G.E.M.: “I Want to Show Everyone That Women Can Be Powerful Too”
The singer discovers her own abilities after taking on bigger responsibilities.
While G.E.M. (鄧紫棋) has always been vocal, bold, and passionate about music over the past decade, there has been a slight change in her. After the lawsuit scandal with her estranged management agency Hummingbird Music, she had to take on more responsibilities. G.E.M. actually gets more satisfaction out of her fans and family’s pride than from her own achievements now.
Speaking about her greatest change over the last 10 years, G.E.M. realized that it might be her ability to handle stress.“When I first became an artiste, I merely buried myself in the hard work of vocal training, singing, songwriting and dancing. As I grew older, I began to have a sense of responsibility. I had to face more, such as learning to be self-disciplined, to control my own lifestyle, and deal with stress and public discourse.” Starting a new journey, G.E.M. learned to manage and lead her own team, and take care of every detail in album production. While it is a steep learning curve, she felt that she discovered a little more of what she is capable of each time while slowly building up her ability to manage the situation. Slowly but surely, this has shaped her for the better.
When asked about her many achievements including being the youngest female Hong Kong singer to hold a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum, the youngest Best Female Singer nominee at the Golden Melody Awards and being nominated in the 2018 BBC 100 Women listings, G.E.M. reflected on her journey up until today.“Ten years ago I was just a girl who loved singing. I didn’t come from a rich family nor did I have a strong backing. Being able to chase my dream and achieve what I did as an ordinary girl inspires fans. Seeing their happiness is far more satisfying than my personal achievement and joy.”
As her family members loved music, G.E.M. grew up in a musically-inclined environment. She fell in love with music and strove to improve her singing. This passion also made it easy for her to deal with the sometimes difficult journey. The pride others had in her achievements also made her feel that everything was worth it as she could help others fulfill their dreams at the same time.
Making It Big in China
When she first took part in the reality show I am a Singer <我是歌手>, G.E.M. saw it as one more platform for her to sing. It was an unexpected reward to see her popularity grow afterward. The 28-year-old singer shared, “2014 was a really crazy year. Besides gaining popularity quickly, there were many rumors which smeared me or news headlines out of nowhere, which made me feel that I was on a roller-coaster. I’d be ecstatic one moment and really unhappy the next. In these five years, I focused on doing what I want without caring about the feedback. Whether I encounter praise or criticism, I want to focus on doing what I love and improve myself in the process. As long as I improve myself, I would have the motivation to carry on and continue on what I do with more stable footsteps.”
Source: Marie Claire
This article is written by JoyceK for JayneStars.com.
I respect GEM for her vocals but a lot of her success has come from those few performances in ‘I’m a singer’. In the mainland anyone can gain success or lose it overnight. The success has definitely got to her head since her rise….