Lee Jung-hyun

Lee Jung-hyun
Lee Jung-hyun in July 18, 2013
Background information
Also known as	Ava, Hyony
Born	(1980-02-07) February 7, 1980 Gimje, South Korea
Genres	K-pop, Eurodance, Techno, Trance
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1996–present
Labels	AVA Films & Entertainment
Website	withava.kr

Lee Jung-hyun (born February 7, 1980 in Gimje, South Korea) is a South Korean pop singer and actress. She was first recognized for her acting abilities with award-winning role in her first film and has been solidified as one of the top international acts from Korea with her illustrious singing career. She is widely known as "The Techno Queen" as she introduced Techno music genre to Korea and throughout Asia. Lee is also known as "The Queen of Transformation" due to her unique new look for each and every song. In Korea, she was voted "The Best Performer" with her colorful and charismatic stage presence. Lee is one of the most prominent acts from Korea who is widely popular in China.^[1]

Biography

Actress

Lee Jung-hyun made her acting debut at the age of 16 in A Petal in 1996, which won domestic and foreign film awards. The film tells the story of a girl who experienced the Gwangju uprising at the age of 15, and its effect on her life in later years.^[2] Since 1996, Lee has had numerous acting roles with projects in Korea, Japan and China.

In 2009, Lee regained her acting strides with the Chinese television drama Confucius, playing role of Nan Zi. In 2010, Lee portrayed a shaman in Park Chan-wook and Park Chan-kyong's award-winning fantasy short film Night Fishing, which was shot entirely on an iPhone. Night Fishing won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at 2011 Berlin International Film Festival. In 2012, Lee portrayed a single mother in the coming-of-age film Juvenile Offender, which won Best Feature at the Tokyo International Film Festival. She was next cast in the 2014 period blockbuster The Admiral: Roaring Currents, as the sole female character in the main cast.

Singer

After debuting with an award-winning acting performance, Lee etched her singing career by introducing techno genre to the K-Pop scene and her ever-reinventing styles for each and every song. Lee assumes a unique persona for each album, such as a mermaid, Barbie doll, tribal queen, soldier, Korean folk dancer, belly dancer, or princess of the sea. She has garnered many nicknames over the years, including Techno Queen of Korea, Ms. Charisma, Little Giant, and Queen of Change.^[3][4]

Before releasing her first solo music she featured as a guest vocalist on the Jo PD single "Fever", also appearing in the music video. She also appeared in the music video for Goofy's "The Rule of the Game".^[5]

Her early work is techno-style dance music. Her first single, Wa (와, "Come") topped the Korean charts for three weeks, while her second, Bakkwo (바꿔, "Change") won awards for Best Song and Most Broadcast Song. These two songs in particular were covered by artists throughout Asia and Europe. Many of her earlier songs are sung in an angry mood, from the perspective of a rejected lover. These two singles firmly established Lee as one of the top Korean singers who successfully gained popularity throughout Asia with her strong colorful performances.

Lee released Japanese versions of her early hits Wa and Heaven in December 2004. The single ranked #26 on Oricon chart in Week 3 of January 2005. Heaven was a theme song for the Korean drama Beautiful Days. The drama became widely popular in Japan. On December 31, 2004, Lee was invited to perform Heaven and Wa-come on- and participate at the 55th edition of Kōhaku Uta Gassen, an annual New Year's Eve live music show. In 2006, she released her first Japanese album, This is Hyony. The Japanese version of "Wa" hit #1 on Oricon chart in January 2005. Her Japanese fanclub was called Honey Hyony. In 2008, she released her first Mandarin album with title single "Love Me."

With her fifth album, Passion, she switched to a Latin-influenced sound, complete with Spanish Guitar and flamenco-style tap dance.

In May 2009, she released her first Korean mini album, featuring trio of songs, "Crazy," "Vogue It Girl" and "Miro." The music video "Crazy" was choreographed by Brian Friedman.^[6] In September 2009, she was invited to open at Lady Gaga's concert in Seoul, Korea. In December 2009, Lee sung her first ballad for the soundtrack of the Korean TV drama Iris. The song, "How Can I Hold Back Tears," takes her to the ballad genre for the first time in her over 10-year singing career.

