Leah Dizon

Leah Dizon

Leah Dizon (リア・ディゾン) is a model, gravure idol, race queen and singer from Las Vegas. She is a famous import model, who sold over 200,000 copies of her first photobook, Petite Amie. In 2006 she debuted under Victor with a digital download cover of Kylie Minogue's song FEVER, and later in 2007 debuted with her first single. Her most successful single is currently Koi Shiyou♪, which she performed at Kouhaku Uta Gassen in 2007.

Profile

• Full name: Leah Donna Dizon (リア・ドナ・ディゾン)
• Birthdate: September 24, 1986
• Birthplace: Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
• Blood Type: O
• Height: 167cm / 5'6"
• Weight: 52kg
• Bra size: C
• Shoe size: 24cm
• Nationality: American
• Spoken languages: English, a little Japanese, spoke a bit of Tagalog when she was little
• Hobbies: Singing, dancing, shopping, drawing, tennis, badminton
• Favorite foods: Pho, McDonalds, Shabu-Shabu, Yakiniku
• Favorite books: A Catcher in the Rye, The Kitchen God's Wife, Harry Potter, Memoirs of a Geisha, Of Mice and Men, The Slaughterhouse Five, The Virgin Suicides
• Favorite musicians: Amber Barry, Amuro Namie, B'z, Cassie, Deftones, GLAY, Hamasaki Ayumi, Kanzaki Keishi, Korn, Moriyama Naotaro, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shiina Ringo, The Smashing Pumpkins, Utada Hikaru, X JAPAN

Information

Dizon was born in Las Vegas, and was the fourth-born of seven children. Her father was a Chinese-Filipino pastor and her mother was a French-American casino director. She has four brothers and one sister, and is extremely close to her brother Brad. When she was at High School, she considered herself a loner and did not have many friends.

She originally wanted to go to University after High School, but could not save up enough money. Instead, she moved to Los Angeles and did various types of work, such as working in a go go bar, posing as a lingerie model, being a race queen and an event companion. She even set up her own website in 2005 (leahdizon.com, now redirected to her official Japanese site), attracting a lot of traffic (especially from Japan). She started to mail Japanese entertainment companies, in hope of making a break there. Her demo tape featured a recording of Amuro Namie's I WILL. In spring 2006 she was signed to Sky Corporation talent agency. When she travelled to Japan in April 2006, she only had $200US with her.

She started writing a blog about her experiences in July 2006, in both Japanese and English. In October she released her first photobook, called Petite Amie, as well as her first musical release: FEVER, a cover of the Kylie Minogue song of the same name. Petite Amie was a smash hit photbook, selling over 200,000 copies and becoming one of the most sold photobooks of the year.

From February 1 2007, Leah Dizon auctioned off some valentine's day chocolates for a charity cause. By the 6th, the cohocolated were selling for ¥900,000, and by the end date of the auction managed to rack up a final bid of ¥8,421,000. On Valentines day, Dizon debuted with her first single, Softly. It was a ballad, however the single's more up-tempo B-side Everything Anything also received a music video. Both were shot when Dizon travelled to Australia in November 2006. The single eventually reached #7 on Oricon charts. Dizon's second single, Koi Shiyou♪, was released in May. It was an upbeat J-Pop-style dance song, and reached #7 on the charts as well (though eventually outsold Softly).

Dizon started to collaborate with famed photographer Leslie Kee, who shot the cover shoot for her third single L·O·V·E U, as well as later on shooting for her HEAVEN photobook and 2008 calendar. L·O·V·E U preceded her debut album, Destiny Line, by only a few weeks, and hence was a lot less successful than her other singles. Her debut album, showing Dizon with a more conservative image, peaked at #9.

Dizon held her first live in November, and later performed at Kouhaku Uta Gassen in December. Her new single, Love Paradox, will be released on the same day that her first overseas live in Taiwan will be staged.

In 2008, Leah Dizon would tearfully announced at her concert that she was going to marry a Japanese hair stylist and was going on a break due to being pregnant. She gave birth to her first child, a daughter, on April 24, 2009.

Trivia

• Utada Hikaru is a big fan of Dizon, and gave her song, Kiss & Cry, the tentative title "Dancing Leah".
• Leah Dizon's brother Brad Dizon is the vocalist/guitarist of the band Before You Fall, and videos of him singing can be seen on YouTube. He also helped Leah compose her song Again and Again, when he visited her in Tokyo in May 2007.
• Dizon has a pet hamster called "Hamuchan".
• Dizon considered modelling as a gravure model as a means to and end, as she actually preferred being a singer.
• Dizon writes her own lyrics, but wants to start composing her own music in 2008.

Discography

Albums

• [2007.09.12] Destiny Line
• [2008.09.12] Communication!!!

Singles

• [2007.02.14] Softly
• [2007.05.30] Koi Shiyou♪ (恋しよう♪; Let's Love)
• [2007.08.08] L·O·V·E U
• [2008.03.26] Love Paradox
• [2008.06.25] Vanilla

Digital Download

• [2006.10.05] FEVER
• [2007.07.25] Koi Shiyou♪ ~yasutaka nakata-capsule mix~ (恋しよう♪; Let's Love)

Photobooks

• [2006.10.01] Petite Amie
• [2007.02.14] Haro Leah! Hello! Leah (ハロリア! Hello! Leah)
• [2007.10.05] HEAVEN
• [2008.03.26] Pure Leah! (ピュアリア!)

Videography

Movies

• [2006] Traffic in the Sky (トラフィック・イン・ザ・スカイ)

DVDs

• [2007.07.27] LEAH DIZON in USA

External Links

• Official Website (Japanese)
• Official Record Label Website (Japanese)
• Official Blog (Japanese/English)
• Official Twitter (Japanese/English)
• Oricon Profile
• Fanlisting
• Leah Dizon Fansite