Jolin Tsai
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Jolin Tsai
On the red carpet at MTV Asia Awards 2006, Bangkok, Thailand.
Chinese name 蔡依林
Pinyin Cài Yīlín (Mandarin)
Origin Republic of China (Taiwan)
Born September 15, 1980 (1980-09-15) (age 29)
Sinjhuang City, Republic of China (Taiwan)
Occupation Singer, dancer
Genre(s) Mandopop, dance music
Label(s) Universal Music (1998-2001)
Sony BMG (2002-2006)
Capitol Records (EMI) (2006-2008)
Warner Music (2008-present)
Years active 1998–present
Official site
www.emimusic.com.tw [show]Awards
MTV Asia Awards
Style Award
2006
Golden Melody Awards
Best Female Mandarin Artist
2007 Dancing Diva
Most Popular Female Artist
2007
Jolin Tsai (Chinese: 蔡依林; pinyin: Cài Yīlín; Wade-Giles: Tsai I-lin) is a Golden Melody Award winning Taiwanese Mandopop singer. She is commonly known as the Ayumi Hamasaki of Taiwan[citation needed] and is one of the most successful and popular singers in the Mandarin music market.
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Musical career
2.1 1998-2001: Universal Music
2.2 2002-2006: Sony BMG
2.3 2006-2009: Capitol Records
2.4 2009-Present: Warner Music
2.5 2009-Present: Seventy Two Changes
2.6 Links with Edison Chen
2.7 Fundraising
3 References
4 External links
[edit] Early life
Though Tsai was introverted and shy as a child, her mother realized early on that she had great academic potential, so she enrolled her in Japanese-style math lessons, which she completed ahead of schedule. During primary school, she consistently scored 100 points and ranked among the top three of her class.[1] There was only one time that she failed to rank in the top three of her class and was placed tenth.[2] Eventually, her academic abilities enabled her to enroll at Jingmei Girls' High School and later, Fu Jen Catholic University.[3]
Tsai devoted her youth to studying English, self-studying English in her primary school years. She eventually majored in English Literature at Fu Jen Catholic University, a Taiwanese university popular for its English flavor. Fu Jen Catholic University is regarded for its English Language program and its English Literature program and a number of Taiwanese entertainers are alumni of these programs.
During her childhood years, Tsai developed an interest in singing and experimented with different vocal techniques after listening to the songs of popular female singers such as Teresa Teng and Faye Wong.
[edit] Musical career
See also: Jolin Tsai discography and List of Jolin Tsai awards
[edit] 1998-2001: Universal Music
Tsai first started out by taking part in an MTV singing competition at the age of 18. She won the top prize at the competition with her rendition of Whitney Houston's #1 hit "Greatest Love of All". She was then signed by Universal Music.
On July 1999, her first single "Living With the World" (和世界做邻居) was released. It was sold in convenience stores and was a tremendous success,[4] which led to the release of her first album, Jolin 1019, on September 1999. At that time, she was packaged as "The Girl Next Door," and was an instant hit with teenagers, earning her the title "Teenage Boy Killer". Jolin 1019 ended up selling more than 400,000 copies in Asia. With the success of her first album, she released her anticipated second album in May 2000, Don't Stop. Many of the hits from that album were well known throughout Asia and the album was also a tremendous success.[citation needed] She also released her first photobook with pictures mainly taken in Hawaii.
Tsai's image changed for her third album, Show Your Love. Nearing the age of 21, she released an album that was much more mature and soothing. However, the album did not sell as well as her last two albums. Her fourth album, Lucky Number, was not able to bring her back to the same level of popularity either. The following year, due to conflicts with her record company, Tsai did not release any albums. She did, however, release her second photo book, with photos taken in Thailand. At the end of 2001, Tsai's contract with Universal Music ended and her first greatest hits compilation, Together was released.
[edit] 2002-2006: Sony BMG
Jolin Tsai signed with Sony Music that year and got the biggest break of her whole career. The first single released was the track "Spirit Of The Knight" (骑士精神), which became a big hit and led to the highly anticipated release of her album Magic (看我72变). The album turned out to be a smashing success, topping the Taiwan album charts for three full months and selling more than 300,000 copies in Taiwan alone. The album has sold over a million copies in Asia.[5] The album boasted many of her most well-known singles, including the hit dance song that brought Tsai back to the top of the charts "See My 72 Changes" (看我72变), a song which might have been named after Sun WuKong's 72 transformations.[6] Other songs from the album, such as the extremely popular "Say Love You" (说爱你) and several others, including the hit "Prague Square" (布拉格广场) were penned by fellow Taiwan mega star Jay Chou (周杰伦). The new image she presented for this album was more playful and sexy than before and her music became more dance-oriented. This transformation gave her what she needed to make a comeback to the music scene after being gone for almost a year.
