2R is a former

cantopop Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") is a genre of pop music sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production and consumption. The genre began in the 1970s and became associated with Hon ...

duo group in Hong Kong. The duo group consisted of the two sisters Rosanne Wong and

Race Wong Race Wong is a Singaporean actress, singer and businesswoman. She was one of the former Hong Kong cantopop duo singer group 2R alongside her elder sister Rosanne Wong. Professional background Born in Malaysia and raised in Singapore, she pur ...

, who were born in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and raised in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

with Rosanne being the elder sister. They have a dedicated fan base and their recent albums, "2R Revolution" and "2R New + Best Selection", have been reasonably successful. The motion picture "Ab-Normal Beauty" () starring the two sisters also earned Race Wong a "Best New Actor nomination" at the

Hong Kong Film Award The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual List of film awards, film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies typically take place in April, and have mostly been held at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Cent ...

and

Golden Horse Award The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Taipei Golden Horse Awards () are a film festival and associated awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. The festival and ceremony were founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republ ...

Biography

Both of them were born in

but moved to Singapore with their family at very early ages. Rosanne was born on 30 June 1979, while Race was born on 7 September 1982. Before entering show business, they studied together at Fowlie Primary School, Tanjong Katong Secondary School,

Curtin University of Technology Curtin University (previously Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology) is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, Prime Minister ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia. The pair were discovered by an agent during a singing contest in 1998 and were brought to Hong Kong. They eventually signed by

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

Beginning

Although 2R has yet to achieve the level of success that others have in the beginning, they arguably went through a much harder time. The agent who initially signed the sisters had arranged an apartment for them in Hong Kong and was able to get them a few modelling jobs but nothing substantial materialised. Meanwhile, the sisters were working on improving their Cantonese while recording their first album in the hopes of attracting more fans. However, their agent suddenly disappeared and the sisters were burdened with several months of unpaid rent and were eventually evicted. Without agent and money, the sisters turned to their parents who helped them pay off their debt and found them a new home. Soon afterwards they were signed by Universal Music.

Separate success

Although 2R usually perform together, the sisters exhibit two different styles. Rosanne the elder sister is more mature, naive and elegant, while Race is more youthful and energetic. However it is Race who has experienced the greater success with appearances in various commercials, magazine covers, and movies. In the movie ''Sound of Colours'' (), both Rosanne and Race made cameo appearances but only Race's scene made it to the big screen. They also starred in the

Wong Jing Wong Yat-cheong, known professionally as Wong Jing (, born 3 May 1955), is a Hong Kong filmmaker and actor. A prolific filmmaker with strong instincts for crowd-pleasing and publicity, he played a prominent role in Hong Kong cinema during ...

's movie ''Love Is A Many Stupid Thing'' (精裝追女仔2004) where Race played a major role while Rosanne's character was limited to just a few on screen appearances. It was not until ''

Ab-normal Beauty ''Ab-normal Beauty'' (死亡寫真, "''Photos of Death''") (also ''Sei mong se jun'') is a 2004 Hong Kong horror film directed and co-written by Oxide Pang. It stars Race Wong and Rosanne Wong of the Cantopop group 2R. Plot Jiney, an art ...

'' () in 2004 that both sisters played significant parts. It was followed by ''China's Next Top Princess'' () in 2005, and ''The Smiling Proud Wanderer'' stage performance by the Hong Kong Dance Company in 2006.

Discography

* ''Two of Us AVEP'' (October 2003) * ''Two of Us'' (2nd Version) * ''Two of Us'' (3rd Version) * ''United R'' (March 2004) * ''United R'' (2nd Version) * ''Revolution'' (March 2005) * ''2R New + Best Selection'' (31 May 2006)

Filmography

* November 2003 ''Sound of Colours ()'' (Race & Rosanne) * December 2003 ''Love is a Many Stupid Thing ( 2004)'' (Race & Rosanne) * November 2004 ''Ab-normal Beauty ()'' (Race & Rosanne) * May 2005 '' The Unusual Youth ()'' (Race) * August 2005 ''Moments of Love ()'' (Race) * November 2005 ''China's Next Top Princess ()'' (Race & Rosanne) * January 2006 ''Cocktail ()'' (Race) * April 2006 ''The Third Eye ()'' (Race) * April 2006 ''Black Night ()'' – The Next Door (Race) * September 2008 ''A Decade of Love ()'' (Race) * December 2008 ''True Women For Sale (性工作者2 我不賣身‧我賣子宮)'' (Race)

Concerts

* 15 July 2006 2R Mini concert (2R )

TV appearances

*2002 **Feel 100% () *2003 **Heart of Fencing () *2004 **Sunshine Heartbeat (赤沙印記@四葉草.2) *2005 **If The Moon Has Eyes (如果月亮有眼睛) – Rosanne only **Bizarre Files (奇幻潮) **The Rainbow Connection (舞出彩虹) – Rosanne only

Awards

*2003 **''Most Promising Newcomer (Group) – 26th Annual Top 10 Song of the Year Awards **''Most Explosive Newcomer (Group) – 2003 Metro Broadcasting Music Awards **''Best New Group Bronze Award – 2003 Hong Kong Commercial Radio Music Awards *2004 **''Most Popular Group Gold Award – 2003 TVB Top 10 Songs of the Year Awards **''Most Popular Group – 2004 Metro Broadcasting Music Awards *2005 **''Best New Actor (Race Wong – nominated) – 24th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards **''Best New Actor (Race Wong – nominated) – 42nd Golden Horse Film Awards **''新城勁爆跳舞歌曲 – 2005 Metro Broadcasting Music Awards *2006 **''新城勁爆創意表現大獎 – 2006 Metro Broadcasting Music Awards *2009 **''Best Supporting Actress (Race Wong – nominated) – 28th Hong Kong Film Awards

References

2R姊妹無心插柳闖樂壇上了寶貴一課

External links

Official site

Official minisite of 2R's United album

Official minisite of 2R's Revolution album
{{DEFAULTSORT:2r Cantonese-language singers Cantopop musical groups English-language singers from Hong Kong Sibling musical duos Musical groups established in 2001 2001 establishments in Hong Kong Pop music duos