Sing your heart out: 7-year-old Hong Kong girl steals spotlight at city's National Day reception
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s speech is usually the focal point of the city’s annual National Day reception, but this year it was an unusual guest performer who stole the spotlight: seven-year-old singer Celine Tam Tsz-kwan.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s speech is usually the focal point of the city’s annual National Day reception, but this year it was an unusual guest performer who stole the spotlight: seven-year-old singer Celine Tam Tsz-kwan.
Shortly before the reception started at 8.30am today, an orchestra performed an excerpt of the birthday song, and Tam dressed in white, captivated attendees by singing the musical group Secret Garden’s hit You Raise Me Up, followed by Hong Kong Canto-pop band Beyond’s Truly Love You, and patriotic mainland song My Motherland.
As Tam sang before about a thousand guests, including Leung, Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, and Beijing’s liaison office director Zhang Xiaoming, she remembered all the lyrics and hit the high notes with apparent ease. After the poised seven-year-old was done, the audience erupted with applause.
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After the reception, Celine’s father, Steve Tam, a 44-year-old music teacher who owns two singing academies, revealed that it was Leung who extended an invitation for the girl to perform.