Meet Cantopop’s rising star Gigi Yim: the Stars Academy winner will make her solo debut at Hong Kong’s KITEC, has performed alongside Miriam Yeung and is a member of girl group After Class
- Gigi Yim wowed fans on season 1 of TVB’s singing competition show Stars Academy at age 16; two years after winning the contest, she’s set to perform a solo concert at KITEC’s Star Hall in October
- She’s also performed on Infinity and Beyond, boasts one million Weibo followers, got praise from Cantopop veteran Alan Tam, and will study fashion at Polytechnic University next semester
Dubbed the city’s “star factory”, Hong Kong local television station TVB has been hosting singing competitions for years, giving rise to big names like Eason Chan and Sammi Cheng. Though the contests were on hiatus for some time, they made a comeback in 2021, taking on a new format that sees contestants compete over several months in elimination rounds.
Gigi Yim, the breakout star of Stars Academy season one in 2021, wowed fans with her performing chops at just 16 years old. This October, two years after her debut, she’s set to perform a solo concert at Kowloon Bay International Trade & Exhibition Centre (KITEC)’s Star Hall. If the success of previous TVB contestants is anything to go by, Yim could well be on her way to a fruitful career in Cantopop.
Here are five things to know about the singer ahead of her concert.
1. Gigi Yim Ming-hei is her stage name
Yim was born in Hong Kong but her family hails from Guangdong, where her younger brother and sister still live. Her family name is actually Wang, a common surname in her hometown. According to media reports, her stage name Yim Ming-hei was given to her by a feng shui master popular among entertainers.
In these reports, the master attested that her birth name Wang Gai-yan lacked the fire element and that her new name, with her last name being made up of three characters for the word “fire”, would help catapult her to stardom.
2. She’s enjoyed success in mainland China
Yim’s big break on TVB earned her an impressive one million Weibo followers. She also took part in the Hong Kong edition of the hit Chinese singing show Infinity and Beyond. There, she had the opportunity to perform with seasoned artists including Miriam Yeung, who also found her initial success through a TVB singing contest.