Jolin Tsai
Encyclopedia
Jolin Tsai was born on 15 September 1980. She is a Taiwanese
Golden Melody Award
-winning Mandopop
singer, dancer and actor
. She is managed by Mars Entertainment Ltd (天熹娛樂).
. Her second album Don't Stop
was also a success. Tsai's music career came to a halt when conflicts between her and music company surfaced. Tsai signed on with Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan)
.
Tsai's success as a singer continued with the release of her 3rd album, Castle. Tsai's J1 World Tour included countries across Asia and North America. In that same year, Tsai released J-Game
, which sold over 1 million copies in Asia in the span of one month.
In 2006, Tsai left Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan)
, and joined EMI Music Taiwan's label Capitol Records(Taiwan). Her 8th album, Dancing Diva, proved more successful than the previous albums. Tsai's Dancing Forever Tour featured a dance performance. The tour spanned across Asia, North America and Australia. In 2005, Tsai won the Golden Melody Award
for Best Mandarin Female Singer Award for her album Dancing Forever Tour
In 2008, Tsai released her first English cover album Love Exercise
. The sales for this album was lower than expected due to minimal publicity efforts. Tsai ended her contract with EMI Music Taiwan in 2008.
Tsai re-signed her contract with Warner Music Taiwan and released her 10th album, "Butterfly". "Butterfly" was her most successful album to date.
In 2010, Tsai released Myself
. The music video features a style of house dance
called Vogue
. Tsai's December 2010 'Myself World Tour
' sold out quickly. The concert, which features Tsai performing dangerous stunts in mid-air, was choreographed by Benny Ninja
.
In 2011, Tsai will continue her world tour in May, which spanned across Asia.
Tsai was named the top 2nd earner among Taiwanese Singers in a 2010 poll, with earnings of US$14.51 million that year.
at Fu Jen Catholic University
. 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
.
, she pursued an acting career. She debuted in a popular soap series called "HI,上班女郎" with actor Show Luo
. The series, about a female worker enduring the taboos of dating her own superior in the office, became a huge hit that allowed Tsai's fans to follow her amidst her hold on singing. Since her acting debut, Jolin Tsai continues to pursue her acting career by filming music videos on the side. In an interview, she stated that after her music career is over, she hopes to make movies full time, learn more about filming, and act in movies.
's #1 hit "Greatest Love of All
". She was then signed by Universal Music.
On July 1999, her first single "Living With the World" (和世界做鄰居) was released. It was sold in convenience stores and was a tremendous success, 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. 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.
that year and got the biggest break of her whole career. The first single released was the track "Spirit Of The Knight" (騎士精神), which became a big hit and led to the highly anticipated release of her album Magic (看我72變). 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. 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變), a song which has been suggested to have been named after The Monkey King's
72 transformations. Other songs from the album, such as the extremely popular "Say Love You" (說愛你) and several others, including the hit "Prague Square" (布拉格廣場) were penned by fellow Taiwan mega star Jay Chou
(周杰倫). 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. 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" (就是愛) and the moving rock ballad "Rewind" (倒帶), became two of Tsai's biggest hits. Prior to the album's release, she showcased her single "Pirates" (海盜), 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. This album also featured many other hit songs including the main upbeat dance track "36 Tricks of Love" (愛情36計), the sad love ballads "The Smell of Lemon Grass" (檸檬草的味道) 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 raised her popularity 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. 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 Tsai, "Exclusive Myth" (獨佔神話), was included on the album. The first single of the album "Barbaric Game" (野蠻遊戲) was a huge hit across Asia and it was followed by several other strong singles including "The Greek Girl Next To The Wishing Pond" (許願池的希臘少女) (composed by rising Hong Kong singer Ivana Wong
), "Sky" (天空), "Repeat Signs" (反覆記號), "I Really Miss You" (好想你) and "Eyes Half Shut" (睜一隻眼 閉一隻眼). The music video of the latter song presented a much sexier image of Tsai than ever seen before. During this time, Tsai also rapped in a duet with fellow artist Show Luo
called "真命天子" [Destined Guy], which was featured on his album Hypnosis Show
. She also appear with Show in his first solo concert at the Taipei Arena
, performing "真命天子" [Destined Guy].
Late in 2005, Tsai released her J1 Live Concert DVD, featuring performances from a concert in Taipei in late 2004. Her hits from her albums Magic (看我72變) and Castle were performed. Show Luo
made a guest appearance in the performance of "Prove It". The concert also had a guest appearance by Jay Chou
, in which he danced together with Tsai, 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 Music Entertainment (Taiwan)
, the record company that helped elevate her to superstar status, and joining Capitol Music Taiwan, which released under the name of EMI Music Taiwan. Since her debut and through her years, Tsai had progressed 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".(舞孃). 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.
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.
After the release of J-Top, her first album with EMI Music Taiwan, Dancing Diva
was released on May 12, 2006. This album became Tsai's biggest album yet, selling over 2 million copies in Asia. The album featured some of her most popular and sexiest dance songs ever, including the aforementioned title track "Dancing Diva" (舞孃), "Pulchritude" (玩美), "Mr.Q" (the music video for this song shows a very sexy Tsai getting intimate with Hong Kong pop star Edison Chen
), and the bonus track "Attraction of Sexy Lips"(唇唇欲動) (a song she did as part of an endorsement deal with MaxFactor which is almost close to Anita Mui's song "Hot Red Lips"). The album also featured two of the biggest hits in Asia during the year: the fun and upbeat "A Wonder in Madrid" (馬德里不思議)and the touching love ballad "Pretence" (假裝). She collaborated with friend and label-mate Stanley Huang
on the song "Nice Guy" (乖乖牌), which he also helped to write. Tsai also had some writing duties on the album, writing the lyrics for the song "The Prologue" (開場白), which many speculate was written about Chou. The album was re-released in July as the "Perfect Celebration Edition" with a DVD featuring music videos of all eleven of the songs on the album. She has done the same thing for Magic, Castle, and J-Game as well.
During the fall of 2006, Tsai began her Dancing Forever World Tour, performing concerts to sellout crowds in Asia. The huge opening concert in Hong Kong, which took place on her birthday, featured many special guests, including one of Hong Kong's top male artists Eason Chan
, Taiwan's rising pop princess Rainie Yang
, and Show Luo
. Show Luo
and Huang also made surprise appearances in other stops of her tour, however, the most shocking moment was when she kissed fellow Taiwanese diva Elva Hsiao
on the lips during one of her concerts. Tsai made guest appearances at her friend Stefanie Sun
's concerts, while she and popular Singaporean male artist JJ Lin
took turns appearing at each other's concerts.
