Chapter 6 Build momentum in Southeast Asia

While Teresa Teng was successful in Hong Kong, an Asian market second only to Japan, her singing has become popular in Chinese communities such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Teresa Teng coincided with the turning point of historical changes and achieved a brilliant career in Taiwan.When she was a girl, she started to go out of Taiwan and went to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia to develop, thus laying a solid foundation for future development, which became the beginning of another peak in her singing career. Teresa Teng stepped out of Taiwan for the first time in 1969.Teresa Teng, who was only 16 years old, accepted the invitation of the wife of the President of Singapore, Yu Shafu, to tour the Southeast Asian region, and thus became a man of influence in the international music scene.

In 1969, Singapore held a charity gala, inviting popular singers from Singapore, Hong Kong and other places to join in the event. In December, Teresa Teng, actresses Yao Surong, Zhao Xiaojun and Gezai opera actress Yang Lihua, led by Hou Shihong, who produced and hosted programs in "China Television" and "China Broadcasting", went to Singapore to perform at the Stars Charity Gala.Accompanied by her mother, Teresa Teng traveled for more than ten hours through Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur... without stopping.As soon as she arrived, Teresa Teng couldn't help widening her eyes: "It's surprising that there are Chinese people in such a far place.

"This is the first time in her life that she has come into contact with the overseas Chinese world, but it is also the beginning of her journey to become the queen of the entire Chinese music circle. From December 9th to 11th, the evening party hosted by the wife of the President of Singapore and sponsored by Lide Voice TV was held at the National Theater of Singapore. The gala was a fundraiser for four children's welfare organizations including the Singapore Deaf Association, Children's Association, Spastic Children's Association and Mentally Retarded Children's Association.Also participating in the performance are sisters Chen Fen and Shuang Yan who are from Taiwan but are performing in Singapore, Hong Kong singer Lin Meiyi, and Singaporean comedians Ye Feng and Wang Sha, singer Song Ping, "Star of Li's Voice" and "Li's Voice" amateur competition champion, as well as Japanese female singers and so on.Teresa Teng sang songs such as "Jingjing", "Picking Red Watermelon", "Thank you, General Manager" and "Coral Love" at the party.The performance for three consecutive nights caused a sensation in Singapore, and Teresa Teng became famous.

But that's just the beginning.With the growing influence in Hong Kong, Teresa Teng started a one and a half year tour in Southeast Asia after finishing her promotional activities in Hong Kong, thus establishing her reputation in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and other places. superstar status. From February 1971 to August 1972, Teresa Teng began touring in places such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, almost all over Southeast Asia. In February 1971, the first stop of Teresa Teng's Southeast Asia tour was Hong Kong.On the 24th, at the invitation of Hong Kong Po Leung Kuk, she sang at a charity gala held by Po Leung Kuk for the establishment of the Po Leung Secondary School Fund; followed by her debut at the midnight screening of the song record "Miss Fan" she made in Hong Kong; and participated in the relief Charity performance for flood victims in Hong Kong.After arriving in Singapore, Teresa Teng first made records for Lifeng Records; then she continued to participate in charity performances to raise funds for orphanages, disabled children and other welfare institutions.

Perhaps because of the storms she has experienced, Teresa Teng always pays special attention to those poor, weak and various vulnerable groups.Despite her reputation, she felt more compelled to care for those in need.Since the early 1970s, she has successively participated in charity performances in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and other places, and has continuously donated to various welfare fund units.Just like the affection conveyed by her singing, Teresa Teng exudes the fragrance of love all over her body, which always brings tenderness to people.Her fraternity spread to every corner of the world along with her whereabouts, which made her more beautiful and kind, and made her a never-fading flower and the most dazzling star in people's hearts .

In other parts of Southeast Asia, Teresa Teng took the initiative to participate in various local charity performances besides singing publicly.Overseas Chinese admire her heartfelt acts of righteousness, and she is always warmly supported wherever she goes. Therefore, Teresa Teng also won the honorable title of "Queen of Charity Shows" and became a veritable "Queen of Charity Shows". Southeast Asia is the region with the densest and largest number of overseas Chinese, but it is not comparable to Taiwan and Hong Kong after all.Most of the Chinese in Southeast Asia live in large cities, and the front line for performances in Southeast Asia must be stretched, constantly rushing from one place to another.Therefore, Teresa Teng's performance in Southeast Asia is mainly based on the show, moving from one place to another, performing in different karaoke halls one after another, thus traveling all over Singapore, Malaysia, Bangkok, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc.