Tsai's sixth album, Castle (城堡), was just as popular as its predecessor and became a top album in many Asian countries.[citation needed] Just as with Magic, many songs on this album were written by Chou, her rumored boyfriend at that time. Two of these songs, the cute and playful "It's Love" (就是爱) and the moving rock ballad "Rewind" (倒带), became two of Tsai's biggest hits. Prior to the album's release, she showcased her single "Pirates" (海盗), another song composed by Chou, at a mini-concert. She subsequently filmed one of the most expensive music videos in Taiwanese history for the song.[citation needed] This album also featured many other hit songs including the main upbeat dance track "36 Tricks of Love" (爱情36计), the sad love ballads "The Smell of Lemon Grass" (柠檬草的味道) and "Disappearing Castle" (消失的城堡), and "Love Love Love" (Love Love Love), a Mandarin cover of the Ukrainian song "Stop Stop Stop" by Nu Virgos. Tsai also wrote the lyrics to the song "The Starter" (始作俑者).
Between Castle and her next studio album, Tsai released a CD of remixes called J9 New + Party Collection. This remix album featured two new songs including the hit song "Signature Pose" and remixes of Tsai's most popular dance songs. A medley of her dance hits was also included on the album. In 2003, Tsai sang the Mandarin version of "Mirage (Warriors In Peace)", the theme song for the film Warriors of Heaven and Earth.
On April 25, 2005, Tsai seventh album J-Game was released, also topping charts throughout Asia and making her extremely popular in Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Not only did the album become the longest running album on the Taiwanese album charts in 2005, it also sold over 1 million copies throughout Asia in just a little over a month.[7] The album featured many more hip-hop influenced tracks than before, though it retained the dance pop and love ballads that made her famous. Though she supposedly broke up with Chou around the time the album was recorded, Tsai was able to find many other writers and producers for this album, including another huge pop star, Leehom Wang. One of the songs he penned for Jolin, "Exclusive Myth" (独占神话), was included on the album. The first single of the album "Barbaric Game" (野蛮游戏) was a huge hit across Asia and it was followed by several other strong singles including "The Greek Girl Next To The Wishing Pond" (许愿池的希腊少女) (composed by rising Hong Kong singer Ivana Wong), "Sky" (天空), "Repeat Signs" (反覆记号), "I Really Miss You" (好想你) and "Eyes Half Shut" (睁一只眼 闭一只眼). The music video of the latter song presented a much sexier image of Tsai than ever seen before. During this time, Tsai also rapped on a smash duet with her good friend Show Luo called "The Real Chosen One".
Late in 2005, Tsai released her J1 Live Concert DVD, featuring performances from a concert she did in Taipei in late 2004. Her biggest hits from her first two albums with Sony are performed. Luo makes a guest appearance in the performance of "Prove It". The concert also had a guest appearance by Chou, in which he danced together with Jolin, however this portion was not included in the DVD. It was later placed in the DVD for her greatest hits compilation, J-Top.
In early 2006 it was announced that Tsai would be leaving Sony BMG, the record company that helped elevate her to superstar status, and joining EMI Capitol.[8] Since her debut and through her years at Sony, Tsai progressed very quickly in becoming an excellent dancer and performer. To prepare for her new album, Tsai worked very hard to perfect her dancing and change up her style yet again. This was evident at the 2006 MTV Asia Awards where she performed her hot new single "Dancing Diva".(舞娘). with elements of yoga and using various props including a ball and a ribbon. She also won the Style Award during the ceremony, demonstrating the influence she has in Asia.[9]
In May, 2006, Sony released a greatest hits compilation album called J-Top, which included two CDs and a DVD with new and previously unreleased music videos and a 70 minute documentary on Tsai's time at Sony. The compilation featured many of the best songs from the albums she released under Sony. There were two new songs included on the album, one of which featured a music video where Tsai looks back on all her old music videos.