Anthony Neely
Quick Facts
Biography
Anthony Neely (born May 20, 1986) is an American Mandopop singer of mixed ethnicity. His father is of Euro-American descent and his mother is Taiwanese. In 2009, Anthony participated in popular singing competition, One Million Star (Season 5) as a PK (Player Kill) challenger. His performances created huge sensations after receiving full marks of 25 points on three occasions, and also being the first in the reality show’s history to score a record 33 out of 25 points. Anthony double-majored in Psychology and Theatre Studies at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He is bilingual in English and Mandarin Chinese. Anthony grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area in a small suburb, Millbrae, California. He graduated from Burlingame High School in 2004.
Music career
Anthony sang Xiao Huang-Chi’s "You Are My Eyes" (你是我的眼) during his first performance in One Million Star. He said that he did not really understand the meaning behind the lyrics of the song, but was touched by the melody and performed it according to his own feelings. One of the judges of the competition, Phil Chang, was greatly touched by the performance, and praised Anthony’s rendition for "having a different style from the original singer."
Among his many performances during the singing competition, one truly stood out from the rest: he performed an acoustic version of Damien Rice’s "The Blower’s Daughter" and mesmerized everyone. Host Matilda Tao then announced to the judges that if the given 5 points are not enough, they can raise up one hand to represent 1 point or even stand up to represent 10 points. Judge Kay Huang stood up in appraisal while judges Phil Chang and Roger raised both hands and one hand respectively, giving Anthony a total of 33 marks out of the original 25 points any contestant can get.
Album
Lesson One (2010)
- Tracks:
- 第一課 (Lesson One)
- Sorry That I Loved You
- 末日快樂 (Happy Armageddon)
- 散場的擁抱 (The Last Embrace)
- 不耐煩 (Fed Up)
- 幸福小事 (The Little Things)
- 纏鬥 (Brawl)
- 惡夢 (Nightmares)
- 紳士 (Gentleman)
- 藏起來 (Hide Away)
- The Blower's Daughter
Wake Up (2012)
- Tracks:
- Wake Up
- 這一刻 (This Moment)
- 失敗的分手 (A Failed Attempt)
- 魁儡 (Puppet)
- 讓我愛她 (Dear Death)
- 救命 (The Rescue)
- 想念是一條河 (A River Named Desire)
- 夢裡來過 (Déjà Vu)
- Letters
- 一覺醒來 (Awakening)
Friends (2013)
- Tracks:
- 一切都是因為愛 (Everything is Because of Love)
- 我是你的 (I am Your...)
- 想回家 (Goin' Home)
- 見外 (Keep in Touch)
- 死不睡覺 (Death to Sleep)
- 汗水的重量 (Faithball)
- 療傷的歌手 (The Medicine Man)
- 第三人稱 (3rd Person)
- 影子 (For the Shadow)
- All My Love
Singles
- 21 December 2010: Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)
Endorsements
- 2009: McDonald’s McCafe
- 2010: FETnet Taiwan Google Mobile
Other Media
On 15 December 2010, HIM International Music released an iPhone application which features Anthony's debut album Lesson One. The app can be downloaded for free on iTunes.
Family
Anthony's mother was born in Taiwan, while his maternal grandparents hail from Liaoning, China.
In September 2014, Anthony revealed that he had gotten married in 2010 and that his wife had given birth to a daughter the year after. The news was revealed in a YouTube video titled "Anthony Neely's True Confession," which was uploaded to his personal YouTube profile on his daughter's third birthday.