Vanessa-Mae (陈美 Chén Měi; born 27 October 1978) also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson,
is a Singaporean-born British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the United Kingdom in 2006.
She competed under the name Vanessa Vanakorn ( th, วาเนสซ่า วรรณกร; her father's surname) for
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
in
alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held in Russia from 9–22 February at Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort near Krasnaya Polyana, east of Sochi.
Competition schedule
The following is the competition schedule for all ten events.
All time ...
. She was initially banned from skiing by the
International Ski Federation (FIS) after participating in a qualifying race allegedly organised to enable her to qualify for the Winter Olympics. An appeal to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...
led to the ban being nullified, citing lack of evidence for her own wrongdoing or any manipulation.
The FIS later issued an apology to her.
Early life and education
Vanessa-Mae was born on 27 October 1978 in Singapore, to Singaporean mother Pamela Soei Luang Tan and Thai father Vorapong Vanakorn. After adoption by a British father, she moved to London at the age of 4 where she began playing the violin, having already started the piano in Singapore. At the age of eight Vanessa-Mae embarked upon a period of study with Professor Lin Yao Ji at the National Conservatoire of Music in Beijing. Vanessa-Mae returned to London and entered London's
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...
.
Musical career
Vanessa-Mae made her professional debut when she was ten at a music festival in Germany.
At age thirteen, Vanessa-Mae became the youngest soloist to record both the
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
and
Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
violin concertos, according to ''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''.
Her first pop-style album, ''
The Violin Player
''The Violin Player'' is the first techno/ pop album by classical and pop musician Vanessa-Mae, released in 1995. It is the first album Vanessa-Mae released on the EMI label. The album was produced by Mike Batt, and engineered by Gareth Cousins ...
'', was released in 1995. She appeared on the 1997
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...
album ''
The Velvet Rope
''The Velvet Rope'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Janet Jackson. The album was released on October 7, 1997, through Virgin Records. Prior to its release, she renegotiated her contract with Virgin for US$80 million, the largest rec ...
'' playing a violin solo on the song "Velvet Rope".
Vanessa-Mae appeared in producer
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...
's compilation and covers album ''
In My Life
"In My Life" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It appeared on their 1965 album '' Rubber Soul''. Its lyrics were written primarily by John Lennon, credited to Lennon–McCartney. George Martin contributed the piano solo bridge.
...
'' in 1998. She is featured on Track #5 with her violin rendition of the 1969
Beatles song ''"
Because"''.
She was managed by her mother until Vanessa-Mae fired her in 1999.
In June 1999 she played at the
Michael Jackson & Friends
MJ & Friends were two stadium concerts held by American singer/songwriter Michael Jackson in 1999, with numerous other performers as well, including Slash of Guns N' Roses. The purpose of the tour was to raise funds for children in Kosovo, Afr ...
concerts in
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 ...
and
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
.
On 7 March 2002 Vanessa-Mae performed a variation of
Antonio Vivaldi: ''
The Four Seasons'' – "Summer: III. Presto" during the opening ceremonies of the
2002 Winter Paralympics.
In April 2006, Vanessa-Mae was ranked as the wealthiest young entertainer under 30 in the UK in the
Sunday Times Rich List 2006, having an estimated fortune of about £32 million.
![Vanessa-Mae](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Vanessa-Mae.jpg)
In October 2011, Vanessa Mae performed for Chechnya's leader
Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov ce, КъадаргӀеран Ахьмат-кӏант Рамзан, translit= (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated to the ...
during his birthday celebration in ''
Grozny
Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьлжа-ГӀала, translit=Sölƶa-Ġala), also spelled Groznyy, is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia.
The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2010 census, it had a po ...
'' reportedly receiving for her appearance.
Composition
Vanessa-Mae has occasionally recorded her own compositions. Her 1997 album ''
China Girl: The Classical Album 2'' included two pieces in which she shared a writing credit: ''Violin Fantasy on Puccini's 'Turandot and ''Reunification Overture'', marking the
reunification of China and Hong Kong.
In 2017, ClassicFM compiled a list of the 300 best selling classical albums in the 25 years it has been running. Vanessa-Mae entered three times. ''The Classical Album 1'' reached 244, ''Storm'' reached 135 and her debut mainstream album ''The Violin Player'' is the 76th best selling. The site claims that her total album sales make "her the biggest-selling solo violinist in the chart".
Skiing career
Vanessa-Mae stated that she "started skiing around the same time as I began playing the piano, at around four, before moving to the violin at five",
and that it had been her "dream to be a ski bum since I was 14."
In 2009 Vanessa-Mae took up residence in the Swiss
alpine resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...
of
Zermatt
Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) ...
.
In August 2010, she told ''
The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'', "I am British, but realistically there is no way I could represent my own country, but because my natural father is Thai, they have accepted me."
