IT'S been 19 years.
That's how long Sammi Cheng has had to deal with questions regarding her on-off romance with fellow Cantopop artiste Andy Hui.
The 37-year-old Hong Kong singer-actress, known for her techno dance anthems, ever-changing hair colour and outrageous, campy costumes during her live shows, told The New Paper in an e-mail interview: "I think somehow, my name will always be inextricably linked to Andy's."
Sammi was responding to recent reports in Hong Kong that she and Andy, 42, have reunited once more.
The celebrity couple broke up in 2004 after a 13-year courtship, but in January, paparazzi photographed Sammi visiting her ex-flame at his condominium in the wee hours of the morning.
Sammi had also gamely invited Andy to be her special guest at her Love Mi World Tour concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum last December.
The two showed no signs of awkwardness on stage, grinning from ear to ear as they sang their old duets, hugged and bantered heartily.
Sammi declined to confirm whether they had patched up as alleged, and would only say: "Even if a relationship has ended, it need not necessarily lead to hate, you can still become good friends...
"I believe the media, as well as the public, are very eager to see developments in my love life, they don't want me to be alone anymore."But I cannot be certain if I'd ever find the right one, I'll leave it to God."
Sammi, who became a born-again Christian in 2005, will be belting out familiar tunes to local fans on Friday, in a one-night concert.
The svelte star will also be singing a number of new tracks from her latest Christian album Faith.
With Faith, released in December, there were no concerns about album sales, or whether listeners could accept her departure from the usual pop repertoire, said Sammi.
"I didn't worry about things like that at all. The album was done purely with evangelism in mind."
Fervent Sammi diehards lapped up Faith all the same and it has since sold a commendable 150,000 copies.
Ever since she returned to entertainment in 2008 after a two-year hiatus, she has been putting most of her effort into music and concerts.
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