Alfred Hui | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alfred Hui at West Kowloon Cultural District, Tsim Sha Tsui | |||||||||||
| Born | 29 April 1988 | ||||||||||
| Nationality |  United Kingdom | ||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Hong Kong (BDS) | ||||||||||
| Occupations |
| ||||||||||
| Years active | 2009–present | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 許廷鏗 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 许廷铿 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Musical career | |||||||||||
| Also known as | Wu Chun from Tseung Kwan O (將軍澳吳尊) Prince Ant (螞蟻王子) Little Dentist (牙醫仔) | ||||||||||
| Genres | C-pop | ||||||||||
| Labels | Stars Shine International (2011–2013)[1] The Voice Entertainment Group (2014–2017) Warner Music (2017–2021) Alfrecords (2021–present) | ||||||||||
Alfred Hui Ting-hang (born 29 April 1988) is a Hong Kong singer and dentist. He rose to prominence as the eleventh-place finalist in the first season of The Voice (Chinese: 超級巨聲). His debut studio album Departure Trilogy earned gold certification. Hui won multiple best newcomer awards in 2011. He has since released more than ten studio albums.
Hui holds a Bachelor of Dental Surgery from the University of Hong Kong, and is licensed by the Dental Council of Hong Kong since 2012.[2]
Alfred Hui Ting-hung was born on April 29, 1988, in Hong Kong. His father is Hui Yee Yung and Alfred has two older sisters and an older brother.[3] His father was the vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Kidney Foundation. As a child, Hui aspired to be a doctor. Hui decided to pursue dentistry after job shadowing at his uncle's dental clinic for two weeks.[3] Hui graduated from the German Swiss International School, in Hong Kong (German: Deutsch-Schweizerische Internationale Schule). He attended The University of Hong Kong, and was named HKU Sports Scholar in Soccer in 2007.[4] Hui graduated with a Bachelor in Dental Surgery in 2012.
In 2009, Hui competed in the singing competition television series The Voice. Hui won the Most Popular Award, and placed eleventh in the competition. Hui signed with TVB as a recording artist and debuted with the song "My Departure Is Also A Kind Of Love" (我的離開也是愛), the ending song to television series Gun Metal Grey.
On 4 March 2011, Alfred Hui signed a contract with Stars Shine International (星煥國際) as a singer. On 28 June 2011, he released his debut studio album A Trilogy of Departure (Chinese: 出走三部曲). On 16 August 2011, Hui headlined his first music concert. The single "Departure" peaked at number one on the 903 Ultimate Song Chart and Jade Solid Gold music chart. Hui swept newcomer awards in 2011, winning Best Newcomer Gold Prize at the Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation, Best Newcomer at the Metro Radio Hits Music Awards,[5] Best Prospects Bronze Prize at the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards, and Most Popular Newcomer (Gold) at JSG Awards Presentation.
Hui released his second studio album Blue (藍調) on January 12, 2012.
Hui represented Hong Kong to participate in the ABU TV Song Festival 2012, which was scheduled to take place at the KBS Concert Hall, in Seoul, South Korea, on 14 October 2012.[6][better source needed][7]
His third studio album Grandit (長大), meaning "growing up" in French, was released in December 2012. The title track "Grandit" (重新長大) was released to radio on 5 September 2012 and managed to garner top places in music charts of RTHK, Metro Radio and TVB. The single "The Ode of Youth" (青春頌), which echoes the theme of the song "Grandit" and serves as the conclusion of the album, received critical acclaim. It was released to radio on 21 February 2013. Commercially, the song remained as No.1 on Commercial Radio's music chart for two consecutive weeks, breaking a record that was held for seven years. In a radio interview, Hui revealed that the song was originally not intended to be released as a single. The result was a surprise to him.[8]
On 31 October 2013, Alfred Hui followed Herman Ho Chit-to (何哲圖), Chief Executive Officer of Stars Shine (星煥國際), to join the Voice Entertainment Group Limited (星夢娛樂). His contract was then transferred to the new company. On 20 December 2013, Hui released a compilation album The Times (時光). On 28 and 29 December 2013, The Times – Alfred Hui Solo Concert 2013 (許廷鏗時光演唱會2013) was organized at the Star Hall (匯星) of Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre (九龍灣國際展貿中心).
On December 7, 2014, Alfred Hui's two singles "Chain" and "Blessing" ranked second and tenth respectively on the Jade Solid Gold music chart.[9] His singles "Shelter" and "If You Were Me" also attained excellent results, peaking on three song charts.
In the music awards ceremony at the end of 2014, Hui's single "Shelter" won awards at the Metro Radio Hit Awards, RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards and JSG Best 10 Awards Presentation, while Hui himself also won singer awards. His album The Times is one of the top ten best-selling Cantopop albums of the year.
