Kaira Gong

Kaira Gong (simplified Chinese: 龚诗嘉; traditional Chinese: 龔詩嘉; pinyin: Gǒng Shījiā, born 25 July 1981 in Singapore) is a Singaporean singer whose family is of Shanghainese descent. She is signed with Taiwanese HIM International Music, and is best known as the protégé of Taiwanese musician David Tao, as well as the label-mate of pop group S.H.E.[1]

Kaira Gong
Kaira Gong during a concert in 2007
Born (1981-07-25) 25 July 1981
Singapore
OccupationSinger
Years active2005–present
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese龔詩嘉
Simplified Chinese龚诗嘉
Musical career
OriginSingapore
GenresMandarin pop
LabelsHIM International Music (2005–2007)

She sang the theme song for Singapore's National Day Parade, 2006, titled "My Island Home".[2] On 25 December 2007, HIM International terminated its contract with Gong's management company.[3]

Life and career

Gong was born and grew up in Singapore. She is the number two and the only female child in the family. Her father is an engineer while her mother is a housewife. She was highly active and rebellious during her childhood days and was involved in a fight with one of her standard 4 classmates. She has loved to sing since her childhood due to the influence of her elder brother but she never thought of becoming a singer. She was in the school choir from standard one until standard six. She also learned piano for six years. She later pursued her studies in English literature and planned to become a primary school teacher.[1][4] Gong studied at Pei Chun Public School, Nanyang Girls' High School, Raffles Junior College, and the National University of Singapore.[5]

In 2000, Gong's senior who wanted to participate in a songwriting competition at National University of Singapore approached her and asked if Gong could sing on a music piece for him because he could not reach high notes in the song piece. Gong agreed to help and she won the "Best Performance Award" in that competition. She was then invited by Goh Kheng Long (吳慶隆) to sign a recording contract for her debut album production in Taiwan. Gong had never travelled outside Singapore before and she admitted that she was shy in nature. However, after some thoughts and encouragement from her family and friends, she accepted the offer 2 years after she was invited by Goh and before her graduation in 2003.[1][4] Since then, the senior whom Gong only wanted to be identified as "Carl" has lost contact with her.[6]

Gong prepared for 5 months for the production of her debut album Kaira (好,詩嘉).[1] She was involved in the production of 7 songs in her album, most of which are based on the theme of love. Goh became the producer of her album. David Tao was also roped in to co-write the song "Far Apart but together" (遠遠在一起). Ella Chen of the S.H.E group also made a guest appearance of the music video of her first single, "To Have It Once Again" (再一次擁有). She cared for Gong's well-being and also taught Gong some tips and tricks of acting. Gong's album has been listed on Taiwan's G-Music Chart at No 16.[1][7] The song "To Have It Once Again" remained in the UFM 100.3's top 20 chart for 2 months.[6]

The title of her debut album (simplified Chinese: 好,诗嘉; traditional Chinese: 好,詩嘉; pinyin: Hǎo, Shījiā) is a play on the Chinese name for Scarlett O'Hara (Chinese: 郝思嘉; pinyin: Hǎo Sījiā), the protagonist of Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and 1939 film of the same title.[8]

In January 2006, Gong was reported to have cried on a Taiwanese TV show Love 9.30 (愛上九點半) hosted by Jacky Wu, after the latter asked her some tough questions. However Gong was quick to emphasise that she was just homesick at that time.[1] Gong admitted that she was still nervous in front of the camera and she will keep quiet when she cannot speak fast enough like her Taiwan counterparts.

During her performance in 2009 Singapore Entertainment Awards, Gong indicated that she was busy working on her second album. Goh was also expected to participate in the production but the expected release date has not been determined.[9]

Other works

Gong became a spokesperson for Ragnarok Online in December 2005, and also filmed a promotional video for the game.[10] During the 2011 Singapore Total Defence campaign, Gong was one of the 39 artists who took part in the production of "Home" music video.[11]

Discography

Albums
  • Kaira 好,詩嘉 (November 2005)
  • Kaira, repackaged with NDP tracks and MTV DVD (July 2006)

Soundtrack contributions
  • The Ties That Bind 《家财万贯》 ("Running" 奔跑, "Missed" 思念), 2004
  • Reaching for the Stars 《真命天女》 ("To Have It Once Again" 再一次擁有 ), December 2005
  • Tokyo Juliet 《東方茱麗葉》 ("Cannot Let Go" 放不下), July 2006
  • The Hospital 《白色巨塔》 ("When You Leave for a Little While" 妳要離開一些時候), August 2006
  • Her Many Faces 《有你终生美丽》 ("Raining Tears" 哭雨), July 2008

References
  1. "S'pore singer bursts into tears on Taiwan TV". The New Paper. 15 January 2006. Archived from the original on 2 May 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  2. "NDP@Marina Bay: Multimedia". NDP Executive Committee. Archived from the original on 10 December 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  3. 最新公告!祝福詩嘉~~ [News! Good luck to Kaira]. HIM International Music. 25 December 2007. Archived from the original on 24 May 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
  4. "好女聲、好詩嘉！(上) －龔詩嘉 (Nice female vocal, Nice Kaira (part 1))" (in Chinese). Youthwant.com. 19 December 2005. Archived from the original on 4 January 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  5. "Colours of Kaira, About Kaira". omy.sg. 5 September 2007. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  6. "She can't get close to family". The Straits Times. 14 January 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  7. 好女聲、好詩嘉！(下) －龔詩嘉 [Nice female vocal, Nice Kaira (Part 2)] (in Chinese). Youthwant.com. 26 December 2005. Archived from the original on 17 January 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  8. 華研國際音樂 龔詩嘉 好,詩嘉 [HIM International Music, Kaira Gong] (in Chinese). HIM International Music. Archived from the original on 23 October 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  9. 本地'女声'再出发 [Local female vocals to start again] (in Chinese). My Paper. 2 June 2009. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  10. 龔詩嘉為廣告批婚紗 [Kaira puts on wedding dress for advertisement shooting]. yam.com (in Chinese). 2006. Archived from the original on 18 March 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  11. "Fact Sheet: "Home" Music Video". Ministry of Defence (Singapore). 15 February 2011. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
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