Tsai released another album, Dancing Forever (唯舞獨尊) in October 2006. It features two CDs and a DVD. The first disc contains all new material, including the title track and theme for her tour: "Dancing Forever". Covers of songs by Chinese divas Sandy Lam
and Faye Wong
and a duet called "Marry Me Today" (今天你要嫁給我)she recorded with her idol and mentor David Tao
, are also included. Furthermore, she experimented with two other dialects — Taiwanese and Cantonese (the Canto version of "Pretence" is on the album). Up to this point, she had only released music in Mandarin and English. The second disc features remixes of three dance hits from Dancing Diva, while the DVD features the LUX
sponsored mini-concert she performed in the summer in Kaohsiung
. It features Huang and Taiwanese boy band Energy
.
A month later, Sony released another 2 CD compilation album called Jolin Favorite Live Concert Music Selection. This album consists of remixes of popular songs Tsai recorded under Sony, as well as rare live tracks.
Tsai ended 2006 on a high note, performing hits like "Mr.Q", "A Wonder in Madrid", "Pretence" and "Dancing Diva" at several New Year countdown parties in Taiwan. Furthermore, according to g-music, Dancing Diva became the biggest selling album of the year in Taiwan, while Dancing Forever reached #15 on the year-end album sales charts. Dancing Diva accounted for 4.26% of all Mandarin album sales in Taiwan for the year, ahead of Jay Chou's Still Fantasy
, which placed second and accounted for 3.50%. Tsai's singles also topped year-end charts, particularly her extremely popular duet with David Tao, which is considered by many lists to be the #1 song of the year in Taiwan. Singles like "Dancing Diva," "Pretence," and "A Wonder in Madrid" were also the winners of many song awards at the end of 2006 and the start of 2007.
2007: Tsai released The Acquired Talent (地才) (DVD, photobook and poster) on June 8, which featured performances from her latest world tour and documented her hard work and perseverance in preparing for the tour. The DVD shows footage of her performing dance sequences with concert guests Luo, Huang, and Hsiao. The DVD opened at the top of the Taiwanese audio/video charts and stayed there for thirteen weeks. It is said that her new album will be coming out in mid-August or September.
On June 16, Tsai finally won at the most prestigious music awards show in Taiwan. She received the Most Favorite Female Artist and the Best Mandarin Female Singer Award at the annual 18th Golden Melody Awards
. Furthermore, her duet with David Tao won the Best Song Award. Tsai's win for Best Mandarin Female Singer has drawn some criticisms from netizens and industry critics due to her voice not being as strong as the other nominees (A-mei, Sandy, Angela Chang
, and Penny Tai
). However, many say that she won due to her all-round talent, hard work, and universal pop appeal. Regardless of the controversy surrounding this award, her other award for Most Favorite Female Artist shows the immense popularity she has around the world as the award was voted on by the fans for a couple of months prior to the awards show. She beat out many other artists such as, Fish Leong
, Sun, Hsiao, Twins, A-mei
, Yang, and others.
Just a few days before the release of Tsai's new album at EMI Music Taiwan, Sony released another compilation album, Jolin's Final Wonderland (Jolin夢綺地精選). This collection is the most comprehensive, featuring almost all the songs Tsai released during her time at Sony. The album includes three CDs (songs are separated into dance songs, cute songs, and love ballads), as well as a DVD with 22 music videos and a 52-page photo book.
Tsai's second album with EMI Music Taiwan, titled Agent J
(特務J), was released on September 21, 2007. The album features eleven new tracks and the bonus track "Let's Move It," which was used as a promotional track in commercials for Toyota. The deluxe version of the album features a 3-part 70-minute music movie filmed in France, London, and Bangkok. The movie, costing NT 50 million to film, stars Tsai as the leather-clad Agent J and features popular Korean actor Kim Jae Won
and Hong Kong stars Stephen Fung
and Carl Ng
. During the filming of the movie, Tsai had to learn two new forms of dance in 10 days: aerial silk dancing and poledancing, almost paralyzing her right arm and causing her to faint in the process. Hits from the album include the title track "Agent J" (特務J), the ballads "Alone" (一個人) and "Fear Free" (怕什麼), and the dance tracks "Bravo Lover" (愛無赦)(best known for its often-imitated dance steps) and "Tacit Violence" (冷‧暴力).
According to G-music Taiwan, the album accounted for 45% of album sales and over 65% of Mandarin album sales in Taiwan in its first week of release. Since its release, the album had stayed at the #1 position for two weeks. For the first time, Tsai released two more versions of the album: the Champion Special Edition (featuring 10 music videos, 4 dance instruction music videos, and a remix of Bravo Lover) and the No. 1 Special Celebration Edition (featuring the "Let's Move It" music video and her "Agent J" celebration concert featuring the best male artist at the Golden Melody Awards, Nicky Lee from Taiwanese hip-hop group Machi
).
Tsai then collaborated with Australian pop queen, Kylie Minogue
in a song called "In My Arms
", which would be included in the Asian version of Kylie's album X
. Tsai was invited to the world premiere of Kylie's movie 'White Diamond', where Tsai presented Kylie with her newest album and a jade bracelet which she personally picked for her.
Soon after, Tsai traveled to Hong Kong for Christmas, attending various functions and performing and winning three awards at the 2007 Metro Showbiz Music Awards, before returning to Taiwan. Once again, Tsai ended off the year performing hits in Taiwan to celebrate the end of 2007. For the second year in a row, Tsai had the best-selling album in Taiwan. According to g-music, sales of Agent J accounted for 3.08% of all album sales in Taiwan and 5.96% of Chinese albums for the year, even higher than the numbers for Dancing Diva a year ago. Agent J also topped the year-end album charts according to Five Music, while The Acquired Talent was the best-selling music DVD of the year.
Like the previous year, Tsai also topped the Hito Top 100 Singles chart for the year. This time her song "Sun Will Never Set" was voted to be the top song of the year by over 340,000 voters.
In April 2008, Tsai incorporated newly learnt skills such as flying rings and pole dance in addition to her usual multi-style dances in her concert in Beijing's Workers' Gymnasium.
Tsai's first English album Love Exercise (愛的練習語) was released in November. The album features remakes of 10 popular English songs such as "I Won't Last A Day Without You" and "Lady Marmalade". This marked her first full-fledged venture into the English music territory. However, the lack of promotional activities leading up to the release of the album and the fact that it was pushed back from its original release date in March, contributed to lower-than-expected sales volume being recorded.
Because Tsai was not active in the Chinese music market during 2008, she was not on the year-end music charts. This broke her streak of having the year's best-selling album in Taiwan as Dancing Diva and Agent J topped the charts in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
Love Exercise would mark Tsai's last studio release with EMI Music Taiwan. Similar to how Sony released a J-Top when she left the label for EMI Music Taiwan, they also released a greatest hits compilation to mark the end of Tsai's contract with them. Jeneration Collection 2006-2009 (J世紀Jeneration 大牌新曲+精選盤2006-2009), a 2CD compilation of songs from Dancing Diva, Dancing Forever, and Agent J was released in February, packaged with a 416 page photo book with over 555 photos of the "goddess of a thousand faces." The album hit #2 on the album charts, while J-Top hit #1 back in 2006.
rapper Nick, and was announced as the first single of the album. The album's subsequent singles, and the ballad "Compromise" (妥協)the title track "Butterfly" (花蝴蝶) were released soon after and was announced as the 2nd and 3rd single respectively. The music video for "Butterfly" features Tsai's new dance skill, ballet pirouettes, while the video for "Compromise" features one of Taiwan's biggest idol actors, Ethan Ruan
. The final track on the album, "Hot Winter" (熱冬; 热冬), is a cover of a Monrose
song called "Hot Summer," written by Thomas Troelsen
, which later become the 6th and final single of the album.
