| Angela Zhang | |||||||||
| Birth Date: | 19 January 1982 | ||||||||
| Birth Place: | Zhongli, Taoyuan, Taiwan | ||||||||
| Nationality: | Taiwanese | ||||||||
| Citizenship: | [1] [2] | ||||||||
| Occupation: | Singer, actress, host, entrepreneur, female shoe designer[3] | ||||||||
| Years Active: | 2001–present | ||||||||
| Family: | Connie Chang (sister) | ||||||||
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Angela Zhang (; born 19 January 1982), also known as Angela Chang, is a Taiwanese-Canadian singer and actress.
Zhang gained recognition with the Taiwanese television dramas My MVP Valentine (2002) and At Dolphin Bay (2003). Since 2004, following the instant success of her first album, Over the Rainbow, she has focused on her singing career, releasing popular albums like Aurora (2004) and Pandora (2006),[4] [5] along with starring in another hit TV drama, Romantic Princess (2007). Her career was derailed in 2008 by a public row with her family, which was further worsened by a falling out with her label, Linfair Records. She did not revive her career until the Hunan TV reality show Singer 2018, where she participated as both a host and contestant. Since then, she has shifted her focus to mainland China.
Zhang was born into an ethnic Hakka family from Zhongli, Taoyuan, Taiwan, as the eldest of three children. She has a sister, Connie Chang Shao-hsuan, and a brother, Carson Chang Po-yu, who is the youngest of the three. Zhang's maternal grandfather was ethnic Uyghur,[6] with the rest of her family Hakka. At the age of ten, Zhang moved to Singapore to study. After a few months, she returned to Taiwan because she "was not able to adapt (to life) there". At 12, she and her family migrated to Vancouver, where she attended Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School.[7] She moved back to Taiwan at 19.
Zhang gained recognition when played a leading role in the Taiwanese television drama My MVP Valentine with Taiwanese boy band 5566, followed by a leading role in another Taiwanese television drama At Dolphin Bay with Taiwanese actor Wallace Huo, in which she also sang the ending theme song (Yi Shi De Mei Hao) and English song (Journey). She has been nominated twice for Best Actress at Golden Bell Awards. She also has been nominated twice for Best Mandarin Female Singer at Golden Melody Awards. In 2010, Zhang became a spokesperson of Shanghai Expo 2010 and sang the theme song "The Window of the City". Zhang performed at the first Formula 1 Festival in Shanghai.[8]
In 2008 Zhang was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse and disappeared from the public eye, traveling between Taiwan and Canada for medical treatment.[9] During her break from the showbiz, her mother Jiang Rouyi, her father Zhang Zhihong, and her uncle Jiang Lile spoke out against her in a magazine interview in 2009. Her family claimed that she neglected parental support, abused alcohol and drug and came out as gay. Zhang counterclaimed that her mother took off with her savings amounting to NT$100 million (approximately $3.41 million). Zhang also presented her drug test results to prove her innocence. Zhang's sister and brother stood by her.[10] On January 19, 2011, which marked Angela Zhang’s 29th birthday, her parents, uncle, and grandmother got into a street brawl while meeting with Zhang’s brother, who was serving in the military, along with his friend.[11]
Zhang's career did not revive from the prolonged family row until her participation in the reality show Singer 2018, after which her uncle again accused Zhang of unfilialness, claiming that she had promised to provide NT$60,000 per month to support her parents and to buy each of them a house, but failed to fulfill these commitments. According to her uncle, her father was living in poverty, burdened with debts of NT$500,000 to NT$600,000 and struggling to afford food, while her mother had to work as a low-paid domestic worker in Vietnam to make ends meet.[12]
