ANGELIC is the perfect word to describe upcoming Taiwanese singer Jessie Chiang.

Her sweetie-pie face and luscious locks are the envy of many teenage girls.

And in an industry where petite starlets are all the rage - think Angela Chang and Rainie Yang - the 1.67m-tall 22-year-old Jessie is a breath of fresh air.

And she's quirky too. For example, the pretty lass loves balloons.

In promotional photos taken for her maiden album Teruterubozu, she wows in a striking balloon dress which most people wouldn't be able to carry off.

Teruterubozu (which means sunshine doll in Japanese) refers to an amulet used in Japan to bring about good weather.

And the 'amulet' seems to be working, considering that the model-turned-singer has been lauded by her record label Avex Taiwan as the next big thing.

A renowned cast of musicians was assembled for her debut effort. This included American-Taiwanese singer Wilber Pan and Jessie's rumoured boyfriend, Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou.

In fact, Jessie's first single Teruterubozu, was featured in Jay's 2007 film, Secret.

While rumours of the alleged pairing has brought her into the limelight, Jessie has fervently denied the romance.

She told online news site Xmwww.com that Jay doesn't seem to have any patience with her and 'if he ever taught her piano, he would immediately give up'.

YUMMY FACTOR: 4 out of 5

This article was first published in The New Paper on Feb 3, 2009.