After almost two years off the Chinese music charts, Tsai was back at the top. According to g-music Taiwan, the album accounted for 37% of all album sales in Taiwan and 68% of Chinese music sales in Taiwan in its first week. In 2009, Butterfly Jolin has the largest first-week sales of any artist. Its first week-sales were also greater than the first-week sales of the previous year's best-selling album, Poetry of the Day After... by Taiwanese band Mayday. The album spent two weeks on the top of the sales charts, outselling BoA
in its second week but being overtaken by TVXQ
in its third week. "Slow Life" (愈慢愈美麗) and "My Reliance" (我的依賴) became the 4th and 5th single of the album respectively.
Her song, "Slow Life" (愈慢愈美麗) has been used by almost 3,000 schools in Taiwan as their recess song to replace the bell ring.
Tsai injured her waist while holding a "school tour" in Taiwan. Due to the injury, Warner Music Taiwan announced that she would be taking a two months break from her work. In May 2009, she was invited as one of the special guests of her friend Stefanie Sun
's "The Answer Is.." world tour. She subsequently performed a duet of the song "First Day"(第一天) with Stefanie in the concert.
Tsai launched her own brand of apparel, Seventy Two Changes, during Fashion Week in New York City, inspired by the star’s own distinctive style. The designs for each of the clothing sold under this brand are specially designed by Tsai herself. She also worked as a spokesperson for Shiatzy Chen
.
In June 2010, Jolin appeared in the third night of her old friend, Jay Chou's
concert, which shocked the audience with her appearance as a surprise guest and was the major highlight of the concert.
On July 11, Jolin attended the 2010 Head & Shoulders
Chinese Show as the ambassador in Shanghai
. She announced that her new album "Vogue" could be booked since early August, but the album name was later change to "Myself". It is said that to make "Vogue" more attractive, Jolin has invited the vogue teacher Benny Ninja
(teacher of "America's Next Top Model
") and Ahn Hyung Suk (dance teacher of Dong Bang Shin Ki, also known as TVXQ
) to teach her hand-gesture-based Voguing dance.
The lead single of her album, "Honey Trap" (美人計), along with its music video, was leaked through the Internet. Two other songs, "Immediate Effect" (即時生效) and "Small Wound" (小傷口), were leaked as well,which would be the 5th and 6th single of the album. Her album was stated to supposedly be released on 3 August 2010. The album, titled Myself
, was released on August 13, 2010. The music video of "Love Player"(玩愛之徒), also the 2nd single of the album, feature Jolin naked in the bathtub. While the 3rd single, "Nothing Left to Say"(無言以對), feature her 1st dance in her ballad.
Myself have topped the chart of G-Music for 3 consecutive weeks only to be overtaken by Hebe Tien's first solo album.However, the album rebound back to first,during its 6th week and sold higher than its debut week. The lead single, "Honey Trap"(美人計), managed to peak at Number three of the Yes 93.3 Music Chart, while "Real Hurt"(小傷口) managed to topped the Singapore Yes 93.3 Music Chart for two consecutive weeks.
The 4th single, "Butterflies in my stomach"(七上八下) was also made into an MV.
"Take Immediate Effect"(即時生效) video was also released in September 2010, featuring her dog in the video and "Real Hurt"(小傷口) video was released in the 2nd week of September 2010.
Jolin made an appearance in the China Got Talent final, in which she perform "Black-Haired Beautiful Girl" (黑髮尤物). The winner of the China Got Talent, Liu Wei, got to perform in Jolin's subsequent World Tour.
In 2011, Jolin will be continuing on her Myself World Tour
, in support of her album, Myself, which spanned around Asia, which consists of her performing another dangerous stunt and songs.
, Tsai was one of the first few artists to contribute to the Earthquake Relief Fund. She, together with Jay Chou, S.H.E
, Jiang Hui and over 100 celebrities appeared in the “Send Out Your Love” fundraising disaster relief show on the 18th of May to help raise more funds to help the victims.
Taiwanese people
Taiwanese people may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or Taiwan Area which have been governed by the Republic of China since 1945...
Golden Melody Award
Golden Melody Award
The Golden Melody Awards is an annual Taiwanese music award, founded in 1990, presented by Government Information Office , Republic of China. It is usually presented in May, June or July each year and presented for music in Mandarin, Taiwanese, other Chinese dialects, and Taiwn's aboriginal...
-winning Mandopop
Mandopop
Mandopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Mandarin popular music." It is categorized as a subgenre of commercial Chinese-language music within C-pop. Mandopop was the first variety of popular music in Chinese to establish itself as a viable industry. As the name implies, Mandopop features songs...
singer, dancer and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. She is managed by Mars Entertainment Ltd (天熹娛樂).
Career
Tsai's foray into the entertainment industry started with an MTV singing competition. She was signed on by Universal Music and released her first album Jolin 1019Jolin 1019
Jolin 1019 is Taiwanese Mandopop artist Jolin Tsai's debut Mandarin solo studio album. It was released on 13 September 1999 by Universal Music Taiwan...
. Her second album Don't Stop
Don't Stop (Jolin Tsai album)
Don't Stop is Taiwanese Mandopop artist Jolin Tsai's second Mandarin studio album. It was released on 26 April 2000 by Universal Music Taiwan...
was also a success. Tsai's music career came to a halt when conflicts between her and music company surfaced. Tsai signed on with Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan)
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
.
Tsai's success as a singer continued with the release of her 3rd album, Castle. Tsai's J1 World Tour included countries across Asia and North America. In that same year, Tsai released J-Game
J-Game
J-Game is Taiwanese Mandopop artist Jolin Tsai's seventh Mandarin studio album. It was released on 25 April 2005 by Sony Music Taiwan. Two editions of the albums were released with Bonus VCD/DVD containing 10 music videos...
, which sold over 1 million copies in Asia in the span of one month.
