Profile
Name: Hacken Lee
Birthday: December 6
Astrological Sign: Sagittarius
Height: 5’8”
Weight: Approximately 130+ pounds
Education: Form 7
[according to Carmen's site, he went to High School and 1 Year of College]
Favorite Food: Steak, Seafood
Favorite Fruit: Lychee
Dislike Food: Salty Fish, Shrimp Paste, Durian
Favorite Place: Japan, Australia, Thailand
Most Disliked Place: Public Restroom
Favorite Sport: Soccer, Basketball, Golf
Most Disliked Sport: All the Water sports
Favorite Sport Team: England, Manchester United, Michael Jordan’s Time at Chicago Bulls
Dislike Sport Team: Germany, Argentina, Arsenal Asia
Favorite Sport Player: David Beckham, Roy Keane, Ryan Joseph Wilson, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Alan Iverson
Dislike Sport Player: Thierry Henry, Fredrik, Ljungberg, Rivaldo, Shaq O’Neal
Favorite Singer: Alan Tam and Tamaki Koji
Favorite Actor: Stephen Chow
Unforgettable Experience: Every concert
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Extra Info from Hacken's 2006 World Soccer Blog (translated by Jane)
- Family Members: Dad, Mom, and younger sister
- Favorite Actors: Chow Yin Fat and Stephen Chow
- Played Soccer years: since the early days
- Watched Soccer years: since the early days
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Extra Info from http://clik.to/hackenkenix:
Nick Name: Lek Yun [Smart Person]
Birthplace: Hong Kong
Languages Spoken: Cantonese, Mandarin, English
Favorite Hobbies: Singing, Writing/Composing Songs, Listening to Music
Favorite Sports: Soccer, Golf, Tennis, Basketball
Favorite Colors: Blue, White, Red
Favorite Fruit: Mango
Favorite Drink: Coke
Favorite Type of Clothes: Jeans & Sports clothing
Favorite Singers: Alan Tam, Sam Hui, Wham, Air Supply
Favorite Movie: Terminator
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Also, Hacken was born in the year of the Goat: 1967.
Hacken Lee -> Biography
Hacken Lee was born on December 6, 1967 in Hong Kong. He and his parents lived in Macau for a short period of time. Later on, his family (mother, father, and he would later have a younger sister) moved to Hong Kong. Hacken was an average student in school and sometimes sneaked out of school to go eat or have tea with his friends. Ever since he was young, he loved soccer and Alan Tam’s music. Hacken’s uncle had an interior design business, so his family wanted him to study interior design and later run his uncle’s company in the United States. (source: HKVP Radio) But in 1985 (he was 18 years old then), Hacken’s life changed when he entered TVB's 4th Annual New Talent Competition (a singing competition) and met and became friends with fellow contestant, Vivian Chow. Though Hacken did not make it into the finals of this competition, Vivian persuaded him to enter the 19 Territories Singing Competition a couple months later. (source: HKVP Radio) Hacken entered and won first place in the competition. Hacken recalls, "When I won the competition, it messed up all the plans for college. Winning first place got me a PolyGram recording contract. It was so much fun, so I never thought about not signing this record deal. Now my family has immigrated so they're not against it anymore. If I could choose again, I would still be a singer." (source: HKVP Radio) Also, Hacken was very happy to be able to work in the same record company as his idol, Alan Tam, who he would later become very good friends with. So, he stopped going to college (which he had completed one year of) and became a singer. At that time, who knew that Hacken’s life would be full of twists and turns? Yet, Hacken never gave up on his dreams and in recent years, has become one of the most famous and respected singers in Hong Kong.
At the start of Hacken’s career, everything seemed to be going his way, as he quickly became well-liked and known for his amazing voice. In 1986 Hacken’s first EP and later his first CD (Signs of Life) were released. Though sales for his first album were not very good, it received good reviews and professionals alike agreed that he was very talented. (Carmen’s website) After Hacken acted in a TV series, Summer of ’88, he became more well-known and his records sales went up. (source: Wikipedia) Also, Hacken started winning various music awards. Hacken also started doing advertisements, participating in charity shows, etc. (Carmen’s website) Hacken’s inspirational song, Red Sun (which he wrote the lyrics to) became a hit song in 1992 (and it’s still popular today, often sung by Hacken at concerts/charity shows, sung by other singers, or played at various events) and boosted his popularity and career sky high. That same year, he also met Emily Lo (when he was a guest at the Miss Hong Kong 1992 Pageant), who would later become his girlfriend. During December 1993, Hacken’s first concert (8 shows) was held at Hong Kong Coliseum and tickets were sold out. (Carmen’s website) In 1994 he released his first Mandarin album to try to break into the mainland China and Taiwan market, but was unsuccessful. In the next few years, just as fast as he became famous, he became forgotten.
“In life, there are twists and turns, but I have to get through it!” (Lyrics from Hacken’s familiar song, Red Sun)
Starting in 1995, Hacken’s career went downhill, mainly because of his bad luck and him not getting along with other people. Hacken had some contract disputes with Polygram, and soon left them to join a different record company. But that record company was having its own problems. (Wikipedia) Hacken changed his appearance, went to New York City to study music, and cooperated more with TVB, but was still not able to gain much recognition. He grew a beard and left his hair long, looking tougher and older, different from his previous clean, “nice guy” look. He traveled to New York City, USA, to study music there for a few months that year. (Elaine’s website) Then, he released a CD titled Reborn (signifying that he is now different and better than before?). Unfortunately, many of the songs had a jazz style that the Hong Kong audience did not like, and only a couple songs became hit songs. Hacken tried to release a jazz songs CD again later that year, where he worked with Sony to record the songs in the USA. But when the Hackenation CD was released, the CD sales were once again very low.
