| Sharon Kwan | |||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 12 October 1995 | ||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Occupation: | Singer, actor | ||||||||||
| Years Active: | 2011–present | ||||||||||
| Website: | Sharon Kwan Official Fanclub | ||||||||||
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Sharon Kwan (born October 12, 1995) is a Chinese American Mandopop singer. In June 2011, Sharon participated in the first season of Taiwan's China Television (CTV)'s (中視) star search show, Chinese Million Star 1 (華人星光大道), which was the Taiwanese equivalence of American Idol and won the overall champion in January 2012. She released her first album in August of that year, titled Home Girl, and became the first female student of Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning singer-songwriter David Tao. In 2015, Sharon took part in the fourth season of the Chinese talent show The Voice of China. She ended up being placed in the top four in team Jay Chou.
Sharon was born in Columbus, Ohio to parents of Cantonese origin, and currently stays in Taiwan. Her interest in pursuing Chinese culture and music led her to move to China in 2002 to study, and attended elementary school in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She specialized in Erhu because of her love for the Twelve Girls Band who played traditional Chinese instruments. She moved back to America in 2008.
At the age of 14, she developed an interest in Mandopop and Kpop and started recording covers of Mandarin and Korean songs. As her videos gained popularity and garnered numerous views, she decided to pursue vocal lessons with Singer-Songwriter/Producer C.J. Emmons in Los Angeles. Over the course of two years of training, she performed at various restaurants and took part in prominent reality-singing competitions. In April 2010, she participated in the fifth season of Super Idol 5 and advanced to the top 25. Later, in September 2010, she joined the eighth season of ETTV Top Idol and emerged as one of the final 10 contestants.
On May 14, 2011, Sharon took part in the audition for Taiwanese reality-singing show Chinese Million Star that was held in Los Angeles, and was invited to Taiwan to take part in the competition. She then moved to Taiwan in June 2011 with her mother and sister, and successfully passed many rounds of the competition. She was the youngest contestant of the top 6, but was able to continually make personal breakthroughs in her performances, and obtained high affirmations from influential singers and songwriters like Liu Chia-chang and Lo Ta-yu. Her popularity rose quickly, and in a short time her competition videos attracted more than 10 million views on the web. Finally, her talents and charisma on stage made her the cream of the crop, and on January 8, 2012, won the overall champion of the first season of the competition. At the age of 16, she was the youngest champion of the Million Star competitions.
One of the judges of the contest, David Tao, a well-known figure in the Mandopop industry, saw her potential as a superstar, and immediately signed her under his company Great Entertainment. She officially became his first female student.
In March and April 2012, Sharon returned to Los Angeles to take her exams, and received invitations from Jason Chen and Gerald Ko, who were famous singers on the internet. They performed covers of various famous hits, and the songs attracted more than 2 million views in half a year. Her vocal skills received widespread acclaim.
Sharon was signed to Gin Star Entertainment in 2012, and became an artiste under Gin Star Entertainment, Great Entertainment and Seed Music. Preparations for her debut album immediately began, and on August 24, 2012, just 7 months after her competition, she released her first album titled "Home Girl".
"Home Girl" was produced personally by David Tao. He believed that electronic K-pop music or lyrical mandarin songs were not the most suitable for Sharon's age and style. Hence he searched for a special team of Golden Melody Award-winning producers and songwriters, and produced an album that created her own music style.
In 2015, she auditioned in the 4th season of "The Voice of China" with the Song 晴天, originally sung by Jay Chou. She passed the blind audition with a two chair turn and was on Team Jay. Sharon was selected in Team Jay's final four but was later eliminated by Team Na Ying's Gary Sun.
| Released | Name | Label | Format | ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 24, 2012 | Home Girl (關在家) | Studio album | [1] | |
| August 4, 2016 | Blossom (綻放2.0) | Studio album | ||
| August 13, 2020 | MASTERPIECE | Studio album |
| Year | Song / EP | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 June | "Fan Hang" | Sharon's first self-recorded single, on sale on iTunes in 2011. Music by Joe Chao, lyrics by Crystal Wawa Xie | |
| 2013 January | "Share the Love" | The theme song of a mini movie created by Taiwan's Ministry of Finance for charity | |
| 2013 June | "All for Joy" | Theme song for a BMW campaign in the 2012 Olympics, duet with David Tao and recorded in his 2013 album Hello Goodbye | |
| 2013 June | "Time to Say Goodbye" | Ending theme of Full House Take 2. Duet with David Tao and recorded in his 2013 album Hello Goodbye | |
| 2016 January | "The Wind's Love (风之恋)"[2] | Part of soundtrack for 2016 Chinese drama, Legend of Nine Tails Fox |
Her first concert, 'Home Party" was held on November 2, 2012, at Riverside Live House in Taipei. Besides performing songs from her album, she also did covers of classic songs by Teresa Teng, Faye Wong and many more.