In Taiwan, she's billed as one of the new Heavenly Queens. Classically trained in piano, Valen Hsu has captured the hearts of legions of fans with her hauntingly ethereal vocals. She's also disarmingly sweet and personable, as Jacqueline Wee discovers.
In person, singer Valen Hsu Ru Yun seems
smaller in size. And prettier, you realise, as most
of her publicity pictures have failed to do her
full justice. She exudes a unique charm with her
sweet approachability and sanguine personality.
Here in Singapore to promote her fourth and latest
Mandarin album (Place De Sun Airport), Valen reveals that this
is the release that she particularly likes. Her
fans obviously agree with her. Sales for this album
has reportedly reached an amazing figure of
1,600,000 copies in Asia and are still going
strong.
The
title track of this album is based on a touching,
real-life love story. Valen recounts its origins:
"What happened was that Xu Chang De, the lyricist
of this song, went on a trip to this remote town,
, that lies on the outskirts of Tokyo,
and stayed in a local hostel. The hostel owner took an immediate
liking to Xu and started sharing with him about his
3-day love encounter with a Taiwanese girl he met
years ago. Xu was very moved by the fact that the
owner still treasures her in his memory, despite
the number of years that has passed. So he wrote a
song about them. The lyrics of (Place De Sun Airport)
basically describes how the girl
must have felt at the point of leaving Japan."
So is Valen just as romantic? She notes:
"Despite the fact that the whole encounter
only lasted three days, the memories are always
cherished in the owner’s mind. I never did believe
that such experiences could be real, but listening
to his accounts made me think otherwise. I’ve never
had love-at-first-sight experiences as I normally
take some time to like someone. But if given the
chance, I’d like to have a taste of what that feels
like. Never mind if it doesn’t last a lifetime, I’d
just appreciate the memories."
So now
that she’s finally decided to be more open about
her once-hidden talent, will we be hearing more of
her work? "I’ll definitely be writing and producing
more songs in my future albums, as part of an
all-rounded growth of my music career. I love the
sense of accomplishment and the joy I get whenever
I finish writing something."
Much
hype has been generated recently in Taiwan with
regards to the competition between Valen and
another up-and-coming pop diva, the husky voiced
Chang Hui Mei. When asked to comment on this, Valen
offers an unexpected reply: "Actually I’m rather
happy with the outcome. At least the media is, for
a change, giving some attention to Taiwanese stars
instead of the Hong Kong ones like Andy Lau and
Jacky Chueng. But this doesn’t mean that the
competition between A-Mei and me is real. In fact,
there were several instances when we got together
to laugh about the ridiculous reports of tensions
between us!"
So after
two years in the music industry, does Valen feel
that she is well-suited to the show business? "In
the beginning, I was not used to the amount of
media attention. I tended to feel rather
ill-at-ease in front of the camera. I had no idea
how to handle it all, what the audience would like
and expect of me. But after some time, I started to
realise that the best approach is to be myself and
be natural. That’s also the best way to handle the
stress that comes along with this job."
Trained
in classical piano since young, Valen only started
writing songs after she graduated from high school:
"I used to write songs secretly, not letting anyone
know about my attempts. I didn’t think my songs
were good enough. Some of my ex-classmates are
rather surprised at the songs I am writing
nowadays, because they never knew this side of me
existed. They are more familiar with my love for
singing."
In the
music scene today, Valen has clearly established
her own niche. After all, her earlier album (If The Clouds Know) sold an astonishing 2,200,000
copies! With her career already set for the big
time, isn’t it time to give some thoughts to her
love life? Valen remains rather tight-lipped on
this topic: "Well, when it comes, it comes. No
point chasing after it when it’s just not time
yet."
This Valen Hsu WebRing site is owned by
TCM.
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Last Updated 3 October 1997