Hong Kong Cantopop boy band Mirror is navigating a challenging landscape after its meteoric rise to fame a few years ago, with its members now forced to compete with all types of online entertainment and the local showbiz scene grappling with broader headwinds, market observers have said.
They also said that, despite immense public expectations, the band’s human vulnerabilities, paired with a local industry that distinctively lacks the rigorous pre-debut training like that of K-pop idols, created unique challenges.
They needed support to grow and expand beyond their initial amateur appeal and that might have been lacking, industry observers said.
Formed through ViuTV’s reality talent show in 2018 and swiftly hailed as Cantopop’s saviours, Mirror quickly amassed a massive fan base along with loyal brand partnerships and advertisers.
But the band now faces renewed public scrutiny after popular member Keung To was rescued following his fall into the sea on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old singer later revealed he had consumed alcohol and painkillers before the accident.
Keung, along with other members such as Anson Lo Hon-ting, Edan Lui Cheuk-on and Ian Chan Cheuk-yin, blossomed into multitalented stars, excelling with their solo music careers, acting roles and variety shows, further cementing the band’s collective and individual appeal.
Rudi Leung Chi-sing, director of advertising agency Hungry Digital and a music critic with more than three decades of experience, said Mirror now faced a more diversified market, where band members must compete with online influencers, who provide advertisers with cheaper options.
“Those four members of Mirror remain popular, but this year’s challenging economic climate means a reduction in celebrity endorsement deals. As companies tighten their advertising budgets, campaigns are increasingly shifting towards using influencers,” Leung said.
He said the shift was driven by cost-effectiveness and audience demand for novelty, pointing to a recent bank campaign with a travelling theme that exclusively collaborated with online content creators known for using air miles and exploring extreme destinations.
“The general public may not know who they are, but online users are very familiar with them. Audiences and advertisers constantly seek novelty, meaning they will always look for new faces. A decline in popularity is an inevitable phenomenon for Mirror, as they are pop singers, and by nature, no one can remain popular forever.”
Leung also highlighted the “attention economy” as a significant challenge, explaining that Mirror was not only competing with other singers but with “all entertainment”, including streaming services such as Netflix and even free platforms like YouTube, which offer vast amounts of content.
The attention economy in the entertainment industry refers to the competition for people’s limited focus in a content-saturated world, forcing artists and companies to constantly innovate to hook audiences amid a myriad of digital options.
“Everyone is vying for attention now, making it incredibly difficult for any artist,” Leung said.
“In the past, first-tier [Hong Kong] artists could quickly break into the Taiwanese market, securing longer careers. But now, not many can make it beyond Hong Kong. That’s one of the challenges Mirror is facing.”
Li Mei-ting, a cultural studies lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said she believed a Mirror concert could still fill the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium, but there had been a general decline in the popularity of local pop music since the 2010s, which was exacerbated after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Due to its internationalisation and access to various leisure activities, Hong Kong faces challenges in the local entertainment industry, especially with the return of international stars,” Li said.
The lecturer added that the productivity of local stars had also been decreasing as listeners had opted for alternatives in the post-pandemic period.
Li said that Mirror had benefited from the pandemic lockdowns to fuel their fame, as many locals had turned to the rising band with passionate performances and a groundbreaking image of soft masculinity during a period of social gloom.
Mirror fans’ hypervisibility, according to Li, has also played a crucial role in the band’s popularity.
“They chant [for] Mirror in a way not seen since the four heavenly kings’ era,” Li said.
The “four heavenly kings” were four Cantopop stars – Andy Lau Tak-wah, Jacky Cheung Hok-yau, Aaron Kwok Fu-shing and Leon Lai Ming – who dominated screens and charts in the 1990s.
“South Korean idols increasingly view Hong Kong as an accessible venue that connects with Asian and mainland Chinese fans, presenting difficulties in maintaining attention from fans, music lovers and consumers,” Li added.
Economist Simon Lee Siu-po of the Shenzhen Finance Institute at Chinese University highlighted a post-pandemic double challenge for Mirror as audiences increasingly travelled abroad and attended more live shows elsewhere.
“During the pandemic, Hongkongers could not travel, so the hottest topic in the city was the rise of Mirror and a wave of idol-related activities emerged as a result. Now, they have options,” said Lee, citing residents’ eagerness to watch US singer Lady Gaga’s show in Singapore.
“Unless local artists can provide the best products, in this case, songs or films, and sustain the kind of trajectory that megastars like Leslie Cheung had in their early careers, then they will succeed. Otherwise, they will quickly fade. And I am not optimistic,” Lee said.
Having built a large fan base during the talent show and becoming the winner at 19, Keung’s rise to fame was nonetheless fraught with challenges.
The boy band took a two-month hiatus after an LED screen fell at their July 2022 Hong Kong Coliseum concert and critically injured dancer Mo Li Kai-yin.
Keung then faced his own setbacks, injuring his knee and Achilles’ heel during a November 2022 basketball match, which required surgery.
And his animated performance of “Spiegel im Spiegel” at the 2023 Ultimate Song Chart Awards, one of his first post-recovery appearances, later drew negative social media comments.
Li said Keung’s mental health had always been a core concern for fans, highlighting the immense difficulty of navigating sudden fame while simultaneously facing overwhelming negative feedback and fervent demands from the public.
The lecturer added it was not fair to compare Mirror with K-pop idols and US celebrities given their distinct developmental approaches, noting Hong Kong did not even have pre-debut training.
“A public figure is always a representation that is shaped by both media and the public. They lure for public projections, but at the same time, they are not products but human beings,” Li said.
“I think the next and most important step is to think of what kind of showbiz is considered healthy for entertainment workers, instead of only hunting a huge number of profits.”
Advertising veteran Leung also expressed concerns about the negative comments on the latest accident involving Keung, including those who teased him about his fall.
“In the past, discussions of celebrities were confined to weekly magazines, but now, with social media, negative information can spread like wildfire,” Leung said.
“It’s frustrating to hear people dismiss their struggles by saying ‘that is just how it is when you’re an artist’. If we want Hong Kong to truly improve, we should cherish and support what we have.”
Additional reporting by Lo Hoi-ying