Denise Ho Wan-See (Chinese Name: 何韻詩), also known as HOCC, CC and Goo, is a famous Hong Kong Cantopop singer.
Biography
1996-2001
Denise Ho was born in Hong Kong and received her education in Christ Church Kindergarten and Diocesan Girls' Junior School, Hong Kong. She emigrated with her family to Montreal, Quebec at the age of 11. Her music career was launched in 1996, after she won the 15th New Talent Singing Awards. Her victory not only earned her a recording contract with Capital Artists Limited (華星唱片) but also a chance to become the only female apprentice of her childhood idol, Anita Mui. Her debut EP, first., came 5 years after her victory. During her 5 year wait, she went on tour with Anita Mui as a background singer and hosted various TV shows produced by TVB.
2002
After Capital Artists closed, Denise Ho joined EMI in 2002. Although she was only with the company for a brief 2 years period, but it is during this time that her music talents flourished. She teamed up with Ying C Foo (英師傅) for her first EMI label release, hocc² (EP). The song "Angelic Blue" (天使藍), composed by Ho herself, not only reached top spots on music charts, but according to Ho, it is also her "growing up" song. Another single in the EP, "Rosemary" (露絲瑪莉), written by Wyman Wong, created considerable controversies at the time, as it touched on the topic of lesbianism. This song also marked the beginning of Ho's series of songs containing gay themes. Following the success of "Rosemary" (露絲瑪莉), Ho continued the story of the two lovers in "Goodbye... Rosemary" (再見…露絲瑪莉) in her first full length album, free{love}.
2002 proved to be a successful year for Ho. The two singles "Angelic Blue" (天使藍) and "Goodbye... Rosemary" (再見…露絲瑪莉) have won multiple music awards in Hong Kong, including CASH Golden Sail Music Awards (CASH金帆音樂獎) – “Best Vocal Performance By A Female Artist” for the song “Angel Blues”. In the same year, Ho won the recognizable "Female Singer Bronze Award" in the Commercial Radio Hong Kong Annual Awards (叱吒樂壇流行榜頒獎典禮).
2003-2004
In 2003 Denise Ho did a spectacular "Music is Live" concert with Andy Hui, who is also an apprentice of Anita Mui. Their performance won praise from the critics, and Ho proved to the audience her magnificent abilities to perform live as a musician. Later that year, Ho released her second full-length album Dress Me Up!. She was the credited as the producer of the album, indicating that Ho has finally gained full control over her music. In September 2003, Ho’s long time mentor, Anita Mui announced she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Shortly after the announcement, Anita lost her battle against cervical cancer and passed away on December 30, 2003.
Between 2003 and 2004, Ho took on the role of hosting TVB's weekly live music show, Jade Solid Gold. In 2004, she appeared in Sammi Cheng's 2004 "Sammi vs. Sammi" concert as a cross-dressing cigarette-smoking admirer of Sammi. Ho's critically acclaimed performance in the short musical segment not only brought attention to the role she played, but also further established herself as a tremendous live performer.
2004-2005
In September, 2004, Denise Ho signed a contract with East Asia Music (東亞娛樂), the sister company of Amusic. The album Glamorous (艷光四射), which pays tribute to the superstars of the 80's, was released in January 2005. It also marked the start of a close collaboration between Denise and the Green Mountain Orchestra band (青山大樂隊). She was named the Orbis Student Ambassador 2005, and visited Hainan in July. In September 2005, Ho performed in the musical Butterfly Lovers (梁祝下世傳奇)as the leading actress, producer and musical director. Her album of the same name gave her three Number 1 singles - "Becoming a Butterfly" (化蝶), "Lawrence and Lewis" (勞斯．萊斯) and "Coffee in a Soda Bottle" (汽水樽裡的咖啡), which are all based on the story of the Butterfly Lovers, with possible homosexual themes. These singles helped her Receive the "Female Singer Silver Award" at Commercial Radio Hong Kong Annual Awards 2005 (叱吒樂壇流行榜頒獎典禮).
