COCO LEE IS WAITING for Mr Right. It has been, she says, five years since she's had an actual boyfriend, and four years since anyone has even tickled her fancy. But she's an attractive, intelligent 25-year-old who also happens to be a wildly successful international pop singer. So what gives?
'Men think 'She's probably got a boyfriend already' or that I have a boyfriend who's a billionaire - and it's so untrue,' says Lee. 'Really, the last time I met a really nice guy was four years ago during a Christmas party in Hong Kong. But it was one of those brief 'Hi, nice to meet you' things and I never saw him again.'
The Hong Kong-born, San Francisco-raised Lee is sitting on a couch in Wan Chai's Grand Hyatt and she looks immaculate. Her brown hair, its blonde streaks slightly fading, is brushed away from her face by two sweeping hands as her head tilts back in a move straight from a shampoo commercial. Her clothing - long leather coat over tight blue jeans and boots - is comfortable, stylish and straight from an annual winter fashion catalogue.
It's all about image - and that might well be part of the man problem. Wouldn't they be troubled by wondering where exactly the CoCo image ends and the real CoCo begins? After all, in the past few years we have seen Lee's image glide seamlessly from glamorous diva to sultry sex kitten. The video for her first foray into the US market - the single Do You Want My Love from the album Just No Other Way, released earlier this year - saw Lee shaking her booty like she'd never done before, all the way across the dance floor and into the men's toilets, in fact. Lee says that image is all part of presenting her music to a new audience.
'For me it's not all about trying to sell sex,' she says. 'I really try to concentrate on the music. But sometimes the visual aspect enhances the product; makes it more trendy and hip. And I have more than one image anyway.
'Styling-wise I am very daring, very open to the funky things, sexy stuff - whatever is best for that visual or for that show. But personally, I am very, very conservative when it comes to relationships, sex, anything to do with that. So just because on the outside I look like I might be some wild girl, trust me - I am much more conservative. And I think that's why I haven't had a boyfriend now for five years.'