Four Golden Princess (Chinese: 四千金) is a
China-based
Malaysian
girl
group that consists of members Ginger Keong Hueh Chin, Mins Eng Lee
Min, Samantha Ee Kai Chee and Richell Lee Lian Hong. They are best
known by their stage names Chin Er, Min Er, Kai Er, and Hong Er (the
Chinese word "er" means "child" or "young"), though in the last several
years of their performances, they began to use their given names more
frequently.
[edit] Career
Originally known as "Four Little Golden Princess" (the word
"Princess" in the singular form, not "Princesses"), and commonly
abbreviated to FGP or 4GP, they were recruited by recording company
Ya-Ko Enterprise around 1995, after mass success other than child star,
Crystal Ong Shir Ching, who is currently a member of
M-girls.
At that time, the members of Four Golden Princess averaged 5–6 years
old (Ginger was born in 1988 and the others in 1990). Each of them hail
from different parts of Malaysia, but they were brought together at
company headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on school holidays and weekends for
recording sessions or promotions. As they grew older and remained
popular, the word "Little" was quietly dropped from the group name.
They made their debut effort in a compilation album in August 1996
(album title unknown). Under the management of Ya-Ko Enterprise, the
Four Golden Princess released 3
Happy Children’s Songs albums and
1
Chinese New Year 1997 album. Each album grossed more than
50,000 copies sold, which made an astonishing figure for local artists.
In September 1997, the parents of Four Golden Princess filed a
lawsuit against Ya-Ko Enterprise for the non-payment of contractual
fees. The parents claimed that they had only received partial payment
for one-and-a-half albums. With the lawsuit was settled out of court,
Four Golden Princess was permanently switched to another recording
company called "Wayang Tinggi Entertainment (WTE)" as of October 1,
1997.
Over the years with WTE, Four Golden Princess has recorded and filmed
over 20 albums (8 albums under the
Children’s Wonderland series,
3 under the
Golden Folk Songs series, and 10 Chinese New Year
albums). Each of them are best sellers, giving the group's title "Super
Child Star". They also recorded a number of popular songs (especially in
their teens) with several songs that are combinations of Chinese and
American songs.
Their Chinese New Year albums have become a trademark success. At
what was perhaps the peak of their child-group popularity around
1999-2001, their album "Dancing Dragons Dazzle in Beijing City 1999"
sold over 100,000 copies in Malaysia and another 450,000 in China;
"Lovable Dragon Year 2000" over 125,000; and their "Dance of the Golden
Snake 2001" over 100,000 in Malaysia alone.
In early 2003, Min Er announced her intention to leave the group to
concentrate on her studies. She had always been the most studious member
of the group and dreamt of a career as a doctor since childhood.
However, much to the relief of their legion of fans, Min Er decided to
remain in the group after much persuasion from her friends and fans.
On June 5, 2004, Four Golden Princess celebrated their 10th
anniversary as a group with a mini concert at Malaysia’s UE3. They were
the first child group to last 10 years (or even 5 years) from Malaysia’s
music scene. Along with growing up, they have progressed from singing
nursery rhymes to children songs to school folk songs and love songs.
All these categories of songs were showcased in this concert. Hearing
Four Golden Princess re-sing their nursery tunes again, a childhood
innocence in their voice is no longer felt.
Around November 2004, a video from their very early days circulated
around the internet in Taiwan like storm. "The Laughing Song" featuring
their shaking heads and funny lyrics caused the internet news to spread
quickly. “Why is Math class your favorite? Because my teacher is always
absent!” or “Today I got 100%, English 50%, Math 50%, add it together,
and I have 100%” became favorite quotes amongst Taiwan teens. Taiwan
youth even filmed their own version of the music video to this song.
Although this sudden surge of popularity in Taiwan was a result from
them being mocked, it also lead numerous people to learn about the
recent Four Golden Princess and converted some into fans as well. One of
the websites devoted to Four Golden Princess,
www.fourgoldenprincess.com, was so overwhelmed by the amount of people
visiting that its bandwidth ran out very early in the month, something
that never happened before.