At the end of the campaign in Southeast Asia this time, Teresa Teng stopped in Hong Kong to perform on stage on her return trip.This trip lasted for a year and a half, and it was the longest time since she debuted singing.As a result, all kinds of rumors and rumors spread, and the media also talked about it. Teresa Teng's family was even more anxious. From the end of 1972 to the second half of 1973, Teresa Teng left home for another year and toured in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and other places. At the end of 1972, Teresa Teng was invited to Singapore to participate in a week-long performance at the Singapore National Theater to raise welfare and education funds, and recorded a record for Lifeng Records.Teresa Teng rushed to Hong Kong during the New Year's Day, performed on stage at the Hong Kong Grand Stage Opera House, and participated in the "Fengxing Records" held by Fengxing Records at the Hong Kong Industry Fair in December together with Yang Xiaoping, Li Yaping, Chen Qiongmei and others who went to Hong Kong from Singapore on the same plane. night of".Teresa Teng hosted the singing and awards program of this evening, and her elegant typhoon and pure and beautiful image were once again warmly welcomed by the public.

After Teresa Teng returned to Taiwan to perform around the island with the "Lijun Comprehensive Art Troupe", at the end of January 1973, Teresa Teng flew to Hong Kong again, and during the Lunar New Year, she took turns running in opera houses such as Hong Kong and Dongfang, as well as nightclubs such as "Han Palace" and "Pearl City" concert. After singing in Hong Kong for a period of time, Teresa Teng transferred to Singapore and Malaysia, and fulfilled the singing contract at the Neptune Personal Theater in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and only returned to Taiwan in the second half of 1973.

From 1969 to 1973, almost as long as there were Chinese in Asia, there was Teresa Teng's footprint.With the footsteps of Teresa Teng, her singing soon became popular.Teresa Teng has also become a popular singer in Southeast Asia. The symbol of Teresa Teng's popularity in Southeast Asia is that she was invited to attend the "Far East Top Ten Charity Gala" at the National Theater of Singapore, which is enough to show that she has already occupied a place in the Asian music scene. Many years later, when the news of Teresa Teng's sudden death spread to Southeast Asia, not only Chinese media everywhere reported the matter with headlines, but also in multiracial Malaysia, English, Malay and Indian Tamil news were also very popular. The news was broadcast on a rare turn of events.The TV news in Singapore and Malaysia all use Teresa Teng's "On the West Building Alone" as the background music, and the gentle singing voice reveals a touch of sadness.Teresa Teng's singing has not only become a part of Chinese life, but also penetrated into the lives of other races.When talking about Teresa Teng’s extensive and profound influence, Wang Litao, a Chinese painter in the Philippines, said: “Teng Lijun has played a certain role in improving the enthusiasm for learning Chinese in the Chinese community in the Philippines.” Lin Shuihao, a professor of Chinese at the University of Malaysia, said: "Teresa Teng has made great contributions to the popularization of Chinese culture. Her album "A Touch of Love" includes Tang poetry and Song lyrics that can be sung, which is of great help to ordinary people in reciting poetry."

When the 20-year-old Teresa Teng went to Japan to develop her singing career as the most popular Mandarin singer in Hong Kong, her series of performing arts activities in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia came to an end. Since leaving Taiwan for the first time, Teresa Teng has lived in a state of wandering, but she quickly adapted to this wandering lifestyle.Airplanes and cars drove her around, her whereabouts were uncertain, and she rushed to perform one stop after another, fulfilling one contract after another; the stage and hotel became her home, often one stage after another, One hotel after another, here today, but there tomorrow, and there is already a place waiting for you the day after tomorrow.Amidst the busyness and applause, Teresa Teng experienced the splendor of life, but also found that she was losing something.However, when she was young, she liked this kind of exciting and challenging life, although tiredness would gradually invade.

