Ella Koon Yun-na (born 9 July 1979) is a former Hong Kong
Cantopop
Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") or HK-pop (short for "Hong Kong pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production ...
singer and semi-retired actress.
Biography
Ella Koon was born in the
French Polynesia
)Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze")
, anthem =
, song_type = Regional anthem
, song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui"
, image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of Frenc ...
n island of
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...
, and is of
Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
descent. She was raised in Hong Kong and attended high school in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, England. Koon is multilingual and speaks Hakka, Cantonese, English, Mandarin, and some French. Koon also plays the
Guzheng
The zheng () or gu zheng (), is a Chinese plucked zither. The modern guzheng commonly has 21, 25, or 26 strings, is long, and is tuned in a major pentatonic scale. It has a large, resonant soundboard made from ''Paulownia'' wood. Other co ...
,
a traditional Chinese musical instrument with 21 strings, as well as the Guitar and Piano. She is not a French citizen.
Entertainment career
After completing her studies in England, Koon returned to Hong Kong in 2000 where she began her modeling career for various magazines, advertisements and commercials. Modelling became her full-time profession.
In 2001, she landed her first movie role in "I Do". After the movie, she continued modelling; then in 2004 she was invited to attend a singing audition. The audition landed her a contract with Boombeat Music and launched her singing career.
Her first few albums – "Original", "Ellacadabra" (2005), "Lose Sanity" (2006) and the EP "Stages" (2008) were not particularly acclaimed. But as a singer on ''
The Voice
The Voice may refer to:
Fictional entities
* The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics
* The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe
* The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...
'' () singing "
Endless Love" she impressed audiences and further propelled her singing career.
Koon also starred in the popular TVB's drama series "Revolving Door of Vengeance" in 2005 and "
Survivor's Law II " in 2007. In "Revolving Door of Vengeance" she played "Hoi Sum" (meaning 'happy' in Cantonese), a carefree and happy-go-lucky girl. In "
Survivor's Law II," she won the audience again with her character as "Lily" the sassy and stylish lawyer who could hold her own in the courtroom. Besides the drama series, Koon has been invited as a guest to several TVB games shows and was a host for two food travel shows with notable Hong Kong Chefs. Indeed, her most recent work with Kelvin Pan (Pan Kai Tai) has boosted her into the pinnacle of Hong Kong entertainment business.
“I Do" was just the first of many movies Koon appeared and started in. She also landed roles in movies such as My Sweetie (甜絲絲, 2004), Drink, Drank, Drunk (千杯不醉, 2005), Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (冰河世紀二, 2006), The Shopaholics (最愛女人購物狂, 2006), Without Words (地老天荒, 2006), Undercover Hidden Dragon (至尊無賴, 2006), Arthur and the Minimoys (迷你魔界大冒險, 2007), Muddy but Pure White (泥巴色的純白, 2008), Playboy Cops (花花型警, 2008), Look for a Star (游龍戲鳳, 2008), Short of Love (矮仔多情, 2009) and Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (冰河世紀三, 2009). She Played the role of Merry in the Clement Cheng movie 'Merry-go-round' (2010) in which her talent expresses perfectly.
Incident
In 2006, during promoting a
Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese: / ), also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture. Similar holidays are celebrated in Japan (), Korea (), Vietnam (), and other countries in Eas ...
event, Ella was assaulted on stage by a man, later identified as Kalton Pan, a 22-year-old male. The man was immediately arrested and later sentenced to 9 months imprisonment. Ella was not harmed by the incident and decided against pursuing legal action against the man.
In September 2014, Ella was diagnosed with
Bell's palsy
Bell's palsy is a type of facial paralysis that results in a temporary inability to control the facial muscles on the affected side of the face. In most cases, the weakness is temporary and significantly improves over weeks. Symptoms can vary fr ...
, which made her right side of her face paralyzed.
Discography
*''Original'' (2004)
*''Ellacadabra'' (2005)
*''Lose Sanity'' 失常 (2006)
*''Stages'' (2008)
*''Being'' (2010)
*''Take A Shine To...'' (2011)
*''Wanna Be'' (2013)
Filmography
References
External links
*
Ella's Official WebsiteElla's Official Weibo Blog Ella's Official Facebook Fan PageElla's Official Yahoo! BLOGElla's Official Artist Profile Page on AliveNotDead Ella's Official Jacso BlogElla's new EP interview July 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koon, Ella
1979 births
Living people
Cantopop singers
Hong Kong television actresses
Hong Kong film actresses
Hong Kong people of Hakka descent
French Polynesian people of Chinese descent
People from Bao'an County
TVB actors
Guzheng players
21st-century Hong Kong actresses
Hakka musicians
Hong Kong idols