Fred Cheng Wins First Place at “The Voice: Stars’ Legend”

The finale of TVB’s singing competition, The Voice: Stars’ Legend <星夢傳奇>, aired on Sunday, October 13. An early favorite on the show, Fred Cheng (鄭俊弘) emerged as the big winner of the night.

Fred came in first place with 161,046 votes from the audience, which is more than half the votes of the rest of the winners. In second place was Hoffman Cheng (鄭世豪) with 42,136 votes. Corinna Chamberlain (陳明恩) came in third with 20,114 votes, and Yiu Bing (姚兵) took fourth place with 14,634 votes.

In addition, Fred also took home the Professionally Chosen Performance Award due to his amazing singing that night. The judges for the award were Alan Tam (譚詠麟) and Eric Moo (巫啟賢). In particular, Eric took a strong liking to Fred and dubbed him as the “Next Eason Chan (陳奕迅)”. In total, Fred pocketed $600,000 HKD as well as a microphone made of gold and diamonds worth $338,000 HKD.

Since the airing of The Voice: Stars’ Legend, Fred’s recognition levels shot up. Although he played supporting roles in TVB series for a decade, viewers were often unable to remember his real name in the past. The music competition allowed Fred to showcase his talents, and inspire viewers with the underdog story that perseverance and hard work pay off.

Back in 2001, Fred participated in TVB’s Chinese New Talent Singing Competition, where he won second place. After the experience, he never dreamed of stepping onstage once again to sing. Fred had tears in his eyes and thanked his family and company for being there for him with a touching speech. He is very grateful for the opportunity, and has decided to give all the money to his mother.

On his victory, Fred said, “For many years, I have given my all, but received zero returns. Now, I learned how to face things with a normal attitude. I will do my best, but without any expectations of returns. The most important thing is to enjoy the process.”

Hoffman was another under-appreciated actor  at TVB, playing minor roles and stunt doubles for twelve years. He had tears in his eyes several times throughout the night. When it was announced he came in second place, he could not help but cry once more. He admitted, “Fred had to calm me down again. I never thought [of winning an award]. I’m really happy. Thank you, thank you!”

Corinna decided to challenge herself that night by singing Kay Tse’s (謝安琪) “I Sing Therefore I Am” <我歌故我在>, which hit very high notes. Coming in third place, she was not disappointed with her decision. It did not matter to Corinna whether she could have been better off with an easier song, because she sang with all her heart. In the near future, she would be busy preparing for her upcoming record album and solo concert.

Although Yiu Bing received no awards for coming in fourth place, he expressed he has won on the inside. He gave a touching speech to his wife, announcing that he would like to hold a grand celebration for their 10th wedding anniversary three years later. “We didn’t have a very good wedding ceremony at the time, since we didn’t have much money. I want to have a good celebration and invite all our friends.”

Sources: ihtkv.com; Oriental Daily

This article is written by Shirley for JayneStars.com.

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Responses

    1. I am not sure if they are still dating…but I remember back in 2011 when Paul Chiang’s daughter and son got an award during the JSG award show…Fred was sitting next to Paul in the audience. Then it seemed like the broke up…and I’m not sure if they are still dating.

  1. #1 (Fred) and #2 (Hoffman) are both very talented singers. Congrats!!!

    1. Agree –

      Corinna really screwed up on her last performance. My ears were bleeding because of her!

  2. Who’s the 4th winner?

    Congrats to all of them. So glad that the underdogs are recognized. I hope TVB will develop their careers and not just leave it like that.

  3. SO HAPPY FOR HIM! You can tell how humble he is as a person as well- hope his music career will go smooth and successful! Also hope to see him continue with dramas too 🙂 ! One talented young performer.

  4. Yes! Yes !Winner 1st and 2nd place both have very powerful and beautiful voice congrats them and all judges are very experienced giving very correct comments. Bravo !

  5. The real challenge now is how their career in music will be developed. Winning is just the very first step/ Public can be tricky. THey may love you in the competition but when the album is out, no one is buying (mainly because everyone is downloading).

    1. agree,everybody download it nowadays only real fans will buy it.

    2. i never buy physical copies of albums b/c i usually get them through itunes, but i will most definitely buy one, ten, twenty albums to support him!

