Early Life. Actor, director, producer. Born April 7, 1954, in Hong Kong, China. When his parents moved to Australia to find new jobs, the 7-year-old Chan was left behind to study at the Chinese Opera Research Institute, a Hong Kong boarding school. For the next 10 years, Chan studied martial arts, drama, acrobatics and singing, and was subjected to stringent discipline, including corporal punishment for poor performance.
It's fair to say the Judges seem a little sceptical when 12-year-old schoolgirl Maia Gough reveals her musical idol is Whitney Houston.But the young singer from South Wales has the entire audience on their feet following her powerful performance of I Have Nothing.t's fair to say the Judges seem a little sceptical when 12-year-old schoolgirl Maia Gough reveals her musical idol is Whitney Houston.
Maia is the Oscan Earth-Goddess, and an ancient Roman Goddess of springtime, warmth, and increase. She causes the plants to grow through Her gentle heat, and the month of May is probably named for Her. Her name means She Who is Great, and is related to Oscan mais and Latin majus, both of which mean more. She is also called Maia Maiestas, Maia the Majestic, which is essentially a doubling of Her name to indicate Her power, as both Maia and Maiestas have their roots in latin magnus, great or powerful.