Who is Samuel Tsui? The YouTube and entertainment world knows him as talented singer who is a Chinese American musician and Internet celebrity who rose to fame onYouTube. He is best known for covering and performing songs by popular artists, as well as original medleys and mashups. Tsui is currently an undergraduate at Yale UniversityAccording to his profile on The Duke's Men of Yale's official website, Tsui is from Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.[2] Tsui is of Chinese origin and grew up a street away from Kurt Schneider, his producer and accompanist, who along with Tsui attended Wissahickon High School.[3][4] Tsui attends Yale University, where he is a member of Davenport College. He is expected to graduate with a major in classical Greek in 2011.[2][5][6]
Collaborations between Tsui and Schneider began in high school with an electronic keyboard, primitive recording equipment, andGarageBand. Both attended Yale University, and there a musical partnership developed.[5] They have produced videos ranging from coversand original medleys to the College Musical online series. As of December 2010, the YouTube channel "KurtHugoSchneider" has garnered over 115 million upload views and 550,000 subscribers.[7] The most viewed video is the Michael Jackson medley, with more than twenty million views.[7] This medley is one of several where, using multiple pitch variations, Tsui sings as a one-man choir, covering both lead vocalsand background vocals, ranging from baritone to tenor.[3][8] His videos have been described by Time as a combination of Glee and Attack of the Clones.[9] Tsui was also a member of The Duke's Men of Yale, an all-male a cappella group.[2]On December 2010, Tsui made a collaboration with fellow YouTube singer Christina Grimmie, singing Just A Dream.
Starting in 2009, Tsui and Schneider have produced a series of episodes of College Musical, a comedy web series parodying the High School Musical film series, with original songs composed by Schneider.[5] Four episodes have been released, with Tsui playing the lead role of Cooper. Following the popularity of the series, it was announced that a film, currently in production, would be made based on the series.
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Television appearances
In November 2009, Tsui appeared on The Bonnie Hunt Show where he was interviewed and performed Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".
He also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on February 22, 2010 along with his producer, Kurt Schneider.[6][10] The pair was interviewed, and Tsui performed a medley of Michael Jackson's songs. Tsui also appeared on ABC World Newson October 28, 2009, singing The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There".[11] In November 2009, Tsui appeared on It's On with Alexa Chung, singingJourney's "Don't Stop Believin'" for the cast of American television series Glee.[12][13] On December 2, 2010, Tsui gave an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and performed a mashup of Katy Perry's "Firework" and Bruno Mars' "Grenade" with Schneider.[14][15]
Discography
He also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on February 22, 2010 along with his producer, Kurt Schneider.[6][10] The pair was interviewed, and Tsui performed a medley of Michael Jackson's songs. Tsui also appeared on ABC World Newson October 28, 2009, singing The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There".[11] In November 2009, Tsui appeared on It's On with Alexa Chung, singingJourney's "Don't Stop Believin'" for the cast of American television series Glee.[12][13] On December 2, 2010, Tsui gave an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and performed a mashup of Katy Perry's "Firework" and Bruno Mars' "Grenade" with Schneider.[14][15]
Discography
The Covers
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A digital album, The Covers was released to the iTunes Store on February 9, 2010 by Sh-K-Boom Records.[4][16]DJ Got Us Falling in Love
On October 10, 2010, a mini album was released by Mud Hut Digital. It contains three covers:[17]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "DJ Got Us Falling in Love" | Usher Raymond IV,Armando Pérez, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha,Shellback | Usher featuring Pitbull | 3:42 |
| 2. | "Replay" (acoustic version) | Rock City, Keidran Jones, Jonathan Rotem, Jason Desrouleaux | Iyaz | 3:35 |
| 3. | "Heaven" | Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance | Bryan Adams | 3:22 |
[edit]Singles
Tsui has also released four singles digitally: an original song under NoodleHouse Records and three covers under Mud House Digital.[18][19]
- 2010: "Don't Want an Ending"
- 2010: "If I Die Young" (The Band Perry cover)
- 2010: "King of Anything" (Sara Bareilles cover)
- 2010: "The Only Exception" (Paramore cover featuring Kurt Schneider)
There were several inquires into "Is Sam Tsui gay"? Definitely. A google search turns up notes from his apparently not-so-private facebook page, and in one he refers to a guy as gay--and his.Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_sam_tsui_gay#ixzz1AyRGH9U3