In 2006, Tsai left Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan)
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
, and joined EMI Music Taiwan's label Capitol Records(Taiwan). Her 8th album, Dancing Diva, proved more successful than the previous albums. Tsai's Dancing Forever Tour featured a dance performance. The tour spanned across Asia, North America and Australia. In 2005, Tsai won the Golden Melody Award
Golden Melody Award
The Golden Melody Awards is an annual Taiwanese music award, founded in 1990, presented by Government Information Office , Republic of China. It is usually presented in May, June or July each year and presented for music in Mandarin, Taiwanese, other Chinese dialects, and Taiwn's aboriginal...
for Best Mandarin Female Singer Award for her album Dancing Forever Tour
In 2008, Tsai released her first English cover album Love Exercise
Love Exercise
Love Exercise is Taiwanese Mandopop artist Jolin Tsai's first English studio cover album. It was released on 30 October 2008 by Gold Typhoon , formerly EMI Music Taiwan...
. The sales for this album was lower than expected due to minimal publicity efforts. Tsai ended her contract with EMI Music Taiwan in 2008.
Tsai re-signed her contract with Warner Music Taiwan and released her 10th album, "Butterfly". "Butterfly" was her most successful album to date.
In 2010, Tsai released Myself
Myself (Jolin Tsai album)
Myself is Taiwanese Mandopop artist Jolin Tsai's eleventh Mandarin studio album. It was released on 13 August 2010 by Warner Music Taiwan. It was originally set to be released on the 5th August 2010, but was delayed until 13 August 2010...
. The music video features a style of house dance
House dance
House dance is a social dance primarily danced to house music that has roots in the clubs of Chicago and of New York. The main elements of House dance include Footwork, Jacking, and Lofting...
called Vogue
Vogue (dance)
Vogue or voguing is a highly stylized, modern house dance that evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene in the 1960s. It gained mainstream exposure when it was featured in Madonna's song and video "Vogue" , and when showcased in the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning...
. Tsai's December 2010 'Myself World Tour
Myself World Tour
Myself World Tour is the fourth concert tour by Mandopop singer Jolin Tsai to promote her 11th studio album Myself. Rumors of the tour began in June, but only 3 days have been officially announced in 2010...
' sold out quickly. The concert, which features Tsai performing dangerous stunts in mid-air, was choreographed by Benny Ninja
Benny Ninja
Benny Ninja is a self-taught Vogue-style dancer from the underground clubs based in Westchester, New York. He is best known for his involvement in ball culture...
.
In 2011, Tsai will continue her world tour in May, which spanned across Asia.
Tsai was named the top 2nd earner among Taiwanese Singers in a 2010 poll, with earnings of US$14.51 million that year.
Early life
Though Tsai was introverted and shy as a child, she intensively studied English during her youth and eventually majored in English LiteratureEnglish literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
at Fu Jen Catholic University
Fu Jen Catholic University
Fu Jen Catholic University is a co-educational Catholic university located in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, Republic of China...
. During her childhood years, Tsai developed an interest in singing
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
and experimented with different vocal techniques after listening to the songs of popular female singers such as Teresa Teng
Teresa Teng
Teresa Teng , was an immensely popular and influential Chinese pop singer from Taiwan. Teresa Teng's voice and songs are instantly recognized throughout East Asia and in areas with large Asian populations...
and Faye Wong
Faye Wong
Faye Wong is a highly successful and influential Chinese singer-songwriter and actress who is usually referred to as a diva . Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong . Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong in 1987 and rose to stardom in the early 1990s by singing...
.
Acting career
During the two years she faced conflict with her recording company before signing with Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan)Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
, she pursued an acting career. She debuted in a popular soap series called "HI,上班女郎" with actor Show Luo
Show Luo
Show Luo also known as Xiao Zhu was born on 30 July 1979. He is a Taiwanese entertainer: Mandopop singer, dancer, host and actor. He has been dubbed "Dancing King of Asia" for his dancing skills.-Biography:...
. The series, about a female worker enduring the taboos of dating her own superior in the office, became a huge hit that allowed Tsai's fans to follow her amidst her hold on singing. Since her acting debut, Jolin Tsai continues to pursue her acting career by filming music videos on the side. In an interview, she stated that after her music career is over, she hopes to make movies full time, learn more about filming, and act in movies.
Musical career
Universal Music Taiwan (1998–2001)
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 HoustonWhitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
's #1 hit "Greatest Love of All
Greatest Love of All
"The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The song was later popularized by Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of her struggle with breast cancer...
". She was then signed by Universal Music.
On July 1999, her first single "Living With the World" (和世界做鄰居) was released. It was sold in convenience stores and was a tremendous success, 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. She also released her first photobook with pictures mainly taken in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
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
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. At the end of 2001, Tsai's contract with Universal Music ended and her first greatest hits compilation, Together was released.
Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan) (2002–2006)
Tsai signed with Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan)Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
that year and got the biggest break of her whole career. The first single released was the track "Spirit Of The Knight" (騎士精神), which became a big hit and led to the highly anticipated release of her album Magic (看我72變). 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. 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變), a song which has been suggested to have been named after The Monkey King's
Sun Wukong
Sun Wukong , also known as the Monkey King is a main character in the classical Chinese epic novel Journey to the West . In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices...
72 transformations. Other songs from the album, such as the extremely popular "Say Love You" (說愛你) and several others, including the hit "Prague Square" (布拉格廣場) were penned by fellow Taiwan mega star Jay Chou
Jay Chou
Jay Chou is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, actor and director who has won the World Music Award four times. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for...
(周杰倫). 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. 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" (就是愛) and the moving rock ballad "Rewind" (倒帶), became two of Tsai's biggest hits. Prior to the album's release, she showcased her single "Pirates" (海盜), 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. This album also featured many other hit songs including the main upbeat dance track "36 Tricks of Love" (愛情36計), the sad love ballads "The Smell of Lemon Grass" (檸檬草的味道) 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
Nu Virgos
Nu Virgos is the name used to promote the group VIA Gra outside of Russia, Ukraine and other nearby countries. The name VIA Gra is both a reference to the drug Viagra and a play on words, since the first three letters stand for "vocal-instrumental ensemble" in Ukrainian, and "gra" means "game" in...
. 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
Warriors of Heaven and Earth
Warriors of Heaven and Earth is a 2003 Chinese action adventure film directed by He Ping. The film's notable cinematography captures a wide range of landscapes across China's Xinjiang province...
.
On April 25, 2005, Tsai seventh album J-Game
J-Game
J-Game is Taiwanese Mandopop artist Jolin Tsai's seventh Mandarin studio album. It was released on 25 April 2005 by Sony Music Taiwan. Two editions of the albums were released with Bonus VCD/DVD containing 10 music videos...
was released, also topping charts throughout Asia and raised her popularity in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Malaysia, and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. 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. 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 Tsai, "Exclusive Myth" (獨佔神話), was included on the album. The first single of the album "Barbaric Game" (野蠻遊戲) was a huge hit across Asia and it was followed by several other strong singles including "The Greek Girl Next To The Wishing Pond" (許願池的希臘少女) (composed by rising Hong Kong singer Ivana Wong
Ivana Wong
Ivana Wong was born on 18 June 1979. She is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer-songwriter.-Biography:Wong's first public performance was at the CASH Song Writers contest in 2000 in which her Mandarin piece "It is just misunderstanding and not tragic at all" placed first...
