Liao Xiao Jie (born Chinese: 廖俊傑; pinyin: Liào Jùn Jié; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liāu Chùn-kia̍t), also known as Xiao Jie or Liljay, is a member of a trio boyband, JPM, with Qiu Wang Zi and Qiu Mao Di.
He was a former member of Lollipop, a Taiwanese Mandopop boyband, which consists of six members, Zhuang Ao Quan/Owodog, Qiu Wang Zi/Prince, Yang Xiao Yu/Fabien, Liao Wei Lian/William, Liu A-wei, and himself. They were all chosen from Channel [V] Taiwan's show Bang Bang Tang (BBT 模范棒棒堂), a show which sought to create new male artists in the entertainment business of Taiwan.
Lollipop signed under the label Gold Typhoon (formerly EMI Capitol) and Channel [V] Taiwan in 2006. However, their artist management contract with Channel [V] Taiwan ended at the end of 2009. Liao is now signed under A Legend Star Entertainment Corp., a company founded by former Channel [V] Taiwan director, Andy Chang.
Liao Xiao Jie's family consists of his parents, a younger sister, and a younger brother. His younger brother was also a member of Bang Bang Tang II, but he was eliminated in the second round. He also owns a female Chow Chow, called Lolly. It was bought by him and Zhuang Ao Quan in 2009.
In his childhood, Liao studied in Taipei Municipal Hulu Elementary School, Taipei Municipal Chongqing Junior School, and Taipei Municipal Song Shan High School of Commerce. He then went on to attend Takming University of Science and Technology where he met Zhuang. However, due to their busy lives after joining Lollipop, they later transferred to Hsing Wu College, where he is currently a student in the Department of Applied English.
2006–2007: The formation of Lollipop
Besides studying in the same school, him and Zhuang are also members of a Taiwanese breakdance group Black Angle Crew. In June 2006, they went to Bang Bang Tang (BBT) Taipei audition together and both were selected into "Bang Bang Tang" television show. The first episode of BBT was aired on August 14, 2006.
On November 27, 2006, the episode in which the six members of Lollipop were selected and revealed was aired. He was the first member to be selected into Lollipop. The members signed a contract to Channel V, and Dora Ao became their agent. They, then, officially signed a contract with EMI Capitol on December 2, 2006, appointing Zhuang as the leader of the newly formed group Lollipop. On December 9, 2006, Lollipop made its first public performance as a group at the V-Power Music Storm Concert.
2007-08: Acting, Hosting, and Music debut
Lollipop's first EP, Colorful Lollipop was released on January 26, 2007, with six different covers, each featuring a member of the group. Four months later, on May 25, a second EP titled Summer's First Experience was released along with a photobook compiled with photos taken in Okinawa, as well as a DVD. Lyrics were written by Qiu and himself for the song "Summer's First Experience."
During the summer of 2007, Liao and the other members of Lollipop made their acting debut in the drama Brown Sugar Macchiato, a collaboration with Hey Girl. The first episode was aired in Taiwan on July 15, 2007. Later, Lollipop admits on Kangxi Lai Le that the drama had been more of an introduction of the two groups instead of a major acting challenge, as the members were told to act like themselves, and that many subplots were explained only briefly due to the large number of main characters. After thirteen episodes, the drama ended on October 7, 2007. They released an official soundtrack, then, with songs from Lollipop and Hey Girl. Liao wrote the lyrics for the opening theme of the said drama, entitled "黑糖秀"(Hei Tang Xiu).
On September 26, 2007, Lollipop visited Hong Kong to promote their television soundtrack Brown Sugar Macchiato. This was their first overseas promotional activity ever since their debut, and a huge fan turnout caused a great commotion at the shopping mall where they were having their autograph session. At the same time, Liao celebrated his birthday with thousands of fans in this event. At the same year, Lollipop began hosting their own show Lollipop Gyashan (LOLLIPOP哪裡怕) on October 27 until April 19, 2008, when the show stopped airing.
Lollipop's debut album Gyashan (哪裡怕) was released on December 28, 2007. Gyashan entered Mandarin charts in the number one position, outselling F4's album Waiting for You – Await Your Love (在這裡等你) which was released on the same day. Liao contributed lyrics to three of the ten songs in this album. On January 26, 2008, a year after the release of their first EP, Lollipop held its debut concert at the Taipei Arena. The concert DVD was released on June 6, 2008, breaking chart records with sales rates of more than 35%. The DVD has topped the charts for a period of one month since.
2008-09: Graduation from BBT, I Am Legend Album and tours
Lollipop had been appearing regularly on Bang Bang Tang since August 14, 2006. With Channel [V]'s decision to select a new batch of boys and create a second season, Lollipop and most of the other members "graduated" from Bang Bang Tang after their last performances as members of the show. Their last official episode aired on August 29, 2008, marking the end of the first season. In total, the members of Lollipop had participated in more than 500 episodes of the show. However, since the start of Bang Bang Tang II, Liao had returned to the show as guest and co-host on several occasions.
After graduation from Bang Bang Tang television show, Liao began hosting Na Li Wu Da Kang (哪裡5打坑) with Zhuang, Liu A-wei, Hey Girl's Apple and Channel V's VJ Rong Jia. The first episode was aired on September 7, 2008, while the last episode was aired on November 30, 2008. During this period, Liao also guest starred in The Legend of Brown Sugar Chivalries, as well as writing lyrics for two songs in this drama, including the opening theme, Cang Jing Ge (藏經閣). On October 3, 2008, the original soundtrack was released by Gold Typhoon. Two editions were released for the soundtrack, one being a 10,000 limited edition.
In November, 2008, Liao was injured during one of their dance practices. He performed with an injury in Singapore's Music Monster Festival on November 22, 2008 and V-Power Love Music Concert on November 29. The V-Power concert united Liao, Zhuang, and Liu with other Black Angle Crew members for a dance performance. Lollipop's participation in the concert also marks, symbolically, the second anniversary of the group's formation. A week later, on December 6, 2008, Lollipop performed four songs with themes of wushu at the 45th Golden Horse Awards ceremony. Liao wrote the rap for one of the songs in this performance.
In February, 2009, Channel [V] began filming its revamped version and new season of Bang Bang Tang, which marked the return of several members from the first season, which includes Lollipop. Bang Bang Tang III began airing on March 2, 2009, with Show Lo being the first guest star. However, with show host Fan Fan leaving the show to focus on her musical career, Bang Bang Tang's last episode was aired on July 30, 2009. In 2009, Lollipop made its first lyric contributions to other artists, which are included in the mini album of the group Choc7, composed of seven members selected from the same show.