|
|
|
These are the Thai Singers and groups featured on our site. Click on the link to listen to their music:
001 * Most reviews |
Thailand’s pop princess The Star, Malaysia Thailand’s youngest pop sensation, Tata Young, makes her international debut with her first English album, I Believe. ZACK YUSOF met the singer when she was in Kuala Lumpur recently. ALREADY a bona fide multi-million unit shifting superstar in her homeland Thailand, photogenic pop chanteuse Tata Young is poised to impact the international scene with the release of her debut English album, I Believe. Born Amita Marie Young, Tata - the only daughter of an American father and Thai mother – is already a music veteran of nine years standing. Despite being only 23, she has sold more than 12 million albums to date, establishing herself as one of Thailand’s most prominent local artistes. Meanwhile, the rest of the world has yet to become acquainted with her intoxicating blend of pop, a situation that her debut English long player is striving to address. Following the release of I Believe, Tata has been busy with promotional duties in the region. Last month, Tata made a visit to Singapore for the MTV Asian Awards where she presented an award for Favourite Pop Act with British singer Gareth Gates as well as gave a press conference in support of her new album. Shortly after Singapore, Tata’s next visit was Kuala Lumpur where she was busy filming segments for Channel [V] having been selected as the channel’s Chosen One for the month of March, the first Thai star to be given the honour. Taking time out from her busy schedule to talk to the local press, Tata, looking fresh and perky despite a severe lack of sleep, is understandably excited at the prospect of reaching out to a brand new audience. Taking her cue from her main musical influence Madonna (“She’s a natural artist and an empowered woman”), Tata is hoping to cross over to the international market with her debut English long player. “Yeah, I’m really excited about this album, especially at the prospect of travelling to see all the different cities and meeting the fans. It’s always been my biggest dream to have an English album and now I have one!” Even at an early age, Tata seemed destined for a career in music. At 11, Tata beat 5,300 other children to be crowned winner of a nationwide singing contest, landing herself an entertainer’s contract with Yamaha music in the process, in preparation for her official showbiz debut. As it turned out, Tata did not have to wait too long for her big break. In 1994, Tata, then only 14, caught the eye of A&R people at Grammy Entertainment, Thailand’s biggest entertainment conglomerate, which duly snapped her up with a full-blown recording contract. Within a year, Tata had recorded and released her debut Thai album entitled Amita Tata Young, which shot up the charts and sold more than a million copies in less than five months. Virtually overnight, and at only 15, Tata had become the biggest pop sensation in Thailand. Her burgeoning success was sealed when sales of her follow-up album, Tata 1,000,000 Copies Celebration, also hit the million-copy mark. Following her double success, a host of awards and accolades soon followed for the starlet in 1995, including being named Entertainer of the Year by the Bangkok Press as well as receiving honours for Best Recording Artist 1995, Music Video of the Year, Number One and Two singles of the year and Album of the Year for Amita Tata Young at the Radio Vote Awards in Thailand. With her impressive vocal prowess and cosmopolitan background, Tata played her part in setting new standards for the Thai music industry. Despite singing in Thai, Tata's growing popularity took her not only around Thailand but also to concerts overseas. In February 1996, she was chosen to represent Thailand on the popular Australian television programme World Telly Broadcast, which featured youth in Asia. Audiences in Australia and throughout South-East Asia saw the programme. In the same year, Tata played a concert at the renowned Hollywood Palladium, a rare event for an Asian singer. More international engagements were to follow for the young Thai star. In July 1997, Tata represented Thailand at a concert for the Hong Kong Handover Ceremony, performing alongside established international acts like Wet Wet Wet, Michael Learns to Rock, Lisa Stansfield, All 4 One and the Brand New Heavies. That same year, Tata became the first entertainer in 14 years to receive the coveted Golden Pikkanes God Award presented by the Musical Artist Association of Thailand under the patronage of the King of Thailand. In 1998, Tata was also chosen to sing the opening song Reach For The Stars at the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok. Tata’s talents have not just been limited to singing and performing on stage. Making full use of her Eurasian good looks, the singer has also managed to develop a successful modelling and acting career. Tata made her film debut in 1997 in the youth drama The Red Bike Story which broke the all-time attendance record for any movie in the history of the Thai movie industry, on its release. Her acting debut garnered her the Best Female Actress Award presented at the 4th Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards 1997. Tata followed that up with two other locally produced movies, O-Negative and Plai Tien. Tata has also modelled and endorsed several products in Thailand and has been featured in top international publications, gracing the covers of many magazines around the region. In 1997, Elle magazine named her one of Thailand’s 10 Most Influential People; in 1998, Asiaweek selected Tata as one of the 25 most influential trend-makers in Asia and in 2001, Tata received the biggest accolade of her nascent career when she was featured on the cover of the prestigious Time magazine in its study of successful Eurasians in