[1] A 20-year-old Hong Kong woman who emerged from the same talent show as local heartthrob Keung To of popular boy band Mirror has been chosen to join a global pop group created by Simon Fuller, the man behind American Idol.
[2] XIX Entertainment, the company that runs the global pop group Now United, made up of a rolling international membership, announced last month that its newest addition was Hongkonger Ariel Tsang.
[3] Tsang said in a media showcase that the opportunity had come at a “perfect time”. “I was in a place where I was very lost and I was thinking about giving up,” she said. Tsang also added that she finally felt seen and had fulfilled a goal she had from a very young age. “It means a lot in the sense that not a lot of people from Hong Kong are seen on an international scale.”
[4] Tsang, a singer, rapper, and dancer, was a member of the local girl group Strayz. She joined the fourth season of ViuTV’s reality talent competition King Maker in 2021 and finished in eighteenth place.
[5] Popular Cantopop boy band Mirror was also spotted on the talent show, with lead singer Keung To now a local star. Tsang’s addition to Now United marked the culmination of a citywide talent search announced in May this year by Fuller in collaboration with the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
[6] Fuller described the search for a new member as “quite a challenge,” noting that he and his team had been looking for a performer who could not only sing but also “be strong as a dancer” and possess a “big heart and a soul and a passion.” He stated that Tsang “ticks all the boxes” and would be able to “inspire millions and millions of young people.”
[7] He also spoke of his deep connection with the city, having visited more than 30 times, and his desire to find someone with the “Hong Kong spirit” who could “inspire a whole generation of young people.”
[8] The event also featured a performance by Now United and an appearance by one of Hong Kong’s “Four Heavenly Kings” of Cantopop, Aaron Kwok Fu-shing. Kwok said the members of Now United reminded him of himself when he was young, and he hoped Tsang’s addition to the group would allow more people around the world to see the talent that Hong Kong had to offer.
Source: South China Morning Post, August 28
