Hangin' with the Huaren 华人: Wilber Pan

QUICK FACTS

born in West Virginia
moved to Taiwan when he was 7
went to Taipei International School and then California State Polytechnic University to study mass communications
entered a singing contest in 2000 and got attention from Andy Lau's manager
began his career as a a Taiwan Channel V host and actor
has of 2009 made a total of 10 albums, the latest being 007 (2009)
did the voice of Po in the Mandarin version of Kung Fu Panda!
latest dramas are Endless Love (2010) and Pandamen by Jay Chou
known as Pan Weibo by his Chinese fans

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When he was young, Wilber Pan wanted to be a basketball player. His parents had run a grocery store while they were living in the U.S., then moved back to Taiwan in 1987, where Will started studying bopomofo and Chinese while attending Taipei International School. There, he began to participate in school plays and found that he really enjoyed performing.

Back in the States for college, Will tried out some singing contests but didn't really have any success. One of them, however, was hosted by Sony BMG in Los Angeles, and while he didn't place in the finals, that was where Andy Lau's manager discovered him.

Will went to a Lady Gaga concert in Japan.

Will left college early to go back to Taiwan in 2001, where he became a VJ on the popular music channel Channel V. His boyish personality charmed the Asian MV viewers, who were then excited to see him appear as one of the students in the second generation of the popular comedy series Spicy Teacher.

This positive exposure led him to make his first album, Gecko Stroll, and in the following years he would continue to sing, write, produce, and choreograph and establish his reputation as a pop hip-hop artist.

Will would also continue his TV host and drama career, one of his most recent dramas being Miss No Good in a quirky love triangle with Rainie Yang.

A good friend of Jay Chou's (even appearing to perform "Listen to Mama's Words" on Jay's 2007 tour), he also participated in Jay's debut TV series concept Pandamen.

His latest album, 007, includes his duet with the Korean star Lee Hyori, who made her debut in China with this song! As you can see, it was totally sponsored by Hyundai:

It also includes his collaboration with Akon, "Be With You." (This song was originally on Akon's Freedom in 2008.)

Will talks about it in an MTV Asia interview, saying, "For me to actually work with him was a great opportunity I think, to bring East and West closer together. I sang my part in Mandarin on the same track as his so I think it brings a different flavor to the hip-hop music world in Asia"!

However, his most popular song is definitely still "Can't Help Loving You" with Xian Zi:, a cover of the song, "Y, Please Tell Me Why" by Korean duo Free Style. Maybe he will do more Korean covers in the future?

And here I leave you with this super hit: