Olivia Ong (; born ) is a Singaporean singer and actress. The majority of her works are in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

, but she has also recorded songs in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. In her early days, her entertainment career 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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

covers, but she has since 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; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkien ...

Early life

After completion of her

O-level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

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 , known professionally as , is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter, known for being one of the most popular Japanese idols of the 1980s. Since then, she is still actively releasing new singles and albums, doing annual summer concert tours, win ...

, had won a singing contest and was signed to Japanese recording company

S2S Pte Ltd S2S Pte. Ltd. was a Japanese record label founded by Ken Suzuki. History S2S was founded and established in Singapore in October 1997 as an artist management and production house- S2S Pte Ltd. In 1999, S2S Inc, Japan was set up as a distribution ...

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, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

and

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...

Entertainment career (2005-present)

Ong formed the

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

group Mirai in Singapore at the age of 15 and with two other Singaporean girls. Their first single, "Open Up Your Mind", was one of the theme songs in the Japanese anime ''

Gensoumaden Saiyuki is a Japanese manga series by Kazuya Minekura which was serialized in ''G-Fantasy'' from 1997 to 2002. It spawned multiple manga sequels, several anime adaptations, live-action musicals, video games and other media. The Saiyuk ...

''. 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. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

's hits such as "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars", among other jazz and pop numbers. On 17 November 2004, Olivia sang ''

Majulah Singapura ""; ; ta, முன்னேறட்டும் சிங்கப்பூர் is the national anthem of the Republic of Singapore. Composed by Zubir Said in 1958 as a theme song for official functions of the City Council of Singapore ...

'' at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifying rounds (Japan vs Singapore) at

Saitama Stadium 2002 , often called or simply , is a football stadium located in Midori-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Currently, J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds use this stadium for home games. It is the largest football-specific stadium in Japan an ...

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 ''The Little Nyonya'' ( zh, c= ) is a 2008 drama serial on Singapore's free-to-air MediaCorp TV Channel 8. It stars Jeanette Aw, Qi Yuwu, Dai Xiangyu, Lin Meijiao, Pan Lingling, Cynthia Koh, Pierre Png, Joanne Peh, Desmond Sim, Eelyn Kok, Andi ...

''. 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 actor, singer, television host and businessman. He was also one of the members of Taiwanese boy band Fahrenheit. Life and career 1985–2005: Early life and career beginni ...

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined his ...

, which was released in his debut EP ''

The Next Me ''The Next Me'' () is the debut Mandarin solo EP by Aaron Yan of Taiwanese Mandopop quartet boy band Fahrenheit. It was released by HIM International Music on 25 March 2011 with pre-orders available from 11 March 2011. The Japanese edition was ...

''. 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 Yvonne Lim (, born 28 September 1976) is a Singaporean actress. Early life and education Lim was born to Hokkien-speaking family. She studied at CHIJ St Theresa's Convent and graduated with a Diploma in Electronic, Computer & Communication E ...

). She took the photographs to her grandmother's old friend, Ah Meng (

Chew Chor Meng Chew Chor Meng (born 20 November 1968), better known as Zhou Chuming, is a Singaporean actor. He is one of the first batch of actors to receive the All-Time Favourite Artiste award with Zoe Tay & Li Nanxing. Career Chew started his career in ...

) 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 Joi Chua (, born 3 August 1978) is a Singaporean female pop singer. Her most famous songs are "Waiting for a Sunny Day" (《等一个晴天》), "Watching the Sunrise With Me" (《陪我看日出》), the Chinese version of "Nada Soso" and "Win ...

. 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., doing business as Mediacorp and stylised as mediacorp, is a media conglomerate in Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the holding company of the Government of Singapore—it owns television, radio, and digital media prope ...

drama

Crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependi ...

in 2015 where she was cast as a singer Alixia. She may also be releasing a new album.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations and live albums

As lead singer

Awards

Star Awards

References

External links

Olivia's personal websiteOlivia王俪婷Ong personal 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