), "Sky" (天空), "Repeat Signs" (反覆記號), "I Really Miss You" (好想你) and "Eyes Half Shut" (睜一隻眼 閉一隻眼). The music video of the latter song presented a much sexier image of Tsai than ever seen before. During this time, Tsai also rapped in a duet with fellow artist Show Luo
Show Luo
Show Luo also known as Xiao Zhu was born on 30 July 1979. He is a Taiwanese entertainer: Mandopop singer, dancer, host and actor. He has been dubbed "Dancing King of Asia" for his dancing skills.-Biography:...
called "真命天子" [Destined Guy], which was featured on his album Hypnosis Show
Hypnosis Show
Hypnosis Show is Taiwanese Mandopop artist Show Luo's third Mandarin studio album. It was released on 14 October 2005 by Avex Taiwan. After receiving good reviews for the music video of the first lead track, "真命天子" , featuring Jolin Tsai, the album went on pre-order sale and all of the 10,000...
. She also appear with Show in his first solo concert at the Taipei Arena
Taipei Arena
Taipei Arena is an indoor sporting arena located in Taipei, Taiwan. Built in 2005, the large multi-purpose stadium can accommodate major international sport events such as ice skating, ice hockey, gymnastics, handball, basketball, tennis, badminton, table tennis, indoor soccer, boxing, judo,...
, performing "真命天子" [Destined Guy].
Late in 2005, Tsai released her J1 Live Concert DVD, featuring performances from a concert in Taipei in late 2004. Her hits from her albums Magic (看我72變) and Castle were performed. Show Luo
Show Luo
Show Luo also known as Xiao Zhu was born on 30 July 1979. He is a Taiwanese entertainer: Mandopop singer, dancer, host and actor. He has been dubbed "Dancing King of Asia" for his dancing skills.-Biography:...
made a guest appearance in the performance of "Prove It". The concert also had a guest appearance by Jay Chou
Jay Chou
Jay Chou is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, actor and director who has won the World Music Award four times. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for...
, in which he danced together with Tsai, 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 Music Entertainment (Taiwan)
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
, the record company that helped elevate her to superstar status, and joining Capitol Music Taiwan, which released under the name of EMI Music Taiwan. Since her debut and through her years, Tsai had progressed 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
MTV Asia Awards
The biannual MTV Asia Awards is the Asian equivalent of the Europe MTV EMA. Established in 2002, the show gives recognition and awards to Asian and international icons in achievement, cinema, fashion, humanitarian, and music. Just like the EMA, most of the awards are voted for by the viewers from...
where she performed her hot new single "Dancing Diva".(舞孃). 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.
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.
EMI Music Taiwan's label-Capitol Records (2006–2009)
Dancing Diva
Dancing Diva is Taiwanese Mandopop artist Jolin Tsai's eighth Mandarin studio album. It was released on 12 May 2006 by EMI Music Taiwan. This is the first album of Jolin's since moving from Sony Music Taiwan to EMI Music Taiwan....
was released on May 12, 2006. This album became Tsai's biggest album yet, selling over 2 million copies in Asia. The album featured some of her most popular and sexiest dance songs ever, including the aforementioned title track "Dancing Diva" (舞孃), "Pulchritude" (玩美), "Mr.Q" (the music video for this song shows a very sexy Tsai getting intimate with Hong Kong pop star Edison Chen
Edison Chen
Edison Koon-Hei Chen is a Hong Kong film actor, Cantopop singer, Hong Kong hip hop rapper, model, record producer, fashion designer, and a pop icon. Chen is also the founder of CLOT Inc., and the CEO of Clot Media Division Limited...
), and the bonus track "Attraction of Sexy Lips"(唇唇欲動) (a song she did as part of an endorsement deal with MaxFactor which is almost close to Anita Mui's song "Hot Red Lips"). The album also featured two of the biggest hits in Asia during the year: the fun and upbeat "A Wonder in Madrid" (馬德里不思議)and the touching love ballad "Pretence" (假裝). She collaborated with friend and label-mate Stanley Huang
Stanley Huang
Stanley Huang is a Taiwanese American singer. Huang grew up in California and first started out in the boyband L.A. Boyz with older brother, Jeff Huang and cousin Steven Lin.-Musical Career :...
on the song "Nice Guy" (乖乖牌), which he also helped to write. Tsai also had some writing duties on the album, writing the lyrics for the song "The Prologue" (開場白), which many speculate was written about Chou. The album was re-released in July as the "Perfect Celebration Edition" with a DVD featuring music videos of all eleven of the songs on the album. She has done the same thing for Magic, Castle, and J-Game as well.
During the fall of 2006, Tsai began her Dancing Forever World Tour, performing concerts to sellout crowds in Asia. The huge opening concert in Hong Kong, which took place on her birthday, featured many special guests, including one of Hong Kong's top male artists Eason Chan
Eason Chan
Eason Chan Yik-shun is a prominent male singer in Hong Kong's music industry. Undoubtedly one of the most dominant male singers in the post-1997 era of Hong Kong music industry. Eason Chan has been praised by Time magazine as a front runner in the next generation of Cantopop...
, Taiwan's rising pop princess Rainie Yang
Rainie Yang
Rainie Yang , born June 4th, 1984, is a Taiwanese singer, Golden Bell Awards actress and talk show host.-Career:Yang began her career in 2000, as a member of Taiwanese quartet girl group 4 in Love, where she was given the stage name of Rainie, matching the weather theme of each member. The group's...
, and Show Luo
Show Luo
Show Luo also known as Xiao Zhu was born on 30 July 1979. He is a Taiwanese entertainer: Mandopop singer, dancer, host and actor. He has been dubbed "Dancing King of Asia" for his dancing skills.-Biography:...
. Show Luo
Show Luo
Show Luo also known as Xiao Zhu was born on 30 July 1979. He is a Taiwanese entertainer: Mandopop singer, dancer, host and actor. He has been dubbed "Dancing King of Asia" for his dancing skills.-Biography:...
and Huang also made surprise appearances in other stops of her tour, however, the most shocking moment was when she kissed fellow Taiwanese diva Elva Hsiao
Elva Hsiao
Elva Hsiao, also known as Elva Siu, was born on 24 August 1979. She is a Taiwanese Mandopop singer.-Biography:She was educated at John Casablanca's College in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is fluent in both written and spoken English. While in Vancouver, she attended the New Talent Singing...
on the lips during one of her concerts. Tsai made guest appearances at her friend Stefanie Sun
Stefanie Sun
Stefanie Sun was born Sng Ee Tze on 23 July 1978, and known to fans as 13姐 , is a Singaporean singer-songwriter. She has sold over 30 million copies of her albums during the span of her career thus far. She does the majority of her recording, and conducts most of her publicity events, in Taiwan,...