Worse of all, Hacken had a concert in October 1995 that probably had the lowest ticket sales in the concert history of Hong Kong—only about 50% of the tickets were sold. (CASHFLOW interview) This was a very traumatic experience for Hacken, having to stay on stage and pretend nothing was wrong even though he was extremely upset when he saw all the empty seats. According to Hacken’s long-time fan, Rou, Hacken has said before that those 10 days of concerts were the most disappointing days in his career. And in an interview with CASHFLOW (Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong) in June 2003, Hacken has referred to this incident as “the most difficult incident [he] encountered [in his] life.” Fortunately, Hacken’s optimism greatly helped him through this tough time. [You can read more about Hacken’s thoughts about this time in his life in the CASHFLOW interview.] Also, his good friend, Alan Tam supported him during that time and surprised him by coming on stage in the middle of one of his concerts and standing behind Hacken while he sang a song. After Hacken finished the song, Alan said that if he wanted more people to watch his concert, he must work harder. (according to TONG) During Hacken’s 2002 concert, he tells the audience that he really wants to thank “one person” (fans think this person is Alan), who, at that time, encouraged him to work harder and that if he could improve--his fans would surely come back to him one day. (fan Alan Alan’s message)
But why did Hacken lose fans and became less unpopular back then? There are many possible explanations. Some people say it was because too much pressure was put on Hacken to be as great as Alan Tam, because Alan was telling everyone how talented Hacken was and that he could replace Alan’s place in the HK music world. Of course, such great expectations, at such a young age, are hard to live up to. No matter how great he was, the HK audience did not think he was good enough. On the other hand, many people think that it was because after Hacken started winning awards and becoming famous, he got arrogant and started to offend people with his overconfident attitude. But actually, this is just because Hacken is a very straightforward person who doesn’t like to sugarcoat his words. [Read more about Hacken explaining this problem in the 2nd part of the Andy Lau x Hacken Lee Crossover Scoop interview that Jane translated.] Hacken’s long-time fan, Rou, explains the problem very well: “Hacken has always been a frank and straightforward person and speaks his mind. He admits that success did get into his head, but he was just being himself and saw nothing wrong with it at that time. It was only when people told him about what they thought about him that he began to reflect on his behaviour and change his attitude for the better. Today, Hacken is still that frank person but he is notably more restrained, cos he does not want history to repeat itself. IMO, Hacken's frankness is good in the sense that it makes him more real, unlike other celebrities who put on a false front.” In the interview with CASHFLOW from June 2003, Hacken explains “. . . at that time I didn’t think I was arrogant. . . . [But] No matter what my motive was at the time, my speech and behaviour did make people feel uncomfortable. In response to many friends’ advice, I decided to make a change.” Lastly, others believe it was the popularity of the “Four Heavenly Kings” that pushed Hacken and other singers out of the limelight. During the time that these four singers were extremely popular during the mid-1990s, they dominated the music charts and CD sales. [Read more about this and why Hacken does not hold a grudge against them in the “Andy Lau x Hacken Lee Crossover” Scoop interview that Jane translated.] Though Hacken sang very well, his looks could not compete with these heartthrobs. Hacken had to get used to presenting awards to them rather than receiving awards during these tough times.
During the late1990s, Hacken spent a lot of time working on TVB series or hosting various TVB shows to have some work to do and hopefully become more well-known. He still released CDs, but the CD sales were not ideal. In 1997, he released a Mandarin CD again, hoping to break into the Mainland market. But once again, he was unsuccessful. Hacken still received a few music awards each year, but by this time, his singing career was going nowhere. In 1998, he could not release a CD because all the record companies rejected him. (source: HK Top Ten) Luckily, since Hacken is a big soccer fan, when the 1998 World Cup championships started during the summer, TVB picked him to be one of the hosts of a sports show and they promoted his soccer song, Adventure of a Soccer Fan, which became a hit song. Hacken explains in an interview in January 2005, "TVB gave me a lot of opportunities and even when I didn't have a contract with them, they sought me to do a lot of big shows. And when I worked for them, I became friends with a lot of employees, like producers and directors. When work came up that fit me, they would call me. Someone asked me, how come TVB doesn't look for other singers, because they are so many of them? I guessed because TVB doesn't need to go through managers and record labels to get to me. They contact me directly and think it's easier. Plus, I'm cheap, beautiful and upright, haha." [Reporter: We don't need to explain what "cheap" is. "Beautiful" means talented and "upright" means he doesn't mind].” (Source: HKVP Radio) Hacken actually thought of giving up singing to become a sports commentator for soccer games then, but he changed his mind and decided to “work on other jobs and wait for the chance [to make a comeback].” (source: HK Top Ten) During that time, Hacken joined the HK Celebrity Soccer Team and his friends from the team (such as Alan Tam, Nat Chan, Eric Tsang, etc.) also helped provide him with more work opportunities. (source: HK Top Ten) Since more people started to like and recognize Hacken, he was able to star in a TVB series, As Sure as Fate. Hacken was also able to sign a contract with the record company Star Entertainment and released a new + old songs collection CD that included Adventure of a Soccer Fan and other CDs that year. His CDs started selling well again, as more people remembered him and liked him again. But Hacken would still not have “the chance” he was waiting for until 2001, when he made his comeback (at the age of 33!).
