If it's the hardest working lady in show business you're looking for... IT'S A-MEI the dynamic singer/actress from Taiwan - A-Mei photo

Video Beat - A-MEI - TAIWAN'S SUPERSTAR TREASURE - Part 3

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

Overcoming adversity was a part of the process of the growth of the indigenous Taiwan lady singer A-Mei. With each hurdle she faced in life she resolved it with genius ideas. With every leap she gained strength, broadened her talents and lengthened her career. If it's the hardest working lady in show business you're looking for... IT'S A-MEI - GLEE's NEW SEASON is WITHOUT CHARICE - Recommended TV Listings

Monday, February 18, 2013

STAR POWER

The BIO Channel has several interesting series including Storage Wars, Shipping Wars, Billy the Exterminator that shows the real personalities and the humor of Americans from various parts of the country. Bio also offers numerous one to two hour biographies on Entertainment Stars from both the East and Western Worlds. We found this to be the most interesting as we have learned more about the Asian culture and their entertainment stars including a in depth bio on Bruce Lee's Hong Kong experience.

The jewel in the crown was when the BIO channel recently televised the biography of Taiwan singer A-Mei. She is an indigenous Taiwanese who overcame numerous failures to rise to the top. Being indigenous in Taiwan is similar to being a black in America as they are not accepted as equals by the Chinese that fled there from China after China adopted Communism. They are the colonialists of Taiwan.

We previously saw a bio on the singer on the Discovery channel and were amazed at her talent. That biography was good but this recent piece on the BIO channel is superior given the depth of the subject matter.

A-Mei came from a small village on the east coat of Taiwan. She loved to sing and at the urging of her father went to Taipei to enter a TV talent contest. She lost but returned the following year to win but she was dealt a heavy blow when she learned that her father died before her victory. She then became a singer in a band working bars. Record companies weren't interested in her until a new startup company became interested with some reservation.

Their concern was her age being 24 at the time. They figured that by the time they recorded and promoted her she would be old. In Asia 25 is the age considered to be the sell by date and not the buy date.

Her first album was a success selling a million units. Tragedy struck again when she learned that her young producer who was half indigenous and considered a genius died in a car crash. It devastated her as she was close to him and he was the person that gave her confidence and molded her talent.

With each setback A-Mei gained strength and moved forward and she took charge of her career and the production of her albums. Her second album sold 1 ½ million units making it the second best-selling album in Taiwanese history which amazed those in the entertainment industry as it was unheard of. It was a turning point as she figured out that her career needed a boost. She decided to go on tour but was challenged by others in the entertainment business citing that she didn't have enough original songs to do a three hour live show. She was determined to tour and the record company decided to produce an album of songs she did in bars during her bar band era.

In China she was a success attracting huge crowds in Beijing and Shanghai where 88,000 attended. Her recordings sold well there but then another tragedy occurred.

There were more setbacks in her career after performing the National Anthem of the Republic of China at the first presidential inauguration of Chen Shui-bian on May 20, 2000. This angered the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which subsequently banned her from visiting mainland China thus her concerts in China were canceled. Under pressure from Beijing, Sprite also buckled and cut its contract with A-mei, removing her as its endorser. Radio stations in China ceased broadcasting her music.

Problems continued to mount including her very private affair with her manager being her lover and they separated. The pressure mounted and she decided to leave Taiwan and lived in the USA in Boston, Massachusetts staying alone in an apartment, took a three-month language course at Boston University's CELOP program. During that time she tried to air out her thoughts for her next career move. The pressure was released during her stay in the USA since nobody knew who she was and she was just a normal person in contrast to the intense focus on her every move in Taiwan.

In the bio A-Mei sang a Whitney Huston song in English during one of her concerts in China. The result was the quality of her talent stood out as she hit the notes with power and clarity a well as Houston could sing during the height of her career.

Following her Boston experience she returned to Taiwan energized and began to tour. She reinforced her talent by becoming an actress and actor in television and theater. She also did a musical in Japanese learning the lyrics as she went along. All of her acting efforts received rave reviews.

On June 26, 2009 A-Mei released her self-entitled album "AMIT" (her indigenous name) with different album covers for different regions. There was a controversy over one of the songs, which has negative elements in the music video and lyrics causing it not to be aired on MTV. This transformation to Amit was proved to be a great success, with the album sweeping 6 awards at the 2010, 21st Golden Melody Awards. According Taiwan's G-Music chart the album is the tenth best selling album in Taiwan in 2009. The album impressed the judges of the 21st Golden Melody Awards, where she clinched 6 awards, including "Best Female Vocalist", an award she long awaited for 8 years. These 6 awards she scooped in a night made history, as no other albums had achieved such high accolades in the ceremony's records.

A-Mei is a FIGHTER and when the going gets tough this little lady figures a way to get stronger and keep her life and career going forward and last longer while in the process gaining more determination to succeed.

A-MIE is a SUPER TALENT who is a MUST SEE and a MUST HEAR! If it's the hardest working lady in show business you're looking for... IT'S A-MEI

Charice Pempengco - Ragna123 Photo

GLEE NEW SEASON - WITHOUT CHARICE

The new season of GLEE is on season 4. The mystery of this series is Charice is missing. She shined in the episode that she appeared in but there seemed to be a conflict between her and the shows star Lea Michele. It has been rumored that the conflict is real but not confirmed by any party. The mystery falls into the category of we don't talk about those things.

On the episode Charice appeared in she was called Sunshine and sang Listen. Her rendition was better than the hit by Beyonce. The strength of her vocal talent gives some weight to the belief that there is a jealousy factor involved on her not being included on the show. In interviews since her appearance Charice has stated that she would very muck like to be on the program. The question to the shows producer Ryan Murphy is WHAT'S UP. As the lyric to the song goes... AIN'T NO SUNSHINE WHEN SHE'S GONE.

Season 4 of the show has retained Michele who moved to New York to extend her career. Being the head writer of the show Murphy has always been concerned in adding a new actor how will he write for that character. It appears he's at a crossroads as he expands the programs focus from a high school setting to include the graduates moving to New York. The plots are getting thinner and it appears that the program is in decline. What it needs is another super talent like Charice and let Michele move on with her career in real life.

New episodes of GLEE air Tuesday nights with repeats throughout the week on the Star World channel. Please note the schedule below.

Part 1 - IT'S ON!!! American Idol

Part 2 - ASIA'S Next Top Model Final - NEW TV SEASON in ASIA

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