Stefanie Sun Biography Name: Sun Yan Zi, Stefanie Sun Name Pronunciation: Soon-Yen-Zhii Fan Nicknames: Yanzi, Ah Zi Birthdate: July 23, 1978 Nationality: Singaporean Blood Type: AB Weight: 42kg (106lbs) Height: 1.62m (5'4'') Spoken Languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, Teochew Instruments: Piano Favourite Sports/Games: Swimming, Snooker, Tennis Favourite Actors: Jim Carrey, Stephen Chow, Tony Leung Favourite Actresses: Kate Moss, Gwyneth Paltrow, Milla Jovovich Favourite Color: Yellow Favourite Food: Japanese dishes, Chocolates, Ba Kut Tei Fears: Claustrophobia, Flying Cockroaches, Papaya, Getting Sick Places Visited: Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, USA, Europe, New Zealand Family: Parents (Both teachers) and two sisters (one older, one much younger) Fun Fact: Chinese media originally assumed that Stefanie was a lesbian because she was outspoken and wore pants.
Stefanie Sun has an elder sister by three years called Sng Yee-kia; traditional Chinese: pinyin: Sūn Yànjiā), a younger brother by four years named Sng Yee-Phen (simplified Chinese: 孙毅圣; traditional Chinese: pinyin: Sūn YiPhen) and a younger sister by six years named Sng Ee-mei (simplified Chinese: traditional Chinese; pinyin: Sūn Yànměi).
Sun was educated at St Margaret's Secondary School, Raffles Girls' School and went on to attend Saint Andrew's Junior College. She later attended Nanyang Technological University, where she obtained a degree in Marketing. Her abilities were discovered by her music teacher, Lee Wei Song, at his music school.
In the Mandarin-speaking world, Sun is more popularly known by her Mandarin name, Sun Yanzi or Sun Yan Zi. Stefanie Sun has sold over 10 million copies in Asia. With ten albums to her name, she is arguably the most popular Mandarin female singer in Asia and the most successful singer from Singapore.
Angie Chiu Biography Name: 趙雅芝 (赵雅芝) / Chiu Ngor Chi (Zhao Ya Zhi) English name: Angie Chiu Also known as: Gigi Chiu Profession: Actress Birthdate: 1954-Nov-15 Birthplace: Hong Kong Height: 165cm Weight: 52kg Star sign: Scorpio Chinese zodiac: Horse Blood type: O Family: Husband/actor Melvin Wong and 3 sons Occupation: Beauty pageant-turned actress for Hong Kong's TVB. Angie Chiu (Traditional Chinese: 趙雅芝; Pinyin: Zhào Yǎzhī), born November 15, 1954 in Hong Kong is an actress, and was the third runner up in the 1973 Miss Hong Kong pagent. She is most noted for her leading role in The Bund, opposite Chow Yun-Fat and Lui Leung-Wai.
She's one of the most well known and favored actresses in both Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Ayumi Hamasaki Biography Name: Ayumi Hamasaki Birthday: 2nd October 1978 Star sign: Libra Place of Birth: Fukuoka Blood type: A Height: 5'1" (156cm) (B/W/H): 31/20.5/32 (80/53/82) Weight: 88lbs (40Kg) Producer: Max Matsuura Record Label: Avex Trax Interests: watching baseball and music. Talents: Playing piano, flower arranging, drawing, ballet, can write with left and right hands. Favorite Food: sashimi, Sweets, cake, chocolate, and kimichi. About Music: I listened to rock (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple) through the influence of my older brother. Now I enjoy listening to black music like Babyface, En Vogue, etc. Disliked Food: Pig leg. Favorite Actors: Rie Miyazawa, and Nicolas Cage. Favorite Authors: Natsuki Gin'iro, Mitsuwo Aida. Admired Women: Keiko (Globe), Rie Miyazawa, Seiko Matsuda Favorite Books: usually buy fashion magazines, etc. Modern-day translations of ancient Japanese poems (Manyoushuu) are especially interesting. Silver summer life works, Mitsuo Aida works, etc. Favorite Singers: Keiko (Globe), Matsu Takako. Favorite Movies: "The Bodyguard", "Betty Blue", and "Leaving Las Vegas" Likes Collecting: Any white decorative things for the room. People she respects: Someone that has a quality she doesn't. People she dislikes: People who lie, and rude people. Website: Official Website Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎 あゆみ (also 浜崎歩) , Hamasaki Ayumi?), born October 2, 1978, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former actress. Also known as Ayu to her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of pop" and "the Empress of J-Pop" due to her popularity and widespread influence in Japan.Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to pursue a career in entertainment. In 1998, under the tutelage of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, she released a string of modestly selling singles that concluded with her 1999 debut album A Song for XX, which debuted atop the Oricon charts and stayed there for four weeks in a row, establishing her popularity in Japan.