As the end of the millennium neared, Hacken’s bad luck started turning into good luck. In 1999, he started hosting the weekly music show JSG (Jade Solid Gold) for TVB, which gave him more publicity and fans. Hacken also got to be Dodo Cheng’s co-host in the important New Year show to welcome year 2000 at the end of the year. In the year 2000, Hacken starred in a stage musical, Ricky My Love, which was quite popular. By now, he was part of the Universal record company, and he continued releasing CDs, having a few hit songs. By the end of the year, Hacken starred in a TVB series called Street Fighters with Edmond Leung and newcomer Michelle Ye. It was a low-budget modern series that did not get much attention. Hacken was still working on JSG when the opportunity to make his comeback finally came in February 2001. According to Hacken’s big fan, Stephanie, The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra wanted to cooperate with Alan Tam for a concert. But Alan was busy, so he recommended Hacken to replace him (Isn’t it ironic, how earlier, replacing Alan harmed Hacken’s career, but almost 10 years later, it helped him make his comeback!) Loyal Hacken fan Rou explains: “he finally picked up the courage to have 2 concerts in conjunction with [Hong Kong] Philharmonic Orchestra in 2001. (He had a phobia of concerts after 1995.) The concerts were an unexpected success and it grew [to] 4 concerts and was a huge morale booster for him. The concerts CDs, VCDs also had high sales and with that, Hacken went back to singing [full time].” Actually, even then, Hacken still needed to overcome an obstacle that came from his own people. His manager thought he was too old (he was 33 years old) and not popular enough for the CDs and VCDs of the concert to sell well, so he rejected Hacken’s request that the concert be released on CD and VCD. Yet Hacken believed in himself and kept insisting that the CDs, VCDs, and DVDs be released. Finally, in March 2001, the CDs were released and the VCDs and DVDs were released after that. At the time, the excellent CD sales broke a Hong Kong record for concert CD sales!
Hacken was definitely on his way to great success, as his popularity soared and everyone started appreciating his music again. In that year, he won many awards for his hit song, Flying Flowers and a couple other songs. Hacken filmed a TVB series about lawyers with Kenix Kwok, called Legal Entanglement (in which he played the role of a lawyer) in 2001 that did not air in Hong Kong until the next year. At the start of 2002, Hacken finally had a concert during Lunar New Year in Hong Kong, and it had been 9 years since he had his last solo concert there. In February 2002, Hacken died his hair gray for the concert (later in the year, he died it to yellow/blonde, at around August) and had worked out since the year before to look more manly and tough. He even danced (he has always said he’s scared of dancing because he’s not good at it) with some sexy dancers while wearing sunglasses. Hacken’s new image was exciting and impressive. He sang some new songs and many of his classic songs. Tickets were sold out, and Hacken was very happy with the success of the concert. He even cried during the last concert! Right before Hacken’s first concert, TVB started airing Legal Entanglement. The series was very successful. Super fan Rou remembers: “In 2002, he had his solo concert and this concert was a rousing success. The CDs, VCDs, DVDs had high sales and gained him the awards of IFPI Bestselling Male Singer and IFPI Bestselling Album (HK). His show, LE [Legal Entanglement] also had high ratings at a time when TVB ratings were in a slump, further stamping his popularity. June [2002] was World Cup month and Hacken was the ambassador for TVB [he was one of the sports commentators, like he is now], singing the theme song [for the soccer sport show. The song was Victory, in which Hacken used the hit instrumental, Victory, by popular England group, Bond] and hosting the programs. During this time, his exposure rate [was] brought to an all-time high and this was followed by Oi But Sek Sau [Can’t Let Hands Go] and Gou Mui [Tall Girl, in which Gigi Leung composed the music and Hacken wrote the lyrics], two highly popular songs. The rest, as they say, is history.” Hacken continued to cooperate with TVB when he made a music special that starred himself, Gigi Leung, Cecilia Cheung, and Andy Lau that summer. At about this time, he finally had an official [before, he only really had fansites] website. His CD sales were high, fans were cheering for him everywhere he went—his popularity was at its peak. He won many awards for Victory, Tall Girl, and Can’t Let Hands Go at the end of the year. Even with all his success, Hacken remained modest and did not agree with reporters who said he was the favorite to win the most coveted award for male Hong Kong singers—the JSG Most Popular Male Singer award.
In January 2003, to the delight of fans and fellow singer friends, Hacken received the JSG Most Popular Male Singer award to thunderous applause and cheers! Hacken waited 17 years to win this award! Eric Tsang revealed afterwards that the other singers and he were planning on protesting right then if the award was not given to Hacken, who everyone thought truly deserved that award. Everyone already guessed that Hacken would win before the ceremony. But when Alan Tam came on-stage to present the award, everyone was completely sure. “Alan Tam Wing Lun personally presented him with the award, but also expressed that he has already found a successor in Hacken. He also transferred his father's advice to him in 85's award show "Win But Don't Be Proud" to Hacken and hoped that Hacken would continue to work hard. Hacken humbly said that he is not qualified to be Alan's successor, but [at least] the victory did not disappoint Alan's expectation in him. Hacken also honestly thanked TVB because over the years, during good and bad times, TVB has given him so many opportunities. At his worst at least he was able to host TVB Jade Solid Gold. He also thanked his [girlfriend], who he said might be so happy for him at home that [she is] crying.” (source: Hong Kong Entertainment Review) Afterwards, reporters asked him why he did not cry when he won, since he had waited so long and worked so hard to finally get the award. He explained that he wanted to be able to thank everyone properly, so he tried not to cry [though his eyes were red and welled up with tears]. This was Hacken’s message (translated by Carmen/Elaine? and Aiwah), which he posted the next day, at his official website:
11652. Hacken 1/6/03 10:02:42 PM
Thank you every friend that has supported me all along, no matter if you were there at the show or at home watching, without you all, I would not have got this big award that I wished I could have for the past 17 years. This year, I will work even harder. Also, hope I can get other awards. This year’s award is the biggest and everyone can see it, I can share this with you. The concert has already arrived “on my doorstep”, so…………. I will try my best!