Beginning in 1975, Teresa Teng led the "Lee Fung Opera Troupe" touring around Malaysia.In this tour, the most talked about is that she used the Huangmei tune of "Blessed Lovers" to fill in new words in the opera "Tang Bohu Spots the Autumn Fragrance", playing the role of the talented Tang Bohu. Her handsome appearance and mischievous movements amused the audience haha Lol, Lifeng Records also made live recordings into albums.Teresa Teng's influence in Southeast Asia remains high. In 1972, after Teresa Teng joined Taiwan's Universal Records Company, Teresa Teng had recorded several works under Taiwan Haishan Records, and was released in Hong Kong under the name of Lefeng Records by Malaysia Lifeng Records, one of the company's shareholders.Later, due to accounting disputes between Haishan Records and Lifeng Records, Lifeng decided to divide the singer with Haishan and end the cooperation, and set up a branch in Taiwan by itself. After that, Teresa Teng became a member of Lifeng.Based in Malaysia, Lifeng Records purchases original records of Mandarin songs from Singapore, Taiwan and other places, and then resells them to Southeast Asian countries.The record company fully affirmed Teresa Teng's unlimited potential and paid her a signing bonus of 200,000 yuan.In addition to recording records, she is also trained in various aspects.During this period, Teresa Teng’s albums were released successively by Haishan and Lifeng in Taiwan, while in Hong Kong they were all released by Lefeng. This situation led to considerable discrepancies in the titles and tracks of Teresa Teng’s albums in Taiwan and Hong Kong. . Teresa Teng released a batch of records with obvious personal style represented by "Unforgettable First Love" (the first Hokkien album) during her two or three years in Hong Kong Lefeng Records. "Where the Wind Comes From/Do You Know Who I Love" was published in 1972. In addition to the two title songs, this disc also included "Nanhai Girl", which was often covered by Teresa Teng in the future, and "Caiyunfei" released in 1973. "In the original soundtrack of the movie, there are two immortal masterpieces "A Thousand Words" and "How Can I Leave You". ", "Water Ripples" three soundtrack albums, and "Don't Pick Wild Flowers by the Roadside" were also published during this period. Teresa Teng returned to Taiwan after a year and a half abroad, "Taiwan TV" specially produced a large-scale program dedicated to Teresa Teng to celebrate Teresa Teng's trip to Southeast Asia.Then she sang the theme song of the movie "Where Does the Wind Come From" starring Tang Baoyun.Then he participated in the comedy "The World Laughs" starring Tang Baoyun, Ke Junxiong and other big-name stars. In the film, he sang a theme song that runs through the whole play in the tune of a northern drum, but the film was mediocre.Soon after, the "Lijun Comprehensive Art Troupe" planned by Teresa Teng's father was established.From January 1973, Teresa Teng led the "Lijun Comprehensive Art Troupe" to tour the island of Taiwan. The programs included singing, dancing, stunts, etc. However, due to the rainy season and bad weather, the sales were not satisfactory. , and the trip around the island was only halfway through, so the schedule ended early and returned to Taipei.This tour performance was unexpectedly bad, and it became the only record of failure that Teresa Teng had suffered since her debut, and it became a thing she was worried about when she looked back on her career.Therefore, when Teresa Teng is preparing for various performances in the future, she must carry out the most stringent requirements. Not only must she rehearse continuously until she is satisfied, but she must also consider various factors and pay attention to actual investigations.This kind of strict self-requirement is the real reason why Teresa Teng became Teresa Teng. Teresa Teng's greatest achievement in Lifeng Records was meeting Huang Lianzhen and Yao Housheng. Huang Lianzhen, president of Lifeng Records, was the first bole that Teresa Teng met when she was developing in Southeast Asia.After Huang Lianzhen signed a contract with Teresa Teng, the two became good business partners.At that time, Huang Lianzhen bought a "May Flower Restaurant" karaoke hall in Kuala Lumpur. During the opening week of the karaoke hall, he specially invited Teresa Teng to sing with US$70,000.It is reported that this number was unprecedented at the time.Teresa Teng appeared at 10 o'clock every night, and the four songs she had to sing were "Love You Ten Thousand Years", "Goodbye Lover", "When Will I Turn Back" and "Love Story".This opening week concert was an unexpected success and was a sensation.Therefore, after the invitation period expired, Huang Lianzhen extended it for another four days, but the result was still very popular, and there was a competition with Singapore's big karaoke hall. Over the years, the friendship between Teresa Teng and Huang Lianzhen is still very deep.Huang Lianzhen recalled: "She always remembers Lifeng's promotion, and she introduced me to the audience when she held the 15th anniversary concert in Hong Kong." He