Jonny Blu

In 2000, after returning from studying in China and graduating from UCLA, Blu was in a Monterey Park, California, music store buying Chinese pop music. On a whim, he noticed a sign-up sheet for a Chinese singing competition and he filled out the form (in Chinese) and returned it to the store manager. As the only non-Chinese contestant, Blu stunned the audience and judges with his rendition of the hit Chinese pop song "Xin Tai Ruan (心太軟)". He won and was approached afterward by an executive at the Taiwanese Television network ETTV America (part of Dong Sen Television Network, Taiwan). Through ETTV, Blu entered several other Chinese singing competitions and was a finalist in the International Finals of the CCTV Singing Competition, which took place in Arcadia, California, at The Arboretum.

In 2001, intending to work with music manager Clarence Hui (許愿), Blu moved to Hong Kong. He used the Chinese name 藍強 (pronounced "Lan Qiang", meaning "Blue Strength"). After struggling for over two years performing in bars and clubs around Hong Kong and getting a couple small television commercials, he went to a meeting with Richard Denekamp, the head of Sony Music Asia. Denekamp was impressed by Blu and his preliminary recordings of his original Mandarin Chinese pop songs, and he was ready to sign Blu to a Sony Asia contract.

In 2003, after signing with See Music|漢星音樂 (a subsidiary of See Corporation, Hong Kong) his career took off. He signed a five-year contract with See Music. In Hong Kong, Blu is affectionately referred to as Xiao Lan (小藍 literally meaning Little Blue). He has had two more follow up songs "Crossroads" (十子路口) and "The Apology" (對不起妳), which have reached the Top Ten in most Chinese Music charts.[1]

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  Jonny Blu music video-Hong Kong - December 2003
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  Jonny Blu on big screen-Hong Kong - February 2004
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  Jonny Blu music video with Director - Hong Kong - December 2003
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  Jonny Blu performing in Macau - May 2004
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  Jonny Blu signing autographs in Macau - May 2004

During a holiday in Oahu, Hawaii, he met film director Garry Marshall. After discussion about a role in an upcoming film, he and Marshall met a few months later at Henderson Productions in Toluca Lake, California. Blu appeared as himself in the garden party scene of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, singing a Mandarin Chinese version of the song "Miracles Happen" (originally sung in English by Myra in the film The Princess Diaries). Marshall and the music supervisor for the film, Dawn Soler, liked Blu's song so much that it ended up on The Princess Diaries 2 soundtrack and earned Blu a RIAA Certified Gold Record, with over 700,000 units sold.

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  Jonny Blu and Director Garry Marshall on the set of Princess Diaries 2

In 2005, Blu began work on an album in Los Angeles, recording swing and jazz songs that he had written, along with some classic standards that were favorites of his. Influenced by Harry Connick Jr. in his early life (and Elvis Presley, Dean Martin and Brian Setzer), Blu recorded his In Just That Kind of a Mood. After finding licensing for some of his songs, including "In Just That Kind of a Mood" and "Ooh-Wee" which were heard on The Young and the Restless in 2007 and 2008, he moved back to the United States. His album was released in Eastern Europe by Universal Music Group (2008). He released the EP In a Groove (2008).

Blu has performed at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood, Vibrato Jazz Club in Bel Air, California; Iridium Jazz Club in New York, Anthology and Tango Del Rey in San Diego, The Skokie Theater in Chicago, and SoHo Music Club in Santa Barbara, California. His album Taboo! was released in October 2009. His first promotional shows were in New York on September 12, 2009, at Iridium Jazz Club in New York City and on December 15, 2009, at Herb Alpert's Vibrato Jazz Club in Los Angeles.

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  Jonny Blu at Vibrato Jazz Club - 2010
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  Jonny Blu live at Iridium Jazz Club - 2010
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  Jonny Blu at Vibrato Jazz Club - 2009
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  Jonny Blu at Catalina Jazz Club - 2007
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  Jonny Blu performs at The Mint - 2007
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  Jonny Blu performs at Anthology - 2007