Biography
Aska Yang (Chinese:楊宗緯|s=杨宗纬|hp=Yáng Zōngwěi|tp=Yáng Zong-Wěi|first=t, Born April 4, 1978 in Taoyuan City (now Taoyuan District), Taiwan) is a Taiwanese Mandopop singer.
He graduated from the National Changhua University of Education (NCUE), with a major in Guidance and Counseling. During his study at NCUE, he attended singing contests and won some prizes. He is now studying a master's degree program in the Sports Psychology Department at the National Taiwan Sport University (NTSU).
One Million Star (2007)
Aska Yang debut in Taiwan as a contestant on season one of Taiwanese TV singing contest One Million Star. He sang songs such as "再見我的愛人" (Goodbye My Love), "人質" (Hostage), "背叛" (Betrayal), "新不了情" (New Endless Love).
Nevertheless, the final ten contestants, including Yang, had released two compilation albums, Stars Reunion (星光同學會-超級星光大道10強紀念合輯) and Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (愛.星光精選-昨天 今天 明天) in June and October respectively. He recorded a total of four songs in both albums:
1. "Because I believe (因為我相信)" – jointly sang with other contestants;
2. "Betrayal (背叛)" – originally sung by Gary Cao;
3. "Hostage (人質)" – originally sung by A-mei; and
4. "Broken Wings (多餘)" – theme song from the movie "Keep Watching (沈睡的青春)", and it is the first original song of Aska Yang.
Later in the year, he was involved in a tense contract dispute with his manager, Hsu An-chin. Because of the press attention, his name was frequently mentioned in the entertainment news headlines, in a sensational way, throughout the whole year of 2007. For example, he was ranked second in "Person of the Year" by Yahoo!Taiwan and was also listed in a book called "Who's Who in the ROC, 2007–2008".
Debut album and concert (2008)
After reaching an agreement with his manager at the end of 2007, his musical career formally started. He released his debut solo album, titled Dove (鴿子), in January 2008, and it became the best-selling album in the first half of the year. The tracks "洋蔥" (Onion), "鴿子" (Dove) and "幸福的風" (Wind of Happiness) are listed at number 1, 5 and 12 respectively on Hit Fm Taiwan's Hit Fm Annual Top 100 Singles Chart (Hit-Fm年度百首單曲) for 2008. The track, "鴿子" (Dove) won one of the Top 10 Songs of the Year and "洋蔥" (Onion) won Best Loved Song by Audience at the 2009 HITO Radio Music Awards presented by Taiwanese radio station Hit FM.
His fan base began to expand to other regions like Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Yang also played his first solo concert in Taipei Arena in May, just four months after the release of his debut album. However, after the solo concert, he was embroiled in conflict with his manager again. The dispute resulted in a sudden pause in his career. In October 2008, Aska Yang formally announced the termination of his contract.
Restart (2009)
While attempting to resolve the outstanding contract issues by going to court, Aska restarted his music career in early 2009. He held a mini-concert in Taipei on January 11 and also began participating in other performance events, such as TV shows, concerts and musical plays. Outside the entertainment business, he enters the Graduate Institute of Physical Education of National Taiwan Sport University to study for a master's degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology.
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