As many of you know, Hacken’s success continued with his collaboration with Alan Tam for a Chinese New Year concert in Hong Kong (mentioned in his message above) at the start of 2003, called Left Lun, Right Lee (the phrase in Cantonese means “neighbors” or “friends”). Alan is his good friend and mentor, who he has also said is like a father to him--but because of Alan’s playful personality, is more like a little brother to him. Since they are such good friends, their concert and song (by the same name), was extremely welcomed. But around March, Hong Kong had many SARS outbreaks, and Hacken and Alan had to postpone the second round of their concerts in April until later that year. From April until June, Hacken and many other artists, like everyone else in Hong Kong, spent most of their time in-doors to avoid being infected by SARS. Hacken’s workload was drastically decreased (like most other artists), so he spent a lot of time playing mahjong with Alan and his other friends. During the month of May, Hacken, Alan and other big stars took part in the huge concert set up by Anita Mui to raise money for SARS victims, called the 1:99 All Star Charity Concert (1:99 being the bleach to water ratio that the Hong Kong people were instructed to use to mix up a solution used to disinfect their homes and themselves with), which included many famous artists, such as Andy Lau, Sammi Cheung, and Jacky Cheung. Hacken and Alan were quite popular and welcomed with a lot of applause, having one of the more popular performances that night. Hacken and other singers took part in various charity shows to raise money for SARS victims both during the time outbreaks were still going on and afterwards. By June 2003, the disease was finally contained in Hong Kong. Everyone, could go about their business as usual again, no more masks and empty streets. Hacken soon became busy with work again.
At the end of June, Hacken and Alan, as promised, continued their concerts that were postponed in April. The concerts were very successful, though they kept making fun of other Hong Kong celebrities. But Andy Lau (one of the people they made fun of) was not mad at them and even praised them for cheering up Hong Kong people with their jokes! He sent them a big floral arrangement that said: "I Lau Tak Wa sincerely show deep appreciation for the two superstars of Left Lun Right Lee, Lee Hark Kun and Tam Wing Lun! The content of the concert came from a place full of justice. The words were humorous and thought provoking. They brought joy to the public! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I do not mind what you have said at all. Please continue to say them every night!" (source: HK Top Ten) In August, Hacken and Alan had an overseas concert tour that also had great results, performing in the United States, Canada, and Australia. By the end of the year, Hacken once again received many awards at the various music awards shows. In January 2004, Hacken once again received the JSG Most Popular Male Singer award. He continued working with Alan on their second concert that would also take place during Chinese New Year, called Left Lun, Right Lee: Happy 2004. Though they were still very popular and their concert ticket sales and CD sales were great, they were not as popular as the year before, and some critics started saying that it was time for Hacken and Alan to go their separate ways before fans really got bored with them appearing and singing together all the time. Hacken and Alan agreed that they should not continue working together on concerts because Hacken needed to maintain his image as a solo singer. But they promised fans they would cooperate on projects every few years. At the end of 2003, Hacken was nominated for and received many awards. He even had a breakthrough when he won the Chik Chak award for My Favorite Male Singer (voted on by the audience at the awards show that night), Hacken never received any awards from that awards show before that year, never mind such a big award as that. Hacken was so happy, he stood up on his chair and jumped up and down! Yet, in the next two years, Hacken was not able to win that award.
In 2004, Hacken had good CD sales and remained popular, yet he still decided to film a movie instead of just focusing on releasing CDs. Hacken filmed a movie with five other men (among them, George Lam, Ekin Cheng, Andy Hui, and Chapman To), called Six Strong Guys, around April 2004, which was difficult at first for Hacken, because he was not used to filming overnight and having such a tight work schedule. Hacken talked about how he had to work in movies as well as sing to make enough money because the current Hong Kong CD sales were doing poorly because of illegal downloading on the internet. Hacken and other artists took part in several special shows or functions to remind the public to not download songs illegally. During April, Hacken’s fan club was re-established, and Hacken had the first meeting with them during the month of June. Unluckily, at around the end of that summer, Hacken had a vocal chord problem because he was over-working himself (luckily at around summer of 2005, Joey Yung recommended an acupuncturist to Hacken that was able to cure his vocal chords, for which he was very grateful to “big sister” Joey for helping him out! =P Hacken and Joey collaborated successfully at the end of 2004 on a concert for 903 radio, which helped Hacken and Joey to get to know each other better.). At the end of the year, Hacken still received many awards. However, Hacken did not win the JSG Most Popular Male Singer award in January 2005, which would have tied him with Andy Lau for his record of winning the award 3 years in a row. Andy Lau won in 2005. Hacken was disappointed, but still very happy for his good friend. He promised fans that he (together, with his fans) would work even harder in 2005 to get the award next year.