's concerts, while she and popular Singaporean male artist JJ Lin
JJ Lin
JJ Lin is a Singaporean Mandopop Singer-songwriter, Composer and Actor based in Taiwan. JJ Lin is managed by Ocean Butterflies. Lin won Best New Artist for his work on his debut album Music Voyager at the 15th Golden Melody Awards in 2004....
took turns appearing at each other's concerts.
Tsai released another album, Dancing Forever (唯舞獨尊) in October 2006. It features two CDs and a DVD. The first disc contains all new material, including the title track and theme for her tour: "Dancing Forever". Covers of songs by Chinese divas Sandy Lam
Sandy Lam
Sandy Lam, also known as Lam Yik Lin, is a Cantopop singer who sings in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Japanese.-Career:...
and Faye Wong
Faye Wong
Faye Wong is a highly successful and influential Chinese singer-songwriter and actress who is usually referred to as a diva . Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong . Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong in 1987 and rose to stardom in the early 1990s by singing...
and a duet called "Marry Me Today" (今天你要嫁給我)she recorded with her idol and mentor David Tao
David Tao
David Tao , born Tao Xuzhong , was born on 11 July 1969. He is a Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning singer-songwriter. He is well-known for creating a crossover genre of R&B and hard rock tunes which has now become his signature style and for having popularized R&B in the Mandopop...
, are also included. Furthermore, she experimented with two other dialects — Taiwanese and Cantonese (the Canto version of "Pretence" is on the album). Up to this point, she had only released music in Mandarin and English. The second disc features remixes of three dance hits from Dancing Diva, while the DVD features the LUX
LUX
LUX is the principal centre for the promotion and distribution of experimental film and video works in the UK.It has one of the largest collections of experimental film and video art and houses works of over 1000 artists...
sponsored mini-concert she performed in the summer in Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
. It features Huang and Taiwanese boy band Energy
Energy (band)
Energy is a Taiwanese pop rock boy band formed in 2002. The original band consisted of five members, namely Milk, Ady, Toro, Penny and Joe. Toro and Milk left the band in 2003 and 2005 respectively. Xiao Gang joined the band in mid 2007...
.
A month later, Sony released another 2 CD compilation album called Jolin Favorite Live Concert Music Selection. This album consists of remixes of popular songs Tsai recorded under Sony, as well as rare live tracks.
Tsai ended 2006 on a high note, performing hits like "Mr.Q", "A Wonder in Madrid", "Pretence" and "Dancing Diva" at several New Year countdown parties in Taiwan. Furthermore, according to g-music, Dancing Diva became the biggest selling album of the year in Taiwan, while Dancing Forever reached #15 on the year-end album sales charts. Dancing Diva accounted for 4.26% of all Mandarin album sales in Taiwan for the year, ahead of Jay Chou's Still Fantasy
Still Fantasy
Still Fantasy is the seventh studio album by Taiwanese Mandopop artist Jay Chou. It was released on 5 September 2006 by Alfa Music and distributed by Sony Music Taiwan.The album was originally scheduled for release on 8 September...
, which placed second and accounted for 3.50%. Tsai's singles also topped year-end charts, particularly her extremely popular duet with David Tao, which is considered by many lists to be the #1 song of the year in Taiwan. Singles like "Dancing Diva," "Pretence," and "A Wonder in Madrid" were also the winners of many song awards at the end of 2006 and the start of 2007.
2007: Tsai released The Acquired Talent (地才) (DVD, photobook and poster) on June 8, which featured performances from her latest world tour and documented her hard work and perseverance in preparing for the tour. The DVD shows footage of her performing dance sequences with concert guests Luo, Huang, and Hsiao. The DVD opened at the top of the Taiwanese audio/video charts and stayed there for thirteen weeks. It is said that her new album will be coming out in mid-August or September.
On June 16, Tsai finally won at the most prestigious music awards show in Taiwan. She received the Most Favorite Female Artist and the Best Mandarin Female Singer Award at the annual 18th Golden Melody Awards
18th Golden Melody Awards
The 18th Golden Melody Awards for the Popular Music Category was held on 16 June 2007 at Taipei Arena in Taipei, Taiwan. It was themed "Mii", which stood for "Music is international".-Summary:...
. Furthermore, her duet with David Tao won the Best Song Award. Tsai's win for Best Mandarin Female Singer has drawn some criticisms from netizens and industry critics due to her voice not being as strong as the other nominees (A-mei, Sandy, Angela Chang
Angela Chang
Angela Chang was born on 19 January 1982. She is a Taiwanese Mandopop singer and actress. She has been nominated twice for Best Leading Actress in a Television Series at the Golden Bell Awards, Taiwan.-Biography:...
, and Penny Tai
Penny Tai
Penny Tai is a Malaysian Chinese singer and songwriter in the Mandopop scene. Since her debut in 2000 she has released ten albums.-Biography:...
). However, many say that she won due to her all-round talent, hard work, and universal pop appeal. Regardless of the controversy surrounding this award, her other award for Most Favorite Female Artist shows the immense popularity she has around the world as the award was voted on by the fans for a couple of months prior to the awards show. She beat out many other artists such as, Fish Leong
Fish Leong
Fish Leong is the stage name of Jasmine Leong, a Malaysian Chinese singer in the Mandarin pop scene who has had much success in Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan...
, Sun, Hsiao, Twins, A-mei
A-Mei
A-Mei , also known by her birth name Chang Hui-mei , is an aboriginal Taiwanese pop singer and occasional songwriter. She is also known by her aboriginal name Gulilai Amit . She was born in the rugged mountains of eastern Taiwan and is the third youngest of nine siblings. A-mei made her debut in...
, Yang, and others.
Just a few days before the release of Tsai's new album at EMI Music Taiwan, Sony released another compilation album, Jolin's Final Wonderland (Jolin夢綺地精選). This collection is the most comprehensive, featuring almost all the songs Tsai released during her time at Sony. The album includes three CDs (songs are separated into dance songs, cute songs, and love ballads), as well as a DVD with 22 music videos and a 52-page photo book.
Agent J (album)
Agent J is Taiwanese Mandopop artist Jolin Tsai's ninth Mandarin studio album. It was released on 21 September 2007 by EMI Music Taiwan but was leaked on to the internet on 8 September 2007. The album was renamed Love Mission for Mainland China market. This is the second album Jolin released...