Asia. Breaking new ground With the release of I Believe, her seventh album and her first in English, Tata seems primed to introduce her talents to the rest of the world and cross over to the international market. I Believe was recorded in Sweden with producers Tim Young and Richard Denekamp. The 12 tracks bounce along with enough diversity and pop appeal to have the masses labelling Tata as Thailand’s answer to Britney Spears. With tracks like the anthemic R&B flavoured “girl power song” Sexy, Naughty, Bitchy and the groovy new single I Believe, Tata’s debut English album certainly has the melodic accessibility to catapult her into the mainstream. Tata describes her music as “Tata’s pop.” “Pop music is all I’ve ever done and I love it,” she said. “I would describe my music as accessible pop music that has rock, R&B and dance influences. There’s a lot of variety on the album. That diversity is very important as it adds flavour.” Come interview time, Tata was the consummate pro – polite, chatty, confident and, well, pretty loud. Expertly groomed and looking radiant despite her painfully early start to the day, she had the air of a showbiz veteran and came across as mature for her age. Nine years in the music industry has obviously taught the 23-year- old a trick or two about how to handle the media. Despite being exhausted, Tata is polite and accommodating to a fault and willing to field questions thrown at her without complaint. “I know a lot of people complain about radio interviews and doing press but I enjoy it. I like meeting people.” Settling down for the question and answer session, Tata kicked off the interview by declaring that filming her segments for Channel [V]’s The Chosen One was “really hard work because I’ve never done it before and I’m not quite awake.” But for her first shot at television hosting, she seemed pretty at ease with the camera. Having starred in countless pop videos as well as three movies back in Thailand, Tata has become well acquainted with make-believe life in front of the lens over the years. Nevertheless, filming lengthy scripted talk sets in front of a blue screen for several hours requires ample amounts of skill, concentration and endurance, no matter how much experience one possesses. And judging by the way that she expertly handled the numerous takes, Tata sure has those qualities. Despite her protests that “It’s not as good as a professional veejay but ...”, the taping went smoothly and several good takes were in the can by lunch. Despite being something of a squeaky-clean role model for young children back in Thailand, I Believe paints a picture of a raunchier, more mature Tata, complete with sex appeal and desirability. What kind of image did she set out to project for her new album? “I wanted to be natural, to show the real side of me. I just wanted to be who I am, to show audiences the real me and not some media persona. The last thing that I want to do is to be fake. I think my fans will see through that immediately,” reckoned Tata, tastefully dressed in a yellow top and blue jeans. Added Tata: “Anyway, I don’t really consider myself a role model. Artistes aren’t perfect. If kids want to look up to me, they should really look at the amount of hard work that I put in to get to this stage. I’ve worked really, really hard for this.” Talking about I Believe, Tata revealed that she was “really, really excited about the album because it was a dream come true.” The singer went on to explain that not only was it her first project in English; it was also the first time that she’d ever recorded outside Thailand. According to Tata, recording in Sweden was a real eye opener, despite having been in a recording studio countless times before. “I don’t take anything for granted at all. During my time in Sweden, I was like a tourist with my video camera. It was just so exciting for me doing the recording and everything. “Normally I do all my recording in Thailand so it was a new experience for me. All the recording and production was done in Sweden and the videos were done in Taipei so I got to do some travelling.” For her English debut, Tata decided to leave the songwriting duties to the professionals. “I’m not going to touch songwriting because I have no experience. I had all the pros handle it while I gathered my experience. But it’s definitely something that I want to get involved with in the future. In fact I did some writing for my last Thai album and really enjoyed it. “As far as singing in English was concerned, I found that perfectly fine and natural, no problems at all. I am 100% Thai and 100% American after all.” As far as comparisons to the likes of Britney Spears and Beyonce goes, Tata said: “I don’t compare myself with anyone. I am who I am. I’m honoured to be compared with Beyonce but I think that she’s way too good to be compared with me. She’s almost too good to be true while I’m still learning my trade.” Although Tata enjoys doing other projects like modelling, acting and filming talk segments for Channel [V] and MTV, music still remains both her true passion and her favourite pastime. “I enjoy doing the other stuff but in the end, it’s always about the singing. That’s what I always go back to. I’m the sort of singer who always listens to her own stuff all the time to try and fine-tune it. If it were left to me, I’d still be tweaking it now. Although I’m actually a sloppy person in the studio, I’m really into getting it 100%. The main hope that I have for this album is for it to do well and for people to really like it.” And finally, is there a time when Tata can see herself calling it a day? Is early retirement on the cards? “No, I won’t stop easily. I’m going to be doing music for a long, long time.” Watch this space, pop lovers. If you have any comments about Tata Young or her songs, then please post them below:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TITLE: 
 |