On the top of Japan - A Girl from China

A Tibetan girl from China now top the Japanese pop song list, which no Chinese has ever done things like that before. The best record was, I think, No. 7 on the list by legendary Faye Wong - a Beijing diva.

Check out this single which made that happen on youtube here

This is a late post. Cos this is not news anymore. Just thought doc it anyways here.



Alan (阿蘭 or 阿兰) is a Tibetan/Chinese singer and Erhu player from Sichuan province who debuted in 2005 with the album Sheng Sheng Zui Ru Lan. She made her Japanese language debut in 2007 under avex in Japan with the single Ashita e no Sanka.

* Stage Names: Chinese: Alan (阿蘭/阿兰), Japanese: alan (アラン)
* Real Name: Alan Dawa Dolma (阿兰·达瓦卓玛)
* Spoken Languages: Mandarin, Tibetan, Japanese
* Blood Type: O
* Birthday: 1987.07.25
* Height: 164cm

alan was born in Kangding (Dardo) of the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, China. She spent a few years of her childhood living with her grandparents in nearby Danba (Rongtrag), also known as "Beauty Valley". Her father was a civil servant, while her mother was a former singer. She started to play the er-hu at the age of eight. In 1997 she left her hometown for the Affiliated Middle/High School of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu, after ranking first in th...

in the er-hu audition as a fourth grader.

In 2003 she was accepted to the prestigious PLA Art Academy in Beijing, and double majored in vocal music and er-hu. While still in college, she joined the "Feel Fine Band (非凡乐队)", an assembly of young female performers of traditional Chinese musical instruments. Playing the er-hu, she performed with the band in many events, including the 2006 gala performance near Cairo, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Egypt diplomatic ties.

In October 2006, alan won second place at the 9th Asia New Singer Competition, narrowly losing to Filipina singer Maria Donna Taneo by 0.005 points. Earlier that year, alan had distinguished herself among roughly 40,000 hopefuls when the Japan-based record label Avex Trax held auditions throughout Chinese cities. After graduating with excellence, she went to Avex Trax's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan in September 2007 to launch her professional career.

In May 2008, as the designated singer of "Xin Zhan", the theme song of Red Cliff, she performed the song live at the Cannes Film Festival. During the same month, in response to the Sichuan Earthquake she released two digital singles across Asia ("Shiawase no Kane" and "Ai Jiu Shi Shou"), and all profits were donated to the Red Cross to help the victims in her home province. She also performed at the Heart Aid Shisen charity concert.

In June 2008, she was chosen to sing the theme song for NHK TV special "Save the Future" telethon aired around World Environment Day, entitled "Natsukashii Mirai ~Longing Future~" and produced by Sakamoto Ryuichi. Starting with this song, alan's next five singles will each deal with an element from Japan's traditional five elements which are identical to those found in Bön.

Other than Mandarin Chinese and Japanese, alan also sings in Tibetan, especially in her native Kham Ke (e.g. "sign" in Hitotsu), and also occasionally in English (e.g. "Gardenia in Blossom" in Sheng Sheng Zui Ru Lan). alan is still learning Japanese. In addition to er-hu alan can also play the piano and the traditional instrument hulusi.

Chinese website: http://www.avl.com.cn/music/hifi/alan/

Alan Dawa Dolma/ཨ་ལན་ཟླ་བ་སྒྲོལ་མ་/阿兰达瓦卓玛 was born on July 25th, 1987 and raised in Dardo, a Tibetan town located in the Sichuan province of China. (Her family comes from Danba, or Beauty Valley. That’s just to clear things up since most people think she’s actually from there.) At a young age she began to learn how to sing and play instruments such as the chinese violin, erhu. She went on to have a colorful path through music as she graduated from a prestigious music school and performed in various competitions and events.

In 2006, Avex Trax, a Japanese music company known for artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki and Koda Kumi, held auditions around China and took Alan under their wing upon discovering her musical talent. After graduating in 2007, she packed up and moved to Tokyo where she began her professional music career under the name “alan.” She debuted in late 2007 and has since released four Japanese singles, various Chinese tracks, and two digital singles to gain money for China’s earthquake relief.

I recommend this new singer because she shows a lot of potential but for now she’s just gradually climbing to the top. She just needs the big break that will set off her career. She sort of reminds me of Ayumi Hamasaki because she has the same high-pitched voice (well, maybe not that high) but the reason that I would listen to alan and not exactly Ayumi is because her voice feels more mature and developed which I would assume is from her years of work in music throughout her childhood.