Music: FIONA SIT "F Debut"

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Mavis
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Music: FIONA SIT "F Debut"

Post by Mavis »

Every few years, there would be one singer where I'll go absolutely crazy about. Last one was in 1999, when Jolin Tsai made her debut. And I think this time around I've found another one in Fiona.

Fiona Sit Hoi Kei is the 2004 "Warner Girl", along with Endy Chow "Warner Boy", they are the only newcomers promoted by Warner Music Hong Kong this year. The rumour was that both of them were suppose to make their debuts last summer but due to SARS Warner decided to push them back.

Fiona has something that other female newcomers over the past few years don't have: the looks AND the vocal. Track 1 "XBF" (let's see who can figure out what that means) is her debut song, features a little rock ballad flavour. According to Fiona, the song is also the evidence of her growth, as she had surgery to fix her nasal passage after producers noticed that there was heavy nasal "bass" sound in "XBF".

"F Debut" is a very well balanced album, and it's was obvious that the producer put a lot of effort in choosing the right songs. Track 2 "Madonna's Kiss" is the next plug song, and gave Fiona a chance to show off her vocal skills. Track 3 "Keanu Reeve's reply" is a cute song, and the big hit in Hong Kong right now. The song touches the emotions of the little fan in us.

The rest of the album features a little bit of everything. From ballads like track 4 "In a hurry" and track 5 "A little wit", to dreamary/sweet songs like track 9 "Movie buff maiden", to a more mature feel in track 8 "Winter hibernation". There's even a child song in the album, although it doesn't really sound like one, in track 7 "Ugly duckling's Swan Lake".

Fiona also tried her hand in writing lyrics, writing an English version of "Winter hibernation" called "Vie Ya" (track 11). Having gone to international school all her life, Fiona actually doesn't read much Chinese.

I had been waiting for this album for a long time, and it was well worth the wait (and expectations). For a newcomer "F Debut" is as good as one can get. It would've been nicer though, if Warner could include the songs "Keanu Reeve's reply" (duet version with Aaron) and the duet version of Endy Chow's hit song "Eye black". I presume that they'll be included in the second version of F Debut.

For more information about this album, visit www.fdebut.com.hk (Warner especially made a site for Fiona's debut album, but the site will be taken down after a few months)

Rating: 8.5/10

Buy the CD here

Recommendations:
Track 1 "XBF"
Track 3 "Keanu Reeve's Reply"
Track 4 "God is a guy"
Track 7 "Ugly duckling's Swan Lake"
Track 8 "Movie buff maiden"
Track 11 "Vie Ya"
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Post by Mikey_ »

Ha! "Keanu Reeve's Reply" again? :P I just find the name of the track weird :)
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Post by GT »

Ok, I haven't really listened to enough of her songs to comment on her singing...though my initial impression is she's pretty good at it. HOWEVER, the look thing...I just don't think she's THAT pretty, but that's just me :)
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Post by Mavis »

GT wrote:Ok, I haven't really listened to enough of her songs to comment on her singing...though my initial impression is she's pretty good at it. HOWEVER, the look thing...I just don't think she's THAT pretty, but that's just me :)
Good....one less guy to fight with! :)

Fiona's not exactly stunning, but not bad considering all the other singer out there.
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Post by pchan543 »

just curious...are there quite a few hk singers who don't read/write chinese very well? i've heard that edison chen doesn't know much chinese reading and writing either. it must be a challenge when they receive new songs to sing.
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Post by Mikey_ »

I, personally, don't read Chinese characters very well, but I can pronounce things just fine if I convert them to PinYin (Mandarin.) Maybe they do the same thing.

In terms of Cantonese, they may do the same thing, and as long as you can speak that dialect, you should be able to pronounce the words correctly as well.
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Post by Mavis »

Mikey is right. But some singers (like Edison) probably knows enough Chinese already that if people told them what the lyrics were he just has to memorize it. He just doesn't recognize the character but he knows what words it's talking about.

I know this may sound corny, but judging from the interviews I see on TV and newspapers, it's obvious that regardless whether you are fluent in Chinese or not, a better education background does help. At least Fiona, Edison, Eason etc who has a better education background doesn't look or sound stupid during interviews...unlike some other singers like *ahem* Joey, Twins.
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Post by Mikey_ »

Looks like my opinion of this album is completely opposite of the both of you: I find her voice quite sleepy and cliched. I hardly detect any feelings in her songs and also found most of them quite sleepy/ unexciting.

Maybe it's because I don't understand the words :)
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Post by Mavis »

Mikey, maybe that's it. Just like if you just listen to Britney and not know what she's like, you'll find her music just as ordinary.

Congrats to Fiona for getting gold record sales. Such is the state of HK music now...only a handful of albums reach gold sales every year.
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Post by Mikey_ »

Perhaps you're right... I don't know much about Fiona and so from a listening perspective, I found the album unexciting.

What does she do? Congrats to her gold.
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