Vanessa-Mae facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vanessa-Mae
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Vanessa-Mae in 2014
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| Born |
Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson
27 October 1978 |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Vanessa Vanakorn |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1990–present |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | Violin |
| Labels | |
Vanessa-Mae (Chinese: 陈美; pinyin: Chén Měi; born 27 October 1978) is a famous British violinist. She has sold millions of albums. In 2006, she was one of the wealthiest entertainers under 30 in the United Kingdom. She also competed in alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics for Thailand. She used the name Vanessa Vanakorn for skiing, which is her father's last name.
Contents
Her Early Life and Education
Vanessa-Mae was born in Singapore on October 27, 1978. Her mother was from Singapore, and her father was from Thailand. When she was four, she moved to London after being adopted by a British father. This is when she started playing the violin. At age eight, she studied with Professor Lin Yao Ji in Beijing, China.
Her Amazing Music Career
Vanessa-Mae first performed professionally when she was ten. This was at a music festival in Germany.
When she was thirteen, she became the youngest solo artist ever. She recorded both the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky violin concertos. This achievement is listed in the Guinness World Records.
Her first pop-style album was called The Violin Player. It came out in 1995 and sold four million copies. She also played a violin solo on the song "Velvet Rope" for Janet Jackson's album The Velvet Rope in 1997.
In 1998, she played the violin on a song called "Because." This was for producer George Martin's album In My Life. She was also part of the show at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998.
In June 1999, she performed at the Michael Jackson & Friends concerts. These concerts took place in Seoul and Munich.
On March 7, 2002, Vanessa-Mae performed at the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Paralympics. She played a part of Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.
In April 2006, she was named the wealthiest young entertainer under 30 in the UK. The Sunday Times estimated her fortune to be about £32 million.
Her Own Music
Vanessa-Mae has also written some of her own music. Her 1997 album China Girl: The Classical Album 2 included two songs she helped write. These were Violin Fantasy on Puccini's 'Turandot' and Reunification Overture. This last song celebrated the reunification of China and Hong Kong.
Classic FM listed the 300 best-selling classical albums. Vanessa-Mae had three albums on this list. Her album The Violin Player is the 76th best-selling classical album. Classic FM says her total album sales make her the top-selling solo violinist on their chart.
Her Skiing Dream
Vanessa-Mae started skiing around the same time she began playing piano, at age four. She then switched to the violin at five. She said it was her "dream to be a ski bum since I was 14." In 2009, she moved to Zermatt, a ski resort in Switzerland.
In 2010, she told The Telegraph that she is British. However, she knew she could not represent the UK in skiing. Since her biological father is Thai, Thailand accepted her to compete for them. She registered as a Thai alpine skier.
Qualifying for the Olympics
In 2014, Thailand did not have many top Alpine skiers. Olympic rules allowed countries like Thailand to send one man and one woman to the Olympics. They could compete in slalom and giant slalom. To qualify, a skier needed a score of 140 points or less. Lower scores are better in the International Ski Federation (FIS) system. They also had to compete in at least five international events.
Vanessa-Mae's team and the Thai Olympic Committee asked for a special race. This giant slalom competition took place in Slovenia in January 2014. It was her last chance to get the score needed for the Olympics. She managed to get her score below 140 points. The FIS confirmed she could compete in the 2014 Olympics.
The Olympics
Vanessa-Mae was one of two alpine skiers from Thailand at the 2014 Winter Olympics. She competed as "Vanessa Vanakorn."
On February 18, 2014, she finished 67th out of 90 skiers in the giant slalom. She was the last of the 67 racers who finished. However, 23 other racers did not complete the race.
Olympic Results
| Year | |||||||
| Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super-G | Downhill | Combined | Team Event | |
| 2014 | 35 | — | 67 | — | — | — | — |
Investigation and Appeal
After the Olympics, there was an investigation into the qualifying race. The International Ski Federation (FIS) looked into the event. They found some problems with how the race was organized. The FIS then banned Vanessa-Mae from skiing for four years.
Vanessa-Mae said the ban was "nonsensical." She appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In June 2015, the CAS removed her four-year ban. They said there was no proof that she herself had done anything wrong. However, the CAS agreed that the qualifying races were not fair. So, her results from those races could not count.
Even though the races were cancelled, the International Olympic Committee later confirmed that Vanessa-Mae could still be called an Olympian. In 2016, Vanessa-Mae and the FIS reached an agreement. The FIS apologized for its claims of race-fixing. They stated that "Ms. Vanakorn and her entourage did not in any way fix, contrive or improperly influence the result."
After the Appeal
Vanessa-Mae returned to skiing in 2017. She wanted to try and qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics. However, she had a shoulder injury in January 2018. Because of this, she had to stop competing. Another skier, Alexia Arisarah Schenkel, took Thailand's spot instead.
Her Personal Life
Vanessa-Mae has a long-term boyfriend named Lionel Catelan, who is French. She has said that she is not interested in getting married. She believes "you don't need a ring to say I love you."
Her Albums
- Violin (1990)
- Kids' Classics (1991)
- Tchaikovsky & Beethoven Violin Concertos (1991)
- The Violin Player (1995)
- The Classical Album 1 (1996)
- China Girl: The Classical Album 2 (1997)
- Storm (1997)
- The Original Four Seasons and the Devil's Trill Sonata: The Classical Album 3 (1999)
- Subject to Change (2001)
- Choreography (2004)
Her Movies and TV Shows
- Live at the Royal Albert Hall, The Red Hot Tour (1995) (a concert film)
- Live at the Berlin Philharmonie (1997)
- The Alternative Classical Concert - Live at the Symphony Hall Birmingham (1997)
- Storm on World Tour (1998)
- The Violin Fantasy (1998)
- Arabian Nights (2000) (she acted in this TV series)
- The Making of Me (2008) (she was the subject of one episode)
Images for kids
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Vanessa-Mae in 2004
See also
In Spanish: Vanessa Mae para niños
