Jolin Tsai

Jolin Tsai (born in September 15, 1980 in Sinjhuang City, Taipei County, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese Mandopop singer. She holds a bachelor degree in English Literature from Fu Jen Catholic University.

Biography

Jolin first started out by taking part in a MTV singing competition when she was just 18. She won the top prize with the song "The Greatest Love of all". Then she was signed by Universal Music.

A year later, on July 1999, her first single "Living With the World" 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". Her 1st album, Jolin 1019, sold more than 400,000 copies around Asia. With the success of her 1st album, she released her anticipated 2nd album in May 2000, Don’t Stop, and many of her hits in that album are well known throughout Asia. She also released her 1st photobook that is mainly taken in Hawaii. This album was also a tremendous success.

Her image changed for her third album, Show Your Love. Being more mature and nearing the age of 21, it was a much soothing album with many new songs and tunes. However, the sales of this album was not at good as compared to the previous 2. The fourth album, Lucky Number, did not manage to bring her back to the previous popularity she enjoyed. She also sang the theme song for the movie Atlantis.

The following year, due to conflicts with her record company, she did not release any albums. However, she did release out her 2nd photobook, taken in Thailand, containing a single composed by Jay Chou. She finally managed to sign with Sony Music, and got the biggest break in her whole career. Her album Magic topped the Taiwan album charts for 3 full months and sold more than 300,000 copies in Taiwan alone. This transformation gave her what she needed to make a comeback to the music scene after being gone for almost a year.

Jolin's sixth album, Castle, sold well and became the top album in many Asian countries. This album featured a few songs, including 倒帶, written by Jay Chou. On April 25, 2005, she released her seventh album, J-Game, which also topped charts throughout Asia. This album features one song, Exclusive Myth, composed by Lee-Hom Wang. Jolin is now a superstar in Asian countries such as Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore. Jolin had a hit with "Love Love Love", a cover of the song "Stop Stop Stop" by Nu Virgos. The lyrics were entirely rewritten in traditional Han characters, except for the words "love love love" in the chorus.

In 2006, Jolin left her Sony BMG Record label and joined EMI Capitol. Jolin performed concerts in the U.S (New York and Irvine, California). She had Alan Luo Zhi Xiang (aka Show) as her guest appearance at the J1 concert (in place of Jay Chou). She recently won the MTV Asia Style Award 2006 at Bangkok, Thailand. Jolin has worked really hard to improve her dancing skill which has reflected in her music video "Dancing Diva". "Diva" is also the name of her new album and it will be her first album under Capitol label which has been set to release on May 12, 2006. Dancing Diva had sold over 2 million copies within Asia.

Profile

• Name: Jolin Tsai (Chinese: 蔡依林; pinyin: Cài Yīlín)
• DOB: 15 September 1980
• Height: 158cm
• Weight: 42kg
• Religion: Taoism
• Sign: Virgo
• Highest Level of Education: Fu Jen Catholic University
• Languages Spoken: Chinese,English
• Favorite Book: Pride and Prejudice
• Favorite Male Singer: David Tao
• Favorite Female Singer: Faye Wong
• Favorite Musical Instrument: Piano
• Favorite Music: Hip-Hop , R&B, Pop Rock

Criticism and Controversy

Ever since Jolin Tsai entered the music business, there has always been criticism surrounding her talent and physical appearance. Critics consider the Teeny Bopper quality of her music as an insult to the mainstream music, deriving from increasing criticism of Taiwanese record labels focusing more on the packaing of singers as opposed to the aesthetic quality of the music made by musicians. Among the most heated criticisms came from the currently popular Hip-pop singer MC Hot Dog. Being a strong advocate of anti-pop movement in the late 90s, thought now he has undeniably sold out and has joined the mainstream, MC Hot Dog was a force to be reckoned with in the undgeround music scene. He even wrote a song making fun of her phony appearance and snobbish attitude towards the media and public. In the song, MC Hot Dog mocked Jolin's lips which were comparable to two hot dogs piled on top of each other. Fans of Jolin initially rejected the insulting song, saying that Jolin was just perfect the way she was. However, criticism of Jolin increased when a TV show exposed her deficient understanding of Chinese Literature, further fueling the stereotype that Jolin Tsai is an "Air Head."