Because of her constantly changing image and tight control over her artistry, Hamasaki has become a "trendsetter" and an "icon of fashion" in Asia;[5] her popularity and influence in music and fashion extend to China, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. She has appeared in or lent her songs to many advertisements and television commercials. Though she originally supported this, a 2001 event in which Avex forced her to put her greatest hits album in direct competition with Hikaru Utada's Distance made Hamasaki reconsider and eventually oppose her status as an Avex "product".
Since her 1998 debut with the single "Poker Face", Hamasaki has sold around 50 million records, making her one of Japan's best-selling singers. Her singles have set records: she is the Japanese female artist with the highest singles sales, most number-one singles, and most million-seller singles.[fn 1] She is also the only Japanese artist to have a number-one single every year for ten years straight and the first to have her first eight studio albums top the Oricon.
Hamasaki was born in Fukuoka Prefecture and raised by her mother and grandmother, as her father had left the family when she was three and never again came into contact with her. Because her mother worked to support the family, Hamasaki's grandmother became her primary caretaker.
Hamasaki began her modeling career at seven, working locally for institutions such as banks to earn money for the family. At fourteen, she moved from Fukuoka to Tokyo to take modeling jobs under SOS, a talent agency. Although she got good grades at first, she decided that the subjects she was taking were of no use to her; her grades then dropped drastically and she became a delinquent. Her modeling career did not last long; SOS deemed her too short to be a model and transferred her to Sun Music, a musicians' agency. Under Sun, Hamasaki released Nothing from Nothing, her first album, on the Nippon Columbia label. This rap album, released under the name "Ayumi", failed to chart on the Oricon; Hamasaki was soon dropped by Sun.
The talent agencies had provided dormitories; needing somewhere to live, Hamasaki began acting in B-movies and television dorama. The projects she acted in, including the B-movies Gakko II and Ladys Ladys!! Soucho Saigo no Hi and dorama Miseinen, were not well-received by the public. Though she had entered Horikoshi Gakuen, a high school for the arts, she left shortly afterward. Dissatisfied with her job, Hamasaki soon quit her acting career as well. When her mother moved to Tokyo, she moved in with her.[9] As she "thought of nothing [to do]" and was neither employed nor in school, Hamasaki spent much of her time shopping at Shibuya boutiques and dancing at Velfarre, an Avex-owned disco club.
At Velfarre, Hamasaki was introduced to her future producer, Max Matsuura, through a friend. Matsuura offered her a recording deal immediately after hearing her sing, but Hamasaki suspected ulterior motives and turned the offer down. He persisted until the following year, when she finally signed on to the Avex label and began vocal training.[12][10] Finding the instructors too rigid and the classes too dull, however,[10] she skipped most of her classes. When she confessed this to Matsuura, he sent her to New York for training. The writing in her messages to him from New York impressed him, and he suggested she try writing her own lyrics.