(特務J), was released on September 21, 2007. The album features eleven new tracks and the bonus track "Let's Move It," which was used as a promotional track in commercials for Toyota. The deluxe version of the album features a 3-part 70-minute music movie filmed in France, London, and Bangkok. The movie, costing NT 50 million to film, stars Tsai as the leather-clad Agent J and features popular Korean actor Kim Jae Won
Kim Jae Won
Kim Jaewon is a South Korean actor and model. He debuted in 2001 with the TV drama Honey Honey.Kim enlisted in the military on March 23, 2009 to fulfill his mandatory military draft. He finished his service on January 24, 2011. Upon release from the military, Kim joined the cast of Can You Hear My...
and Hong Kong stars Stephen Fung
Stephen Fung
Stephen Fung Tak-Lun is a Hong Kong based actor, singer, model, writer and film director.-Biography:Fung's mother, Julie Sek Yin, was a famous Shaw Brothers actress...
and Carl Ng
Carl Ng
Carl Ng is a Hong Kong actor and model. He is the son of Richard Ng.- Early life :The third of four children, Ng was born in Hong Kong and is of mixed ethnicity. His father is comedy actor Richard Ng, while his mother, a British woman, worked as a hair stylist for Bruce Lee in the 1970s...
. During the filming of the movie, Tsai had to learn two new forms of dance in 10 days: aerial silk dancing and poledancing, almost paralyzing her right arm and causing her to faint in the process. Hits from the album include the title track "Agent J" (特務J), the ballads "Alone" (一個人) and "Fear Free" (怕什麼), and the dance tracks "Bravo Lover" (愛無赦)(best known for its often-imitated dance steps) and "Tacit Violence" (冷‧暴力).
According to G-music Taiwan, the album accounted for 45% of album sales and over 65% of Mandarin album sales in Taiwan in its first week of release. Since its release, the album had stayed at the #1 position for two weeks. For the first time, Tsai released two more versions of the album: the Champion Special Edition (featuring 10 music videos, 4 dance instruction music videos, and a remix of Bravo Lover) and the No. 1 Special Celebration Edition (featuring the "Let's Move It" music video and her "Agent J" celebration concert featuring the best male artist at the Golden Melody Awards, Nicky Lee from Taiwanese hip-hop group Machi
Machi
-Mythology and religious tradition:*Machi, a minor Biblical figure appearing in Numbers 13:15*Machi , the shaman of the Mapuche indigenous culture.*Machi, a Japanese neighborhood district 田丁 or address.-Popular culture:...
).
Tsai then collaborated with Australian pop queen, Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
in a song called "In My Arms
In My Arms
"In My Arms" is a popular song, recorded by Dick Haymes in 1943.The recording was released by Decca Records as catalog number 18557. The B-side was "You Can't Be Wrong". The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on July 22, 1943, and stayed 7 weeks on the chart, peaking at #7....
", which would be included in the Asian version of Kylie's album X
X (Kylie Minogue album)
X is the tenth studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It is her first release since the greatest hits compilation Ultimate Kylie , and her first studio album since Body Language . X was preceded by lead single "2 Hearts" and released worldwide in November 2007...
. Tsai was invited to the world premiere of Kylie's movie 'White Diamond', where Tsai presented Kylie with her newest album and a jade bracelet which she personally picked for her.
Soon after, Tsai traveled to Hong Kong for Christmas, attending various functions and performing and winning three awards at the 2007 Metro Showbiz Music Awards, before returning to Taiwan. Once again, Tsai ended off the year performing hits in Taiwan to celebrate the end of 2007. For the second year in a row, Tsai had the best-selling album in Taiwan. According to g-music, sales of Agent J accounted for 3.08% of all album sales in Taiwan and 5.96% of Chinese albums for the year, even higher than the numbers for Dancing Diva a year ago. Agent J also topped the year-end album charts according to Five Music, while The Acquired Talent was the best-selling music DVD of the year.
Like the previous year, Tsai also topped the Hito Top 100 Singles chart for the year. This time her song "Sun Will Never Set" was voted to be the top song of the year by over 340,000 voters.
In April 2008, Tsai incorporated newly learnt skills such as flying rings and pole dance in addition to her usual multi-style dances in her concert in Beijing's Workers' Gymnasium.
Tsai's first English album Love Exercise (愛的練習語) was released in November. The album features remakes of 10 popular English songs such as "I Won't Last A Day Without You" and "Lady Marmalade". This marked her first full-fledged venture into the English music territory. However, the lack of promotional activities leading up to the release of the album and the fact that it was pushed back from its original release date in March, contributed to lower-than-expected sales volume being recorded.
Because Tsai was not active in the Chinese music market during 2008, she was not on the year-end music charts. This broke her streak of having the year's best-selling album in Taiwan as Dancing Diva and Agent J topped the charts in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
Love Exercise would mark Tsai's last studio release with EMI Music Taiwan. Similar to how Sony released a J-Top when she left the label for EMI Music Taiwan, they also released a greatest hits compilation to mark the end of Tsai's contract with them. Jeneration Collection 2006-2009 (J世紀Jeneration 大牌新曲+精選盤2006-2009), a 2CD compilation of songs from Dancing Diva, Dancing Forever, and Agent J was released in February, packaged with a 416 page photo book with over 555 photos of the "goddess of a thousand faces." The album hit #2 on the album charts, while J-Top hit #1 back in 2006.
Warner Music Taiwan (2009–present)
Tsai's new Mandarin album, Butterfly (花蝴蝶), was released on March 27, 2009. This was her first official full-fledged album after joining Warner Music Taiwan. Early images that were released indicated that the album's image would be based on the concept of a "colorful butterfly", namely it being colorful and able to fly freely without worries. It is of her view that the songs in the album seek to encourage her fans to follow their dreams and not allow anything to hold them back from succeeding, thus the meaning of "flying high, flying freely" just like a butterfly. The production costs of Butterfly reached a new high – the 16 promotional outfits cost $2.5 million and the 6 most beautiful outfits were specially ordered from America. The album's first plug, entitled "Real Man" (大丈夫) was released and features TaiwaneseTaiwanese people
Taiwanese people may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or Taiwan Area which have been governed by the Republic of China since 1945...
rapper Nick, and was announced as the first single of the album. The album's subsequent singles, and the ballad "Compromise" (妥協)the title track "Butterfly" (花蝴蝶) were released soon after and was announced as the 2nd and 3rd single respectively. The music video for "Butterfly" features Tsai's new dance skill, ballet pirouettes, while the video for "Compromise" features one of Taiwan's biggest idol actors, Ethan Ruan
Ethan Ruan
Ethan Ruan was born on 8 November 1982. He is a Taiwanese actor and model. He is sometimes credited as Juan Ching-Tien or Ruan Jing-Tian. He rose to prominence in the Taiwanese drama Fated To Love You, and is the 2010 Best Leading Actor winner of the 47th Golden Horse Awards for his role in Monga...
. The final track on the album, "Hot Winter" (熱冬; 热冬), is a cover of a Monrose
Monrose
Monrose was a German pop band, first established in November 2006. Formed on the fifth installment of the German adaption of the international television talent show Popstars on the ProSieben network, the trio consisted of singers and songwriters Mandy Capristo, Senna Guemmour, and Bahar...
song called "Hot Summer," written by Thomas Troelsen
Thomas Troelsen
Thomas Troelsen is a composer and producer from Denmark.- History :Thomas Troelsen is a singer, songwriter, and producer responsible for chart-topping hits, like Junior Senior's "Move Your Feet", Monrose's "Hot Summer", PRIVATE's "My Secret Lover", and BoA’s “Eat You Up." He was also the lead...