2006-present
Denise Ho held her first Hong Kong Coliseum concert "Live in Unity 2006" on 26-28 October, 2006. The concert was a great success and was positively received by the public. Ho decided to stage a second concert, "Live in Unity 2007", on 19-20 January, 2007 following the original concert's success. Her single, We Stand As One, named after the slogan for the "Live in Unity" concerts, was released on January 11, 2007. Recordings of the concert were later released in February 2007. Ho then went on a worldwide tour, performing in Toronto, Canada and Atlantic City, U.S..
The significant public attention and positive reception to her music helped her garner the "Female Singer Gold Award" at the Commercial Radio Hong Kong Annual Awards 2006 (叱吒樂壇流行榜頒獎典禮). Ho also sang the Chinese version of Ayumi Hamasaki's song "Secret", known as "Wounded City Secret" (傷城秘密), for the 2006 movie Confession of Pain. She continued as the Orbis Student Ambassdor 2006 and visited Vietnam, and later started her own charitable fund.
In 2008, a new album 《Ten Days in the Madhouse》released. She produced this album from the view point of society's outcasts and to raise awareness of mental health issues. She encourages people to understand and know more about people with mental illness and those are ex-mental ill and care about their needs and situation. Denise Ho encourage the communication between them and the public, ultimately, to achieve social harmony. Denise Ho delivers her most ambitious project yet with "Ten Days in the Madhouse" and released with a documentary by Hong Kong director Yan Yan Mak (Butterfly) and an exhibition for charity, Denise shows that a multimedia project by a musician can be about something more important than clothing tie-ins.
In 2009, she followed up her plan from late last year, and organized a free concert (a huge rarity in Hong Kong) called "Happiness is for free" in the outdoor courtyard in Diocesan Boys' School. She managed to book the place because her father was a teacher there.
- Biography courtesy of Wikipedia
Discography
2001 - first. (EP)
2002 - hocc² (EP)
2002 - free {love}
2003 - Roundup (Compilation)
2003 - Music is Live 03 Andy Hui X Denise Ho (許志安 X 何韻詩 2人交叉組合拉闊03) (Live Album)
2003 - Dress Me Up!
2004 - The Best of HOCC (Compilation)
2005 - Glamorous (艷光四射)
2005 - Butterfly Lovers (梁祝下世傳奇)
2006 - Our Time Has Come (EP)
2006 - HOCC - The Greatest Hits (最愛 何韻詩) (Compilation)
2007 - We Stand As One (Single)
2007 - HOCC Live In Unity 2006 (HOCC Live In Unity 2006 演唱會) (Live Album)
2007 - What Really Matters
2008 - Goomusic Collection 2004-2008 (Compilation)
2008 - Ten Days In the Madhouse
VCDs
s003 - Music is Live 03 Andy Hui X Denise Ho (許志安 X 何韻詩 2人交叉組合拉闊03)
2005 - Good Morning! Manhattan (早安啊! 曼克頓)
2005 - Butterfly Lovers - The Musical (梁祝下世傳奇 舞台劇)
2007 - HOCC Live In Unity 2006 - We Stand As One 演唱會 Live Karaoke
DVDs
2003 - Music is Live 03 Andy Hui X Denise Ho (許志安 X 何韻詩 2人交叉組合拉闊03)
2005 - Butterfly Lovers - The Musical (梁祝下世傳奇 舞台劇)
2007 - HOCC Live In Unity 2006 - We Stand As One 演唱會 Live Karaoke
2007 - Small Matters
2008 - The Decameron (十日談)
Filmography
1998 - Rumble Ages (烈火青春)
2000 - The Slayer of Demons (妖怪傳) - Voice only: Sakuya (聲演: 神木櫻夜)
2003 - 1:99
2003 - Naked Ambition (豪情)
2003 - Anna In Kungfuland (安娜與武林)
2003 - Hidden Track (尋找周杰倫)
2007 - The Simpsons Movie (阿森一族大電影) - Hong Kong Voice only: Bart Simpson
2008 - Kung Fu Panda (功夫熊貓) - Hong Kong Voice only: Tigress
2008 - Look for a Star (游龍戲鳳)
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