Captivating audiences with her voice from a young age, Tia Lee knew she was destined for international greatness. The singer, film and television actor and fashion icon has been building a name for herself across industries and mediums alike for several years now.
However, the success of her new hit Goodbye Princess has thrust her into the global limelight like never before for a global c-pop artist. The Goodbye Princess music video, which was released exclusively on YouTube and Weibo on 9 December 2022, has set a new world record for C-pop songs by achieving a record-breaking 42 million views within 5-day of release. Current YouTube views stand at 103 million.
#EmpowerHer charitable campaign
Having been overwhelmed by the support for the Goodbye Princess campaign, Lee launched the #EmpowerHer campaign on 14 December.
In response to the touching reaction and engagement from fans, Lee announced that she will be donating to female centric charities around the world. Every view of the video on YouTube will mean one of the charities close to Tia’s heart will receive a donation.
The campaign showcases Tia’s own determination to break out of stereotypes, shake off biases, avoid negativity and help women to achieve their potential. Towards this good cause, each view of the “Goodbye Princess” music video will help to empower women around the world. The #EmpowerHer campaign will split up to a maximum of HKD3.8million ($$480,000) between the selected charities.
Plan to support UAE charities
Lee recently visited Abu Dhabi for the first time, and instantly was captivated not only by the beauty of the city, but more importantly, she felt very much like she was in her second home with the warmth and endearing people of the UAE. “I was impressed with the UAE Government’s initiatives on female empowerment, and was inspired by the confidence and strength of UAE women and girls whom I met. I decided that part of the proceeds raised will also be donated to UAE charities to achieve the global #EmpowerHer mission,” says Lee.
Lee has initially partnered with four worthy charities, on a shared mission to empower women. Women in Music, Beats by Girlz (USA), Teen’s Key (Hong Kong) and Daughters of Tomorrow (Singapore) are the initial partners, and more may be announced. Lee strongly believes in the work they are doing to empower women and girls around the world.
Success of latest single
The unprecedented success of the campaign up to this point is perhaps not a surprise given the ingenious pre-release campaign combining animation, music and fashion videography, which has generated a huge amount of excitement ahead of the Goodbye Princess launch.
On 11 November 2022, Lee posted the first 30 second episode of a 6-part animation series, giving fans a beautifully curated teaser of what to expect from her latest hit. Directed by the legendary animation director Sunny Tang (The Great Detective Sherlock Holmes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) this series is all about female empowerment – something Tia is passionate about.
The mini-series explores Tia’s journey in the entertainment industry, finishing with her metamorphosis into the confident woman she is today. Borrowing themes from the traditional fairy tale princess genre, the animations cleverly subvert this well-known narrative to champion women’s inner strength in the face of challenges.
Complementing the animation series was a six-part fashion videography series combining motion images and photography of Tia Lee curated by award-winning Creative Director, Tony C. Miller. The pre-release campaign was viewed over 100 million times, which made it a record-breaking campaign in C-pop history.
The Goodbye Princess pre-launch campaign animation and motion images series can be viewed on Tia’s official YouTube.
Fantastical video, fantastic success
Following the success of the pre-release campaign, the Goodbye Princess music video launched on YouTube and Weibo and achieved overnight success. In just the first 24 hours of its release the music video broke 4.7 million and 10.3 million views respectively, a figure that distinguishes Tia’s latest track as the most successful C-Pop song to have ever been launched. The number of views, fans and followers continue to increase at an impressive speed.
The imaginative and original music video shows an animated version of Tia exploring a dark and glittering realm. Eventually Tia manages to escape that reality and break free from the constraints that have bound her in the past. The video is a celebration of female strength.
To help raise awareness of the philanthropic #EmpowerHer campaign, the release of Goodbye Princess has since sparked a viral dance challenge on TikTok, with each view helping raise money for the #EmpowerHer partner charities.
Creators on the short-form video platform have risen to the challenge of covering the signature choreography to “Goodbye Princess,” which features energetic yet rhythmic full body movements and a signature ‘goodbye’ hand gesture. The upbeat, unabashedly feminine choreography embodies a revitalisation of Lee’s mind and body after overcoming past challenges in the fashion and entertainment industry, setting her free to express her own strength.
Leading TikTok creators from around the world — including Hannah Balanay, Judah Metu-Teaukura, Layla Akil and Evie Meg, who are among the most popular creators in Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and the UK, respectively — have joined the #EmpowerHerDance.
“It's not my habit to do TikTok dances, but when the song talks about a message from a woman who went through many challenges in her life and wants to be an inspiration to women, I knew I wanted to support her and her cause,” said Layla Akil.