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Over the Rainbow | Linfair |
| Aurora | ||
| 2006 | Pandora | |
| 2007 | Flower in the Wonderland | |
| Ang 5.0 | ||
| 2009 | The 5th Season | |
| 2012 | Visible Wings | Wonderful |
| 2014 | Angela Chang | |
| 2016 | Head Over Heels | Ocean Butterflies |
| 2019 | ? | HIM International Music |
| Year | Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "Adoration to Happiness" | featuring Will Pan | |
| 2007 | "Blue Eyes" | featuring Sodagreen | |
| "3 People" | |||
| "The Star with a Smile" | featuring Claire Luo and Christine Fan | ||
| 2009 | "Perfect" | featuring Harlem Yu | |
| "Forever X'mas" | |||
| 2014 | "Wholly Love" | featuring Gillian Chung[13] | |
| 2016 | "See Love" | featuring Nicky Wu, Lala Hsu, Jason Zhang, and He Jie |
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Love Message | Xue Wei | |
| 2011 | 10+10 | ||
| 2012 | Shadows of Love | Siu Ham | |
| 2017 | Death Ouija 2 |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | My MVP Valentine | Tian Yuxi (Xiao Xi) | Main role |
| 2003 | At Dolphin Bay | Yi Tianbian | Main role[14] |
| 2004 | La Robe de Mariage des Cieux | Herself | Cameo |
| 2005 | When Dolphin Met Cat | Ning Yingzi | |
| 2006 | Bump Off Lover | Xu Yizhen/Xu Yijing | Main role |
| 2007 | Romantic Princess | Huang Fushan (Xiao Mai) | Main role |
| 2013 | The Ultimate Entertainer | Herself | Contestant |
| 2016 | The Adventure for Love | Xia Yi Rou | Supporting role |
| Masked Singer China (Season 1) | Herself | Contestant | |
| 2018 | Singer 2018 | Herself/Contestant | Show host/Finalist[15] |
| Who's the Keyman | Herself | Guest, Episodes: 12, 13 | |
| Keep Running (season 6) | Herself | Guest, Episode 10 | |
| 2019 | Our Song | Herself | Guest/Substitute mentor, Episodes: 8, 9, 10 |
| The Sound (Season 2) | Herself | Guest, Episode 10 | |
| 2020 | The Treasured Voice | Herself | Regular member[16] |
| Perfect Summer | Herself | Guest, Episode 12 | |
| Crossover Singer (Season 5) | Herself | Guest, Episode 11 | |
| 2021 | The Treasured Voice (Season 2) | Herself | Regular member[17] |
| Keep Running (Season 9) | Herself | Guest, Episode 4 | |
| SPOP Wave | Herself | Guest judge, Episode 5[18] [19] | |
| 2022 | The Treasured Voice (Season 3) | Herself | Regular member |
| Ace vs Ace (Season 7) | Herself | Guest, Episode 6[20] | |
| 2023 | Infinity and Beyond (Season 2) | Herself | Regular member[21] |
| The Detectives' Adventures (Season 3) | Herself | Guest, Episode 4 | |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Metro Radio Hits Awards | Best New Artist (Overseas) | |||
| 2005 | Japanese Music Awards | Most Popular Song (Hong Kong/Taiwan) | |||
| Singapore Hit Awards | Best Female Vocalist | ||||
| Best Mandarin Female Singer | Aurora | [22] | |||
| 2006 | Bump Off Lover 17 | [23] | |||
| 2007 | Best Mandarin Female Singer | ||||
| Singapore Hit Awards | Best Female Artist | ||||
| Best Stage Performance | |||||
| Artist of the Year | |||||
| Southeast Hits Awards | Most Popular Female Singer (Hong Kong/Taiwan) | ||||
| Best Song | |||||
| TVB8 Awards | Most Popular Female Singer | [24] | |||
| Top Songs | "Don't Hurt" | ||||
| Hito Music Awards | Top 10 Songs of the Year | "Invisible Wings" | [25] | ||
| 2008 | Romantic Princess | [26] | |||
| 2009 | Hito Music Awards | Top 10 Songs of the Year | "Don't Want to Understand" | [27] | |
| 2013 | Best Stage Performance | ||||
| Good Voice Award | |||||
| 2014 | Best Album | ||||
| Best Album Producer | |||||
| All-Around Artist | |||||
| 2017 | Hito Music Awards | Best Stage Performance | |||
| Global Chinese Golden Chart | Most Popular Female Singer | ||||
| Music Radio Chinese Top Music Awards | Best Female Singer |