In an industry obsessed with youth, CoCo Lee, 35, ranked 15, is a good 5 places ahead of smoking hot J Lo, being the only Asian in E! Entertainment’s 25 sexiest pop divas last year. And she looked every inch of it when she met UrbanWire at the launch of Pure Fitness Knightsbridge on Oct 1, a day before her concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

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CoCo Lee strikes a pose

While we haven’t seen the most recognizable Asian singer in the world on our local concert stage for a decade, youths will connect with her instantly, from her penchant with sms-ing, tweeting, to her musical taste in Lady Gaga.

[Watch video footage of the launch and interview here: https://youtu.be/YL_OgZOcL2o]

“I Love Lady Gaga. So, everything she does, I think it’s very inspirational and you know, she has the talent.  She definitely has the talent.

“I really adore her and I think style-wise, she does some really crazy and over-the-top stuff, but you know, that’s Gaga’s style,” she tells UrbanWire at the mention of the Lady Gaga mashups that she will be doing in her East2West concert.

No doubt much of the draw-dropping costume changes during the concert are inspired by the Vegas shows she studied and has been performing at. Off-stage, though, she’s been quoted as being comfortable without make-up, in a tee, jeans, flip-flops and possibly eating chicken rice at hawker centres.

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All eyes were definitely on her as she tottered into the room in pink killer heels.

Still, the sassy 35-year-old looked right at home surrounded by fitness instructor in her form-fitting corset top, complete with accessories as vibrant as her personality and a pair of diamante-studded jeans only someone with CoCo’s curves can pull off. Naturally, Pure Fitness, a proud supporter of CoCo’s concert and Hongkong-based fitness business owned by her Canadian fiancé, Bruce Rockowitz, was stamped on her top.

Sitting opposite us on a little white couch, in Pure Fitness’s Group Fitness Studio, CoCo talks about tonight’s concert performance.

“There’s going to be a lot of great dancing, a lot. There’s gonna be some really over the top stuff that’s very Vegas… Very beautiful costumes. I’m going to play different roles, female characters that are very iconic.”

The singer, who has as timeless an appeal as Barbie, whose 50th Anniversary song she recorded, is every bit as engaging during our interview – articulate and outgoing.

Damn, even her accent sounds hot – perhaps a result of being born and raised in Hong Kong and then moving to San Francisco when she was 9.

CoCo advises us on how to look as gorgeous as her and we hang on to every word she says.

“You know, it’s very, very important that other than keeping a good figure you have to feel good about yourself. And for me to feel good about myself, I like to work out. I like to exercise. I like to be active.”

Though at a point in time, she confesses her love for desserts and later on, raves about chicken rice. CoCo’s eyes light up and she adds, “I love to eat the durian as well.”

Well, all she has to do is just work it off at Pure Fitness.

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From left to right: Mr Colin Grant (CEO), CoCo Lee and her fiancé, Mr Bruce Rockowitz (Chairman)

With the opening of Pure Fitness (the first outside of Hong Kong) in Singapore, she can definitely gym every day if she migrates to Singapore especially with that gold VIP card.

CoCo has mentioned it several times before to local media, that she wants to get married on a sunny beach here. According to Channel News Asia, she even announced her migration plans to our President Nathan at the President’s Star Charity in 2009 last year.

“You just wait and see, it might just happen. I might just be hanging out here at the hawker centre – which I do love. And just hanging out with the locals and eating chicken rice! With you guys,” she laughs out loud.

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CoCo Lee with one of her loyal fans.

The UrbanWire was also incredibly amazed by how humble and down-to-earth she was. As she left the Pure Fitness club, we found young fans – some of which were holding “CoCoNutz” – camping outside.

When her fiancé, Bruce, gently tells her that they had to go, CoCo’s eyes widened and went, “Really?”

And almost immediately, “No, I have to do everyone,” she insists and proceeded to take pictures with each and every fan.

Like we said before, what’s there not to love?

