Year in review: Top 20 Asian women of 2005

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#10 - Aishwarya Rai

If you don't know her already, you will. Aishwarya Rai has been dubbed the 'Queen of Bollywood' with more than 30 films to her credit. This year she announced that she was going to Hollywood.

Her career as a model began more than ten years ago when she was in school where she resisted offers to be in Bollywood movies, but once she was crowned Miss World in 1994, she was inundated with offers that she literally could not refuse. Ten years on Aishwarya is no less stunning and she has proven herself as an actress.

She now faces the prospect of crossing over from India's Bollywood where even an on screen kiss is enough to work people into a lather, to America's Hollywood where sex on screen seems to be a natural part of the formula for movie making.

Aishwarya was asked recently during an interview if she would be willing to nude or love scenes if the script called for it, she answered ambigiously, "We'll cross the bridge when we reach it."

With the power that Bollywood wields in Asian cinemas, it will be nice to see the beautiful Indian leading lady Aishwarya gracing the screens of western cinemas via Hollywood.

#9 - Lee Hyori

(a/k/a: Lee Hyo-Ri and Lee Hyo-lee) Lee Hyori was born on May 10th, 1979 in Choong Book, Korea. Noted by many as the hottest Korean girl on that planet. As the leader of popular singer group FINKL (Fine Killing Liberty), Hyori was discovered while taking sticker pics with her friends at the mall. Ever since then, lots of guys fell in love with this Korean beauty.

Hyori is a very well-known model and spokesperson as well, for Samsung (and their "Anycall" range of phones), FR Jeans, GGPX New York, Biotherm Korea, G-Market, Dove, Delmonte and Samsachun.

Her magazine resumé includes AnAn, Ceci, Ecole, InStyle, Khaki Girl, Luxury Wedding, Seventeen, Stylish Fashion Message, Travel & Leisure, Women We Love and most recently Harper's Bazaar, Cosmo, Ceci and Bokumaro.

Hyori also regularly appears in television adverts for Samsung and G-Market. In October 2005 the long-awaited follow-up to the very successful Samsung "Anycall" was released, dubbed "Anycall 2", to wide acclaim and accompanied the launch of a flagship Samsung Anycall Centre in Seoul, opened by Hyori.

In November 2005, Hyori was once again chosen to be the face of GGPX New York's winter range of clothing, fronting the GGPX Winter Collection with a very high profile advertising campaign in her native Korea.

Hyori is currently working on her second album, which will be released in December, 2005 (title still unknown) and a digital album with Fin. K.L. which was released online mid-October 2005. On August 8, 2005 she co-hosted the annual Korean Music Festival for the second year running, to wide acclaim once again.

#8 - Natt Chanapa

(a/k/a: Natt Kesarin, Nong Natt and Kesarin Chaichalermpol) Oh, Nong Natt - how we love thee! This mainstream Thai model and actress first made headlines in 2004 when it emerged that she had appeared in hardcore pornography film much to the angst of Thai authorities who fancy their society as a 'conservative Buddhist nation.'

Natt was chaged in 2004 under the Thai obscenity laws and asked to appear to answer the charges, which she failed to do. Fast forward to 2005, Asian Sex Gazette was the first to exclusively report the existance of a second Natt Chanapa video in February of 2005.

Finally in August of this year Nong Natt showed up quietly at a Thai police station in Bangkok with her "girlfriend" to answer the charges and pay her fine of 4,000 THB (aboout USD $100). After appearing to the police she made a brief statement to the media that she just wanted to be left alone and go home with her girlfriend.

We love the way she always keeps us interested.

#7 - Zhang Ziyi

Born in Beijing in the People's Republic of China, Zhang joined the Beijing Dance Academy at the age of 11, and at 15 she entered China's prestigious Central Academy of Drama.

At the age of 19, she was offered her first role in world renowned director Zhang Yimou's The Road Home, which won the Silver Bear award in the 2000 Berlin Film Festival.

Zhang further rose to fame due to her role in the phenomenally successful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which she won the Independent Spirit's Best Supporting Actress Award and the Toronto Film Critics' Best Supporting Actress Award.

She plays the leading role of Sayuri in the adaptation of the international bestseller Memoirs Of A Geisha, with Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li, and Ken Watanabe, produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Rob Marshall. The movie was released in this month. and Ziyi has received a Best Actress - Drama Golden Globe nomination for her role.

Ziyi has also been known to sing, and was featured on the House Of Flying Daggers Soundtrack with her own musical rendition of the ancient Chinese poem 'Jia Rén Qu' (佳人曲, The Song of Feminine Beauty). The song was also featured in a scene in the movie.

In June this year, it was announced that Ziyi had accepted an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), making the actress amongst the ranks of those able to vote on the Academy Awards.

#6 - Hiromi Oshima

Exotic Model Hiromi Oshima was Playboy Miss June 2004. Tokyo born beauty now resides in Miami. Hiromi Oshima just started modeling two years ago.

Hiromi has said she was too 'buxom' to be Japanese model, which we don't quite understand but we're not going to second guess her. But her height: 5'4", weight: 108 lb, and measures: 34/22/34 account for beautiful and tight body.

Since her first appearance in Playboy she has become a very successful nude model. Hiroma Oshima is the cover girl of Playboy's Exotic Beauties 2003 with 5 pages solo plus 4 pages of girl-girl poses.

She is featured in Playboy's Girlfriends together with Susie Lin and in Playboy's Nudes.

All together she has made 8 appearances in Playboy and their special editions. The 25 year old Japanese beauty has proven she is here to stay.

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