Na Ying (born 27 November 1967) is a Chinese singer and musical judge. She is known for her prominent roles as a judge on Chinese TV singing shows such as ''

The Voice of China ''The Voice of China'' () is a Chinese reality television singing competition broadcast on Zhejiang Television. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', the concept of the series is to find new singing talent (solo or duets) contested by as ...

''. She later transferred to the show '' Sing! China'' and remained there until 2017.

Biography

Debut

Na was born in

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the provi ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmo ...

of ethnic

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) an ...

parents. She became a member of the Liaoning Juvenile Broadcasting Chorus in 1979, and the Shenyang Singing and Dancing Troupe in 1983. In 1983, Na won the "Sunshine Ring" national singing contest and received vocal training from the famous composer

Gu Jianfen Gu Jianfen ( zh, 谷建芬; born 1935) is a Chinese composer. She is best known for writing "The Kiss from Mother", "Young Friends Come Together," and "The Affection of Green Leaves to the Roots". Early life and education Gu was born in Osaka ...

(). Na began her recording career in 1988 in Taiwan and Hong Kong. In 1991 she released her first album entitled "A single woman like me" (), which had a very moderate reception. Two years later, in 1993, she released a new album called "I hope my dreams come true" () which was not very popular either.

Success

She released her first major album ''Dreaming With You'', in 1994. Following the release of that album, she released several additional albums, becoming one of the most popular Mandarin-language artists of

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

. At the 1998 '' Spring Festival Gala'' show hosted by

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly ...

, Na sang a duet "Meet in '98" () with

Faye Wong Faye Wong ( zh, 王菲; born Xia Lin on 8 August 1969) is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter. Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong. Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong in 1987 and her debut album '' Shirley Wong'' ( ...

. Wong had already achieved fame in Hong Kong and elsewhere, but the performance with Na brought her to superstar status in China itself. Na had a relationship with Chinese footballer Gao Feng and a son by him, they separated in 2005. She married Meng Tong in 2006, and they had a daughter in 2007. Although she devoted time to her family and children from 2002 to 2009, she never quit singing, and had a prominent role at the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the Beijing

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. At the close of 2009 she performed the concert "20 Years of Na", a retrospective of her stage career, at the

Capital Gymnasium The Capital Indoor Stadium () is an indoor arena in 56 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing, China that was built in 1968. It hosted matches between national table tennis teams of China and the United States in 1971; these matches were part of the ...

. Although her 2009 single "The Journey of Love" topped the charts wherever it was released, her early song "Follow Your Instinct" remains her favourite.Mandopop diva returns
Global Times, December 25, 2009 (china.org.cn) After a hiatus of nearly nine years, Na returned to the music scene in 2011, releasing a new album called ''So... What?''. The album reached the number one position on both the mainland China and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

album charts.

The Voice of China

In 2012, Na became a coach and judge on the first season of the popular television singing show ''

'', along with

Yang Kun Yang Kun (; born 18 December 1972) is a Chinese singer-songwriter. He was one of the judges of TV talent show '' The Voice of China'' during the first season and third season of the show. He was on the first season of ''Sing My Song'' and was a c ...

Liu Huan Liu Huan (born August 26, 1963, in Tianjin) is a Chinese singer and songwriter. He is one of China's modern era pioneers in pop music. He combines his music career with teaching the history of Western music at the Beijing University of Interna ...

and

Yu Chengqing Harlem Yu (; born 28 July 1961) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, television host and businessman. He is particularly well-known for singing the theme song, ''Qing Fei De Yi'', for the 2001 television drama, '' Meteor Garden''. He made a cameo i ...

. She returned to the judges panel in 2013 for the second season of

, along with Wang Feng, Zhang Hui-mei and Yu Chengqing. Na continued being a judge on the third and fourth season of that show with Wang Feng, Yang Kun, Jay Chou and Yu Chengqing. In 2016, Na appeared on the first season of the show '' Sing! China'', along with Wang Feng, Zhou Jielun, and

. In 2017, she was also on the second season of the show along with fellow judges Zhou Jielun,

Eason Chan Eason Chan Yick Shun (born 27 July 1974) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Chan was ranked sixth in the 2013 Forbes China Celebrity Top 100 List. In 2006 Chan's Cantonese album ''U87'' was named one of ''Time'' magazine's "Five Asian Albums W ...

, and

. On 11 October 2017, Na announced through a letter that she would be resigning as a coach from ''Sing! China''.

Other projects

In 2017, she released ''NASING'', an EP featuring three songs that were used in film soundtracks. In 2018, Na Ying and Faye Wong performed together on the CCTV new year's gala singing the song "Lunar year". In early 2021, Na participated in a popular Chinese reality TV show called ''

Sisters Who Make Waves ''Sisters Who Make Waves'' () is a 2020 Chinese reality television show that was broadcast on Mango TV from 12 June to 4 September 2020. It features 30 female celebrities over 30 years old who must compete to debut in a seven-member girl group. ...

''. After winning first place during the second season, she was invited back during the third season as one of the two group captains in Spring 2022.

Discography

The following are a selection of her albums released from 1991 to 2015.

Studio albums

* 1991: 像我这样的单身女子 (A single woman like me) * 1993: 但愿好梦都成真 (I hope my dreams come true) * 1994: 為你朝思暮想 Wèi nǐ zhāo sī mù xiǎng (Dreaming with you) * 1995: 白天不懂夜的黑 Bái tiān bù dǒng yè de hēi (The day doesn't know the night) * 1998: 征服 Zhēng fú (Conquering) * 1999: 乾脆 Gān cuì (Totally) * 2000: 心酸的浪漫 Xīn suān de làng màn (Sad and romantic) * 2001: 我不是天使 Wǒ bù shì tiān shǐ (I'm not an angel) * 2002: 如今… Rújīn… (Nowadays) * 2011: 那又怎樣… Nà yòu zěn yàng… (So what?) * 2015: 默... Mò... (Sadness) * 2016: NASING (EP)

Compilationss

* 2001: Na Ying selected hits

Live albums

* 2001: Na Ying live in concert

References

External links

Na Ying Official Weibo profile
, - ! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" , Top Chinese Music Chart Awards , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Na, Ying 1967 births Living people Chinese women singers People's Republic of China Buddhists Manchu singers Manchu actresses Musicians from Shenyang Chinese Mandopop singers Singers from Liaoning