Read the full transcript of UrbanWire’s interview with CoCo Lee here.

All questions in the interview were pooled together by The UrbanWire and our sister stations, CTV and Radioheatwave.com as well as fielded by Zayar Tint Shwe (RHW*) for the making of this video episode of Celebs Uncut: https://youtu.be/YL_OgZOcL2o

*RHW refers to Radioheatwave.com

CTV+RHW: Tell us the secret on how you maintain that sexy figure of yours.

A: Waaah, you’re so sweet! You know, it’s very, very important that other than keeping a good figure you have to feel good about yourself. And for me to feel good about myself, I like to work out. I like to exercise. I like to be active. And to keep the curves – always like to try and keep my curves –I like to do a lot of dancing. I like to take all the dance classes. Which you guys will see tomorrow at my concert. There’s a lot of dancing throughout and I do a lot of the machines also. So that also helps.

UW: Apart from just strict exercising, what about your diet?

A: My diet. Erm, I eat pretty light. You know, I don’t eat too much meat. I don’t overeat on anything. I think having a balanced diet is very important and I like veggies and soup and stuff like that. That also helps, yeah.

But sometimes, we have to indulge! And I love dessert, so once in a while, you can have it. You just can’t have dessert every single day. Yeah.

UW: Okay I see. As you know, the music industry the world over is really oversaturated with all kinds of artists. And each and every artist has their highs and lows, so what is your secret formula in maintaining your popularity?

A; Oh, thank you. I think just, you know, keep on believing in yourself and do what you love to do. And for me, I love, you know, creating music and I love to perform and that keeps me – gives me motivation to do what I do. Yeah, don’t think so much of yourself like you’re great or the biggest – don’t think about that. Or like think about how much you sell. You know, I don’t think that’s important anymore. I really think you have to be passionate about what you have to do. And it’s all about the passion that keeps me going right now.

CTV+RHW: So for your upcoming East2West concert, what can fans expect?

A: Fans well, you know I love my fans. And I do listen to a lot of their suggestions and a lot of the songs actually were picked with my fans through Twitter! I’d ask them what songs you want me to sing and then I’d put that into the concert. There’s going to be a lot of great dancing, a lot. There’s gonna be some really over the top stuff that’s like very Vegas – and stunts and stuff. Costumes. Very beautiful costumes. I’m going to play different roles, female characters that are very iconic. And also, great songs, all my biggest hits! And some of other people’s songs, some of Lady Gaga’s as well.

UW: Speaking of which, you’re going to do a Lady Gaga mash up right? So what do you think of Lady Gaga as an artist, as a person and a fashion icon?

I love Lady Gaga. So, everything she does, I think it’s very inspirational and you know, she has the talent.  She definitely has the talent. And you know, I really adore her and I think style-wise, she does some really crazy and over-the-top stuff but you know, that’s Gaga’s style, yeah.

UW: You mentioned many times that you are going to migrate to Singapore, so have you ever actually visited Singapore yourself for leisure and what are your favourite hangout places?

A: Oh yeah. I have a boyfriend here from years ago, so I used to come down here on the weekends. So I know lots of beautiful places we used to go hang out on the beach and things like that and there are so many beautiful places here. And last time, you know I keep on saying “I want to be a Singaporean, I want to be a Singaporean.” You just wait and see, it might just happen. I might just be hanging out here at the hawker centre – which I do love. And just hanging out with the locals and eating chicken rice! With you guys. *laughs*

UW: Is chicken rice your favourite?

My favourite is absolutely the chicken rice and I love to eat the durian as well.

CTV+RHW: So okay, what are your plans in the near future?

A: My plans in the near future. Well, you know, to keep going with the tour, I’m going to tour for another year. And you know, it’s a fabulous show. We want to bring it to as many cities and countries as possible. And then, to work on my next album. Yeah, we actually started already and we want to – I wanna have a more mature sound, something even more sensual, more sexier.

*Photos are courtesy of Dinesh Ajith from Klix Photography