At around March 2005, Hacken and his old friend Joey Leung hosted a new TVB show called Minutes to Fame together. It got great ratings, and Hong Kong people enjoyed watching the funny show, where the hosts and celebrity guests often had fun teasing the contestants that could not sing or acted very strangely on the show. The show was so successful that Hacken agreed to do a second season, delaying the release of his Mandarin CD, which Universal did not allow him to work on until 2005. In May, Hacken went overseas for concerts once again, to the United States and Canada, also spending some time judging contestants for the Minutes to Fame show in Canada. During this year, there were a lot of rumors saying Hacken would soon marry Emily, all of which Hacken denied. His Mandarin CD was finally released at the end of July, and CD sales were great. At the end of the year, he was really happy to finally win some Mandarin music awards for his Mandarin song, Love Can Ask Whom. During September, Hacken managed to record all his coming CD’s songs live in a school concert hall, resulting in a CD called Concert Hall, which sold very well. Hacken was the first Hong Kong singer to release his CD on a dual disc, which meant a single disc had a CD on one side and a DVD on the other side. By the end of 2005, Hacken received many award nominations and awards again (including some awards for Minutes to Fame, given by TVB), but he had a lot of competition from Eason Chan and Leo Ku. It was hard to guess who would win the JSG Most Popular Male Singer award in January 2006. But many people thought it would be Eason, since he made a strong comeback that year.
On January 15, 2006, Hacken won the big award for the third time, and the first person he hugged was Andy Lau (Andy Lau also hugged Hacken first when he won in 2005). Hacken was extremely happy and jumping up and down a lot! He even announced that he would get married this year and shouted out “Thank you, my wife!” Hacken had a solo concert during Chinese New Year again, four years after his last solo concert. He dyed his hair purple and spiked it up for the concert. He even brought his dog, Peanut, to the concert to demonstrate some tricks (because the new year is the year of the dog)! During April, Hacken, Alan, Gigi Leung, Jackie Chan, and other singers had the honor of taking part in singing a song, Olympic Beijing, which would be used to promote the 2008 Beijing Olympics. (source: HK Top Ten) This year is World Cup year again, so Hacken has been busy writing soccer blogs, recording songs for his upcoming CD, and being one of the sports commentators for TVB’s sports show covering the 2006 World Cup championships ever since the World Cup began in June. Hacken’s soccer song, “I’m Wearing #10”, is very popular lately, and Hacken also wrote the lyrics to the song. Earlier this year, Hacken went to Japan on holiday like he usually does each year, with his girlfriend Emily. The most recent news about his wedding was that he already took wedding pictures with Emily in England. Also, Hacken himself said the wedding would probably have to take place after he releases his Concert Hall 2 CD. This could mean that Hacken won’t have time to get married until at least this autumn. Hacken has said that he would like a low-key wedding many times before. However, he says it will not be as low-key as Eason Chan’s (which was very low-key, with no press invited to take pictures or record the ceremony). After they get married, Hacken says he would love to have children as soon as possible because he does not want to have too big an age gap between him and his children. Also, Hacken, Alan, and Joey Leung spent the start of this year and the end of last year filming their movie, We Are Family. The movie was released at the June 1st and received mixed reviews. Nevertheless, many fans like the movie, and it seems quite successful in the Mainland and Hong Kong. Hacken is probably currently in Germany as I am writing this right now. He is there because he is a Carlsberg soccer ambassador and they sponsored him and some fans to go see a soccer game in Germany. Hacken said in his recent message that he would watch two matches, the Germany vs. Argentina (June 30) and the England (his favorite team) vs. Portugal (July 1) match. Now you are all caught up on Hacken’s life (in general) and his most important achievements, from his birth to today, June 29th (in Hong Kong time, not my time (PST), because this is about Hacken’s life, and he lives in Hong Kong, after all)! Welcome to the very big Hacken fans family! We live all over the world and wholeheartedly support Hacken! At this point, are you wondering why so many people like Hacken?
Hacken is so popular both because he can sing well and he is a very likeable person. Everyone probably knows Hacken is a fantastic singer who has an amazing voice. [To read more about Hacken’s good traits and why I like Hacken, go to the Forum, in the Fans section, and read the “=0) Why I'm Hacken's fan” article I wrote! Don’t worry, it’s not as long as this one!
] But did you know that Hacken and Jacky Cheung are the only two Hong Kong singers that are highly respected when it comes to singing live? I have read that people compare Hacken and Jacky’s live singing in this way: if Jacky’s live singing was considered “perfect”, then Hacken’s would be considered “flawless”. Hacken is also really nice to his fans, keeping in touch with fans often by posting messages telling fans what he’s up to, or responding to fans’ questions or comments at his official website. He has been posting messages to fans since around the year 2000. He also meets fans from his fan club whenever he can when he’s overseas, especially in Singapore, which he has gone to a lot for concerts with Alan. Hacken is so popular partly because of his amazing voice, but also because of his great personality. He is very clever, charming, and has a great sense of humor--which makes him very likeable, a good host, and has made many famous celebrities like Eric Tsang, Andy Lau, and Nat Chan like him. So, even though some people say Hacken is only successful today because of Alan’s and TVB’s help, it requires a lot of talent and hard work on Hacken’s part to bring him the success and fame he has today! Hacken’s fan, Rou, points out that “During an interview [in 2003], Hacken pondered whether Eric and Nat liked him because Alan influenced all his friends to like Hacken. (Eric, Nat and Alan are an influential trio in HK, with the nickname Fu Luk Sou). So the reporter asked Nat for his response and Nat noted that he's a person not easy to get along with and so it’s very hard for him to like a person, much less get influenced by others. He said he liked Hacken because [he liked him] from the bottom of his heart and not because of any other factors. Eric also said that Hacken is one who listens to advice and works on it. He noted that in spite of Alan helping Hacken, it ultimately boils down on Hacken himself to achieve success and Hacken did it.” Hacken is a truly talented and exceptional artist! I am so happy and proud that he was able to overcome the obstacles in his life to be where he is today. I’m sure he will be a great father, too. Let’s all wait and see when Hacken and Emily finally get married! I’m sure it will be a very joyous and big event, which a lot of people have been waiting for! We wish Hacken and Emily a very happy and loving marriage!!! We all wish Hacken continued success and many more years of making great music! “Let the night's wind, gently breeze by
With gift of floral fragrance, as if blessing you and I
Let the night's stars, gently shine above
Shine on your dreams, dancing like wave blossoms”
(Lyrics from Hacken’s inspirational song, Red Sun)
TV series and other shows:
2005
Minutes to Fame
Miss Hong Kong
2004
Sunshine Heartbeat (guest-star)
Love Paradise 2004 Musical Special Series
2002
Legal Entanglement (TVB series)
World Cup
Hong Kong Can Do It
2001
Hong Kong Tourist Fun
2000
Street Fighters (TVB series)
1999
Jade Solid Gold
I.T. Files
1998 World Cup
1997
As Sure as Fate (TVB series)
1996
Olympics Challenge
1994
Master of Martial Arts (TVB series)
1992
Eastern Hero (TVB series)
Angel’s Call (TVB series)
1991
A Life of His Own (TVB series)
1989
Two of a Kind (TVB series)
1988
Teenagers No More (TVB series)
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Movies:
Fruit Punch (1991)
No More Love,No More Death (1993)
Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star (1996) (guest-star)
Comic King (2001) (guest-star)
Clueless (2001)
Six Strong Guys (2004)
We Are Family (2006)
[Also, Hacken and Joey Leung were the voices of the 2 main dog characters in the HK version of the American movie, Good Boy, in 2004.]