In 2015, Alfred Hui released Colour By Numbers and Watermark albums in January and December respectively, each with 11 songs.
In 2016, Alfred Hui did not release any new albums, but released many songs. In early July, Alfred Hui released a single "My Aspiration" (我的志願). This was his first time directing his own music video, starring former ATV veteran actor Nina Paw. The music video attained over 140,000 views within a week. Since September 1, he has briefly participated in the cartoons drawn by cartoonist YY in Headline Daily every Thursday. Since then, the song "My Aspiration" has also become Hui's first song to peak all four song charts since his debut, while another single "If You're Here, I'm There" ranked first on three charts.
In 2017, after Hui's contract with The Voice Entertainment ended, he signed a new four-year contract with Warner Music Hong Kong. On June 12, 2017, he released his first major title "Root" (根) (feat. 2868) after joining the new record label.[10] On October 27, 2017, he released his first album Miraculous Journey (神奇之旅) after the transfer. Songs included "Blue" (藍血人), "Miraculous Journey", "OCD" (強迫症進行曲) and "ADD" (大雄胖虎綜合症). The single "Miraculous Journey" ranked first at three song chart, while the other singles "Blue" and "Root" were released in just a few weeks and peaked at one and two charts respectively. In December, Hui released the single "If Only I Can Weep" (原來我可以哭). A series of moving short videos was made to promote the single. In particular, the Thai chapter was more heatedly discussed by Thai netizens.[11]
In February 2018, Hui released a new single "An Actor Prepares" (演員的自我修養), which ranked first at three song charts. He then collaborated with Mark Lui to release a love song named "Devoted Lover" (恐怖情人). In May, Hui announced that he was preparing for his first concert in Hong Kong Coliseum, which was considered as an achievement by singers in Hong Kong. In August, he held a solo concert KKBOX Simply Me Simply Alfred, where he announced the confirmation of a concert at the Coliseum, which was held on March 23, 2019.[12]
In August 2018, Hui collaborated with RubberBand's Mau Hou Cheong and released a new single "Spare A Listen" (停半分鐘聽一闋歌) as a tribute to Cantopop. In November, he released a new song "Innocence" (白紙), which was composed and produced by his friend Yu Yat Yiu. In the same month, Hui announced the release of his first self-titled album Alfred Hui on November 27.
In 2019, to commemorate his tenth year since his debut, Hui released his tenth album Ten (拾). The album won the Best Male Artist Album Award at the 43rd RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards.
In 2020, Alfred Hui released a concept album Negative with the theme of "negativity".[13] In the same year, Hui served as one of the judges in the fourth round of ViuTV's King Maker III. His frank and candid performance on the program, along with his eloquent comments received a lot of praise.[14]
At the end of 2020, Alfred Hui won the first "Gold Award for Male Singer" in his singing career at the 2020 Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation. The award was regarded as one of the highest achievements in the music industry. Hui was the first male singer who debuted in the 2010s to win the award. His title song "Feebleness" (無力感) in Negative has also been listed as one of the top ten songs at the Presentation.[15]
On March 17, 2021, Alfred Hui announced on his social network that his contract with Warner Music Hong Kong had officially expired, saying that he would focus his work as a dentist temporarily and plan to explore the Taiwanese music market after the COVID-19 pandemic.[16] On March 31, Hui accepted an interview with TVB, and he was interviewed by TVB for the first time in nearly four years since he left.
On October 4, 2021, Hui announced the establishment of his own record label, Alfrecords. On April 29, 2022, his 34th birthday, he released his 13th album, 2021, his first album since his independence. The album is released as an LP record exclusively and only 1231 limited copies were made. The lyrics of all songs in the album was written by lyricist Albert Leung.
In January 2022, local media reported that ten Canto-pop singers and groups had been put on a blacklist of government-funded broadcaster RTHK, with radio DJs having been ordered not to play their songs. Hui was reportedly on the list.[17] In response to a letter by lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen requesting clarification, RTHK wrote: "RTHK has been supporting the development of Chinese pop music. Program hosts choose songs based on professionalism and suitability to the programs."[18]
Albums
Singles
| Year | Title | Network | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | The Voice | TVB | Contestant | |
| 2020 | King Maker III | ViuTV | Judge | EP27-30[19] |
| 2021 | A-Live | Host | [20] | |
| King Maker IV | Mentor | [21] |
| Year | Title | Network | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Dropping By Cloud Nine | TVB | EP8 |
| Year | Title | Chinese Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Planet 51 | 外星51 | 咖喱 | Cantonese dub |
| 2019 | UglyDolls | 樣衰衰奇兵 | Lou | Cantonese dub[22] |
| 2022 | Life Must Go On | 深宵閃避球 | Lau Chi Yuen (Joyce Cheng's husband), | Cameo[23] |