She registered as a Thai
alpine skier
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...
.
Qualifying event
In 2014, Thailand had no Alpine skiers in the top 500, and Olympic rules allowed such countries to send one man and one woman to the Olympics
slalom and
giant slalom, based on alternative criteria: The skier must have 140 points or less, smaller scores being better under the International Ski Federation (FIS) system,
while starting at least five internationally recognised slalom or giant slalom events.
At the request of Vanessa-Mae's management and the Thai Olympic Committee, a giant slalom competition was organised by the Alpine Ski Club
Triglav and took place on 18 and 19 January 2014 at
Krvavec in Slovenia, and would be the last chance for Vanessa-Mae to achieve the FIS-recognised score to qualify for the February 2014 Olympics.
The event included a national junior championship, in which she was 14 years older than any of the competition.
The event put her score under the 140-point average,
dropping it from 269.44 on 11 January to 131.15 at the end of 19 January.
Her manager Giles Holland said "It would appear that she's done it. She's done it by a whisker, but she's done it."
FIS confirmed her eligibility to compete in the 2014 Olympics,
with Ana Jelusic of the FIS mentioning that the Krvavec results "ticks all the boxes".
A Swiss race on 3 and 4 February raised her score to 171.09.
Olympics
![Vanessa Mae holding olympic torch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Vanessa_Mae_holding_olympic_torch.jpg)
She was one of two
alpine skier
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...
s who represented
Thailand at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Thailand competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia from 7 to 23 February 2014. The Thai team consisted of two athletes, Vanessa Vanakorn and Kanes Sucharitakul, both competing in alpine skiing. This was Thailand's third appearance ...
, where she competed under the name of "Vanessa Vanakorn"
(วาเนสซ่า เมย์ ตัน วรรณกร; Vanessa May Tan Vanakorn).
On 18 February 2014, Vanakorn finished 67th of 90 skiers, with a time of 1:44.86 on her first run at giant slalom, 26.98 seconds behind the leader. She started in the 87th position, representing her relative ranking in the world giant slalom rankings. In run 2, she had a time of 1:42.11, 24.21 seconds behind the leader of run 2. She started 74th in run 2, the last starter for run 2. At the end of the event, she had a total time of 3:26.97, 50.10 seconds behind the gold medal winner,
Tina Maze
Tina Maze (; born 2 May 1983) is a retired Slovenian World Cup alpine ski racer.
Career
Maze is the most successful Slovenian ski racer in history with a career that culminated with two gold medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics. She was awarded t ...
of
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
. She was last of the 67 racers who finished, although 23 other racers failed to complete the race.
Olympic results
Investigation and appeal
On 10 July 2014 four Slovenian ski competition organisers were reported to have each been given four-year bans on working with Slovenian Ski Union (Smučarska zveza Slovenije) and
FIS
FIS or fis may refer to:
Science and technology
* '' Fis'', an ''E. Coli'' gene
* Fis phenomenon, a phenomenon in linguistics
* F♯ (musical note)
* Flight information service, an air traffic control service
* Frame Information Structure, a Se ...
competitions because of supposedly fixed Sochi Winter Olympics qualifications for the Thai ski team at Krvavec in January 2014 – with the only goal to successfully qualify Vanessa Mae. However, no formal bans were ever handed out.
On 11 November 2014, the FIS Hearing Panel issued its own findings about the Krvavec event less than 10 months earlier: The weather was such that no regular race could be held; the competition's referee said that "any comparable competition in Slovenia would have been cancelled". A previously retired competitor took part in the alleged competition solely to lower (improve) the scores of the participants. The official results of "approximately 23 competitors" for the two races on 18 January included results at least two people who in fact did not attend. The official results for two giant slalom races on 19 January also included results for a person who was not even present at the Krvavec competition. One competitor who fell was given an official timing 10 seconds better than reality, and put in second place in the official results. At least one participant started outside the starting wand; afterward, the starter manually triggered the starting wand.
The Hearing Panel issued a worldwide four-year ban against Vanessa-Mae,
two-year ban against the Chief of Race
Borut Hrobat, and one-year bans against the FIS Technical Delegate, Chief of Timing, Referee, and Starter.
FIS president
Gian-Franco Kasper commented to
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
concerning the violations: "Those who have been sanctioned have been sanctioned for good reason. At first we were laughing when we heard it. But then we realised it's quite a serious thing."
As two or more participants worked in combination to violate the rules, the FIS Hearing Panel recommended that all four events during the Krvavec competition be annulled. The Hearing Panel noted that, if the results were to be annulled by the FIS Council, it will mean that Vanessa-Mae,
Federica Selva of San Marino, and
Ieva Januškevičiūtė
Ieva Januškevičiūtė (born 22 September 1994) is a Lithuanian alpine skier and two-time Winter Olympian. She is the first Lithuanian woman to compete in the Winter Olympics in alpine skiing. She is currently the head coach of the "Snow Bees" s ...
of Lithuania will have not qualified for the 2014 Olympic Games.
