Cindy Yen (born Cindy Wu Chinese: 吳欣雲; 14 November 1986)[1] is a Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter, actress, composer, and record producer. She is signed to JVR Music since 2009 and released her first debut album in October of same year entitled Cindy Yen,[2] as well as her first song, "Sand Painting", a duet composed by her and sang along Jay Chou. She is known for R&B, soul, pop, classical, rock, acoustic folk, and hip-hop.
Early life and education
Yen was born on 14 November 1986 in Houston, Texas. Her parents were divorced when she was 12, and solely was raised by her mother.[3] As a child, she had interest in music especially the musical instrument, piano, which she calls her "best friend", and "part of what makes her happy".[4] Yen attended Bellaire High School in Texas in 2004 and furthered to The University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in piano performance and broadcast journalism.[5]
In 2008, Yen auditioned for American Idol in Dallas, but was eliminated by Randy Jackson. In the fall of 2008, she moved to Taiwan—her native land and proceeded into beauty pageantry though desired to be a musical artist. She won the 2008 Miss Chinatown Houston and the Miss Chinatown USA in 2009.[6]
She was signed by Jay Chou into JVR Music as the first artist in February 2009.[7]
Career
Music
Within eight months of signing, Yen released her debut single, "Sand Painting", a duet she composed and sang along Jay Chou.[8] The song received critical acclaim and topped Billboard China and KTV. The album was listed under Top 10 on the G-Music charts and top listened in KKBox Charts.[9] In 2010, "Sand Painting" was rated as the top ten "most popular hit songs" in China by the Mandarin Web Original Composition Pop Music Charts.[10] She later re-wrote the lyrics for its English version—"Another One Like You". Following the success of her song, she became a "featured girl" for FarEasTone, a Taiwan technological industry.[11] On 30 October 2009, Yen released her self-titled album "Cindy Yen".
Cindy Yen as a guest performer in Hong Kong (2010)
Despite the challenges of western influence in Asian musical culture, her album was musically R&B, rock, hip-hop, pop rock, hard metal and Latin hip-hop dance beats and included hits including "Stupid Fish", "Very Traveling Love", "Singing a Song Because of Longing", and "Dancing With Threat."[1][12] Since her debut, Yen opened her own mini-concert in Hong Kong.[13] She was on tour with Jay Chou's 2010 "The Era" Concert Tour as a regular guest performer.[14]
Yen released her second album, "2 Be Different" on September 29, 2011.[15] In an interview with Razor TV, she said her album was to "empower women".[16] Yen received the Best Stylistic New Artist at the Beijing MTV Super Awards in 2011,[17] and the Best Single of the Year for "Trap". In 2012, she was awarded the Stylistic Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Beijing Music Awards.[17]
Yen released her third album, "Fight For Love" in 2015 with hits, "Come To Mami" and "Bad Boy".[17] She later collaborated with Della Ding, a Taiwanese singer from B'in Music and released the song entitled "I Want Me" (我要我).
Acting
Yen first made a special guest appearance in the television drama series Pandamen (2010).[18] On 5 July 2011, she starred as a supporting actress alongside Megan Lai and Yowei Lin in the TV series, Invaluable Treasure 1949 [zh]. She has starred in the feature film, First Time 2012),[19] Chinese reality show, Sisters Who Make Waves.[20] She was eliminated at the fourth performance.[21] Since then, she has featured in First Time (2015), Sophie in Youth Power (2015), Fiona in Swimming Battle (2016), Inference Notes (推理筆記; 2017), Jenny in Memory Love (2017), Secret Lover (愛情教會我的事 – 秘密情人; 2018), Between .(三明治女孩的逆袭; 2018).
Influences
Yen's musical life was influenced by the Western culture, where she grew up. During her consent for recording her music, they were rejected as not suitable for Asia especially the Chinese music, which barely uses R&B and soul music genres.[22]
Legacy
In January 2010, Yen became TVBS' spokesperson for their "Lotus" charity event.[23]
^"袁詠琳最怕選美泳裝照曝光 – 星島日報" [Cindy Yen is scared to wear bikinis in beauty pageants]. QingDao Daily News (in Chinese). March 8, 2010. Archived from the original on March 12, 2010.
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