Estrella Lin

Estrella Lin (林韋伶, born 1980) is a pop music singer from Taiwan, formerly a member of the girl group 3EP Beauties, and the author of a Chinese-language book detailing alleged abuses in South Korea's pop music industry.^[1]

Career

In the 1990s, Lin was a member of Taiwan-based girl group 3EP Beauties (3EP美少女) under the stage-name "E-Lin" (韋伶), along with "Jin" (Jade Chou, 周幼婷) and "Tin-Tin" (婷婷). One music video of theirs, "All Right", in which all three members wore bikinis, attracted considerable attention at the time; however, the group later dissolved.^[2] In 2002, Lin made her only appearance on the silver screen, in Chu Yen-ping's movie The Rule of the Game (挖洞人); she played the role of a married woman who has an affair with a frequent customer at her hot pot restaurant, played by Hsia Ching-ting (夏靖庭).^[3] For her role in the film, credited as "Wei Ling", she won the "Best New Actress" award at the 47th Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Seoul.^[3][4]

Lin had made plans to leave Taiwan and move to South Korea to attempt to break into the K-pop industry; however, her nude sex scene in The Rule of the Game, a departure from her "pure and cute" image as a member of 3EP Beauties, caused her difficulties in this regard and forced her to delay her plans.^[3] She finally moved to South Korea in 2007 to work with the talent management agency AntzStar (앤츠스타), run by South Korean actor Phillip Choi (최필립).^[5] There, she faced grueling conditions, including 15-hour days filled with rehearsals.^[2] She claims to have had to take injections of painkillers every two weeks in order to find relief from knee pain caused by dancing for five hours straight each day.^[6] Unable to bear the pressure, Lin aimed to go back home, but claims that her management company held her prisoner in her house in South Korea; in December 2009, with the aid of a friend, she escaped and successfully returned to Taiwan.^[2]

In August 2010, Lin published a book detailing alleged mistreatment of aspiring stars in South Korea's entertainment industry, including pressure on singers of both genders to provide sexual services to prospective investors.^[1] In response to the controversy, her former management agency made a public announcement to the South Korean media that they had inserted a new clause into their contracts with their trainees making clarifications that they had the right to refuse unnecessary body contact.^[5] However, another trainee at the same institute, Cherry (巧巧), noted primarily for her G-cup breasts, refuted some of Lin's accusations in an appearance on talk show Gossip Queen (麻辣天后宮), claiming that Lin had not been forced into unwanted sexual contact but rather had actively sought a sexual relationship with her manager.^[7]

In July 2010, Lin appeared nude in the Taiwan promotional materials for the Canadian film Splice.^[8] That same month, she also began guest appearances in the CTV (中視無線台) television drama series Scent of Love (就是要香戀), giving the much younger Fok Siu-man (郝劭文) an on-screen kiss.^[9] In December 2010, she released a new photo collection book, "Angel's Stars" (天使的星星). However, at the press conference announcing its release, she was careful to emphasise that the book contained no nudity.^[10]

Personal life

While a member of 3EP Beauties, Lin was romantically involved with an Indonesian pop singer referred to only as Andy in news reports. They met at a pan-Asia singing competition, and began dating; however, unable to handle a long-distance relationship, the two eventually broke up.^[11] Afterwards, she reportedly dated a TSMC electrical engineer Yang Yi-feng (楊一峰) for eight years; Lin says that their relationship ended in 2008, but they remain on good terms.^[12] Andy went on to marry and have a son, but then divorced, and was reportedly interested in marrying Lin; however, it came to light that Andy had another girlfriend as well, and Lin rebuffed him publicly in a media interview, asking him not to contact her until he had resolved his emotional issues with the other woman.^[11]

Works

• 《韓國星夢》 [Korea Star Dream], 青朝國際, 2010, ISBN 2-7025-2027-8 

References