bought a floor upstairs, but she didn't live in it herself, but rented it out.Huang Lianzhen asked her why.Teresa Teng smiled and said, "If I come to Los Angeles, I can borrow your apartment!" Huang Lianzhen concluded: "Sure enough, when I went to Los Angeles, I lived in my apartment and cleaned the house myself when I left. .” Teresa Teng once gave up her studies because of her poor family, but she did not give up the diligence and studious that a person should have.Teresa Teng was full of regrets for not having received a complete school education and not growing up with her classmates of the same age.Therefore, at all stages of her life, she took the initiative to go to school to study or study hard by herself; therefore, she deeply understood that the journey of life is by no means smooth sailing, and there must be losses if there are gains, but only by persisting in struggle can success be possible.Her firm belief enables her to face the torture and test of an unfamiliar environment, to withstand the blows of various gossips, and to adapt to the trend of the times and meet various new challenges. Teresa Teng's musical talent is excellent, but not perfect.She is very strict with herself, as long as she has the opportunity, she keeps practicing and singing.Teresa Teng’s teacher, Yao Housheng, mentioned her and said: “At that time, it was always how much to record a record, and it was priced in this way, so it should be recorded as soon as possible. She became the main pillar of the family when she was very young. When she knew herself When I have made great contributions to my family, I feel very happy and continue to sing.” Before and after her debut, she used to be at the live broadcast site, waiting to record songs one after another; she sang all the way with a calm and persistent mood. to success.Because of her prolificity and diligence, the public gave her the nickname of "singing civil servants". Since Teresa Teng was not in particularly good health since she was a child, she began to learn to regulate her voice and try various singing skills when she was very young.Teresa Teng's elder brother, Deng Chang'an, said: "Teresa Teng had asthma when she was 9 years old, and she had an attack when she was 15 years old. At that time, she saw a doctor and took medicine and boiled it in a teapot. Attack again." Yao Housheng, a well-known music producer, was the first person in Taiwan to advocate and introduce the western music education theory system and production system, and the birther of Taiwanese folk songs and campus folk songs in the era.He took the lead in adopting overseas production methods, worked hard to discover new talents, and opened a door for innovation and reform in the music industry.Since he trained Ouyang Feifei, he has successfully trained several well-known Taiwanese singers. Teresa Teng has long been a popular singer, and she has recorded hundreds of songs when she was in Universal Records alone.However, Yao Housheng still guided her carefully from the beginning, from the method of vocalization to the habits of singing.In order to imitate the pronunciation of local minors, Teresa Teng tried her best to raise the ending sound up, forming a singing method of "raising the ending sound". Before and after her debut, because Teresa Teng sang more brisk songs, her sweet singing voice always gave people a taste of "cute little girl", and the ending of her words always rose "um, um". Became the habit of raising the ending of the language.This way of singing sounds playful, but it seems a bit childish.Yao Housheng instructed her to learn slow-paced singing, and told her: "You are no longer a little girl, so you have to sing in a more emotional and adult way." Teresa Teng's comprehension of songs is very strong, and she soon became comfortable with the slow-tempo singing.After that, Yao Housheng asked her to try singing songs with narrative style.Teresa Teng's ability to interpret is amazing. After she understands the meaning of the lyrics of a song, she can express it with richer emotions. Teresa Teng was born with a small voice, and her voice is relatively weak and thin.This innate factor is not so easy to change.Under Yao Housheng's training, Teresa Teng's singing in a local minor tune has changed a lot, except that it still appears unconsciously occasionally, although it cannot be completely changed as required by the teacher.However, the sound is too small, and the effect of improvement is not good.Yao Housheng tried to let Teresa Teng practice the way of singing from the center of the microphone, so that her clear and crystal timbre can be brought into full play, and the gentle, whispering voice can open people's hearts and enter people's hearts. In the following long years of singing, with the accumulation of experience, Teresa Teng's singing style gradually became her unique singing style that is enduring and slow in the singing world.And at different stages, she has absorbed new singing styles, and she has become more and more natural-sounding singing, and has truly become a new singing style that drives the Mandarin music scene.