Born in Shillong at the foot of the Himalayas and raised in Toronto by a half Chinese mother and a father from Madras, the ever-alluring Karen was never one to be confined by traditional boundaries. The stylish singer, songwriter and actress may be this years hottest new thing, but Karen is no stranger to the world of showbiz. Handpicked by Bill Cosby to star alongside him in a TV commercial for Jell-O at the age of six, the multi-talented 26-year-old has spent her whole life doing what she does best, putting on dazzling performances to win admirers wherever she goes. At 17, she won a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College Of Music in Boston to study jazz and gospel, where she discovered her flair for songwriting. In 1999, she was voted Best Unsigned Artist in a showcase held by the giant US performing rights organisation BMI. With two recent collaborations with A R Rahman, recorded at his Panchathan Record Inn studios in Chennai, India, Karen has been receiving extensive airplay across numerous radio stations. "I Need You," her first single from her forthcoming album "Me Versus Me" is already becomign an instant hit with her South Asian fans, partly because it samples the notoriously cheeky Hindi classic Choli Ke Piche, which literally translates as 'whats behind my blouse?