Tanya Chua
Template:Contains Chinese text Template:Infobox Chinese-language singer and actor
Tanya Chua (Chinese: 蔡健雅; pinyin: Cài Jiànyǎ) (born 28 January 1975) is a Golden Melody Award-winning Singaporean singer and songwriter.
Life and music career
Early years
Born in Singapore, Chua is the younger of two daughters in the family. She attended CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls' School[1] and studied business administration at Singapore Polytechnic. Chua started out singing in English, releasing her first English album, Bored, in 1997.[2] She was also the first Singaporean to win a prize in the Asia Song Festival,[3] coming in first in the "Unpublished" category in 1998 before she furthered her studies at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California.
Chua signed on to Universal Music Taiwan in 1998 and released her first Mandarin album, Breathe, in 1999. That album comprised compositions of her English songs matched to Chinese lyrics by Taiwanese lyricists. In 2001, Tanya performed for her own country during the Singapore National Day Parade 2001 with the theme song titled "Where I Belong".[4]
Rise to prominence
In 2003 Chua signed with a new contract with Warner Music in Taiwan, releasing the album Stranger,[2] which topped sales charts in Taiwan.[5] Her second Warner album, Amphibian (2005), won her a Best Female Arttist at Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards.[6] The 2006 release of her compilation T-time marked an end to her album contract with Warner, and she is currently under record label, Asia Muse.[7] Her Goodbye and Hello (2007) album was nominated 7 times at the 19th Golden Melody Awards where she repeated her Best Female Artist win and also garnered a Best Producer award.[8] She followed up with three Singapore Hit Awards for Best Local Lyrics, Outstanding Local Music Achievement, and Asia Media (Female Artiste) in November 2009.[9]
Tanya has written as well as produced a number of songs for other singers, like Gigi Leung, Fish Leong, Faye Wong, Stephanie Sun,[10] Valen Hsu, Karen Mok, A-mei, Sammi Cheng, Sandy Lam, S.H.E, Rene Liu, Tiger Huang, Na Ying and Tarcy Su (all female singers). She was praised by Taiwanese producer and songwriter Jonathan Lee as being a "musician" and not just a mere "performer".[11] In 2008 Lee gifted her a handmade guitar in appreciation of her talents.[12]
In 2009, Chua's seventh album If You See Him (若你碰到他) was awarded one of the Top 10 Selling Mandarin Albums of the Year at the 2009 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards, presented by the Hong Kong branch of IFPI.[13] After 14 years, Chua returns to Singapore to perform for a leg of her "Tanya Chua and the Cities" world tour in 2011.[14]
Discography
Chinese albums
| Album # | Album information |
|---|---|
| 1st | Tanya / 蔡健雅
|
| 2nd | Remember / 記念
|
| 3rd | I Do Believe / 相信
|
| 4th | STRANGER / 陌生人
|
| 5th | Amphibian / 雙棲動物
|
| 6th | Goodbye & Hello |
| 7th | If You See Him / 若你碰到他 |
| 8th | Sing It Out Of Love / 說到愛 |
English albums
| Album # | Album information |
|---|---|
| 1st | Bored
|
| 2nd | Luck
|
| 3rd | Jupiter
|
| 4th | Just Say So |
Compilation albums
| Album # | Album information |
|---|---|
| 1st | Tacit Understanding / 默契
|
| 2nd | T-Time (新歌+精選)
|
| 3rd | My Space (新歌+精選) |
Other albums
| Album # | Album information |
|---|---|
| 1st | Secret Lavender
|
Soundtracks
| Album # | Album information |
|---|---|
| 1st | Hot Pants
|
| 2nd | Chicken Rice War Original Soundtrack
|
| 3rd | Monga Original Soundtrack
|
Singles
| Single # | Single information |
|---|---|
| 1st | Where I Belong |
| 3nd | Treasure The World/珍爱这世界
|
Awards
| Years | Awards |
|---|---|
| 1998 |
|
| 1999 |
|
| 2000 |
|
| 2004 |
|
| 2005 |
|
| 2006 |
|
| 2007 |
|
| 2008 |
|
References
- ^ "Singer Tanya Chau on her music". CNN.com. Retrieved 17 August 2000.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ a b "Chua Goes Hip-hop In Cover Version ". New Straits Times. 16 September 2003. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Composers and Authors Society of Singapore. 1st Singaporean to Win Asia Song Festival. June 1998.
- ^ "National display of joy". Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- ^ "Singapore girl does it again". New Straits Times. 31 July 2003. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Tanya Chua, Leehom Wang win top music awards". The China Post. 11 June 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "MTV Asia artist profile". MTV Asia. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- ^ "Singaporean Tanya Chua scoops top honours at Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards". Channel NewsAsia. 6 July 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- ^ "Tanya Chua wins rights to own songs". Channel NewsAsia. 12 November 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- ^ http://www.ewen.cc/yx/bkview.asp?bkid=167002&cid=514980
- ^ http://stars.zaobao.com.sg/pages8/caijianya091110.shtml
- ^ http://ent.ifeng.com/music/hk/200803/0328_1839_466708.shtml
- ^ IFPI Hong Kong 2009 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards winners list Retrieved 2011-04-19
- ^ "Tanya Chua returns to Singapore for her Tanya and The Cities world tour". Asia Pacific Arts. 2011-04-13.