Mai Kuraki Biography Stage Name: Kuraki Mai (倉木麻衣) Real Name: Aono Mai Nick Name: Mai Kuraki Birth Date: October 28, 1982 Birth Place: Funabashi, Chiba, Japan Blood Type: B Height: 162cm Weight: 45kg Hobbies: Watching movies, making accessories, listening to music, drawing Favorite Artists: Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Backstreet Boys Favorite Colours: Black, white, pink, red, orange Favorite Food: Fruit, pasta | Favorite Musical Genre: R&B Respects: Her parents Mai Kuraki was influenced at an early age by Whitney Houston's singing and Michael Jackson's dancing. In her second year of junior high school, she submitted a demo tape to the Giza Studio recording label and won a contract. She debuted in the United States in 1999 with the song "Baby I Like," released as Mai K. Her first Japanese single, "Love, Day After Tomorrow", was released later in the year. It sold 1,385,190 copies in Japan. The success of her debut was quickly followed by her second single "Stay by my side" which become her first no.1 single and eventually sold 922,140 copies. Mai's third single "Secret of my Heart" was also very successful reaching no.2 on the Oricon Weekly Ranking (At this week, Masaharu Fukuyama's biggest hit single "Sakurasaka" was number 1, which sold 2,299,000 copies). The single charted for sixteen weeks and sold 968,980 copies. A few weeks before the release of her debut album Mai released her fourth single "Never Gonna Give You Up" featuring Michael Africk. The single peaked at #2 and sold 434,250 copies.
Following the release of four singles Mai Kuraki released her highly anticipated debut album "Delicious Way". The album was a massive success in Japan topping the charts and selling an impressive 3,451,660 copies. Delicious Way was the highest selling album in the year 2000 and officially the 9th best selling Jpop album of all time.[1] Delicious Way is also the second best selling studio album from a female artist after Utada Hikaru's First Love and the third best selling Jpop female album of all time ~ after First Love and Ayumi Hamasaki's A-Best compilation album. In addition, Mai Kuraki also holds the record of having all 28 of her singles in the top-ten since her debut according to the Oricon's female artists ranking record. Like her popular contemporary Utada Hikaru, Mai Kuraki also writes the lyrics to all her songs.
Her English-language ventures, single "Baby I Like" and the album Secret of My Heart were both commercial flops, even though they were the flagship releases of the GIZA USA label. Her all-African-American tour band, Experience, is also somewhat prolific. They were featured in the music video for "Stand Up", and released one single featuring Kuraki Mai's vocals and a Michael Jackson tribute album.
Following the Delicious Way, Mai started releasing material for her second album. This was kicked off with the single "Simply Wonderful" which peaked no.2 and sold 384,820 copies. Mai's next single "Reach for the Sky" was also a success was peaking at no.3 at and sold 468,320 units. The single was used as the theme song for NHK TV series "Audrey". Reach for the Sky was Mai Kuraki's first single not to reach the no. 1 or 2 position on the Oricon Charts. Mai's third single form her second album was Tsumetai Umi / Start in my life. The single peaked at no.2, charted for eleven weeks and sold 356,310 copies. Next up was the single "Stand Up" an acoustic rock single. Stand Up peaked at no.2 and eventually sold 475,910 copies. A month before releasing her second album, Mai released the single "Always" an upbeat song. Peaking at no.2 the single went on to sell 219,940 copies.
Following the release of five new singles, Mai Kuraki eventually released her second album Perfect Crime in July 2001. Although the album did not match the phenomenal success of Delicious Way, it did fare well in its own right, peaking at no.1 on the Oricon Charts, and eventually went on to sell 1,317,170 copies.
Year 2002 was a year of success for Mai Kuraki. January that year, "Winter Bells", the 10th opening theme for the popular anime Detective Conan, reached the top position of the Oricon charts. FT Shiseido chose "Feel fine!" as the theme song for its 100 year celebration campaign. The single release of the song briefly held the daily top spot against Ayumi Hamasaki's "Free & Easy", but lost out the weekly top spot.
In October 2003, she released a rock cover of a Momoe Yamaguchi, a 1970's idol, song, "IMITATION GOLD" as part of Tak Matsumoto's HIT PARADE project, which claimed the top position on the Oricon charts, despite selling less than 50,000 copies on the first week. On New Year's Day of year 2004, Kuraki released her compilation/best album Wish You The Best and became the best selling album in the month of January plus the 5th best selling album for the year 2004 in Japan. Since the release of "Love, needing", she have been featuring more retro-sounding songs. In March 2005 she graduated from Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. 6th studio album "Fuse of Love" was release on 24 August 2005. Recently, her 7th studio album "DIAMOND WAVE" was released on 2 August 2006. This is the first time she is using her single title to be the same as the album and also the first time there are only three instead of four hit singles to be included in her album.