In 2010, her seventh album was released on May 11, 2010 with the title song, "Suspicious Man." In this title single's music video, Lee once again showed her dynamic performance range by introducing a vengeful assassin with a short blonde do. The seventh album was entitled, "007th."

For her 2013 single "V," Lee starred opposite Jin Goo in a music video directed by Park Chan-wook and Park Chan-kyong, with whom she'd previously worked on Night Fishing.^[7][8]

Cultural Ambassador

In August 2007, singer-actress Lee was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.^[9][10]

On June 22, 2012, Lee was appointed as an honorary ambassador for the Korea-China Cultural Industry Conference, called CICON.^[11]

Covers of Lee Jung-hyun's songs

Chinese singer Sammi Cheng has released and performed covers of several of her hits such as:
Bakkwo 바꿔 Change - Mei fei se wu 眉飛色舞 Radiant with Joy (Mandarin)/Saat for 煞科 Finale (Cantonese)
Wa 와 Come - Du yi wu er 獨一無二 Unique (Mandarin)/Duk ga see cheung 獨家試唱 Trying to sing by myself (Cantonese)
Nuh 너 You - Tian yi wu feng 天衣無縫 Impossible to Defeat (Mandarin)/Sun fa 神化 Apotheosis (Cantonese)

Sammi's versions have separate, original (non-translated) lyrics sung in Mandarin and Cantonese.

Vietnamese singer Ngo Thanh Van remade "Nuh" in her debut CD, Playworld, under the name "The Colourless Heart" and "Dara Dara" in her 2nd album under the name "Mystery Of The Moon".

Evonne Hsu (许慧欣)'s "Lonely Ballet" (孤单芭蕾/Gu Dan Ba Lei) is also a cover of Lee's "Michyeo" (미쳐/Crazy).

Cyndi Wang (王心凌)'s "HONEY" is also another cover of Lee's "Summer Dance".

Jordan Chan (陈小春) Covered "I Love You Cheol Soo" in his album "Exclusive Memory" on year 2008 with track #08 "每個女人都是美人" ("Every woman is a Belle") ("Every woman is a Beauty") JP!

An Italian-Spanish group Bandidos has covered Lee's 'Wa" for their Euro-techno single called "Vamos Amigos" which became a hit in Europe. However this brought a controversy since Bandidos made the cover without permission and also neglected to credit the original.

From Lee's 1999 debut album "Let's Go to My Star," the track "I Love X" featuring Jo PD and South Korean singer Psy was re-released on his own debut album in 2001 PSY from the Psycho World! entitled "I Love Sex" - also featuring Jo PD but without Lee.

In Korea, Lee is known as "The Most Plagiarized Artist" for having many of her songs covered by international acts - in most instances without permission.^[12]

In music arcade games

Lee's music has been featured in rhythm games. "Wa" and "Bakkwo" were included in the Korean dance game, 'Let's Dance'. These songs were also featured in the Korean releases of Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix, as well as the Dance Dance Revolution 4thMix games. Also, "Nuh" (Trance Mix) was featured in ez2Dancer. Fan-made dance steps of her other works are available for DDR simulators.

Her song "Come On!" is featured in the Pump It Up NX Absolute dance machine, both a short Chinese version and the full song version appear there.

Currently, "I'll Give", "Going Crazy" and other songs are featured on Audition, an online dance-rhythm game.^[13]

Discography

Filmography

Films

Television

Variety show

Video games

• 2001: Tomak: Save the Earth, a Love Story

Awards and nominations

Mnet Asian Music Awards

These are a sample collection of Lee Jung-hyun's wins on Korea's televised music shows.

Inkigayo

Music Bank

References

External links

• Official website (Korean)
• Official website (English)
• Lee Jung-hyun at the Korean Movie Database
• Lee Jung-hyun at the Internet Movie Database