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Books:
Hacken and Alan each released a book (the 2 books were sold together) about their lives in 2003, entitled "Left Alan, Right Hacken" (just like the name of their concert). I think Hacken wrote some passages in the book.
___________________________
Some of the shows that he hosted (compiled by Kate):
1992-1995 (?): Talk of the Century (AKA Smart Person in the New century) [A funny TVB variety show he hosted w/Joey Leung]
1996: He was one of the sports commentators for the TVB Olympics coverage in the USA (along w/Andy Lau, etc.)
1998: He was one of sports commentators for the World Cup 1998 TVB sports show.
1998: Miss Interline 1998 (co-host)
1999-2000: He co-hosted A LOT of TVB specials, such as: TVB Gala Show, TVB New Year 2000, a charity show relating to Buddhist relics that Andy Lau took part in, the Relight a New Life 2000 charity show (Nick Cheung was the co-host), etc.
2000-2001 (?): He was the co-host of the JSG show
2001: He was one of MCs for the final segment of Miss HK 2001 Pageant
2002: He was one of the sports commentators for the 2002 World Cup TVB sports show
August 2002: He was one of hosts 4 the semi-finals of Miss HK 2002 Pageant
March 2005: He co-hosted Minutes to Fame with Joey Leung
August 2005: He was one of hosts for the Miss HK 2005 pageant
June-July 2006: He was one of sports commentators for the World Cup 2006 TVB sports show
________________________________
Helpful links:
- go here to read some reviews of Hacken's movies:
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/lee_hacken.htm
- you can watch some of the themevideos of Hacken's tvb series at
http://youtube.com/profile?user=kate6002
- http://hkadb.net/info/Minutes_To_Fame
[info about the popular Minutes to Fame (AKA The Cruel Bell) show he hosted]
- http://hkadb.net/info/Lee%2C_Hacken_%28Lee_Hak-Kan%29
[short bio and links to pages w/info about Hacken's series/movies. some has the themesong(s) he sang.]
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REVIEWS FOR SOME OF HIS TVB SERIES:
-Eastern Hero
http://www.bluecrys.com/rev_eastern.html
[**WARNING**: detailed review, A LOT of spoilers and gives away the ending! some pics]
-Angel's Call
http://tvbmusic.tripod.com/songs/angelcall.html [songs, pics]
http://www.bluecrys.com/rev_call.html [review, pics]
-A Life of His Own
http://tvbmusic2.tripod.com/songs/lifehis.html [song, pics]
-As Sure As Fate
http://www.spcnet.tv/reviews/review.php?rID=1078
[review, may have some SPOILERS]
-Street Fighters
http://www.spcnet.tv/reviews/review.php?rID=649
[review, may have some SPOILERS]
-Legal Entanglement
http://www.spcnet.tv/reviews/review.php?rID=297
[review, may have some SPOILERS]
Awards:
(in the format: AWARD NAME/ALBUM OR SONG NAME)
2005
-JSG Season 2 Gold Song/ Medical Ethics
-JSG Season 2 Most Popular Mandarin Song/ Ask About Love
-Metro Radio Mandarin Gold Song/ Ask About Love
-Metro Radio Mandarin Hong Kong Male Artist
-The 2nd Annual China Gold Album Hong Kong Most Popular Male Artist
-IFPI Hong Kong Best Selling Male Artist
-IFPI Hong Kong Top Ten Best Selling Cantonese Album/ Left Tam Right Lee 2004 Concert
-JSG Season 1 Gold Song/ Festival
-GuangZhou Charts - HK Most Popular Male Artist
-GuangZhou Charts - HK Top Ten Gold Song/ Acrobats
-GuangZhou Charts - HK Best Duet/ Na Na Sound (w/Alan)
-RTHK - Year round Best Selling Artist (1st place)
-RTHK - Nation Most Popular Artist (3rd Place)
-RTHK - Most Outstanding Popular Male Artist
-RTHK - Most Outstanding Popular Artist
-RTHK - Gold Song/ Acrobats
-Roadshow Most Vote Male Artist
-Roadshow Top Ten MV/ Acrobats
-2004 JSG Gold Song/ Acrobats
-Commercial Radio Top Ten (3rd place)/ Acrobats
-Commercial Radio Singer and Composer (3rd Place)
_____________
2004
-Four station Song Award/ Goodbye Kiss Position
-Metro Radio World Popular Artist
-Metro Radio Popular Male Artist
-Metro Radio Popular Song/ Na Na Seng (Quickly)
-Metro Radio Popular Song/ Acrobats
-Metro Radio Popular Song/ Goodbye Kiss Position
-JSG Season 2 Gold Song/ Acrobats