Vanessa-Mae issued a statement calling the ban "nonsensical" and saying "we will" appeal to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...
.
The FIS Council met on 18 November and cancelled the results of "all four giant slalom races" at Krvavec and issued a press release saying that "Vanessa Vanakorn (THA) who competed in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games therefore did not qualify and should not have been participating in the Sochi 2014 Games." The FIS Council was of the opinion that Federica Selva and Ieva Januškevičiūtė "were victims of the manipulated races", and forwarded the information to the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
.
Vanessa-Mae filed appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 4 December 2014 against both the FIS Hearing Panel and the FIS Council.
On 19 June 2015 the
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...
(CAS) voided Vanessa-Mae's four-year ban, saying there was a lack of evidence that she herself manipulated the races; but the CAS dismissed her appeal to restore the qualifying results, confirming that the qualifying races "were so defective that their results and qualification points gained therefrom could not stand", and therefore "Vanessa Vanakorn remains ineligible to compete in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games". The CAS's decision also awarded an amount of money to be paid by the FIS to Vanessa-Mae.
Despite Vanessa-Mae's successful result in nullifying the FIS race ban at the CAS appeal, there was still some doubt over the status of her races at the 2014 Winter Olympics. However, in January 2016 the media announced that the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
had confirmed that Vanessa-Mae could be called an Olympian.
In 2016, Vanessa-Mae settled her defamation lawsuit against the FIS, in which the FIS made an "appropriate payment", the amount of which was not disclosed. The FIS issued a full apology for its claims of race-fixing, and stated "Ms. Vanakorn and her entourage did not in any way fix, contrive or improperly influence the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of the FIS-approved races."
[
]
Post-appeal
Vanessa-Mae returned to skiing in 2017, to attempt to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Vanessa-Mae withdrew from competition due to suffering a shoulder injury, in January 2018. With her withdrawal, the placement for Thailand went to 21-year-old Alexia Arisarah Schenkel.
Personal life
Vanessa-Mae's long-term boyfriend is Frenchman Lionel Catelan. Vanessa-Mae has expressed a lack of interest in marriage, saying "you don't need a ring to say I love you".
Awards and nominations
{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
, -
! scope="col" , Award
! scope="col" , Year
! scope="col" , Nominee(s)
! scope="col" , Category
! scope="col" , Result
! scope="col" class="unsortable",
, -
!scope="row", World Music Awards
The World Music Awards is an international award show founded in 1989 under the patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and co-founder/executive producer John Martinotti. The event is based in Monte Carlo. Awards are presented to the world' ...
, 1997
, rowspan=2, Herself
, World's Best Selling Classical Artist
,
,
, -
! scope="row", Žebřík Music Awards
, 1999
, Best International Instrumentalist
,
,
Discography
*''Violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
'' (1990)
*'' Kids' Classics'' (1991)
*'' Tchaikovsky & Beethoven Violin Concertos'' (1991)
*''The Violin Player
''The Violin Player'' is the first techno/ pop album by classical and pop musician Vanessa-Mae, released in 1995. It is the first album Vanessa-Mae released on the EMI label. The album was produced by Mike Batt, and engineered by Gareth Cousins ...
'' (1995)
*''The Classical Album 1'' (1996)
*'' China Girl: The Classical Album 2'' (1997)
*''Storm
A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...
'' (1997)
*''The Original Four Seasons and the Devil's Trill Sonata: The Classical Album 3'' (1999)
*'' Subject to Change'' (2001)
*'' Choreography'' (2004)
Filmography
* ''Live at the Royal Albert Hall, The Red Hot Tour'' (1995) (concert documentary)
* ''The Violin Fantasy'' (1998)
* '' Arabian Nights'' (2000) (actor in the series)
* '' The Making of Me'' (2008) (subject of episode 3)
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanessa-Mae
1978 births
20th-century classical violinists
21st-century classical violinists
Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics
British rock violinists
Child classical musicians
EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists
English classical violinists
English people of Chinese descent
English people of Singaporean descent
English people of Thai descent
English techno musicians
Thai female alpine skiers
Living people
Musicians from London
Olympic alpine skiers of Thailand
People educated at Francis Holland School
Singaporean classical violinists
Singaporean people of Chinese descent
Singaporean people of Thai descent
Singaporean emigrants to the United Kingdom
British synth-pop musicians
Virgin Records artists
Women classical violinists
British emigrants to Switzerland
20th-century English women musicians
21st-century English women musicians