By Karen Yip
Local R&B honey, RUI EN, may have ruffled some feathers among Jay Chou devotees. But between celebrating her English drama debut in Ch 5′s Chemistry and preparing her second Mandarin album, who has time to worry about other people’s jealous fans?
LIME: How did your friends react the first time they saw you on TV?
RUI EN: I was the girl running to the ATM machine in SingTel’s pod hi!Card commercial. Nobody thought much of it ‘cos I was already modelling then and appearing in ads. It was the Chinese drama, No Problem, that was a big deal to my friends. They know my Mandarin sucks. They watched it just to laugh at me.
You were Chen Hanwei’s love interest in No Problem. Now you play the main character in new Ch 5 drama, Chemistry. Is it easier working on a Chinese or English production?
English, because of my comfort level with the language. In Chemistry, I play Rachel, the type of girl your parents warn you about! She’s a lot like me, so there’s no acting involved. (Laughs)
For English productions, everything has to be shot very precisely before we move on. The filming process is kinda faster for Chinese productions.
What’s Chemistry about?
Basically, it’s about love and relationships and revolves around four young working adults. Rachel is a radio DJ and her love interest, CK [played by Howard Cheung] is a fitness instructor. Both put up brave fronts and pretend they aren’t looking for love, when they really are. Rachel’s best friend, Stephanie [Mavis Cheong] is dating CK’s friend James [Christian Koh]. Things become complicated when James starts getting slimy with Rachel and Stephanie gets angry.
We hear that in an interesting twist, Rachel and CK wake up one morning in each other’s bodies.
Hey, that’s supposed to be a surprise! Essentially, Howard and I had to act like the opposite sex. I practiced sitting and standing like a guy, even going to the toilet and scratching my crotch! The weirdest scene is the one where we first realise our bodies have been switched. I had to act like a guy who suddenly discovers he has breasts! It was very funny! Filming Chemistry helped me remember that everyone’s got a soft and fragile side – even guys.
Do you have a boyfriend?
No, I have absolutely no time.
You graduated from Raffles Junior College and are now in your final year studying finance at NTU. From experience, are guys afraid of intelligent girls?
No, guys like intelligent girls. They are intimidated by the fact that I’m a celebrity more than anything else.
Do you have any siblings?
No, I’m an only child, a spoilt brat. If I want something, my Dad gets it for me. And he always sides with me against my Mum! When I’m tired from filming and school and I wake up the next morning looking like s***, my dad feels bad. He told me to take a longer time to finish my degree if I can’t cope. My parents are really cool about my showbiz career. They just want me to be happy.
Having entered the working world earlier than your peers, have you become more cynical?
Definitely, especially since many things are fake in the entertainment industry and you do things just for the camera. There are also added responsibilities, like making sure I do my job well. It has made me grow up faster.
Hype Records talent scouts spotted you filming the SingTel ad and auditioned you without knowing if you could sing. How did it feel knowing looks were their first priority when it came to making you a pop star?
I’ve tried modelling and that’s even more based on looks, so I wasn’t surprised at all. The voice and looks matter nowadays for pop stars. That’s just the way it is. I realised that early in my career and it’s just one of the things you learn to accept. I don’t feel comfortable ‘cos I’m a very practical person. If this is what it takes to get things done and to succeed, then okay.
Does it freak you out to hear your songs as ringtone tunes?
You know what? I saw my song ‘Who’ advertised as a ringtone and I paid to get it! I was like, ‘Oh so exciting! Let’s just hear what it’s like!’ You wanna hear? It’s actually very gross!
Jay Chou composed the song ‘White Feathers’ on your self-titled debut Mandarin album and appeared in your album commercial. You’ve played his love interest in his ‘Secret Signal’ music video and was a special guest at his concert this year. Are you riding on his popularity to get noticed?
If you’re familiar with the Asian music industry, you’ll know it’s very common to have an artist take on a ‘junior’ from the same record company. It’s just that I’m a girl and Jay Chou is Jay Chou. He’s so famous, that’s why people tend to notice and wonder about us.
Does that bug you?
(Sighs) People are saying a million and one things about me. I really can’t be bothered. But to these people, I say, “If you wanna judge me, listen to my album first.” At least be fair, don’t get personal without giving me a chance. Generally, Jay’s fans haven’t been nasty. Only once, when some of them went on our company website and warned me to stay away from him. The Taiwanese press blow that up really big, like oh…his fans were gonna murder me or something. It wasnt such a big deal but when I came back home, everyone kept asking me about it.
So what’s the relationship really like between you and Jay?
