In 2005, she started her band, The Wanting Band, and sang at clubs and restaurants.

"My mum didn't want me to pursue music as a career, just like she hated my boyfriend then," Qu says. "So everything about realizing my music dream was secret then."

She went on to earn her business degree, but also tried her hand at songwriting in both Chinese and English and began performing in the Toronto area. She relocated to Vancouver, continuing to write and perform at events. It was there that she caught the attention of Nettwerk Music Group.

She is a productive songwriter and is preparing for her second album.

It seems that Qu is on an express train to musical fame, but says she hopes to hop off that train at some point in the future.

"Before I signed the contract, I felt confused and even thought about giving up. I didn't know where I was heading," she says. "Now I've released the first album and received some attention, I am still the person I started out and I believe I will stay the same."

A total of 26 cameras, a high number for a live TV program, are on standby to capture the singers' facial and emotional expressions as well as those of their families and the judges, as they share their life stories.

Millions are probably attracted to the show by heart-wrenching profiles such as a blind street artist who touches them with her rendition of Teresa Teng's songs or, a cute little girl who sings in remembrance of her deceased father.

China's most popular micro-blogger Yao Chen's compliments of the show on micro blogs were echoed by thousands. She says it demonstrates the most valuable elements in life: enthusiasm, optimism, sincerity and bravery.

But the show was also besieged by negative publicity, with netizens posting evidence to suggest that some stories are false. One such posting claims that a poor countryside singer actually came from a rich family. The program responds immediately to such allegations with a public announcement that it has signed integrity pacts with contestants - those who lie will be fired.

In the midst of the dispute, the program is one of the few to win approval from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. In 2011, it launched a policy restricting the number of entertainment programs, including talent shows, to prevent TV screens from being vulgarized.

It's not every day you find a diplomat who's also a hit singer.

What's even more remarkable is how Charles Aznavour deftly shifts between the two roles at age 88.

Over the weekend, Aznavour flew in from Geneva - where he serves as Armenia's ambassador - to perform at the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation's charity gala. That he agreed to do the show in exchange only for transport to and from Shanghai was a pleasant surprise to the organizers.

"What is shocking to me is that when he decided to come as a guest of the charity, to sing for free, he asked for only one first-class ticket. One ticket," Yue-sai Kan, the gala's chairwoman, says.

"A lot of our Chinese stars or Korean stars, they have one person holding their lipstick, one holding their bag, one holding their shoes. They have five or six people around them all the time, and they're just attending an event. They don't even have to do anything."

The gala on Monday drew close to 1,000 guests and raised 14 million yuan ($2.2 million), according to the organizers. Part of the earnings came from an accompanying auction, whose offerings included six pairs of exclusive Christian Louboutin shoes.

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber makes his highly anticipated return with new album "Believe," revealing an edgier, grown-up side to the young star who has gained a worldwide fan base with innocent love songs and baby-faced charms.

"Believe," out on Tuesday, serves as Bieber's highly anticipated sequel to his debut album "My World 2.0," and has had critics buzzing on whether the teen who first found fame on YouTube is a short-lived phenomenon or a long-term staple in the music industry.

Bieber, 18, has become one of the world's biggest stars, with more than 23 million followers on Twitter and 44 million fans on Facebook, after being discovered at the age of 13.

The singer has grown up in the public eye in the last two years, dating 19-year-old Disney Channel star Selena Gomez, who is referenced in the album's electro-dance track "Beauty and the Beat."

But fame has also brought its downside and the track "Maria" addresses Bieber's most adult scandal to date. Last November, Bieber was hit with allegations from 20-year-old Mariah Yeater who claimed that the singer had fathered a child with her after a brief alleged encounter backstage.

Bieber, who vehemently denied the claims and watched Yeater's lawsuit fall apart, sings "She was schemin'...she was draggin' my name through the dirt," before hitting the chorus with "That ain't my baby, that ain't my girl."

Newcomer rapper Big K.R.I.T entered the chart at No 5 with his debut album "Live From The Underground", while New Orleans rapper Curren$y debuted his seventh studio album "The Stoned Immaculate" at No 8.

One Direction's "Up All Night" fell to No. 6 from fourth place, and John Mayer's "Born And Raised" dropped from two straight weeks at No 1 all the way down to No 7.

Country star Carrie Underwood dropped to No. 9 from the sixth spot with her hit "Blown Away", while folk singer Brandi Carlile rounded out the top 10 with her fifth studio album "Bear Creek", selling 27,000 copies.

On Billboard's Digital Songs chart, Carly Rae Jepsen continued her reign at the top with flirty pop anthem "Call Me Maybe", while Maroon 5's "Payphone" featuring Wiz Khalifa held steady at No. 2, as did Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" featuring Kimbra in the No 3 slot.

Katy Perry climbed to No 4 with her ballad "Wide Awake", and Canadian pop star Justin Bieber stormed in at No 5 with "All Around The World" featuring Ludacris as he continued on his worldwide promotion of upcoming album "Believe".

The one-night concert was titled "East Meets West - Three Stars in Collaboration." The trio presented solo and collaborative performances accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus.

Song, one of China's most popular vocalists, performed a selection of her popular Chinese folk songs, including "Little Back Basket" and "Flying Songs".

She was later joined by Bocelli and Lang Lang for "Love Song of Kangding".

Footage of Chinese people expressing their hopes for a successful 2012 London Olympic Games was also shown at the concert.

The event marked the second collaboration between the three musicians following the 2010 Shanghai World Expo's opening ceremony.

Subsequent generations of Von Trapps turned to other occupations, but Sofia Von Trapp and her younger siblings grew up singing songs, such as the Austrian folk songs that their grandfather taught them.

Growing up in rural northwest Montana in the United States, they are often asked, "Are you related to The Sound of Music Von Trapp family?"

According to the Von Trapp children, it was a question that their father, Stefan von Trapp, avoided for years as he sought a normal, quiet existence for his family in Montana.

"We were home-schooled and our mom took us to music lessons as a hobby and stuff," Sofia says.

"Eleven years ago, Grandpa got sick and we decided to do a recording for him. It ended up being a bigger project than expected, and it turned into our first CD.

"But this was never planned."

The very next year they were booked on an overseas tour to Austria and made three more CDs.

The Von Trapp Children also sing songs they collect in other parts of the world, either a capella or with an orchestra.