Maia Lee
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| Maia Lee 李芝瑛 |
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 Maia Lee on the cover of FHM Singapore
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Maia Lee Zhi Ying | |
| Born | January 31, 1983 (age 24) | |
| Origin |  Singapore |
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| Genre(s) | Rock | |
| Years active | 2004–present | |
Maia Lee, (Chinese: 李芝瑛; pinyin: Li Zhīyīng; born January 31, 1983), is a Singaporean singer and television artiste who is best known for her unusual look and style.
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[edit] Early life
Lee quit secondary school at the age of 15, making a choice to learn through backpacking instead of sitting in front of a "dead-beat" syllabus. For a year, she then went solo backpacking around countries like Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, immersing herself in the local culture and gaining life experiences.
[edit] Career
Lee rose to fame as a finalist in the popular talent contest Singapore Idol, where she was known for her high-energy performances and controversial "bad girl" image. Well known for her buxom figure, Maia was voted Number 8 in FHM Singapore's World's Most Sexiest Women list, and was given the FHM Most Outspoken Babe 2005 award. Lee graced the May 2005 cover of the popular male lifestyle magazine FHM.
Apart from performing in her own right, Lee is also part of the local techno trio, The Usual Suspects, who have had three Number 1 hits on the local station WKRZ 91.3 FM, namely "China Girl", "The Love You Promised", and "Sunburn". "The Love You Promised" has also been released in Japan and Europe, receiving airplay as far as Scandinavia. Famed German dance music prodigy, Cascada ('Miracle', 'Bad Boy'), even picked the song up and recorded a remix released in December 2004.
Since May 2005, Lee has also become a celebrity guest interviewer/writer for The New Paper, a local tabloid. With fortnightly 2-page spread articles and the occasional Sunday column, Lee has impressed many with her strong, rhetoric language and content.
In December 2005, Lee snagged the title of "Shock Of The Year" in The New Paper's annual Flame Awards for her alleged near-marriage to fellow Singapore Idol finalist, Sylvester Sim.
Lee is now a celebrity blogger on the local online portal STOMP (Straits Times Online Mobile Print), in which she discusses different topics of interest with members of the wireless world every Wednesday night.
Due to her infamous straightforwardness, Lee has garnered scores of fans and detractors alike in her two-year-old professional career.
[edit] Personal life
Lee is a single mother. She has one son, Tyrese Lee, born 2002.
In early 2005, Lee was revealed to be engaged to fellow Singapore Idol finalist Sylvester Sim. When the news broke, the couple cancelled their engagement, citing that they wanted to concentrate on their careers, and that they would remain good friends.
In 2006, there rumours that Lee was a lesbian and was reportedly in a relationship with a woman 4 years her senior, which, in the conservative Singaporean society, was a first. She had earlier on hinted on her sexuality (Lifestyle magazine, Nov 2005) - "You can write that Maia says that it does not mean that being a single mum means that one is also a heterosexual."
In a TNP report ('Feminine attraction... or infatuation?') on 22 July 2006, Maia discussed previous relationships with women.
Most recently, at the turn of 2007, Lee created a stir when The Straits Times Life! reported her coming out as a pansexual; after her blog entry on the paper's online portal, STOMP. Read it here.
She is now a Star Blogger with STOMP.
[edit] Trivia
- Lee has a total of eleven tattoos, including an image of an eagle tattooed on her neck which is a pun based on her Chinese name. The character "Yīng", meaning eagle is pronounced the same as "Yīng" meaning a type of jade or more often the colour of jade.
- At 1.48 meters, Lee was the shortest finalist on the first season of Singapore Idol.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- 20 August 2005: "Emotionally Advised" - Maia Lee (debut solo album)
- June 2004: "Oriental Love" - "The Usual Suspects"
[edit] Compilations
(with "The Usual Suspects")
- December 2004: "Techno Party 2005 Countdown" The Love You Promised (Take On Maia remix/Cascada remix edit)
- March 2005: "From Euro With Love..." The Love You Promised (candlelight remix)
- March 2005: "The Downtempo Room" With You (candlelight remix)
- 29 June 2005: "Quake Trance Bestシリーズ第8弾" The Love You Promised (Cascada Remix)
- 12 August 2005: "Nonstop Mega Trance 1 / 电音王朝01" (The Love You Promised / 你承诺的爱, The Dj /滴接)
[edit] Singles
- December 2004: "Sunburn" - The Usual Suspects ft. Maia
- January 2005: "The DJ" - The Usual Suspects ft. Maia
- June 2005: "Moving Along" - The Usual Suspects ft. Maia
- November 2005: - "Love Bites" - TV Drama "Tiramisu" Theme song
- October 2006: - "Children - Sunshine Of Our Lives" - "Walking On Sunshine"