  6. Yay Fred! Congratulations for all the awards he received that night! I was rooting for him since the beginning and I think his voice + his story made people root for him as well. I think TVB will definitely help him along in his music career since they do well for Mag Lam and Alfred Hui. He’ll also be singing the theme song with Kristal Tin for the upcoming Roger/Kristal series that will be airing in December. 🙂

    1. TVB is so fast! one day after he won Voice of Stars, they announce that he will be singing the theme song, they had it planned out all along! so happy for that! and the series JUST finished filming in June, right before Voice of Stars aired and now they’re airing it already in December (given it’s not a good time slot since it’s the holiday season but still) TVB really wants to promote and support Fred during this crucial time frame when he’s so popular!

      1. Sure la tvb can’t wait to milk the golden cow! Typical of tvb.

  7. Is he is the same one that Paul Chun supported and encouraged?? If so, Paul must be really happy and proud of him. I am glad that he has finally achieved some success due to his efforts. Hopefully he has a good, successful and everlasting career!! Congrats to Fred!

      1. Thanks and so it is him. It is great that his hard work has paid off.

  8. Fred was consistently good throughout the show. He deserves the top placing. Hoffman was good too. He should have been placed in the earlier episodes so the audience could see more of his performances. Corinna wasn’t too bad. Yau Bin – I didn’t particularly enjoy his singing. Moon was a pity! He didn’t choose the right song and probably had too much on his plate, hence affecting his performance.

    I feel the format of the show – with two new challengers each episodes – wasn’t really fair. Those who started earlier had more room for errors and chances of elimination. I mean Hoffman only did three episodes. No doubt he was good but stretch him out to 7-9 episodes, he may not be able to sustain.

    And between the last 2 challengers to the finals – it was all over too quickly. There should be a revival episodes where 2 of the best elimated performers could rejoin the competition. Becky was a decent singer. She should be given another shot. Aaryn too.

    That said, this was one of the better shows by TVB this year. It also shows the audience (and professional artists) don’t just go for eye candies but really roof for artists with capabilities. Little known Fred and Hoffman are examples. Even Yip Wai lasted three episodes!

    1. agree,the system isnt fair for ppl who starts early.hoffman have only 2 performance and get through the final stage.

  9. Congratulations Fred!!! I noticed him when he was in the Forensic Hero.

  10. Congrats Fred! your talented touched my heart. Can’t wait for your first album out.

  11. fred’s rock song performance is outstanding but his love song isnt really special.

    1. i dont like freds mother.she seems so fake,if she really loves fred she should support him ten years ago when he is kelefe. and not now when he is popular.

      1. Dun be too quick to judge! How do you know that she didn’t try? Sometimes love is letting another person the freedom to pursue his dream eve though it doesn’t look too practical!

      2. How do you know she didn’t support him? Were you present in their personal lives?

      3. nigel you could be right,i may be too quick.but she try so hard in front of the camera that it looks like fake.
        well said,love is indeed sometimes letting another person the freedom to pursue his dreams….

      4. I feel like as a parent, it makes sense to discourage a path that seems fruitless. But now, Fred is actually getting somewhere with his career, and of course she’s going to support him. What else is she going to do? Refuse to come? Or come on stage and discourage him in front of all of HK?

      5. Well, if I’m not wrong, she was the one who registered him for the singing competition back in 2001. I remember reading that she supported Fred monetarily when he didn’t have enough to spend. I’m sure she must have supported him in other ways that we won’t know. They seem like a closely-knitted family to me. I think she is just genuinely happy for her son.. Finally, recognition after so many years.

      6. Oh ya.. talking about being fake.. Some artistes are really fake in my opinion.. After Fred was crowned the winner, many artistes updated their Weibo, congratulating him. While some are truly happy for him, some seem to be fake cos from their posts, u know that they don’t keep in contact and just wanna ride on his fame… hmmm..

      7. she DID support him!! she knew that was his dream and allowed him to go to HK to pursue it. but you have to be realistic when nothing is happening after 6-7 years. there’s a difference between persevering towards your dreams and just sitting around daydreaming about your dreams. Fred did not give up and continued to practice and work hard and finally made it today.

      8. Talk about being fake I think this Oscar looks really fake! I think Paul have always been kind to Fred hence Fred really appreciates him as mentioned in one of the article. Ppl who stood by him when he was struggling those r his true friends, definitely not those who pretend to congratulate him now I find these ppl are looking for their 2 mins of fame by posting in weibo etc….

