Collar (group)

Hong Kong Cantopop girl group

COLLAR

Collar in an event in 2023
Back row from left: Candy, Ivy, Marf, Sumling
Front row from left: Winka, Gao, Day

Background information
Origin| Hong Kong
Genres|

* Cantopop
* dance-pop
* EDM

Years active| 2022 (2022)–present
Labels| Music Nation Records
HK Television Entertainment/
MakerVille
Members|

* Sumling Li
* Garie Shum
* Winka Chan
* Ivy So
* Rejena Simkhada
* Marife Yau
* Candy Wong

Past members|

* Natalie So

Collar (commonly stylised in all caps) is a Hong Kong girl group formed from a television channel ViuTV's reality talent show King Maker IV operated by the broadcaster HK Television Entertainment in 2021. The group consists of seven members: Sumling Li, Garie Shum (Gao), Winka Chan, Ivy So, Rejena Simkhada (Day), Marife Yau (Marf), and Candy Wong.[1] They debuted on 12 January 2022, with the first single "Call My Name!".[2]

## History

[edit]

### 2021–22: Formation

[edit]

In July 2018, ViuTV's reality talent competition series King Maker [zh] started scouting for potential artists, and after three seasons, three boy bands, namely Mirror, Error and P1X3L were formed, and some contestants debuted as solo singers. Nonetheless, since the first season of show started, there was no girl group that had formed. Hence, ViuTV created King Maker IV as a platform to scout for a brand new girl group in June 2021.[3]

On 25 December 2021, ViuTV announced the winner, first runner-up and second runner-up of King Maker IV, Marife Yau, Garie Shum, and Rejena Simkhada,[4] who were secured the spots of upcoming members of the group. On 12 January 2022, 8 contestants from King Maker IV were announced from the Top 20 of the season, formed the group through a press conference named "Hold Your Breath" which held in Harbour City. In the press conference, the name of the group "Collar", along with five other members, Sumling Li, Natalie So, Winka Chan, Ivy So and Candy Wong, were announced in the lineup.[5]

The music video of Collar's debut "Call My Name!" was released a day after the formation of the group.[6] On 24 January 2022, Pocari Sweat, a Japanese sports drink brand, appointed Collar as endorsers of the brand's 40th anniversary in Harbour City, marking the group's first commercial endorsement.[7]

Collar gained their first peak chart in Metro Radio with their debut "Call My Name!" on 19 February 2022.[8] On 30 May 2022, Collar's first variety show We Are Collar  [zh] was broadcast on ViuTV.[9]

Besides "Call My Name!", Collar also released three other singles in 2022, namely "Never-never Land [zh]", "Gotta Go! [zh]" and "Off/On [zh]".[10][11][12] On 23 December 2022, Collar received a Cantopop rookie award at the Yahoo Asia Multiverse Buzz Awards 2022 [zh], being the first award the group received.[13] The group also received rookie awards at the 2022 Metro Radio Music Awards [zh] and Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation 2022 on 29 December 2022 and 1 January 2023, respectively.[14] They were also awarded "Best Groups Bronze Award" at Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation 2022.[15]

### 2023: Realignment as a seven-member group

[edit]

On 10 May 2023, Natalie So announced her leaving from the group in a statement of social media, stating that her mental injury suffered from her boyfriend Moses Li after the 2022 Mirror concert incident [zh] had caused trauma that “could not be healed”, and she was unable to cope with the show business. [16]

## Name

[edit]

According to the group leader Garie Shum, the group's name "Collar" has two meanings: first, it refers to a collar of the shirt, which indicates a person can't breathe when the collar is fastened, means every performance can "hold your breath" and makes the audience hold their breath; second, it refers to a clavicle, which is the most attractive body part of women and defines Collar becomes the most attractive girl group.[17]

## Members

[edit]

### Current Members

[edit]

English Name  | Traditional Chinese Name  | Member Alias  | Birthday  | Rank in King Maker IV

|
|
|
|

Sumling Li [zh] | 李芯駖  | Sumling  |  (1986-04-18) 18 April 1986 (age 39) | 4
Garie Shum [zh]
(Leader)  | 沈貞巧  | Gao  |  (1993-01-07) 7 January 1993 (age 32) | 2
Winka Chan [zh] | 陳泳伽  | Winka  |  (1998-06-16) 16 June 1998 (age 27) | 7
Ivy So [zh] | 蘇雅琳  | Ivy  |  (2001-08-04) 4 August 2001 (age 23) | 10
Rejena Simkhada [zh] | 許軼  | Day  |  (2002-06-04) 4 June 2002 (age 23) | 3
Marife Yau | 邱彥筒  | Marf  |  (2002-06-11) 11 June 2002 (age 23) | 1
Candy Wong [zh] | 王家晴  | Candy  |  (2002-12-19) 19 December 2002 (age 22) | 8

### Former Member

[edit]

English Name  | Traditional Chinese Name  | Member Alias  | Birthday  | Rank in King Maker IV

|
|
|
|

Natalie So [zh] [16] | 蘇芷晴  | So Ching  |  (1996-01-31) 31 January 1996 (age 29) | 6

## Discography

[edit]

### Singles

[edit]

List of singles, with selected chart positions  Title  | Year  | Peak chart positions  | Album

|
|
|

[18]
"Call My Name! [zh]"[2] | 2022  | 14  | Non-album singles
"Never-never Land [zh]"[10] | 2
"Gotta Go! [zh]"[11] | 24
"Off/On [zh]"[12] | 14
"The Bright Side [zh]"[19] | 2023  | —
"Take Me Away [zh]"[20] | —
"idc [zh]"[21] | —
"Speak Love [zh]"[22] | —
"Atypical [zh]"[23] | —
"Back In The Game [zh]"[24] | 2024  | —
"Chosen Family [zh]"[25] | —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

