Taiwan's Singing Wonder Lin Lands Sony Music Record Deal

What have Lin Yu Chun and Susan Boyle both got in common? Well, both have won fame for being singing sensations.

Now Taiwan's singing wonder Lin has signed a major worldwide record deal with Sony Music Entertainment on May 13, thus joining the Scottish spinster in the same record company.

Lin, also popularly known as "Little Fatty", will release his debut album in July this year, according to an AFP report. The album will contain songs in Chinese and English.

Sony Music did not confirm whether 'I Will Always Love You' would be added to his new album or not.

Lin instantly gained worldwide repute due to his rendition of Whitney Houston's "I will Always Love You" after it got featured on YouTube.

The YouTube video clip went viral and attracted more than 10 million viewers on the Internet.

The chubby 24-year-old singer with the Beatles-style hairdo was first spotted on a Taiwan reality show called "Avenue to Stardom". Surely, Lin was on the right track!

Just like the 49-year-old Boyle who was discovered on "Britain's Got Talent" reality show and who released a best-selling album in 2009, Lin rode on his publicity and made his presence felt on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" while on a tour of the US.

Like Boyle, Lin too failed to win in the talent show. On his appearance, Lin was quoted as saying: “In order to get success, one does not have to be good-looking and smart. What is required is being yourself and try your best”.

> Will stardom come to new 'Susan Boyle'?

China's new 'Susan Boyle'

A middle-aged woman who is a chicken seller in Shanghai has been hailed as the Chinese Susan Boyle by netizens. China's singing discovery is nicknamed Cai Hua Tian Ma (Sweet Cauliflower Mama).

Susan Boyle, from Scotland, gained fame and millions of admirers since she wowed the judges on Britain's Got Talent show last year with her rendition of "I Dreamed A Dream" from the musical Les Miserables.

Cai Hua Tian Ma's rendition of an English gospel song on video clip, posted on YouTube, has become the latest hit among Web users in China.

Cai Hua Tian Ma made her first public appearance on the Internet when a patron at a market in Shanghai where she works, recorded a clip of her singing to the customers at her chicken stall, according to Malaysian Mirror.

The patron uploaded the video clip on the Internet on April 1 and within days, the video which was shown in various popular websites in China, has attracted more than 46,000 hits.

Cai Hua Tian Ma is seen on video with her hair tied into two pigtails and dressed in a red shirt with a Hello Kitty apron. Some netizens mistook her for the late Hong Kong billionaire Nina Wang.

Cai Hua Tian Ma, it is learnt, hails from a remote village in Anhui. She has no professional training in music. She cannot even read out all the 26 letters of the alphabet.

Apart from English gospel songs, she also sings Maria Callas and Mariah Carey numbers as well as local folk songs and Chinese opera.