HONG KONG: Singer and songwriter Leah Dou Jingtong will be the face of this new pop culture magazine that’s coming out from Pop Mart – they’re the huge blind box people over in China. Due to this, there has been controversy, the South China Morning Post reported.
Dou, who’s 28 now, has been in the public eye her whole life. That’s because her dad is Dou Wei, a rock legend in Beijing, and her mom is Faye Wong, a huge Cantopop star, “Queen of Cantopop”. Her mum and dad split up when she was just two years old.
Called rebellious
Because Dou’s look is pretty gender-neutral, people have been calling her rebellious for a long time.
She had about six tattoos; one that really stood out was this long, skinny line going from her mouth down to her neck. Her fans even gave it a nickname, calling it a ‘shrimp line.’ But she got that one removed a while back.
Amazing singing voice
Dou got her amazing singing voice from her mum, and it looks like she also picked up her mum’s independent spirit. Just like her mysterious mother, Dou isn’t on any of the big social media sites, even though she has tons of fans in China.
Pop Mart, which just put out the first issue of their new youth culture magazine called play/GROUND at the end of April, said they admire Dou for doing her own thing and not following the usual celebrity path.
Vicson Guevara, the Creative Director for the magazine, thinks Leah Dou’s cool way of quietly going against all the social media craziness makes her the perfect example of what real connection is all about these days. When she was in her teens, Dou had already started releasing music.
Dou made up and wrote all the lyrics for the song It’s Just What We Do. Back in 2017, it was even up for an award for Best Original Film Song at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Popular young singer
At this big event called the 2018 Chinese Music Gala, which the country’s TV people put on, Dou was recognised as being one of the most popular young singers around and also one of the most creative songwriters.
Dou’s track, Jungle Pink, was selected as one of the year’s Golden Songs. However, she is never far away from controversy. According to her, she was once admitted to the prestigious Beijing No. 4 High School, but she dropped out as she did not want to follow the school’s strict rules.
In 2013, the singer was sent to study at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in the United States. After two years, she dropped out, choosing to focus on her musical creations.
Her clothing choices and the fact that she has never been pictured by paparazzi with a boyfriend have sparked ongoing speculation about whether she is a lesbian.
Based on reports by mainland media outlets, Dou is a sensible and family-oriented person. Since her father ended his relationship with Wong, she has provided for him financially out of filial piety.
Good relationship with half-sisters
The singer also has a good relationship with her two half-sisters. One is Dou Jiayuan, the daughter of his father and a photographer named Gao Yuan. Apparently, some people blamed Gao Yuan for the split between Faye Wong and Dou Wei. The other is Li Yan, the daughter of his mother and actor Li Yapeng.
Social media on the mainland has applauded Dou’s inclusion in Pop Mart magazine. A netizen said they have placed an order for the magazine and are looking forward to receiving it. Another one said that Dou is beautiful and cute. They hope she can sing more songs to not waste her talent in music.