## Filmography

[edit]

### Television shows

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Platform  | Note

|
|
|

2021  | King Maker IV | ViuTV  |
2022  | We Are COLLAR  [zh] |
2023  | Shiny Summer – COLLAR in Japan  [zh-yue] |
2024  | Happy COLLAR  [zh-yue] |

## Concerts

[edit]

Year  | Date  | Name  | Venue  | Note

|
|
|
|

2024  | 22–24 March  | Collar Crush Live 2024  | Star Hall, KITEC | [26]

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Award ceremony  | Year  | Category  | Result

|
|
|

Yahoo Asia Multiverse Buzz Awards  | 2022 [zh] | Music Rookies (Groups)  | Won[13]
Metro Radio Music Awards | 2022 [zh] | Best Rookies  | Won[14]
Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation |  2022 | Best Groups  | Bronze[15]
Best Rookie Groups  | Gold[15]
Chill Club Chart Award Presentation  | 2022/23 [zh] | Best Female Rookies  | Gold[27]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Collar". MakerVille. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
2. ^ a b "「女版MIRROR」COLLAR正式出道 首唱《Call My Name!》". Mingpao (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 12 January 2022.
3. ^ "《全民造星IV》限定女生複製MIRROR 網民潑冷水 祝花姐好運". Ming Pao. 20 June 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
4. ^ Law, K. (25 December 2021). "《全民造星4》總決賽三甲賽果名單出爐！". HK U Lifestyle (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 25 December 2021.
5. ^ "【COLLAR出道】逾7萬人網上睇《造星IV》女團記招直播 COLLAR成軍即準備開音樂會【多圖】". hket (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). hket TOPick. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
6. ^ "【COLLAR出道】《Call My Name!》MV一天破64萬點擊 COLLAR感謝幕後團隊". hket (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). hket TOPick. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
7. ^ "COLLAR成為寶礦力水特最新代言人 唱埋廣告主題曲創紀錄" (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Oriental Sunday. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
8. ^ "勁爆本地榜". Metro Radio (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 20 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
9. ^ "ViuTV新公司MakerVille劇集綜藝預告率先睇！ COLLAR首個團綜、戀愛Staycation 4男4女參賽者" (in Traditional Chinese). 27 April 2022.
10. ^ a b "COLLAR｜新歌明日推出 網民笑Day跑包尾" (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). am730. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
11. ^ a b "【COLLAR新歌】COLLAR即將推出寶礦力廣告歌 伴隨樂迷揮灑青春汗水". Topick. Hong Kong Economic Times. 28 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
12. ^ a b "COLLAR推出新歌《OFF/ON》MV 不婚主義Marf披婚紗零憧憬". Bastille Post (in Chinese). 16 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
13. ^ a b "After Class與COLLAR同獲組合獎 「人氣票后」炎明熹：是良性競爭". Mingpao (in Traditional Chinese). 25 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
14. ^ a b "新城勁爆2022｜COLLAR獲新人獎 疑似So Ching台下現身支持". am730. 29 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
15. ^ a b c "叱咤2022｜COLLAR生力軍姿態殺入組合銅獎 Day不適已回家". am730. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
16. ^ a b Ma, Jess (10 May 2023). "So long, So Ching: girlfriend of Hong Kong dancer injured in Mirror concert accident quits girl group Collar, cites trauma". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
17. ^ 邱愛霖 (13 January 2022). "全民造星IV | COLLAR呢個名原來有雙重意思：代表衫領同埋鎖骨". hk01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 18 January 2022.
18. ^ Billboard Hong Kong Songs chart positions:
* "Call My Name!": "Hong Kong Songs". Billboard. 19 February 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
* "Never-never Land": "Hong Kong Songs". Billboard. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
* "Gotta Go": "Hong Kong Songs". Billboard. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
* "OFF/ON": "Hong Kong Songs". Billboard. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
19. ^ "COLLAR一周年｜特別形式發布新歌《The Bright Side》 Gao：只此一次". am730 (in Chinese). 16 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
20. ^ "COLLAR衝出香港？IG貼仙氣新相宣佈《The Bright Side》出英文版". HK01 (in Chinese). 16 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
21. ^ "idc｜COLLAR首次出埠拍MV獲國際級排舞師指導 每日排舞練歌8小時幻想成真". Ming Pao Weekly (in Chinese). 22 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
22. ^ "陳健朗客串COLLAR《Speak Love》MV 新造型獲正面評價(內有MV)". am730 (in Chinese). 27 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
23. ^ "COLLAR推新歌《Atypical》衝擊頒獎禮 Marf爆Ivy So恨去慶功宴喪食". Sky Post (in Chinese). 22 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
24. ^ "COLLAR出演唱會主題曲《Back In The Game》 預告開騷爆喊". HK01 (in Chinese). 9 March 2024. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
25. ^ "Collar – Chosen Family". Apple Music. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
26. ^ "COLLAR處女個唱開鑼 Gao被抱起旋轉曬舞技 Day賣力演出". Ming Pao Weekly. 23 March 2024.
27. ^ "Chill Club Awards 22/23". ViuTV. Retrieved 21 November 2023.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Collar (group).

* COLLAR's channel on YouTube
* COLLAR on Instagram
* COLLAR on Facebook