We are friends but I barely see him ‘cos I stay here in Singapore. We get along when we’re together and he treats me like a boy. I’m very, very sarcastic to him and he always says if I was a guy, he would have beaten me up long time ago! (Chuckles)
Is your image as Rui En, the singer, far off from the real you?
In Taiwan, people think I’m sweet. The marketing campaign for my first album was a bit un-me. My clothes were too sweetie-pie – all dresses and short skirts. I’m looking forward to my second album where I get to be more myself. Style-wise, I’d say I’m a cross between Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani. I hate clothes that are tight, short or low-cut!
What will you be doing next?
I’m almost done with the lyrics for the second album. I’m writing them in English and then we’re gonna translate it to Chinese. It should be out end of this year.
You wear glasses in public so people won’t recognise you. Does it actually work?
Yes, especially if I don’t wear makeup, too. Once, I said hi to an acquaintance in school and she just went blank. When she realised who I was, she went, “You look very different.” I don’t know if she was being nice. Anyway it’s okay if I look gross, that’s the point! I just don’t want people recognising me.
Source: Lime
Categorised in Chemistry, Lime, No Problem 考试家族, Rui ∑n vol. 01.
發表時間: 2003/6/15 上午 03:17:23
HELLO EVERYONE！
SORRY！！！。。。。?在才留言。。。。。。最近一直忙著?校的功?跟新加坡的
??宣?。。。SIGH。。。。。。。。太想台?了。。而且特?想台?的歌迷。。
你??好?？?在的天气??不冷了吧 HEHE？我一回到新加坡就?始想?台??
? 的天气 ：) ??是超?的。。。。。我前三?星期考完?。。。。。YUCKS?提
了。。。。ANYWAY?然我人?在不在台?，希望你???把我留在心里。。等第二
?好?？已??始??了：)。。我??不?忘了台?歌迷的?情跟照?。。。。但
??系我?通留言版勾通OK？BYEBYE
LUFF ALWAYS，
芮恩
RUIEN
Source: Alfa Music
Categorised in Bridge, Rui ∑n vol. 01, Yahoo! Group.
A new singer has emerged from the sunny shores of Singapore, and her label HYPE Records has wasted no time dubbing her with the tagline of ‘Hai Pa Ping Fan De Nu Sheng’ (the girl who fears being ordinary).
“I’m a bit embarrassed by that, it sounds arrogant,” says Rui En laughing, “I hope to express to people who listen to my songs, that I have ideas and viewpoints of my own and that they can understand them you know, everyone wants to be special and be their own individual,” says the 22-year-old.
Just what distinguishes the 1.69m tall Aquarian, who dropped her surname Lu and picked up a special ‘S’ sign for branding sake?
Is it the fact that 1 of the hottest names in Chinese pop, Jay Chou, writes songs for this newcomer? Or the fact that she shops largely on the Internet in a conscious effort to own things not easily found in local stores?
Or maybe her poor grasp of Mandarin, which resulted in a funny incident in Taiwan last month when she was there for album promotions. She kept refusing to order food because the menu were not written in the simplified Chinese script taught in Singapore schools.
Besides how many Mandarin pop singers do you know are avid fans of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth and dig books like The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy?
These less than hip reading materials are what occupy her time apart from her shopping, surfing the Internet, sleeping and watching TV- if she manages to find any time at all.
“I guess in terms of lifestyle [I have] changed dramatically, I don’t have time and have no social life, it’s zero,” laments Rui En.
Call back
Her rise to fame though, was pretty run-of-the-mill. Like a plethora of local models-turned-singers like Shirley Yee, Fann Wong and Celest Chong, Rui En was picked from obscurity to star in the memorable Singtel ‘Hi!Card’ commercial in 2001. In it, she ran like the wind to top up her Hi!Card just to receive a call from a guy she’d given her number to the previous night.
From that promising debut, she landed commercials for MPH’s online bookstore and did some photo shoots for magazines. She got her first celeb break when she acted in a MediaCorp Channel 8 drama serial called No Problem opposite Chen Han Wei, after an audition at HYPE Records.
HYPE Records saw Rui Sn’s X-factor in the Singtel commercial, “[it was] her confidence and energy level that captured our attention, but her unique vocals took us by surprise during our face-to-face audition,” said Yvonne Lim, 27, Promotions Manager at HYPE Records. “These days an artiste has to be multi-talented and Rui Sn fits our requirements to a T.”
School blues
Things are a lot less peachy in her day job as a 3rd Year Banking undergraduate in Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
“No, I don’t like what I’m [studying] now, it was a mistake. If you give me a choice now, I would choose to do Arts in NUS (National University of Singapore), because I like writing, reading and especially English Literature. At that time I did pretty well for my ‘A’ levels, and I thought of going into something more prestigious and I realised after a while that I really didn’t like Math, so now I’m regretting it.”