, which later become the 6th and final single of the album.
After almost two years off the Chinese music charts, Tsai was back at the top. According to g-music Taiwan, the album accounted for 37% of all album sales in Taiwan and 68% of Chinese music sales in Taiwan in its first week. In 2009, Butterfly Jolin has the largest first-week sales of any artist. Its first week-sales were also greater than the first-week sales of the previous year's best-selling album, Poetry of the Day After... by Taiwanese band Mayday. The album spent two weeks on the top of the sales charts, outselling BoA
BoA
Boa Kwon , commonly stylized and known by her stage name BoA, which is a backronym for Beat of Angel, is a Korean singer, active in South Korea, Japan, and the United States and sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Korean Pop Music"....
in its second week but being overtaken by TVXQ
TVXQ
TVXQ, an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi , is a South Korean pop group formed in 2003 under SM Entertainment. In South Korea they are known as Dong Bang Shin Ki , often abbreviated by international fans as DBSK; they were later introduced in Japan as Tohoshinki under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone...
in its third week. "Slow Life" (愈慢愈美麗) and "My Reliance" (我的依賴) became the 4th and 5th single of the album respectively.
Her song, "Slow Life" (愈慢愈美麗) has been used by almost 3,000 schools in Taiwan as their recess song to replace the bell ring.
Tsai injured her waist while holding a "school tour" in Taiwan. Due to the injury, Warner Music Taiwan announced that she would be taking a two months break from her work. In May 2009, she was invited as one of the special guests of her friend Stefanie Sun
Stefanie Sun
Stefanie Sun was born Sng Ee Tze on 23 July 1978, and known to fans as 13姐 , is a Singaporean singer-songwriter. She has sold over 30 million copies of her albums during the span of her career thus far. She does the majority of her recording, and conducts most of her publicity events, in Taiwan,...
's "The Answer Is.." world tour. She subsequently performed a duet of the song "First Day"(第一天) with Stefanie in the concert.
Tsai launched her own brand of apparel, Seventy Two Changes, during Fashion Week in New York City, inspired by the star’s own distinctive style. The designs for each of the clothing sold under this brand are specially designed by Tsai herself. She also worked as a spokesperson for Shiatzy Chen
Shiatzy Chen
Shiatzy Chen is a Taiwanese fashion house, whose founder and brand innovator Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia is often referred to as the Chanel of Taiwan,and is the eponym of her luxury goods brand. She was born in 1951 in Changhua, Taiwan and founded the company in 1978...
.
In June 2010, Jolin appeared in the third night of her old friend, Jay Chou's
Jay Chou
Jay Chou is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, actor and director who has won the World Music Award four times. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for...
concert, which shocked the audience with her appearance as a surprise guest and was the major highlight of the concert.
On July 11, Jolin attended the 2010 Head & Shoulders
Head & Shoulders
Head & Shoulders is a brand of anti-dandruff shampoo produced by Procter & Gamble. Head & Shoulders Classic Clean Shampoo is the top-selling shampoo in the United States by dollar sales.- History :...
Chinese Show as the ambassador in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. She announced that her new album "Vogue" could be booked since early August, but the album name was later change to "Myself". It is said that to make "Vogue" more attractive, Jolin has invited the vogue teacher Benny Ninja
Benny Ninja
Benny Ninja is a self-taught Vogue-style dancer from the underground clubs based in Westchester, New York. He is best known for his involvement in ball culture...
(teacher of "America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry....
") and Ahn Hyung Suk (dance teacher of Dong Bang Shin Ki, also known as TVXQ
TVXQ
TVXQ, an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi , is a South Korean pop group formed in 2003 under SM Entertainment. In South Korea they are known as Dong Bang Shin Ki , often abbreviated by international fans as DBSK; they were later introduced in Japan as Tohoshinki under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone...
) to teach her hand-gesture-based Voguing dance.
The lead single of her album, "Honey Trap" (美人計), along with its music video, was leaked through the Internet. Two other songs, "Immediate Effect" (即時生效) and "Small Wound" (小傷口), were leaked as well,which would be the 5th and 6th single of the album. Her album was stated to supposedly be released on 3 August 2010. The album, titled Myself
Myself (Jolin Tsai album)
Myself is Taiwanese Mandopop artist Jolin Tsai's eleventh Mandarin studio album. It was released on 13 August 2010 by Warner Music Taiwan. It was originally set to be released on the 5th August 2010, but was delayed until 13 August 2010...
, was released on August 13, 2010. The music video of "Love Player"(玩愛之徒), also the 2nd single of the album, feature Jolin naked in the bathtub. While the 3rd single, "Nothing Left to Say"(無言以對), feature her 1st dance in her ballad.
Myself have topped the chart of G-Music for 3 consecutive weeks only to be overtaken by Hebe Tien's first solo album.However, the album rebound back to first,during its 6th week and sold higher than its debut week. The lead single, "Honey Trap"(美人計), managed to peak at Number three of the Yes 93.3 Music Chart, while "Real Hurt"(小傷口) managed to topped the Singapore Yes 93.3 Music Chart for two consecutive weeks.
The 4th single, "Butterflies in my stomach"(七上八下) was also made into an MV.
"Take Immediate Effect"(即時生效) video was also released in September 2010, featuring her dog in the video and "Real Hurt"(小傷口) video was released in the 2nd week of September 2010.
Jolin made an appearance in the China Got Talent final, in which she perform "Black-Haired Beautiful Girl" (黑髮尤物). The winner of the China Got Talent, Liu Wei, got to perform in Jolin's subsequent World Tour.
In 2011, Jolin will be continuing on her Myself World Tour
Myself World Tour
Myself World Tour is the fourth concert tour by Mandopop singer Jolin Tsai to promote her 11th studio album Myself. Rumors of the tour began in June, but only 3 days have been officially announced in 2010...
, in support of her album, Myself, which spanned around Asia, which consists of her performing another dangerous stunt and songs.
Fund-raising
After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake2008 Sichuan earthquake
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake or the Great Sichuan Earthquake was a deadly earthquake that measured at 8.0 Msand 7.9 Mw occurred at 14:28:01 CST...
, Tsai was one of the first few artists to contribute to the Earthquake Relief Fund. She, together with Jay Chou, S.H.E
S.H.E
S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Jen, Hebe Tien, and Ella Chen. The name of the group is an alphabetism derived from the first letter of each member's name. Since releasing their first album Girls Dorm , S.H.E has recorded 12 albums with sales totalling over 15 million, and...
, Jiang Hui and over 100 celebrities appeared in the “Send Out Your Love” fundraising disaster relief show on the 18th of May to help raise more funds to help the victims.