Criticism
Although commercially successful, Twins have been subjected to a wide range of criticism concerning their performance on music as well as filming. Many of the anonymous audiences and named critics criticize Twins for their offtune singing, unclear Mandarin pronunciation, and lack of a reckoning status as singers (since they showed that they have been distracted from their singing career). Nevertheless, Twins state that they are currently trying hard to improve in all aspects of their performance (singing, dancing, acting) and continue to take singing lessons with popular entertainment voice coach Christine Samson.
Twins' fate in the coming future
Experience shows, many pop group bands break-up after they acquire a considerable level of popularity. There are rumors that Twins is also facing the same fate. It has been suggested by their record company that their concerts due for early 2006 could be their last. However these rumours have been around before and have proved untrue.
Twins overcame rumours of splitting up when they attended the MTV Asia Awards in Thailand in May 2006 to win the Hong Kong Most Popular Singer Award. Twins ganered many more votes than Andy Lau, who was predicted to take home this award. It has been widely reported that this may be the best award for Twins.
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