Lai Kuan-lin, also romanized as Lai Guanlin and better known mononymously as Guanlin, (;

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 라이관린, born 23 September 2001) is a Taiwanese rapper, singer and actor based in South Korea and China. He is known for finishing seventh in ''Produce 101 Season 2'' and was a member of the South Korean boy band

Wanna One Wanna One () was a South Korean boy band formed by CJ E&M through the second season of ''Produce 101''. The group was composed of eleven members: Kang Daniel, Park Ji-hoon, Lee Dae-hwi, Kim Jae-hwan, Ong Seong-wu, Park Woo-jin, Lai Kuan-lin, Yo ...

. He also formed a duo with

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

Wooseok Jung Woo-seok (; Hanja: 鄭禹奭; born January 31, 1998), also known by the mononym Wooseok, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, model and composer. He debuted as a member of the South Korean boy group Pentagon in October 2016 and also ...

as Wooseok x Kuanlin in March 2019, under

Cube Entertainment Cube Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean entertainment company. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and music publishing house. Cube are known for h ...

Early life

Lai was born in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

, Taiwan. Under his English name Edward Lai, he lived in Los Angeles, US for five years until he returned to Taiwan. He attended Lin-kou High School.

Career

2017–2018: Produce 101 and Wanna One

Lai was recruited by

during the Cube Star World Audition in Taiwan in 2016. In 2017, Lai participated in the second season of

Produce 101 ''Produce 101'' is a reality television talent competition franchise created by South Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ E&M, based around the formation of a K-pop girl group or boy group. The format is noted for having no panel of judges, empl ...

, representing

. He ranked seventh during the final episode with 905,875 votes, securing him a place in the show's project boy group

under

YMC Entertainment YMC Entertainment () was a South Korean entertainment company established in 2010 by Cho Yoo-myung, the eldest son of Trot (music), trot singer Tae Jin-ah. The company has been home to artists such as Shin Bo-ra, Kassy and Soulights, as well as ...

. In November 2017, Lai appeared in labelmate

Jeon So-yeon Jeon So-yeon (; born August 26, 1998), known mononymously as Soyeon, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer signed to Cube Entertainment. She first gained attention for competing in the television shows ''Produce 101' ...

's music video for her single "Jelly". As well as being active as a Wanna One member in South Korea, Lai is also active in China, receiving an offer from skincare brand Dr. Jart to be their brand ambassador, resulting in a great success for the company with over 900 million KRW (US$800,000) of the endorsed product being sold in 56 minutes.

2019–present: Disbandment of Wanna One, solo activities, and departure from Cube Entertainment

After Wanna One's disbandment on 31 December 2018, Cube Entertainment announced that Lai would focus on solo activities in China and that he would debut in a new boy group later in the year. He was confirmed to be the guest on variety show '' Happy Camp''. In January 2019, Lai was confirmed as male lead in Chinese drama ''

A Little Thing Called First Love ''A Little Thing Called First Love'' ( zh, 初恋那件小事) is a 2019 Chinese romantic television drama starring Lai Kuan-lin, Zhao Jinmai, Wang Runze, and Chai Wei. Based off the Thai movie "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." (2010) The series w ...

''. Lai, alongside

Yoo Seon-ho Yoo Seon-ho (born January 28, 2002) is a South Korean singer, actor and model. He is best known as a contestant on the survival reality show ''Produce 101'' (season 2) and drama ''Under the Queen's Umbrella''. He is a cast member of the variety ...

and Ha Neul were chosen as new models for TBJ clothing brand. On 20 February 2019, Cube Entertainment announced that Lai would participate in a new group project alongside

titled Wooseok x Kuanlin. The unit released their debut extended play, ''

9801 ''9801'' is the debut and only extended play by South Korean duo Wooseok x Kuanlin. Wooseok is a member of Pentagon, while Kuanlin is a former member of Wanna One. Released on March 11, 2019, the album marks the first official collaboration betwe ...

'' on 11 March, with the title song "I'm A Star". Lai held his first fanmeeting 'Good Feeling' on 6 April at

Olympic Hall Olympic Hall is a music venue located within the Olympic Park, in Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea. In 2011, the Olympic Hall was renovated as a concert hall by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Sports Promotion F ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. Followed by

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

(20 April),

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

(30 April),

(4 and 20 May) and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

(11 May). In June 2020, Lai was cast in youth drama ''Don’t Think About Interrupting My Studies'' as the main lead, Lin Xiao Ran alongside

Li Landi Li Landi (; born 2 September 1999), also known as Landy Li, is a Chinese actress, singer and model of Hui ethnicity. She also starred in 2019 Chinese film '' Adoring''. She is best known for her roles in the dramas '' My Huckleberry Friends '' ...

as Nan Xiangwan. On 17 June 2021, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in Lai's favour and ended his contract with Cube Entertainment. This brought to a close a two-year dispute that started in July 2019, when Lai requested to terminate his contract. One of the claims Lai made was that Cube Entertainment had sold his artist management rights in China to a third party without notifying him. The judge agreed with Lai and deemed the contract invalid.

Endorsements

In 2018 and 2019, Lai Kuan-lin became an ambassador for Dr.Jart+, MGTV International APP, Chinese Social Assistance Foundation and Green Carpet Action (Marie Claire x China Green Foundation). He has endorsed

Nongfu Spring Nongfu Spring (; lit. 'Farmer Spring') is a Chinese bottled water and beverage company headquartered in Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, sk ...

and

Downy Downy, also known as Lenor in Europe, Russia and Japan, is a brand of fabric softener produced by Procter & Gamble that was introduced in 1960. Lenor is a brand name of fabric softener and dryer sheets, also produced by P&G, sold in Europe, Russi ...

, KM Pharmaceutical (XYLIS), Perfect Diary
VIVLAS Lipstick
Wolong Nuts and elleair.

Personal life

In March 2021, Lai announced support for cotton from

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

in mainland China, after some companies had expressed concerns about

human rights abuses Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...

. The premier of Taiwan,

Su Tseng-chang Hope Su Tseng-chang (; born 28 July 1947) is a Taiwanese politician serving as premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2019, and previously from 2006 to 2007. He was the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in 2005 and from 2012 ...

, later said that some of Taiwan's celebrities were selfish for expressing support for Xinjiang's cotton, and said that generations of people had worked hard in Taiwan to achieve democracy and its respect for human rights.

Discography

Filmography

Television series

Variety shows

Concert

Concert participation

* '' U & Cube Festival 2019 in Japan'' (23 March)

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lai, Kuan-lin 2001 births Living people Produce 101 contestants K-pop singers Korean-language singers of Taiwan Taiwanese dance musicians Taiwanese idols Taiwanese pop singers Wanna One members Swing Entertainment artists Taiwanese expatriates in South Korea Taiwanese male television actors 21st-century Taiwanese male actors Cube Entertainment artists