-Gold Chart - People's World Most Popular Cantonese Song/ Six Feet Troubles
-Metro Radio Year Round Most Popular Radio Played Song/ Goodbye Kiss Position
->Ming Pao Awards Most Prominent Male Artist
-World Chinese Song Charts - Most Outstanding Artist
-World Chinese Song Charts - Best Duet/ Na Na Seng (Quickly)
-IFPI 2003 Best Selling Album/ Left Alan Right Lee Concert (Left Lun, Right Lee, or "Neighbors")
-IFPI 2003 Top Ten Best Selling Album/ Left Alan Right Lee Concert (Left Lun, Right Lee, or "Neighbors")
-IFPI 2003 Top Ten Best Selling Album/ Custom Made
-Song Charts 2003 - Hong Kong Most Popular Male Artist
-Song Charts 2003 - Best Duet/ "Left Lun, Right Lee", or "Neighbors"
-Song Charts - 2003 Most Popular Gold Song/ I Will not Sing (or I Can't Sing)
-2003 JSG Gold - Most Popular Male Artist
-2003 JSG Gold - Gold Song/ I Will not Sing
-Commercial Radio '03 - Most Popular Male Artist
-Commercial Radio '03 Top Ten (4th Place)/ Love One Person (or Loving Someone, To Love a Person)
-Commercial Radio '03 Top Ten (6th Place)/ I Will not Sing
____________________
2003
-Metro Radio Popular Male Artist
-Metro Radio Popular Album/ Left Alan Right Lee Concert 2003
-Metro Radio Radio Most Played Song/ Love One Person
-Metro Radio Popular Song/ Long Time Together Must Marry
-Metro Radio Popular Song/ Love One Person
-Metro Radio Popular Song/ I Will not Sing
-JSG Season 4 Gold Song/ I Will not Sing
-26th RTHK Year Best Selling Male Artist
-26th RTHK Gold Song/ Left Alan Right Lee
-26th RTHK Gold Song/ Long Time Must Marry
-26th RTHK Outstanding Popular Artist
-TVB8 People's World Most Loved Cantonese Song/ Long Time Must Marry
-3rd Annual Malaysia Gold Song - Most Popular Duet (Silver)/ Love One Person
-3rd Annual Malaysia Gold Song - Most Popular Duet (Gold)/ Left Alan Right Lee
-3rd Annual Malaysia Gold Song/ Long Time Must Marry
-3rd Annual Malaysia Most Popular Male Artist
->Ming Pao Most Prominent Male Artist/ Love Unstoppable [Can't Let Hands Go]
-3rd Annual Cantonese Gold Song - Most Popular Duet/ Left Alan Right Lee
-3rd Annual Cantonese Gold Song - HK Outstanding Artist
-5th Annual CCTV-MTV - Hong Kong Most Popular Male Artist
-JSG Season 3 Gold Song/ 3001 Nights
-Snow Charts - Most Outstanding Duet/ Left Alan Right Lee
-Snow Charts - Gold Song/ Long Time Must Marry
-Snow Charts - HK Most Popular Male Artist
-Gold Song Charts - Best Selling Album Male Artist
-Gold Song Charts - Year Gold Song/ Tall Girl
-Gold Song Charts - Best Duet/ Arrive Today (or Come to Today)
->Next Media Skillful Artist
->Next Media Top Ten Male Actor (8th Place)
-JSG Season 2 Most Popular Duet/ Love One Person
-JSG Season 1 Most Popular Duet/ Left Alan Right Lee
-JSG Season 1 Gold Song/ Long Time Must Marry
-25th RTHK Most Outstanding Artist
-25th RTHK Year Best Selling Male Artist
-25th RTHK Gold Song/ Tall Girl
-25th RTHK Gold Song/ Love Unstoppable [Can't Let Hands Go]
-2002 JSG Most Popular Male Artist
-2002 JSG Gold Song/ Love Unstoppable [Can't Let Hands Go]
____________
2002
-2002 Metro Radio Gold Song/ Tall Girl
-2002 Metro Radio Most Popular Male Artist
-IFPI 2002 Best Selling Artist
-2002 Metro Radio Gold Song/ Victory
-2002 Metro Radio Gold Song/ Love Unstoppable [Can't Let Hands Go]
-IFPI 2002 Year Best Selling Album/ Love Concert Live
-IFPI 2002 Year Best Selling Album/ Love Unstoppable [Can't Let Hands Go]
-> TVB Most Loved TV Character/ Ko Chi Long - Legal Entanglement
-2001 JSG Gold Song/ Flying Flowers
-24th RTHK - Most Outstanding Artist
-JSG Season 1 Most Popular Duet/ Arrive Today (Come to today)
-JSG Season 2 Gold Song/ Victory
-JSG Season 3 Gold Song/ Tall Girl
-JSG Season 4 Gold Song/ Love Unstoppable [Can't Let Hands Go]
-> Next Media Top Ten Celebrity
-> Apple Daily 2002 Upcoming Celebrity
-TVB8 World Most Popular Cantonese Song/ Tall Girl
_______________
2001
-2001 JSG Gold Song/ Flying Flowers
-IFPI 2001 Best Selling Album/ HK Philharmonic Orchestra Concert
______________
2000
-1999 JSG Most Popular Composed Song/ Sakura (Sakura in Japanese means Cherry Blossoms---Ying Fa)
