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Teresa Teng Forever Page 4 of 10 Nevertheless, she was able to reap what she had so assiduously sowed. She revealed in an interview, "When I performed in the past, I was always a little nervous. I would just stand there and sing the words, but I didn't dare to really let go with my emotions or gestures. It was only after coming to Japan that I learned what performing really means. I learned how to free myself and how to express my emotions to the utmost. Only this can truly be called singing." Whereas in Taiwan she was best known for singing folk songs and romantic ditties marked by cute little vocal inflections, in Japan she began to do more demanding ballads and her singing technique matured greatly. Judie Ong, another big star living in Japan, once received from Teng a tape of her practicing her singing technique. Next Teng did concerts in the US, and broke through the "bamboo curtain" into mainland China, inciting a wave of enthusiasm for "Little Teng." Besides all this she won the Golden Bell award (Taiwan's top award) as best female singer and was selected as one of the nation's Ten Most Outstanding Young Women. Moreover, as the child of a military family, she often returned to Taiwan to put on performances for the troops, and became known as the "soldiers' sweetheart."
How was Ms. Teng able to sweep so many fans off their feet? Of course, she had a face that fit
the Chinese ideal of the genteel and sweet young maiden, and she had that fresh and pure "girl-
next-door" demeanor. But she was more than that, and any analysis of her popularity must look to
her music and her voice.
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