In this Joyce Cheng interview, Joyce Cheng (鄭欣宜) says winning a top female prize at Commercial Radio’s Ultimate Song Chart Awards helped turn years of criticism into applause.
When people mention Joyce Cheng now, the praise often drowns out the jeers she once heard.
She first captured broad attention in 2016 with the single “Goddess,” which earned her three major awards at the time: third place on the Ultimate Song Chart top 10, Most Favorite Female Singer, and My Favorite Song. She cried when she accepted those honors.
In the song she sang, “Do not bow your head, the halo will fall, you are a goddess, do not dull your colors for ordinary eyes.”
For many, watching a younger, heavier Cheng sing with confidence moved them to tears.
Her path to stardom has been full of obstacles. Like many young women, she spent years trying to lose weight, and public attention repeatedly focused on her body. Her status as a second generation star and her performances drew harsh criticism and online abuse, and her confidence suffered.
Today, after years of work, she has staged a personal reversal and replaced much of the booing with applause.
Earlier this year she won the Ultimate Song Chart Awards top female prize for the first time, and she cried on stage again. In the Joyce Cheng interview she described feeling grateful and complicated, recalling that her search for acceptance once led her to impersonate other characters, even dressing up as a comic figure to fit in. She said that being recognized now as “Hong Kong singer Joyce Cheng” felt like an affirmation that the city and the industry had accepted her.
Joyce Cheng interview: “I will work harder to make my dreams bigger, wider, and more fantastical.”
“I hope from today on people will call me ‘Hong Kong singer Joyce Cheng,'” she told the magazine after the award. Cheng said she has long wanted the identity of singer. Raised in Canada, she said her love for Hong Kong never faded. She returned in 2008 to pursue a music career despite family concerns and offers to go back to Canada.
Music, Cheng said, has been a steady companion through her life.
“Through music I found safety, resonance, confidence, and a channel to express my emotions. Music was very important to my growth,” Cheng said. She comes across as exuberant and theatrical, and she described herself as someone who is not good at expressing inner feelings in a few words, so music becomes the outlet that allows her to pour out emotion.
She said she has always been persistent about music. “I have persistence. If I believe in something, I will fight for it with everything I have,” Cheng said. She described extreme measures early in her career to meet industry expectations, including strict dieting, purging, medication, and intense exercise to lose nearly 100 kilograms, about 220 pounds, so she could pursue her music dream.
Now that the dream has taken shape, she remembers friends and colleagues who sent congratulations after the award ceremony two months ago. But she sees the prize not as an endpoint but as a step. “Winning a prize is wonderful, but for me it is only part of a process. I do not see any award as a reason to relax or slack off. I will work harder to make my dreams bigger, wider, and more fantastical, and then put in even more effort to create better work,” she said.
The struggles of growing up hardened her resolve and kept her humble.
“Maybe people do not know this, but from a young age I felt I could not float away,” Cheng said. Still, she said she is grateful for the support and happy that people feel she is fit for the role now.
Joyce Cheng interview: “I am comfortable in my own skin”
Historically, Chinese aesthetics praised different body types, but modern pressure often treats larger bodies as a flaw. Cheng said her size was a constant public talking point. She described forcing herself into a tougher, more masculine image to please others, changing makeup and posture to look more acceptable. “It was too much, uncomfortable, just be comfortable,” she said.
She stepped away from constant public scrutiny and refocused on her true self, which she said helped her recover.
Cheng once released the song “Have You Lost Enough Weight?” to express her feelings about the industry. “In this line of work, especially in front of the camera, you are constantly judged. But confidence should not come from others; it should come from yourself,” she said. She said learning to please herself was the real change.
At the shoot she appeared lively and well rested. She told the Joyce Cheng interview that she is currently following a ketogenic diet and that she feels healthier and more hopeful. “I am comfortable in my own skin,” she said. “My beauty is no longer about looks or size. I think this kind of beauty lasts longer than any external thing.”
Cheng said she still enjoys dressing up at home, wearing makeup and nice clothes, even though she is not the thinnest or youngest she has been. “I am 35 years old,” she said, “and I have never before felt truly confident about my appearance the way I do now.”
For the shoot the team encouraged Cheng to show her body rather than hide it. She wore a cropped tank top and, instead of hiding, she moved freely in front of the camera, projecting the confidence she has reclaimed.
Joyce Cheng interview: “I keep reminding myself to keep moving when the world pauses”
Cheng approaches life with exacting standards and called herself a stubborn perfectionist. She treats everyday moments as chances to learn. “When I listen to your story, I expand my horizon and practice empathy. When I share my story, I practice being a singer, because every singer tells a story when she sings,” she said.
She described herself as chronically pessimistic in the moment but ultimately optimistic. Cheng said she still cries when emotions run high. “Last night I cried, and I suddenly cried during this interview. It is contradictory because I try to do wellness, which is about working less, but I do not want to stop. I schedule dance classes and film makeup tutorials to make every minute count,” she said.
“I keep reminding myself that when the world pauses, I must keep turning,” she said. “My confidence comes from doing my homework.”
Her curiosity keeps her learning. Cheng said she is grateful for a large curiosity that pushes her to stay interested in people and the world during low points and growth. She called confidence the most precious reward of that work.
She said she will keep listening and observing and that no matter what stage of life or achievement she reaches, she will always want to learn and refine her craft.
Joyce Cheng interview: “Sharing and listening to perspective is a kind of love”
Cheng, who grew up in a single parent family, said she endured over expectation, despair, and online bullying. She said love kept her afloat. Asked how she digested the shift from daily ridicule to wide acceptance, she responded, “I am very grateful for the love people have shown me.”
Public acceptance motivates her to keep working and to give back through music. She wants listeners to understand Joyce Cheng better through her songs. The label of singer may be a phrase in a report, she said, but to her it represents confidence and a vision.
As the interview wound down, we asked a final question: “Are you happy now, Joyce Cheng?” She again let tears fall. “No one seems to ask me that question,” she said, then answered simply, “Happy.”
The tears were not sadness. They were the collected drops of many years, full of feeling, memory, and emotion. That morning she texted the people she loves to say she felt fortunate. “I may not agree with all the perspectives around me, but if two people are willing to share and listen to each other, that is a kind of love and a way to give happiness. I have friends who listen to me, friends who share their perspective, clothes to wear, food to eat, and a home to live in. How could I not be happy?” she said, then offered a smile.
We join others in wishing her continued happiness.
Cheng said growth matters more than change. “I do not think people change, but people grow. I think 35 year old me is the most mature version of myself so far,” she said.
Asked what she still hopes to do, Cheng said she wants to tour before she dies. She pictured a small road crew, traveling by bus or plane to perform in different places and meet different people. “Nothing is impossible, and one day perhaps we will see her perform on the other side of the world,” she said. Fans hope she keeps shining.
Credits:
Executive Producer: Angus Mok
Producer: Vicky Wai
Photography: Olivia Tsang
Videography: Andy Lee, Angus Chau
Styling: Vicky Wai
Makeup: San Chan
Hair: Milk Chan at Xenter
Video Editor: Andy Lee
Editor: Carson Lin
Designer: Edwina Chan
Wardrobe: adidas, NET-A-PORTER, YOOX, SWAROVSKI, Maje
