Xilinnayi Gao (; Uyghur: شىرىن اي گائو ''Shirinay Gaw''; born July 31, 1998), professionally known by her stage name Curley G or Curley Gao, is a Chinese singer-songwriter. She first gained attention in 2017 on the Chinese singing competition show ''
Sing! China
''Sing! China'' (; formerly ) is a Chinese singing competition television series broadcast on Zhejiang Television. It premiered during the summer on 15 July 2016. It is a re-branded version of '' The Voice of China'', a show based on the orig ...
''. In 2020, she participated in the survival show ''
Produce Camp 2020
Produce Camp 2020 (Chinese: 创造营2020; pinyin: ''Chuàngzàoyíng 2020''), officially known as CHUANG 2020, is a Chinese girl group reality competition show, which premiered on Tencent Video on May 2, 2020 as the third season of ''Produce 101 ...
'', finishing first and debuting as the center of the girl group
BonBon Girls 303
BonBon Girls 303 (Chinese: 硬糖少女303 Pinyin: Yìng táng shàonǚ Sān líng sān ) was a Chinese girl group, formed through the 2020 reality show ''Produce Camp 2020'' (Chuang 2020) on Tencent Video. The group consists of seven members: C ...
. She was elected as the leader of BonBon Girls 303. On July 2022, she released her first EP to mark the beginning of her solo career.
Early life
Curley Gao was born on July 31, 1998, in
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, China. She is the only daughter of a
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
father from Beijing and a Uighur mother from Xinjiang; her surname Gao is a common Han Chinese surname, while her parents decided to give her an Uighur first name, ''Shirinay'', which is transcribed in
Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
as "Xilinnayi".
She was raised in Beijing until the age of 9 and later moved to
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
with her parents. In Singapore, she attended Macpherson Primary School and Dunman High School. In the United States, attending Berkley School of Music, She took on the English name "Curley"..
She started learning piano as a child and has passed
ABRSM
The ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) is an examination board and registered charity based in the United Kingdom. ABRSM is one of five examination boards accredited by Ofqual to award graded exams and diploma qualification ...
Grade 8 piano. In 2012, she finished as a finalist in the songwriting competition Eco Music Challenge with her song ''This Is Our Paradise''. She also wrote a few songs and released them on her SoundCloud when she was in middle and high school .
Career
2016–2019: Sing! China and college life
Curley Gao auditioned for '' Sing! China season 1'' in 2016 but did not make it through the blind audition. She auditioned again for '' Sing! China season 2'' in 2017 and eventually finished as runner-up of the team mentored by
Na Ying
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''. She later transferred to the show '' Sing! China'' and remained th ...
.
After the show, she signed with 梦响强音. On December 18, 2017, she released her first song ''惹哭自己'' which was included in ''梦想在望'', the compilation album of fellow Sing! China contestants. She released several singles with 梦响强音 later, including ''颗粒季'', the first single written by herself.
In January 2019, she moved to Boston and began her study in
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
. While in college, she collaborated with different producers and released several songs independently.
2020–2022: Produce Camp 2020, BonBon Girls 303
In early 2020, Curley Gao returned to China and appeared on
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
's girl group survival show ''
Produce Camp 2020
Produce Camp 2020 (Chinese: 创造营2020; pinyin: ''Chuàngzàoyíng 2020''), officially known as CHUANG 2020, is a Chinese girl group reality competition show, which premiered on Tencent Video on May 2, 2020 as the third season of ''Produce 101 ...
''. On July 4, She finished in first place and debuted as the center of
BonBon Girls 303
BonBon Girls 303 (Chinese: 硬糖少女303 Pinyin: Yìng táng shàonǚ Sān líng sān ) was a Chinese girl group, formed through the 2020 reality show ''Produce Camp 2020'' (Chuang 2020) on Tencent Video. The group consists of seven members: C ...
. Before the debut, her first EP ''停不下来'' was released when she was still on the show..
On August 11, 2020, it was announced that Curley Gao was elected as the team leader of BonBon Girls 303.
On August 12, her single ''2030，我想对你说 (2030, I want to tell you)'' was released as the theme song of the United Nations 2020 International Youth Day Dialogue. She gave a speech titled ''用克制生活换更好的未来 (Self-control for a better future)'' and performed the theme song live as one of the Chinese Youth Advocates for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at the event. On August 25, she released two special versions of the theme song for the 9th Fight Night of ''
League of Legends
''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...
'', titled ''Fight of your life'' (English version) and ''战斗的乐章'' (Chinese version). She appeared on ''The Coming One: SUPER BAND'' on August 30 and collaborated with the band 水果星球 on an original song ''Stay With Me''.
On September 26, she performed as a guest of
Xiaoshenyang
Shen He (born 7 May 1981), better known by his stage name Xiaoshenyang (), is a Chinese actor. He was a student of Zhao Benshan and was an errenzhuan performer before joining the film and television industry.
Xiaoshenyang became famous immediate ...
in the finale of ''Crossover Singer'' season 5. From October to December, she teamed up with
Joey Yung
Joey Yung (, ; born 16 June 1980) is a Hong Kong singer and Cantopop diva signed to Emperor Entertainment Group.
Since her debut in 1996, Yung has won numerous awards, including the JSG Most Popular Female Singer and Ultimate Best Female Sin ...
Hunan Television
Hunan Television or Hunan TV () is a provincial satellite TV station officially launched on 29 September 1970 and is currently China's second-most-watched channel, second only to CCTV-1, owned by China Central Television, although Hunan STV occasio ...
's Happy Camp as a guest. In September 2021, Curley Gao participated on Masked Dancing King as "Naughty Boss (顽皮老板)". She proceeded to go to the final and won The Most Promising awards.
On January 4, 2022
Kappa
Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; el, κάππα, ''káppa'') is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value o ...
China Official announced that Curley along with
INTO1
Into1 (''pronounced as Into One'') is a multi-national Chinese boy group, formed through the 2021 reality show '' Produce Camp 2021'' (Chuang 2021) on Tencent Video. The group consists of 11 members: Liu Yu, Santa, Rikimaru, Mika, Nine, Lin Mo ...
's Mika will be their Youth Ambassador. In March 2022, Curley joined The Treasured Voice 3rd Season as a participant.
Curley Gao is also Coach Watch Brand Spokesperson.
On July 4, 2022
BonBon Girls 303
BonBon Girls 303 (Chinese: 硬糖少女303 Pinyin: Yìng táng shàonǚ Sān líng sān ) was a Chinese girl group, formed through the 2020 reality show ''Produce Camp 2020'' (Chuang 2020) on Tencent Video. The group consists of seven members: C ...
has officially disbanded due to their contract. Curley wrote their final song as a bonus.
2022–present: Solo Career
On midnight July 5, 2022, Curley Gao Studio announced her first EP 《吾》will be released on July 12.
On July 18, 2022, Curley Gao appointed as
Maybelline
Maybelline New York (formerly The Maybelline Company and Mabelline and Co.), trading as Maybelline ( ), is an American multinational cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company, based in New York City. It was founded in Chicago ...
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...