“The fact is if I quit now I would have wasted 2 whole years, that’s quite kek sim (agonising),” she says. Rui Sn had considered quitting, but decided to be practical instead, heeding friends’ advice to avoid regretting her rashness later. “What to do, pia lor (just grit my teeth and strive harder).”
She’ll be the first to admit that balancing work and school is easier said than done. “I tell you honestly I don’t cope (laughing), I try my best…because once you become an artiste, you think it’s so fun and you go get your pictures taken, you perform in front of a lot of people, and after that you go back home and you realise that you’ve got homework to do.”
After a tough initial period of adjustment, “now it just takes a lot of determination and will power, I basically sit down and force myself to do homework.”
Family ties
Even though the self-confessed tomboy grew up with an independent streak, playing with boys, watching wrestling and riding bicycles, as an only child, her parents were understandably apprehensive about her entry to showbiz. “My dad is very liberal, he gives me a lot of freedom but my mom was a little bit worried about me being cheated by all these terrible men, now she’s pretty okay and [my parents] are pretty proud of me.”
“I have always known I like performing [previously] I was in this Singaporean mindset, where I have to graduate and get a proper job, get married and have 5,000 kids, [then] this chance came along and I realised I really want to perform.”
“In Alfa Music, a very small music company in Taiwan, there are very few artistes, so Jay [Chou] and Landy [Wen] really took care of me…especially Landy…[who was] really cool, and I hung out with her. Jay was really nice [too], he helped me a lot and gave me a lot of [criticism and praise]. It’s like having a big brother and sister, it’s really cool for me, because I’m an only child”
The long haul
“In Alfa Music, a very small music company in Taiwan, there are very few artistes, so Jay [Chou] and Landy [Wen] really took care of me…especially Landy…[who was] really cool, and I hung out with her. Jay was really nice [too], he helped me a lot and gave me a lot of [criticism and praise]. It’s like having a big brother and sister, it’s really cool for me, because I’m an only child”
The long haul
She doesn’t have to have the mind of a banker to know it’s a competitive market out there. “It’s really tough, but I think [the path I'm taking] is worth it, I can’t see myself doing anything else at all. I think I would die of boredom.”
Heavy efforts were certainly invested in Rui Sn’s debut album, RuiSn vol.01 album which was released in January here. Singer/songwriter Jay Chou, famed lyrist Fang Wen Shan and composer Lin Mai Ke were roped in to contribute to her album too. She has gone to Hong Kong last December for a brief appearance and toured Taiwan after that, with Landy and Jay giving her pointers along the way.
Her promotional activities include attending countdown shows, appearing on TV programs and conducting radio interviews throughout Taiwan. Though she has yet to achieve success similar to Kit Chan and Stefanie Sun, she is slowly gaining popularity judging from the fans that queue up as early as 6am to attend her autograph sessions. It’s no wonder she’s bound by a 10-year contract with HYPE Records.
“I trust Hype [Records] a lot they explained to me their initial capital outlay is a lot and it takes that long to establish yourself and make sure you are making money for the company I figured it benefits us both ways because I’m really serious about my career. I really want to have a career in showbiz and if they really want me for 10 years to push me, they get their money and I get my career advancement. It doesn’t really scare me because I know I’m being serious about being a singer and actress.”
So far, she has completed a MediaCorp TV Channel 5 English comedy/fantasy/drama serial called Chemistry where she stars as someone who is bitter and jaded about love initially. But after going through a whole series of events, her character Rachel realises that she should give love a chance. “All the characters were written for us, so our characters were very much like what we are [in real life]. Rachel is more sharp, mean and more sarcastic then I am, [but] I’m like her in a lot of [other] ways.” The show is slated to air next month.
For now, however, acting has taken a backseat and it’s just album promotions in Singapore, which is her last stop. She will have to concentrate on her studies soon after. A 2nd yet untitled album is underway which will see her composing lyrics for a few songs. There is no official word on the date of release yet.
Her parting advice is simple, “Don’t fake anything and just be yourself, have your own style.”
If she’s as enduring as she is insistent about being anything but ordinary, we’ll be hearing of her for a long time to come…
RuiSn vol.01 album is available in stores.
Source: Urbanwire
Categorised in Chemistry, No Problem 考试家族, Rui ∑n vol. 01, UrbanWire.
23 January 2003
IS newbie singer Lu Rui En an ‘all natural’ girl as her record company touts her to be?
Well, she appeared to be – at first.