      9. Fred seems to really love his mom a lot so I highly doubt that she did not support him 10 years ago. IF she didn’t then why is he even in HK in the first place?? She must be a good mom for him to love her so much and to want to give all of his reward money to her. I heard that he did not want to acknowledge his dad since his dad did not even take care of him, but not his mom.

  12. Yes Fred is a well deserving winner from the start and he made the song Angel sound extra nice. When he perform those upbeat fast songs was really outstanding but very sweet in those slow ballads.

    He also sang very well in the finale song Chase by Leslie and was not pitchy at all. I remember Chilam sang this song in Leslie tribute concert and went out of tune 3 times.

    1. Really? Chilam pitchy? I can sing that song Chase very well till my boss and colleagues were surprised with awe… hahaha

      1. Didn’t know he sang off key though anyway I hv also heard Eason sing off key before and until now I cannot understand what the fuss is about on Eason. His voice not fantastic, face not handsome and worst personality also sucks! Chi Lam and Fred so much better. Waiting for Fred to sweep everyone off the feet!

  13. Fred Cheng is not only a great singer but also a very capable cry baby. He cried in every single episode. Congrats to him anyway. He deserves it.

    1. He can’t blame him. It tough working in tvb especially when you a nobody. My friend done the acting classes in tvb back in 2001 and the past 9 years only get pass by roles. She got potential but never gotten the chances to showcase it.

  14. The system is fair, in a way. Hoffman had to beat many episodes worth of experience from the old contestantsin order to get to the final. He was really ready for the competition. Actually, when I saw this competition at first, his was the only one that popped into my head as I previously heard him sing before.

  15. Just for his win, I’m OK with the show’s existence. Now watch TVB fawn over him as their next big singer when they could have discovered him years ago.

  16. Apologies this post is not related to Fred Cheung but just want to let everyone know HKTV application for a free TV license was REJECTED by HK govt today. A story of don’t start baking the bread before one get the food license first.

  17. I want to mention Adam Ip Wai who didn’t make it to the finals. He has a beautiful singing voice and is a very skilled singer. Hope that besides the top 5 finalists, people also remember him. I hope he gets more opportunity to sing.

    Other contestants I also hope to hear more off are

    Sky Chan
    Lily Ho
    Candice Chiu
    Owen Cheung
    Becky Lee
    Shirley Yeung
    Stanley Cheung
    Aaryn Cheung

    1. Also add Grace Wong. Her voice is not one of my fave, but, she did sing well and is a very good performer. I especially like her groove went she sings.

      1. I think they can push her into being more in the singer/dancer category because she can really dance!

  18. I hope tvb gives fred bigger roles in dramas! I feel like he’s a really good actor too

  19. Now, he can probably stop being all those’kelefe’ roles in those cr.ppy tvb series? ahha… nice, long deserved recognition.

    1. i’m so excited that he will no longer have kelefe roles!!! everything he will be filming now will be heavier, meatier roles! wooohooo!

  20. Support Fred forever! 🙂 can’t wait for his first theme song to come outt 😀

  21. I find here in Jaynstars, many people love Fred too. Go, go, go Fred all the way to become a superstar!!Congrat. Fred!

  22. Fred is so so so good in singing at the voice of the stars and I can’t even believe that he won the first place of the voices of the stars!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!
    And our school burwood public school year six designed a year six t-shirt and the shirt has all of year six students name on the back of the t-shirt
    And it is called Legend of burwood!!!!!!!!!!

  23. Grace Wong is quite good at singing but she can’t stay with the rest of the people in the team how sad!!!!!!!!! 🙁 but she actually tired very hard but I actually like her as wellll at least she tired!!!!!!!!!;)

  24. Congrats Fred, you are a pretty good actor as well !!!! 🙂

  25. honest, it is so hot when fred dished out “crazy little thing called love”, just fantastic and skillfully performed.

    Freddie is some gifted performer, humble and simple unless most nowadays the so-called singers (chicken voice).

    well done, fred. hope that you can continue making it big in tvb.

    btw, me from Singapore.

    1. haha yup gotta support our fellow Canadian!

      Congrats to Fred..he really deserves it!

  26. Eric Moo (巫啟賢) didn’t say Fred is the “Next Eason Chan (陳奕迅)”. He jsut meant besides Eason, Fred can be another name we looking forward to. Fred is Fred and he has his own style.

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