著名四大曲藝平喉歌伶（小明星Siu Ming Sing／徐柳仙Tsuih Lau Seen／張月兒 Cheung Yuet Yee／張惠芳 Cheung Waih Fong）魁首。原名鄧小蓮，廣東三水縣人。自幼喪父，家境貧困。十五歲學唱粵曲，初習大喉，其後結識撰曲家王心帆，為其撰曲多首，王心帆所撰樂曲曲詞秀麗，小明星唱來惻婉動人，其獨特的「星腔」深受歌迷愛戴。主要的特點是咬字清晰、運腔灑脫、跌宕有度、韻味濃郁。小明星性格多愁善感，竟積勞成疾，染上肺病，更逢戰亂，經濟陷入困境，於一九四二年農歷七月十三日晚，在廣州漿欄路「添男」茶樓歌壇登台，一曲「秋墳」唱至「祗有夜來風雨送梨花」一句，吐血昏迷台上，翌日與世長辭，年剛三十歲。
著名四大曲藝平喉歌伶（小明星Siu Ming Sing／徐柳仙Tsuih Lau Seen／張月兒 Cheung Yuet Yee／張惠芳 Cheung Waih Fong）魁首。原名鄧惠蓮，曾用藝名鄧曼薇，廣東三水縣人。自幼父母雙亡，靠養母撫養。天生愛歌，１１歲拜葉貽蓀為師學唱大喉。１２歲便登臺演唱《岳武穆班師》、《五郎救弟》等名曲。後自學鐘德的平喉曲《玉哭瀟湘》，但在演唱時，她不依樣畫葫蘆，而刻意創造一種新的腔調和韻味，以此引起了聽眾和行家的關注。小明星盼唱新曲，希望能遇到一位理想的撰曲人。經友人介紹認識報社的王心帆，王樂意為她撰曲一首《痴雲》。這支曲子打破粵曲傳統的規範，創出了長短句格，因而演唱難度很大；但小明星深愛此曲文詞典雅、立意含蓄，寧願以腔就詞。經過她反覆琢磨，創作出委婉動聽的新腔。一曲《痴雲》，小明星享譽藝壇並為“星腔”的形成和發展奠定了基礎。自此以後，王心帆與小明星結下了深厚的“曲緣”，他為小明星撰曲５０多首。曲王吳一嘯、畫家鄧芬以及胡文森、蔡保羅、南海十三郎等都曾為小明星撰曲，總共不下１００首，因此，小明星成為歌壇中擁有曲目最多者。小明星的唱腔廣採眾長，又天賦一副甜美、圓潤的好嗓子，唱起來哀怨動人，其演唱的魅力不但似磁力般地吸引聽眾，甚至於在旁伴奏的樂隊亦不禁神往，可謂空前絕後。“星腔”的問世不僅風靡整個曲壇，亦震動了粵劇界，其學唱者眾，世代相傳。小明星的入門弟子有陳錦紅、李少芳等，“星腔”第三代為黃少梅，第四代為葉幼琪和梁玉嶸。粵劇文武生新馬師曾、何非凡等也借鑒和吸收“星腔”的藝術精華發展為“新馬腔”和“凡腔”。“星腔”是曲藝界以及粵劇界唱腔藝術遺產的瑰寶。小明星的成名作有《痴雲》、《秋墳》、《多情燕子歸》、《風流夢》、《知音何處》、《夜半歌聲》、《前程如夢》、《故國夢重歸》等，多是哀怨之曲。但在日軍侵華時，她卻用大喉唱《人類公敵》。不少曲目均灌成唱片，後又錄成卡帶。其中《多情燕子歸》拍成電影，《秋墳》編成粵劇和電影。小明星虛懷若谷，謙恭好學，藝術上獲得了卓著的成就，但愛情生活卻遭受多次打擊。她曾以自己的全部積蓄供給一位姓蔡的青年音樂家到外國留學，蔡學成歸來卻拋棄了她，致使小明星幾度自殺，雖獲救但已積癆吐血；為治病而負債，她被迫帶病登臺演唱。民國３１年（１９４２）在廣州演唱時猝然暈倒臺上，８月２４日逝世。人們嘆曰：“雲英未嫁身先死，一曲《秋墳》成絕唱。”其時省、港、澳、廣州均為她開追悼會。曲王吳一嘯撰曲《七月落薇花》悼念她。悼念小明星的曲目還有《藝海星沉》、《星殞五羊城》等。
The mightest of the mighty, could not bring the spirit of this artist down, she is a legion, in Cantonese opera without equal, her short but brilliant life leaves Cantonese opera fans pondering on what was losted, and thankful for what little she left to us, no other person leaves a more tragic legacy then her. She began singing Gor Tan at the age of fifteen. She was very much noted for her cool and confident aire, her arias reflected a very complex person, with a great love for her country and its people. Her singing style called "Sing Hong", is practiced even now, we are allegidly up the fourth generation of singers devoted to this style, ( 梁玉嶸 ) Leurn Yook Wihng case in point. The combination of her Sing Hong style plus ( 徐柳仙 ) Tsuih Lau Seen's, Lau Seen Hong style really define what we refer to today as Leui Ling style. Her death in 1942, when GuangZhou city was under Japanese occupation is a tragic story, her many anti-Japan arias earned her a patriotic reputation through-out china, her recordings were broadcasted on the air-waves all over china, from NanJing to Shanghai, as a rally point for all Chinese to resist the Japanese aggressors. This was not missed by the Japanese Imperial command, with the fall of GuangZhou, on the night of June 7th, high ranking Japanese military officials requested via a severe beating! it is rumored, that Siu Ming Sing perform her most famous aria "Autumn Grave". It was well known by all at the time that Siu Ming Sing was ill with a serious pulmonary lung infection and had stopped singing for quite awhile. Unwillingly she adorned the stage to perform for the Japanese, in the middle of singing Autumn Grave Siu Ming Sing began coughing up blood and collapse and passed away at the age of thirty......
