IN: Soraya Raquel Lamilla Cuevas (March 11, 1969 - May 10, 2006) was a Colombian-American singer/songwriter, guitarist, arranger and record producer. A successful Colombian music star, she had two number-one songs on Billboard's Latin Pop Airplay charts. She won a 2004 Latin Grammy Award for "Best Album by Songwriter" for the self-titled album Soraya , which she produced, and received a 2005 Latin Grammy Award nomination for "Female Pop Vocal Album" for her album El Otro Lado de Mi (literally "The Other Side of Me"). She was the opening act for the 2005 Billboard Latin Music Awards.

Soraya Raquel Lamilla Cuevas was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, a year after her father, mother, and brother moved to the United States from their native Colombia. The family moved back to Colombia when she was a baby, but when Soraya was eight years old, they returned to New Jersey. "Soraya" is a common name in the Middle East, and its meaning can be translated "Galaxy" and not "rich" or "princess". Soraya's maternal relatives were Lebanese Christians who emigrated from Lebanon to Colombia. Soraya's mother, Yamila Cuevas Gharib, had been a housewife in Colombia. Soraya's father, Gregorio Lamilla, worked for an exporting company in Colombia. In the U.S., life was hard for the family, so to make ends meet, he worked three or four jobs.  Soraya first became interested in music at age 5 when she heard her uncle playing music in Colombia. He played "Pueblito Viejo", a Colombian traditional folk song using an instrument called the tiple, which is a kind of guitar with triple strings. Her parents bought her a guitar, which she taught herself how to play. She became proficient in classical violin, and her first public performance was at Carnegie Hall in New York City as a member of the N.Y.C. Youth Philharmonic. She was valedictorian of her class at Point Pleasant Boro High School, where she began writing her own music.  Soraya was 12 years old when her mother was first diagnosed with breast cancer, 18 when her mother had a recurrence, and 22 when her mother died in 1992. Soraya said that her sense of responsibility increased because she needed to take care of her mother and do all the household chores. She would also accompany her mother to the doctor's office; together they did breast-cancer research and participated in the Race for the Cure.  Soraya attended Rutgers University in New Jersey, where she studied English literature, French philosophy, and women's studies. Initially, she worried that she might be too shy to play before big crowds, but she eventually triumphed over her fear and realized her tremendous talent as a live performer when she played to rapt audiences at coffee houses and rallies around the sprawling Rutgers campus. She worked as a flight attendant before starting her music career.
QUESTION: When is Soraya's birthday?
IN: Yen was born in Guangzhou, China. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a Fu Style Wudangquan (internal martial arts) and Tai Chi grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen (Zhen Yun Long ), is a newspaper editor. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong and then to Boston when he was 11. His younger sister, Chris Yen, is also a martial artist and actress, and appeared in the 2007 film Adventures of Johnny Tao: Rock Around the Dragon.

Donnie Yen was a rebel when he was young due to the huge expectations and pressures from his parents, as his mother is the founder of the Chinese Wushu Research Institute in Boston, and his father was a scholar and a musician. Yen joined a Chinatown gang in Boston, MA, in his early years. He was a very curious teenager who sought to exchange martial arts knowledge with people from different martial arts backgrounds, which led to him gaining profound knowledge in practical martial arts and having a reputation as a street brawler.  One reported occasion confirms Yen as being an efficient martial artist. According to news reports by Hong Kong news channels in the late 1990s, Yen was at a nightclub with his then girlfriend, Joey Meng. Inside the nightclub, Joey was harassed by a troublesome gang that had taken an interest in her. Yen warned them to leave her alone, but they persisted to cause trouble. As Yen and Joey left the club, the gang followed and attacked Yen. Yen beat up eight members of the gang who were later hospitalized.  Malaysian Martial Arts Star Michelle Yeoh has said that Donnie Yen is the fastest guy she has worked with. Other martial arts stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li have also stated that Yen may be the best fighter in terms of practical combat in the Asian cinematic universe.  World class fighters, such as former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le and former World Boxing Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson, who have worked with Donnie Yen in the films Bodyguards and Assassins and Ip Man 3, respectively, have both claimed that Donnie Yen is an incredible martial artist and would do well in authentic combat. While filming Ip Man 3, crew members were afraid that Mike Tyson, who had been a professional boxer, would forget the choreography and throw real punches to injure Yen. However, it was ultimately Yen who fractured Tyson's finger while using his elbow to block Tyson's punches.
QUESTION:
Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?