______________
1999
-JSG Season 4 Gold Song/ Sakura
______________
1998
-JSG Season 2 Gold Song/ Soccer Fan Diary (or Soccer Fan Adventure)
-1998 Malaysia 321 Action Music Award Gold Song/ Soccer Fan Diary (or Soccer Fan Adventure)
-1998 Malaysia 321 Action Music Award Best Lyrics/ Soccer Fan Diary (or Soccer Fan Adventure)
______________
1997
-Metro Radio Best Remake Song/ Please Sleep Early and Wake Early
-Metro Radio Best Love Song/ Searching
-Metro Radio Best Album Cover/ Please Sleep Early and Wake Early
______________
1996
-RTHK Top Ten Most Outstanding Male Artist
-JSG Season 3 Gold Song/ One Person Flying
-JSG Season 4 Gold Song/ Please Sleep Early and Wake Early
-JSG Season 2 Gold Song/ When I Find You
______________
1995
-JSG Season 4 Gold Song/ Cry For You
-1994 JSG Most Popular Music Recording/ Hope
-JSG Season 4 Gold Song/ Broken Time
______________
1994
-Metro Radio Golden Love Song/ Look Back (or Turn Around)
-JSG Season 2 Gold Song/ Lonely Night
-903 Radio Top Ten Most Outstanding Male Artist
-JSG Season 4 Gold Song/ Regret
-1993 JSG Gold Song/ Look Back
______________
1993
-JSG Season 2 Gold Song/ Look Back
-1992 JSG Most Popular Music Recording/ Red Sun
______________
1992
-JSG Season 4 Gold Song/ Red Sun
-JSG Season 3 Gold Song/ Old Love like Dream
-JSG Season 1 Gold Song/ Only Wish You Understand
-1991 JSG Most Popular Music Recording/ Protector
______________
1991
-13th RTHK Gold Song/ 1001 Nights
-1990 JSG Gold Song/ Attachment
-JSG Season 3 Gold Song/ Protector
-JSG Season 1 Gold Song/ Day Break
______________
1990
-JSG Season 3 Gold Song/ 1001 Nights
-JSG Season 4 Gold Song/ Attachment
-1989 JSG Gold Song/ One Life never change
-12th RTHK Gold Song/ One Life never change
______________
1989
-JSG Season 1 Gold Song/ Deep Deep Deep
-JSG Season 3 Gold Song/ One Life never change
______________
1988
-JSG Season 3 Gold Song/ Summer Story
______________
1985
-Region 19 Singing Competition 1st Place Winner
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CDs:
2006
-2006 Hacken Lee Live in Concert
-Number 10
2005
-Acrobats ('05 Spring Limited Edition)
-Ask About Love
-Concert Hall
2004
-Alan and Hacken 2004 Concert
-Smart ID
-Acrobats (or Midair Flying People/Person)
-Hacken X Joey Music is Live
2003
-Alan & Hacken Concert Collection
-Alan Tam & Hacken Lee Live 2003
-Everlast
-Everlast (AVCD)
-Custom Made
-Alan & Hacken
2002
-Big Band Music
-Hacken Lee Live 2002
-Hacken From Beginning (9CDs)
-Let's Celebrate
-Let's Celebrate (2nd version, AVCD)
-Piano Love Songs
-Hacken Lee Live in Concert
-Universal DSD
2001
-Hong Kong Philharmonic Live
-Flying Flowers
-Hong Kong Philharmonic Live Concert (SACD)
2000
-One Year Half Year (2nd version, AVCD)
-Thinking of You Once More
-A Pair of Love Collection
1999
-Hacken Lee Best Collection
-Red Sun (reissue)
-The Most of Hacken Lee Collection
-Wonderful 48 Best Collection
-One Year Half Year
1998
-Searching for the Best in These Five Years
-98 New and Collections
1997
-Please Search for the Best 17 Songs
-Love Prison (Mandarin CD)
-Please Go to Sleep Early and Wake Up Early
-Best Collection 2
-Hacken's 17 Love Songs
-At Hacken's Side
-2 in 1 Best Collection
1996
-When I Find You
-Third Dimension
-Best Collection
-Searching for the Best
1995
-Making Nothing of Gentle (Mandarin CD)
-Greatest Hits
-Greatest Hits
-Reborn
-Hackenation
1994
-Goodbye '93
-Wish (or Hope)
-One Life's Wish
-It's Love Songs
1993
-Greatist Hits Boxset
-Hacken's Album
-Thinking of You All My Life
1992
-Red Sun
-I Want You to Know
1991
-Raining in the Street Act
-Broken Time
1990
-Love
-One Thousand and One Nights
1989
-This Place, This Feeling
-Hacken Lee Whirlwind Remix
-Purple Dream
-Hacken Lee Remix
1988
-Summer Story
1987
-Lucky Number (AKA Signs of Life)
1986
-Hacken Lee EP
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All information taken from: http://www.hacken.tvbspacenews.org.uk/index.php
For more information and news about Hacken please join Hacken Lee ID Forum!
http://z14.invisionfree.com/Hacken_Lee_ID/index.php?
