Gloria Tang Tsz-kei has learnt to take criticism in her stride and move on. Andrea Deng meets the 23-year-old music sensation who feels bad press has, in fact, helped her grow up fast.

Gloria Tang Tsz-kei stepped off the stage, after a three-hour performance at Hong Kong Stadium last Thursday, and was immediately escorted to a room where a dozen ostentatiously dressed guests were waiting for their personal introductions. With no chance to change, Tang greeted her enthusiastic fans, still wearing the sequined crop top, and neon blue high-waisted leggings she had worn on stage. Her studded black boots gave her a slight elevation in height.

A little girl stood at the front of the group, smiling shyly at Tang. "My daughter is 11. She knows every single song of yours," the girl's mother gushed. Tang bowed, and smiled a "thank you" to each of her guests, then posed for individual photographs.

Known by her stage name G.E.M., an acronym for "get everybody moving", Tang's on-stage persona is a blend of sweet, malleable and hyper-active. She is a dynamic performer, known for her powerful voice. At 23 she is considered exceptional on the Chinese music scene for one so young.

Off stage, Tang - looking even younger than she appears on TV - seemed nonplussed by the fawning attention of her fans. Between those shuttering and posing, Tang's face exuded a sense of loss. Maybe it was weariness after her concert.

Last year was a breakthrough year for Tang. She had debuted in Hong Kong in 2008 but was practically unknown on the mainland until she entered a contest sponsored by Hunan TV. She was up against fierce competition from amateurs and established professionals. She finished second. Her fan base multiplied rapidly, her name was splashed everywhere. Tang was invited to take a tour of more than 30 mainland cities.

Before coming back home to Hong Kong last week, Tang was recording her upcoming album in Los Angeles.

She told her local fans how she had missed saying hello to her "friends from the peak", referring to fans seated at the far end of the theater, a common expression among entertainers in Hong Kong.

"It was great to be back to where I grew up and simply speak in my mother tongue. It made me feel so warm," Tang told China Daily. Up next are tours in Malaysia and Singapore, with more performances to follow in the United States.

Hounded by the press

Along with her overwhelming popularity came a fusillade of negative press coverage that increased exponentially last year.

"When you're dealing with these negative comments face to face with the reporters, I don't understand why but they could be so ... so disrespectful to me," she paused during the conversation, as if trying to find the right word.

Paparazzi have hounded Tang since her debut at 16. She learned to understand the role of entertainment reporters and became accustomed to the vitriolic writing style of certain magazines and newspapers. The news coverage that haunted her were mainly rumors about her personal relationship and accusations that she was arrogant.

Tang's breakup with Taiwan singer Yoga Lin led to wild speculations that it was caused by Tang's Christian belief.

Around Christmas last year, Tang was late for a press conference from a previous event in Macao, because the helicopter service had to be canceled due to bad weather. She was met with a cold reception when she arrived in Hong Kong, while handing out cookies she had baked the night before.

"One reporter said to me, 'put (the cookies) aside, will you?' I was hurt and scared. Because those were the familiar faces I've known since I was 16. They watched me grow up," Tang recalled.

"Most people of my age probably have just graduated from university. I trust that they may be allowed to make mistakes and learn. I'm in an industry where I'm highly scrutinized. Even if I made no mistakes, I would still receive criticism," said Tang.

"Dealing with all of these was the biggest challenge for me in 2014. (But) I feel that I grew so much. I had learned to find a balance, trying not to be smug about the applause and not to stop myself from moving forward because of the (negative comments). I feel that by now I have become so much more enduring against those pressures," she said.

Lupo Groinig, co-founder and music director of Hummingbird Music which is managing Tang, said, "I've seen G.E.M. go through puberty and grow up," he laughed. "And now she's quite mature. She grew up so fast, especially in recent years, because she had to catch up with the growth in her career. All of a sudden she has to be this and that but she hasn't really had time to grow as a person."

When the music company ruled out interviews with the Hong Kong media because "there has been too much negative coverage", one media accused the company of arrogance because of Tang's popularity. The publication also commented that Tang's live concert last week appeared "grim" as the audience was barred from using LED sticks and instead asked to wear reusable, glowing headgear for environmental reasons.

It was focusing on her music that Tang said helped her get over the bad vibes. She told herself time and again that she was lucky to be able to make her own career.

"I know that not everyone is fortunate to make what they love their career, and not everyone could make an effort every single day to achieve their dream. I fully cherish my work. And it gives me a huge momentum to be able to move on and move forward. All the storms have become just clouds to me," she said.

Centered on music

Cheung Tan, CEO and co-founder of Hummingbird Music, said the company's aim is to produce serious music and put music at the center of G.E.M.'s entertainment career.

A lot of artists today are discovered because of their singing talent, but they end up becoming distracted by a daunting schedule of commercial appearances, dabbling in movies and so on. Cheung figured that entertainment companies concentrate too much on building star power for their artists or earning profits, so that talent becomes "a stepping stone". He says the media rarely focus on music when they write about Tang.

"We try to schedule more time for G.E.M. to focus on music or artistry itself and make it the core of her career - more live concerts and we give her more time to write songs, sharpening her performance or shooting music videos," said Cheung.

Groinig strives to bring Tang into contact with established veterans of the music industry overseas, including the back-up vocalists for the late Michael Jackson. "It has a lot to do with all the other things in life that make you a good musician. It's not just the technical stuff. Working with different artists and being around them change her, she learns about their work ethics and gets inspired," said Groinig.

Tang is passionate about pop music and about her stage performances. She practices dancing every day which is also a way for her to keep fit. But in a lot of ways she is still exploring the possibilities of her music.

She is comfortable with piano and percussion but constantly tries to learn more about other instruments. She watches DVDs of other singers at home and learns about different genres, her favorites being genres that are groovy and have strong beats. She tried learning fabric dancing, because she thought it was a beautiful form of dance, but in the end she felt it didn't suit her.

Tang's latest interest is cooking. There are elements about it she can relate to as a stage performer, like regulating the amount of seasoning to get the desired effect.

"I love performing not just when I have a 10,000-strong audience, but even with just two people. I love to watch the way their faces change, reflecting their emotions. I believe sharing of love between people makes life meaningful. When you make people laugh, you would feel that is meaningful. When your performance moves people, when your cooking moves people because they can feel your heart, these are moments that I feel are meaningful," Tang concluded.

Contact the writer at andrea@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 01/19/2015 page9)