In 2007, she became more active outside Japan - performed "Born to be Free" at the A3 Champions Cup in China in June, performed her classic "Secret of my heart" at Taiwan's Golden Melody Award, performed new single "Silent love ~open my heart~" at the Asian Song Festival in Korea, and had her first overseas concert in Taiwan in November, just before the release of the "One Life" album in January 1 2008.
Also in 2007, she has joined Northern Music and left GIZA Studio. Her first album there went below #10 and hit #14.
She is currently doing her new album ,which is tentatively scheduled to be released either in the fall of this year or early next year. Her latest single , "Ichibyo Goto ni Love for You" will be released on July 9th.
To date, Kuraki has recorded 7 studio albums (5 of which went to #1), 27 singles (3 of which went to #1), a compilation album, and 9 DVD/Videos.
Seo In Young Biography Name: Seo In-Young Also known as: Elly Born: September 3, 1984 (1984-09-03) Origin: Korea Genre(s) Pop Occupation(s): Singer Years active 2002-present (group), 2007 (solo) Seo In Young (서인영, born on September 3, 1984) is a K-pop singer, known for being part of the group Jewelry. She released her solo album entitled Elly Is So Hot (the name "Elly" is a new nick name that Seo created for herself) on February 26, 2007. Known as the sexy dancer in the group, Seo has stated that she wanted to move away from her strong dance image and become a softer, more sensual entertainer.
The first single from the album was 너를 원해 (I Want You), which was written, composed, and produced by Jung Yeon-joon, from Uptown. Originally a mix of Latin and R&B styles, the singer has moved on to performing a dance remix on her promotional tour.
Genie Zhuo Biography Name: 卓文萱 / Zhuo Wen Xuan English name: Genie Zhuo / Genie Chuo / Gini Chuo Profession: Actress and singer Birthdate: 1986-Jan-20 Height: 158cm Weight: 42kg Star sign: Capricorn Blood type: AB
Bae Seul Gi Biography # Name: 배슬기 / Bae Seul Gi # Profession: Singer and actress # Birthdate: 1986-Sept-27 # Height: 168cm # Weight: 48kg # Star sign: Libra # Blood type: B # Family: Two younger brothers and a younger sister
Bae Seul Ki (born on September 27, 1986) is a K-pop singer. Her family consists of her parents and two younger siblings (brother and sister). Bae Seul Ki's religious affilitation is Catholic. She first appeared as a member of The Red, but has since become a solo singer.
Anita Mui Yim Fong Biography Name: Anita Mui Yim Fong Origin Hong Kong Born October 10, 1963 Hong Kong Died December 30, 2003 (aged 40) Hong Kong Other name(s) 阿梅 (Ah Mui) 梅姐 (Mui Je; lit. Big Sister Mui) Occupation Singer, actress Genre(s) Cantopop Label(s) Capital Artists Music Nation Group Years active 1982 – 2003
Anita Mui Yim-fong was a popular Hong Kong singer and actress. During her prime years she made major contributions to the cantopop music scene, while receiving numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol through out most of her career, and was generally regarded as a cantopop diva. Once she held a sell-out concert at Hammersmith, England, where she was dubbed the title "Madonna of Asia". That title has stayed with her throughout her career, and has been used as a comparison for both Eastern and Western media.
In the 1980s the gangtai style of music was revolutionized by her wild dancing and femininity on stage. She was famous for having outrageous costumes and also high powered performances. Her fanbase reached far beyond Hong Kong, and into many parts of Asia including Taiwan, People's Republic of China, Singapore, Malaysia as well as the overseas market. In the Hong Kong entertainment industry where stars often come and go, Mui was able to remain a major star in the spotlight for 20 years. Her career only came to a stop in 2003 when she was suddenly diagnosed with cervical cancer, passing away at only the age of 40.
Even so, her music and film legacy continues to live on. Her success reached well beyond that of the entertainment circle with humanitarian work, donations and charities that played a major role in helping society even well into the present day.
