I vaguely know about celebrities who have appeared on shows like “The Voice” and “America’s Got Talent”, but what lesser known stories do you have to share?
Of course, mine are about Asian celebrities. 
Kim So Hye
Lacking traditional beauty, dance or singing skills, So Hye took 5th place out of 101 contestants in Produce 101, a Korean variety show created to create the 11 member KPop group IOI (Ideal of Ideals). Sadly, since the IOI members were from different agencies, it lasted only a year (as planned), but became one of the most popular and missed KPop groups.
Despite her shortcomings, So Hye captivated viewers worldwide because of her personality and continued determination to improve. Her dancing skills so drastically after practicing all night for her second dance evaluation, her trainer broke out in tears.
So Hye Evolution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du3802Ra0BI (Trivia: The three girls in black are part of Dia, the group who originally sang the song that So Hye performs in her first audition in front of the judges. And the girl on the right, Jung Chae Yeon, would join So Hye in IOI).
The other nine members have gone on debuting in successful KPop groups or solo careers (the #1 member, Somi is scheduled to debut in 2019) and So Hye has continued on to her goal of becoming an actress, starring in several web dramas and scheduled to appear on the big screen this year.
Yang Chao Yue
Following the success of Produce 101 and IOI, there have been three official sequels, including a Chinese version, Produce 101 China. Like the original show, 101 Chinese contestants from different agencies competed to form an 11 member MandoPop group, Rocket Girls. Everyone was anticipating who would be the next So Hye and the show didn’t disappoint when Yang Chao Yue ranked #3 in the group.
Unlike So Hye, Chao Yue looks like a literal Chinese doll, and never really did improve her dance, singing and stage presence skills so drastically as So Hye did. However, like So Hye, her personality, determination and strive to improve won over the Chinese audience.
What makes Chao Yue’s story so much more amazing and fairytale, is that after her mother left her father because of their poverty, Chao Yue left school at age 12 to work to relieve the economic pressure on her father. She worked as a waitress and garment worker, and became somewhat well known for her cosplay. She got to be on Produce 101 China because she auditioned with 40 other girls to become part of a local dance group
Her original audition here where one of the people judging the audition recognizes Chao Yue’s appeal: Yang Chaoyue in the ￥2000 audition 2016 - YouTube And her Produce 101 China audition here (jump to 22m:20s): https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6if7jh
Wei Min Zhi
At age 13, Min Zhi starred in Zhang Yimou’s (Raise the Red Lantern, The Road Home, Hero) Not One Less (1999) as Min Zhi, a young girl from a rural town brought into a rural Chinese school as a temporary teacher of elementary students. Like all the non-actors in the movie, Min Zhi was from a poor rural village and would have little chance of leaving that village as she grew older.
She got the lead role after joining her twin sister to an audition and getting the role after her sister was too shy shout loudly in a public square. Min Zhi hadn’t planned to audition, but acted out the role and won the lead over 20 thousand others.
After the movie (which featured all rural non-actors, playing themselves), Min Zhi’s popularity in China allowed her to make a commercial in which she dressed and acted as her character in the film. Rather than pursue an acting career, as Zhang said: [She’s] “not as beautiful as those actresses [Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi ]and her body not as good”, she was prompted and assisted by Zhang to pursue a career in film directing and attempted to enter the School of Directing at Beijing Film Academy, but failed the entrance exam. However, she did get into the Western Film and Media School, Xi’an International Studies University the same year.
Her rags to riches story would have been remarkable enough if it ended there, but it gets even better. In 2004, a BYU Hawaii professor, Chen Ergang visited China on a mission to encourage the ideal “not one child to be left behind” and met Min Zhi. And Two years later he helped her attain a full scholarship to BYU Hawaii with a focus on directing.
In 2008, she married in Hawaii and the latest news as of 2015 is that she has graduated, has a son and was pursuing a career in directing.
http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/news/newsmakers/1511/335-1.htm