Yisa Yu | |
---|---|
Chinese name | 郁可唯 (simplified) |
Pinyin | Yù Kěwéi (Mandarin) |
Birth name | Yu Yingxia 郁英霞 |
Ethnicity | Han |
Origin | China |
Born |
Chengdu, Sichuan |
23 October 1983
Occupation | Singer |
Genre(s) | Mandopop |
Label(s) | Rock Records (2009–present) |
Years active | 2005–present |
Ancestry | Taizhou, Jiangsu |
Yisa Yu, also known as Yu Kewei (Chinese: 郁可唯; pinyin: Yù Kěwéi) and by her birth name Yu Yingxia (Chinese: 郁英霞) (born 23 October 1983), is a Chinese singer. She started out singing in bars and participated in several singing competitions. Her career took off after she achieved fourth place nationally in the 2009 season of Hunan TV's Super Girl. Her fans are called Yu jin xiang (郁金香), which means "tulip"; personally named by Yisa.
Yisa Yu was born and raised in Chengdu, Sichuan to parents working in the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group. She studied English Language at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. She briefly took singing lessons at the insistence of her father but failed to complete. At college, Yu took part in a national singing competition for college students and defeated Li Yuchun to take the gold award.
After her graduation, Yu worked in a company for a few months before leaving to become a singer at the famous Lianhua fudi music bar. During that time and before the 2009 Super Girl, She recorded several original songs and released three cover albums.
In 2005 Yu auditioned, and failed, for the Chengdu Super Girl competition. The following year she auditioned again, only to fail once more. Not contented with the result, she traveled to Guangzhou to enter the local competition, where she reached the last 20 before being eliminated. Her third try, in 2009, finally landed her among the winners at Chengdu to qualify to the national Super Girl. There she won the first game of the top ten to feature on the cover of Elle magazine and in the Cover Girls compilation album released by the competition. Then she was able to reach the top four before being eliminated.