He's had no formal singing training, but Canto-pop star Hacken Lee (right) has appeared in TV programmes that have stormed up the ratings. He came first in a singing competition of which Jacky Cheung was the previous winner, has a contract with Universal and has played comic roles in many popular TV dramas.
Lee, who appears tonight and tomorrow (February 23-24) with the Hong Kong Philharmonic for the first time, says that despite an increasingly varied career, he will always put his singing first.
The 32-year-old will perform his own ballads and cover versions of classics by other singers in the Philharmonic concert. He will also premiere his new, as yet unnamed song which was specially commissioned for the performance.
His love songs include popular hits like When I Find You, Lonely Night, Looking Back and By My Side. Lee lists his main influences as the likes of Alan Tam and Koji Tamaki.
Lee, known as the 'Fifth Canto-pop King', has been focusing for a few years now on the non-Cantonese market, particularly trying to carve a slice out of the Mandarin music market. There have, though, been any number of syrupy love ballads in Cantonese.
Though the Philharmonic appearance is a first for Lee, he has always cherished stretching his limits. 'In Hong Kong making an album is just like McDonald's,' he has said. 'It's all mass production, fast and commercial.'