Olivia Ong
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Olivia Ong (born 2 October 1985) is a Singaporean singer and actress. Most of her works are in English, but she has recorded songs in
Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...
,
Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
and Japanese. In her early career, she focused on singing
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
. Now she has moved on to
Mandarin pop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; later influences came from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkien pop, an ...
.


Early life

Upon her completion of O-Level examinations at Damai Secondary School in Singapore, Ong moved to Japan to further her studies as well as her career as a solo artist. Ong, by then likened to Seiko Matsuda, had won a singing contest and was signed to Japanese recording company S2S Pte Ltd at the age of 15. Her music influences include
Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...
and
Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...
.


Career

Ong formed the
J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...
group Mirai in Singapore at the age of 15 with two other Singaporean girls. Their first single, "Open Up Your Mind", was one of the theme songs in the Japanese anime '' Gensoumaden Saiyuki''. Her début ''A Girl Meets Bossa Nova'' was released when she was 19. Tracks include a reinterpretation
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
's hits such as
Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered as one of the great exponents of Brazilian ...
's " Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars", among other jazz and pop numbers. On 17 November 2004, Olivia sang ''
Majulah Singapura "" is the national anthem of Singapore. Composed by Zubir Said in 1958 as a theme song for official functions of the City Council of Singapore, the song was selected in 1959 as the nation's anthem when it Self-governance of Singapore, attaine ...
'' at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifying rounds (Japan vs Singapore) at
Saitama Stadium 2002 , the or simply , is a football stadium located in Midori-ku, Saitama, Japan. Currently, J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds use this stadium for home games. It is the largest football-specific stadium in Japan and is one of the largest stadi ...
before the kick-off. In 2009, Ong was signed to Taiwanese record company HIM Music and became a big hit back in Singapore after she sang the theme song of the Peranakan-themed drama serial, '' The Little Nyonya''. Her first record under HIM Music was released on 5 March 2010, entitled ''Olivia''. In 2011, Ong recorded a duet, "最後一眼" (Just One Look), with label mate
Aaron Yan Aaron Yan (, born Wu Keng-lin on 20 November 1985) is a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese actor, singer, television host and businessman. He was also one of the members of Taiwanese boy band Fahrenheit (Taiwanese band), Fahrenheit. Life and caree ...
of
Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a scale of temperature, temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the German-Polish physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accou ...
, which was released in his debut EP '' The Next Me''. In 2011, Ong also appeared in the film '' It's a Great, Great World'' (大世界) as Ah Min, a young fashion photographer who stumbled across a set of old photographs taken by her late grandmother ( Yvonne Lim). She took the photographs to her grandmother's old friend, Ah Meng ( Chew Chor Meng) who might have had connections to the people in the photographs. Ah Meng then proceeds to tell 4 different stories based on each photograph, each telling a story from different generations. In 2012, Ong has been appointed Music Ambassador of the Global Chinese Music Awards, the second Singaporean artiste to be appointed the role after Joi Chua. In the same year, she also sang the 2012 National Day Parade theme song, "'' Love at First Light''". Ong appeared on the
Mediacorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...
drama
Crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece are the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings require interpretation by the performer depending ...
in 2015 where she was cast as a singer Alixia. She may also be releasing a new album. In 2023, Ong performed the 2023 National Day Parade theme song, "Shine Your Light", alongside 53A and ShiggaShay.


Discography


Studio albums


Compilations and live albums


Singles


As lead singer


Awards and nominations


Star Awards


References


External links


Olivia Ong personal websiteOlivia Ong Weibo Microblog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ong, Olivia 1985 births Living people Japanese-language singers 21st-century Singaporean women singers Singaporean film actresses Singaporean Mandopop singers Peranakan people in Singapore Singaporean television actresses 21st-century Singaporean actresses Cover artists