Kelvin Tan Wei Lian

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陈伟联
Kelvin Tan Wei Lian
Country Singapore
Years active 2005-present
Genres Mandarin pop
Labels Play Music
(1 Sep 2005-1 Sep 2006)

Warner Music Singapore (1 Sep 2006- )
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Kelvin Tan Wei Lian (Simplified Chinese: 陈伟联; pinyin: Chén Wěilián; born 5 October 1981) is Singapore's first visually impaired professional singer who has been touted as Asia's Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles.


Contents

[edit] History

Kelvin worked as a street busker for a living before the competition. He performed at various locations in Singapore, including areas around Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations. According to press reports, his listeners encompass all age groups and races.

On 1 September 2005 he shot to prominence when he won Project SuperStar, a Mandarin singing competition hosted by Singapore's MediaCorp TV Channel U, after garnering 64% of the 533,000 telephone votes. [1] There was a certain amount of speculation that Kelvin had won due to sympathy votes (as he was the only semi-disabled competitor). However, Kelvin has strongly refuted this claim and stated that the credit should go to his talent. As Grand Champion of Project Superstar, Kelvin secured a recording contract with "Play Music", a subsidiary of Warner Music.

His debut album entitled All I want is...Kelvin was released on 11 January 2006 with impressive sales record - hitting platinum status in Singapore within a period of just 5 days. It ranked second, only next to Jay Chou's Still Fantasy, in annual sales on the Top Ten Mandarin Album Sales Chart, compiled by Zaobao. The song '触摸' (pronounced as "Chu Mo" or literally Touch) won 'Best Theme Song' at the 2006 Star Awards held by MediaCorp, Singapore. [2]

Kelvin is proficient in both piano and the guitar, and sings in a variety of languages and dialects. In his debut concert on 22 April 2006 at the Max Pavilion in Singapore, he sang in Mandarin, English, Thai, Cantonese and Hokkien . With this public concert, Kelvin became the first visually impaired singer in Asia (fourth around the world- after Ray Charles, Andrea Bocelli and Stevie Wonder) to sing in front of a crowd of more than 5,000 people.

Kelvin is also one of only two visually disabled competitive bowlers in Singapore who had won in a bowling competition, organized by the visually handicapped associations in Singapore and in Perth, Western Australia between 1996 and 1999. He has also become the first visually disabled person in Singapore to get a product endorsement. This has created a milestone for the advertising industry in Singapore, which frequently engages celebrities and models for product endorsements.

Kelvin is also a DJ at Radio Melody, an internet radio station hosted by his friends - Brother Bjorn and Edwin. This channel allows internet radio listeners to get to know him better.

A Mandarin idol drama, titled Dream Chasers, was aired on Channel U in 2006. Kelvin's participation in this drama marked a milestone in Singapore's Television industry - For the first time, a visually handicapped artiste was involved as a supporting role in a television drama.[1] He has subsequently made guest appearances in other local dramas (Love Degree 0 C , The Shining Star) and variety shows.

Despite limitations to the number of roles that he can perform as an actor, he has managed to become the first visually handicapped artiste to win the acclaimed "Most Popular Newcomer" and "Top 10 Male Artiste" in Singapore's Star Awards 2006. [3]

Kelvin is also actively involved in various charity and social events. As one of the ambassadors for the 2005 Singapore Disability Awareness Public Education Campaign, he actively promotes awareness of the abilities and employability of people with disabilities. As a motivational speaker for Young Leaders Foundation, he inspires the young to follow their dreams.In recognition of his achievement, he was awarded The Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) of Singapore Award 2006 (Merit Winner) for the Personal Improvement and/or Accomplishment category.

His transformation from busker to stardom inspired a short feature named 'Life Story', depicting how he has overcome his disability and become the first blind person in Singapore to attain fame in the regional music scene.

[edit] Other information

[edit] Personal data

  • Blood Type: O+
  • Height: 1.71m
  • Weight: 68kg
  • Schools attended:
    • Singapore School For The Visually Handicapped
    • Dunearn Secondary School
  • Worked as a street busker before the SuperStar competition
  • Likes reading sci-fi books such as "Star Wars" and "Harry Potter" (Braille)

[edit] Description of CDs/Albums

Album Name Date of Release Distribution Date (Country) Sales (Country) Awards (Country) Remarks
童话 (Fable) August 2005 15,000 (S'pore) 13,000 (S'pore) Gold album 1. Limited edition single CD for Project SuperStar
其实你不懂我的心
(You don't know my heart)		 September 2005 - - - 1.Part of the Best of Superstar
Compilation album
Image:WeiLianDebutAlbumCover_b.jpg
我只是想要。。。陈伟联
(All I want is...Kelvin)		 11 January 2006 (S'pore)
26 January 2006 (M'sia)		 45,000 (S'pore - as of 22nd April 2006) 45,000 (S'pore)

15,000 (M'sia)		 1. Triple Platinum Award (S'pore - as of 22nd April 2006)
2. Platinum Award
(M'sia)		 1. 1st debut solo album
2. Gold Award on the date of release (S'pore)
3. VCD Version published on 9 March 2006
4. Karaoke Version released in May 2006
5. Touch won Best Theme Song at the 2006 Star Awards held by MediaCorp, Singapore [2]

[edit] Songs on music charts

Radio Station/Song Title YES933FM(S'pore)
Highest Ranking
(Weeks on Chart)		 Dongli883FM（S'pore)
Highest Ranking
(Number of times on Chart)		 UFM1003(S'pore)
Highest Ranking
(Weeks on Chart)		 FM988 (M'sia)
Highest Ranking
(Weeks on Chart)
<我只是想要>
("All I Want Is")		 02 (11) 01 (24) 01 (7) 11 (5)
<爱。恨。难>
("Love . Hate")		 05 (12) 08 (3) 04 (8) -

[edit] Major achievements & Milestones

2005


2006

[edit] References

[1] Project Superstar Grand Finals Results
[2] Star Awards 2006 Additional awards
[3] Star Awards 2006 Results page

  1. ^ MediaCorp Pte Ltd. (2006-12-21). Dream Chasers. Retrieved on 2006-12-21.

[edit] External links

[edit] More about Wei Lian

[edit] Audio sites

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