Dressed in casual gear for her press conference to launch her debut album, the Singaporean wore minimal makeup and looked like any trendy youngster plucked off the street.
‘This is how I usually dress. I like comfy and baggy clothes,’ she said.
Grimacing, the 21-year-old added: ‘I can never ever have a sexy image because I don’t like to wear tight clothing. I will not be able to tahan (Malay for take it)!’
But when it came to fielding media queries, being ‘natural’ with her responses was a big no-go for Rui En.
Or maybe it was her manager.
At the barest hint of anything controversial, she would cut in and try to answer on Rui En’s behalf.
Like when we asked Rui En if she felt any frustration while in Taiwan because of her limited Mandarin.
Before Rui En could reply, her manager said rather defensively: ‘She wasn’t like, frustrated. It was more awkward than anything.’
Or when we asked how it was like for Rui En to work with Taiwanese singer Jay Chou (he wrote her a song and she appeared in his music video).
‘Oh, we are just like siblings,’ said Rui En, glancing at her manager, and trying to explain.
‘I see him only as a brother and we like to kid around,’ she added, as her manager nodded.
MORE INTERRUPTIONS
An attempt to find out more about Rui En’s upcoming Channel 5 drama, Chemistry, was also nipped in the bud by the ever-so-protective minder.
In Chemistry, Rui En is paired up with newcomer Howard Cheung, and their characters are supposed to fall in love after some initial misunderstandings.
We tried to ask if there were any awkward scenes.
And, expectedly, the manager decided to reply on her behalf: ‘Why don’t you go and watch the show?’
When Rui En admitted that she did have a kissing scene, her manager cut in with: ‘It was just a resuscitation scene!’
But Rui En corrected her: ‘Yes, there was a resuscitation scene, but there was also a kissing scene.
‘The resuscitation scene was awkward because we really had to kiss, and we didn’t do it very naturally because we were nervous.’
It was probably her most ‘natural’ comment throughout the interview.
It would be nice to talk to Rui En again – that is, if she can speak for herself.
Rui En’s self-titled album is out in stores now.
Source: The New Paper
Categorised in Rui ∑n vol. 01, The New Paper.
22 January 2003
HOMEGROWN R&B newcomer Lu Rui En wants to set the record straight.
If her slurry singing sounds suspiciously like that of labelmate Jay Chou, it’s not a case of her being a copycat.
‘It sounds this way because I’m more accustomed to speaking in English,’ Lu, a 21-year-old business school undergraduate at NTU, said in Mandarin during a press conference and mini-showcase at Embassy club yesterday.
‘My Mandarin was unbelievably lan before I was discovered,’ says the former Raffles Junior College student, using the Mandarin colloquialism for ‘atrocious’.
Talent-spotted by Hype Records in 2001 after appearing in a SingTel TV commercial, she went on to do a cameo appearance in Channel 8 drama serial No Problem, last year.
But it was all because of Chou’s concert here in February last year that Lu got her big break.
Mr R.J. Yang, a Taiwanese director from the record label Alpha, was in Hype’s office when he chanced upon her demo tape. He heard it and was impressed.
A month later, she was signed up.
Soon, she was appearing alongside Chou for a mobile phone ad in Taiwan and, more recently, as a love interest in his music video for Secret Code.
He also penned the track White Feather for her debut CD, Rui En Vol.01 Album, which was released last month.
It has sold 50,000 copies in Taiwan and 3,000 here so far.
She performed White Feather during Chou’s sold-out shows as a guest earlier this month at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Though she thanks Chou for opening doors for her, she said that being associated with the Taiwanese R&B superstar puts her under ‘tremendous pressure’.
Some of Chou’s fanatical fans in Taiwan had told her to ‘lay off’ their idol.
More at ease now, she will be playing an uncouth and boyish radio DJ-love counsellor in the upcoming Channel 5 urban romance drama, Chemistry.
Of her acting role, a source close to her said yesterday: ‘The part fits her because Lu’s like that – a bit of a tomboy with no pretence. What you see is what you get.’
Rui ∑n vol. 01 Album is out in the stores.
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in Rui ∑n vol. 01, The Straits Times.
20 January 2003
Showtime & Lifestyle
How does a newbie make a bang in Taiwan?
Try snuggling up to a popular teenybopper. Or copying one.
Failing that, break up everyone’s favourite screen couple.
It’s not a path to popularity, though.
Singaporean artistes Celest Chong, Rui En and Michelle Saram were swamped with hate mail when they ventured into Taiwan.
But, guess what? They picked up thousands of fans, too.
CHANG MAY CHOON reports
Stay away from Jay
ChouSinger Rui En, better known as the SingTel girl who sprinted across Shenton Way in the TV commercial, is also in Taipei.
