Sue Shen
Sue Shen is a highly versatile professional singer and recording artist with extensive stage, studio and television experience.
Born in China, Sue grew up with a flair for singing, dancing and showmanship.
She completed secondary school with high hopes of working in the entertainment industry. In China at the time, the Government assigned jobs to school leavers and works. Sue was assigned to become a bricklayer, a far cry from her dream of becoming an entertainer.
Undeterred, Sue took singing lessons after work with Master Liao, a renowned Chinese voice coach. Sue’s talent and determination triumphed, with her going on to win a singing competition after only her first year of voice coaching.
On the basis of her unprecedented win, Sue was spotted and signed up by a talent scout from the Shanghai Ballet, where she spent further years developing her stage presence.
Sue’s hard work paid off and her big break came when the conductor of the Shanghai Ballet invited her to participate in a multi-program show – dancing, singing and playing a musical instrument. Sue leapt at the chance to sing with the band and present herself onstage.
Sue performed a cover of a popular song called “Oh Mamma”. The song, about a loving heart, so impressed the 4,000-strong crowd that they wouldn’t let her leave, and she was forced to perform several encores of the same song, as the band hadn’t practiced anything else!
Realizing the potential of their budding star, the Shanghai Ballet immediately added Sue to their permanent program of performances.
From that day forward, Sue toured with the Shanghai Ballet, leading their performances throughout China.
As Sue’s concerts were consistent sell-outs, her talents soon caught the eye of the manager of China Pacific Recording Company, then the top recording company in Mainland China. Sue joined China Pacific and recorded her first solo album, which went to No. 1 in China and sold several million copies.
As a result of record sales and concerts, Sue’s popularity grew across China. Her singing career resulted in seeing much of China where Sue’s interest and awareness in travel and tourism grew. By government request she recorded a song about the City of Sanya .
“Welcome to Sanya” was an overnight sensation in China. Sung by Sue Shen, this song is still recognised by generations of Chinese today. The song is about the City of Sanya welcoming visitors from China and the world. The release of the song had an immediate and long lasting impact on the growth of tourism for the city and region. As a result of the extraordinary success of this song and it’s impact upon tourism, the City of Sanya honoured Sue by recognising her as a special citizen. This recognition by the City of Sanya, is truly Sue’s most privileged achievement.
In the mid-80’s, Sue was signed to Shanghai Pop Music, a government-owned recording company which specialized in handling famous showbiz identities. Her popularity and fame continued to grow.
In 1991 Sue was invited to perform as a special guest for the opening ceremony of a new Chinese restaurant in Sydney Australia. Sue accepted the invitation from her Chinese hosts and travelled abroad for the first time. The Chinese-Australian community warmly welcomed Sue; many had heard her recordings but had never had the opportunity to see Sue perform. A darling of China, Sue now became a darling of Australia.
Sue fell in love with Australia for its clean air, “big sky country”, sense of openness and personal freedom. She quickly became an enthusiastic adapt to the Australian way of life and studied English to help her assimilate into her adopted home. Sue says Chinese people are keen to experience different lifestyles and be exposed to different points of view – and, like her, they love the beauty of Australia, the friendliness of the people, great weather, native wildlife and natural attractions.
During Sue’s time in Australia, she provided young students with singing lessons whilst performing at the Sydney Mandarin Club on a regular basis. She also toured with performances in clubs, stadiums and casino’s across Australia. Sue also supported John Paul Young at the Melbourne’s MSG Sports Centre and joined Christina Anu in song at a special event performance at Sydney’s Star Casino.
Despite her busy schedule, Sue also managed to find time to audition for the Australian stage production of Miss Saigon, where she was selected as a finalist.
With the commencement of China’s “Open Door Policy” Sue was invited by the Chinese government to return for singing performances and hosting TV talk shows in her homeland China. By this time Sue and her husband had moved to the United Kingdom. During this period Sue was kept extremely busy maintaining bases in both London and Shanghai.
Sue continued her commitments as an independent recording artist in China and at the same time welcomed the opportunities to be a judge on the of the judging panels of China’s “X-Factor”, China’s “The Voice” and the earlier version of “China has Talent”.
Despite a lifetime of adventure and amazing opportunities, Sue says one of the highlights of her career to date has been the opportunity to perform in musical “Mamma Mia”. Sue has played one of the leading roles in Mamma Mia and performed over 400 performances during the show’s four seasons in China.
At the end of the production her husband, who had moved to China to support Sue on her gruelling performance circuit, suggested they adopt a more relaxed lifestyle and return to Australia.
Earlier in 2014 Sue settled permanently on the beautiful Gold Coast of Queensland and, after some much-deserved time out, Sue is accepting bookings in 2015 for performances, singing, TV and radio both at home and in China.
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