As her popularity rose, so did the hatred towards her increase amongst non-fans. Some even went out to claim that her image was blatantly created by her record label, and that she lacked knowledge of the fundamentals of singing and dancing. Moreover, she has also been accused of plagiarism in several of her music videos and album covers. Critics pointed out the similarities between Hamasaki Ayumi music videos and album covers and those of Jolin Tsai. As a result of this discovery, many decided to boycott her records, while her supporters admitted that she was a victim of her record label. In addition, two English books released by Jolin have also come under criticism. Though she claims to have a degree in English, her books were chock full of grammatical errors, questionable word choice, and in general made a mockery of the English language. In the fall of 2004, one tabloid magazine claimed that Jolin Tsai had cosmetic surgery and breast implants. However, both rumors were refuted by Jolin's agent. Nonetheless, TV shows often parody Jolin's physical transformation.

Her innocent image had always been her biggest strength in claiming millions of her fans' loyalty, yet since 2003, she has been tangled with an ongoing love scandal with popular singer, Jay Chou. When the news of Jay's sudden turnabout to the famous TV news anchor, Patty Hou,surfaced in the air, Jolin was reportedly to be heart-broken. The public went into a frenzy in order to discern her well-being, but all worries subsided as Jolin openly proclaimed her relationship with Jay as a "friendly" one.

Despite all these public negativities and hatred, Jolin has slowly trascended from her early day teeny image to a more versatile, exotic performer. However, the public will always lay a harsh eye on her credentials and accomplishment as a singer. Her image will forever be under heavy scrutiny as long as she is still part of the Taiwanese music business.

Trivia

• She was once called as the "Britney Spears", "Madonna" and "Anita Mui of Taiwan which fans object.
• Despite her sexy appearance and provocative fashion, she hasn't appeared to show off her private parts or even completely naked like Britney Spears or Madonna.
• She has had similarities in style of music with Hamasaki Ayumi, 90s Hong Kong Pop sensation Anita Mui, Madonna and Britney Spears, each having her own style and similarity.
• Some of Jolin Tsai's latest costumes seem to be a flash back in the past diva Anita Mui and so are her dance steps.

Discography

Album	Album Cover	Title	Date of release
1st	File:1019.jpg	Jolin 1019	10 September, 1999 Universal Music
2nd	File:Jolindontstop.jpg	Don't Stop	26 April, 2000 JM Productions
3rd	File:Jolinshowyourlove.jpg	Show Your Love	22 December, 2000 Universal Music
4th	File:Jolinluckynumber.jpg	Lucky Number	7 July 2001 Universal Music
	File:Together10.jpg	Together (精選集)	2002
	File:Knightspirit.jpg	騎士精神 (單曲)(非賣品)	2002 Sony BMG
5th	File:Jolin72v1.jpg	MAGIC 看我72變	7 March 2003 Sony BMG
6th	File:JolinCastle.jpg	CASTLE 城堡	27 February 2004 Sony BMG
	File:JolinJ9.jpg	J9 PARTY J9 新歌＋PARTY精選	12 November 2004 Sony BMG
7th	File:JolinJ-game.jpg	J-Game	25 April 2005 Sony BMG
	File:JolinJ-Top.jpg	J-Top	5 May 2006 Sony BMG
8th		Dancing Diva 舞孃	12 May 2006 Capitol Records

DVD

Album Cover	Date of release	Title
The Cover of J1 Live Concert	2005 Sony BMG	J1 Live Concert DVD JOLIN 蔡依林 J1個人演唱會影音全記錄

External Links

• Official Website
• Jolin Tsai Malaysia Fan Club
• Jolin Fan Club Singapore