She was issued a fierce warning by fanatical fans of R&B prince Jay Chou to ‘stay away from Jay, or else …’.
The singing newbie first incurred their wrath when she cosied up to Jay in his music video, fuelling speculations that they are an item.
They have signed up with the same record label, Alfa Music, in Taiwan.
Jay’s jealous fans immediately bombarded Rui En’s online message board with nasty notes like ‘You better watch your step’.
In her defence, the 22-year-old business undergrad from Nanyang Technological University clarified that she and Jay are ‘like brother and sister’.
She said: ‘Actually Jay treats me like a sister. There’s no chemistry between us.’
MISUNDERSTANDING
Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, many fans of Jay are keen to support Rui En as well, said Mr Tan, who is her manager as well.
He told The New Paper: ‘Many fans got to know Rui En through Jay, which is good because he has such a big fan base.
‘Initially, they scolded her because they thought she’s Jay girlfriend. But now they acknowledge that she’s a good singer.’
He added that nearly 40,000 copies of her debut album have flown off the shelves in Taiwan since December.
This is ‘very encouraging for a newcomer’, he added.
Source: The New Paper
Categorised in Rui ∑n vol. 01, The New Paper.
2003/01/16
頂著周杰倫師妹的光環，來自新加坡的新人芮恩，帶著她的第一張專輯『芮恩RuiΣn同名專輯』來到銀河與大家見面囉！雖然是個幸運兒，一出道就有師兄護航，不過，芮恩自己的認真與努力也是不容忽視的。當芮恩踏入銀河時，就一直保持著甜美的笑容，讓人覺得很親切與誠懇；而看見她努力的在白紙上留下滿滿的給銀河朋友的話，就覺得她是個對於每個小細節都很認真的新人，不禁讓人想要為她鼓鼓掌！
芮恩首張專輯取名為『芮恩RuiΣn同名專輯』，因為從她散發出來的特殊氣息與與眾不同的風格，歌曲的編寫與填詞的風格，一切都是依照芮恩RuiΣn的個性、思考模式、行事風格。詞曲作者們對芮恩的想法與解讀，為她量身訂作十首屬於芮恩RuiΣn的歌曲，歌曲在RuiΣn特殊獨特的唱腔詮釋下，她的聲音自然純在而不矯情造作，特殊的嗓音與歌唱方式，讓人很舒服而忘卻壓力；她的聲音，是現今歌壇中少見而少有的，RuiΣn式的唱腔很獨特，很令人驚訝，讓我們靜靜的循著她的歌聲起伏，盤旋在RuiΣn的歌曲世界中徜徉，是一種難得的享受與幸福，讓人有別於一般且不一樣的感覺。
很多人一定都很羨慕芮恩，不僅出唱片，還是小天王周杰倫的同門師妹，這是怎樣的一個過程，才有這樣的機會？還是大學生的她，要跟大家聊聊她學校的生活，看看台灣與新加坡的學生有什麼不同點？個性愛好和平，卻又是很有主見的芮恩，在感情上遇到問題時，是用什麼樣的方式去解決？這一張『芮恩RuiΣn同名專輯』，是由台灣、新加坡兩地的創作者聯合打造，因此專輯中有許多不同類型的曲風。在這集銀河面對面節目裡，芮恩除了要讓大家更認識她之外，也要跟大家一起分享她這一張專輯，還要在節目中透露她與師兄周杰倫的關係唷！想要更了解這一個來自新加坡的幸運新人芮恩的朋友們，趕快按下play鈕，收聽節目吧！
Source: iwant-radio
Categorised in Rui ∑n vol. 01.
10 January 2003
VOL.01 ALBUM
Lu Rui En
YES, she’s that girl from the SingTel commercial and in Jay Chou’s MTV.
But does she sound as good as she looks?
You bet – raw on the vocals, but a good attempt for a first album consisting of a R&B tempo-ridden repertoire.
- Desmond Ng
Source: The New Paper
Categorised in Rui ∑n vol. 01, The New Paper.
2003-01-09
好兄弟和本地新人當嘉賓
另外，周杰倫演唱會的嘉賓也揭曉了，一個是他的好兄弟劉田井宏，他將參与演唱會中的一出短劇及打籃球﹔另一個是海峽唱片21歲的本地新人芮恩，她將在演唱會上呈獻自己的歌曲。
芮恩曾以原名盧瑞恩演出新傳媒電視劇《考試家族》，目前她正在台灣為同名處女專輯打歌，回新后將展幵在本地的宣傳。
Source: 转自聯合早報
Categorised in Rui ∑n vol. 01, Zaobao.