YouTube has introduced numerous Four Golden Princess music videos to a
worldwide audience.
Their last album was released for Chinese New Year 2008, followed by
their disbandment, though the members occasionally get together to do
public performances during the Chinese new years. Their reason was that
they want to lead to a normal life.
In late September 2012, behind the scene pictures of the two Four
Golden Princess members Ginger and Richell filming a CNY album with 6
other artists appeared on the Facebook page 8大贺岁.
[1]
It was confirmed that the group 八大巨星(Eight Superstars) would reform.
Four Golden Princess were previously in their 1999 CNY album and briefly
in their 2000 CNY album. The page said that the album would be released
in December.
[edit] Albums
[edit] Happy Children's Songs
- Volume 1 (1995)
- Volume 2 (1996/1997)
- Volume 3 (1996/1997)
[edit] Children Wonderland
- Volume 1 (1998)
- Volume 2 (1998)
- Volume 3 (1999)
- Volume 4 (2000)
- Volume 5: Red Dragonfly 紅蜻蜓 (2000)
- Volume 6 (5/2001)
- Volume 7: Flower Butterfly 花蝴蝶 (10/2001)
- Volume 8: 民謠風 Folk Songs (5/2002)
[edit] Golden Folk Songs
- Volume 1: Bean Sprout Dream 豆芽夢 (3/2003)
- Volume 2: Your Cold Hands 你那好冷的小手 (3/2004)
- Volume 3: Chinese & English Songs 東拼西湊 (3/2005)
[edit] Chinese New Year
- 1997 Chinese New Year 賀歲專輯
- 1998 Chinese New Year 賀歲專輯
- 1999 Dancing Dragons Dazzle in Beijing City 威龍揚武耀京城
- 2000 Lovable Dragon Year 龍年多可愛
- 2001 Dance of the Golden Snake 金蛇狅舞齊拜年
- 2002 Arrival Of The Horse Year Brings Success 馬到功成慶豐年
- 2003 Prosper Every Year 年年豐收好
- 2004 Flowers Blossom in the Spring 春風催花開 / Spring is Here 春天來了
(四千金& M-Girls)
- 2005 Don't Want Your Red Envelope 不要你的紅包
- 2006 Celebrate Together 同歡共樂 (四千金& M-Girls)
- 2007 Paradise 世外桃源 (四千金& M-Girls)
- 2008 Chinese New Year 喜年一開財富來 / 飛躍新年
[edit] Others
- ABC Small World ABC小天地(1999)
- 10 Years Diary 1995-2004 10年記事本 1995-2004 (4/2004)
- 10 Years Diary 1995-2004 Mini Concert 10年記事本1995-2004迷你演唱會 (7/2004)
- Kingdom of Children Songs 兒歌王國 (8/2004)
- 11th Year New Journey 四千金11週年新旅程 (5/2005)
- New Songs & Best Selections 新歌 + 精選 (9/2006)
[edit] Guest Appearances
- Ya-Ko Artists Chinese New Year 1997 雅歌群星賀新年 1997
- Crystal Ong & Queezy Cheng: Twin Stars Bring Luck (2) 王雪晶 &
莊群施: 雙星報喜 (二) 1997
- Crystal Ong: Sailormoon 王雪晶﹕美少女戰士
- Christmas Songs 1998
- 1999 Eight Superstars Chinese New Year 八大巨星京城喜迎春
- 2000 Eight Superstars Celebrate the Millennium 八大巨星歡慶千喜年
[edit] Commercials
- CNI-Cocoa (CNI 可可)
- Ginvera Garfield Shampoo
- Nesh Life Water (Nesh 生命水)
- Six Happiness Mooncake (Hong Er only) (六福月餅)
[edit] Television
- Adik-Beradik 兄弟姊妹 (Kai Er only)
- Gung Xi Fa Cai Grandmother 2006 恭喜發財婆婆 2006 (Kai Er only)
- Love 9 9 愛心。九。九 (Chin Er only)
