| Nicole Lai | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | 黎珈仪 | ||
| Birth name | Lai Pei Yee | ||
| Origin | Malaysia | ||
| Born | February 26, 1974 Penang |
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| Died | September 6, 2008 (aged 34) Singapore |
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| Resting place | Christian Columbarium, The Garden of Remembrance, 920 Old Choa Chu Kang Road, Singapore 699815 Niche: 4y02(6)219 |
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| Other name(s) | Niguolai (你过来) | ||
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter, Backing vocalist, Vocal Trainer, Performer, Record Producer | ||
| Genre(s) | Mandopop | ||
| Instrument(s) | Piano, Drums, Guitar | ||
| Children | Carmen Ang (Daughter) | ||
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Awards
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Nicole Lai (February 26, 1974 – September 6, 2008) was a singer-songwriter, backing vocalist, vocal trainer and performer in the Republic of Singapore. She died in September 2008 at Singapore General Hospital.
Local and overseas newspapers, and local magazines published breaking news of her sudden death.[2][3][4] This breaking news generated much interest among the people in Singapore. As a result, on 8 September 2008, the name "Nicole Lai" is the 4th highest searched-name in Google Singapore.[5][6] Singapore's biggest English newspaper publication Straits Times on 26 September 2008 reported that "Fame comes too late for this singer"[7] and "Late Singer gets own CD at last."[8] The following week, this news has also became one of the most-read article on AsiaOne[9] on-line portal. One month after her death, on 13 October 2008, Malaysia's biggest Mandarin newspaper publication, Sin Chew Jit Poh (or Sin Chew Daily - Johor Edition) still continue published entertainment headline news of her death. This same article is also available on their on-line portal - SinChew-i.com[10]
Nicole's close friends released a remembrance EP album for Nicole in September 2009. The songs are co-written by Lee Shih Shiong and Stefanie Sun, sung by her daughter, Carmen Ang.
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Nicole was born on 26 February 1974 in Penang. Her nickname Niguolai (你过来) was given to her by her good friend and singer-songwriter, Stefanie Sun. This nickname simply means "You come over" in English.
Nicole had London College of Music Grade 8 (Distinction) qualification and also had undergone modeling training at Mannequin Studio and had received a diploma from Plato Make-Up Academy. Nicole studied vocals in Los Angeles under Jodi Sellards, who has taught Mariah Carey, David Tao, A-mei (Zhang Hui Mei) and Alex To (Du DeWei).
Nicole has worked with many famous celebrities including Aaron Kwok, Jolin Tsai, Gigi Leung, Sammi Cheng, Jeff Chang, Karen Mok, Na Ying and Stefanie Sun. She has done backup vocals for albums by: Stefanie Sun, Gigi Leung, Sammi Cheng, Aaron Kwok, Jolin Tsai and also has done live backup vocals for Julia Peng and Eric Moo. Nicole was one of the most experienced instructors in Singapore. Beside being a freelance instructor, she also taught at Lee Wei Song School of Music (李偉菘)[11] and Ocean Butterflies (海蝶音樂)[12]. She has taught many famous celebrities, including Stefanie Sun, Niki Wu, Huang Yida, Xiao Su Shen. She also gave training to MediaCorp Artistes including Zoe Tay, Tay Ping Hui, Christopher Lee Ming Soon Christopher Lee (Singaporean actor) and Constance Song.[13]
Nicole was a member of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS).[14] In the year 2003, she won awards for her own composition 梦想家 in the Xinyao Song competition held in Singapore[1] where she was champion in the Vocal Performance Category and 1st runner up in the Composing Category. This same song was selected to become one of the songs for the famous Taiwan TV series called Green Forest, My Home[15][16] soundtrack album. Nicole also sang on the soundtrack of Singapore's own home-grown movie, Singapore Dreaming "Mei Man Ren Sheng".[17] Nicole has also made appearances herself on television as one of the judges for MediaCorp TV Channel 8’s weekend variety show, PSC Nite 2005[18] and MediaCorp TV Channel U's S-POP HURRAY song writing competition 2008 show.
Nicole was also an avid performer herself, having performed at countless Dinner and Dance events, Family Days, Singapore Town Council events and many other occasions. She has done many jingles including those of Hazeline Snow, Singapore Airlines, McDonald's, Canon, Slimwater and Knife Oil. Under the World Vision[19][20] Organization child sponsorship programme, Nicole sponsored 4 kids when she was alive. After her death, her friends will launch her EP album at the end of 2008 and proceeds from the CD sales will go to charity and to adopting Nicole’s 4 kids from World Vision.
Nicole was also a songwriting enthusiast, and recently had one of her songs published in Stefanie Sun’s album. Nicole was also a member of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS),[14] and had songs published in Stefanie Sun’s, Maggie Tang’s, Vivian Hsu’s , Linda and Taiwan TV series called Green Forest, My Home[15][16] soundtrack album. Nicole's own composition of "梦想家" title was renamed to "一個人的星光" (One's Star Light) and sung by William So.
| Song | Performer | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 亲爱的 | Vivian Hsu | Co-written with Low Shao Suan[21] |
| 反过来走走 | Stefanie Sun | |
| 好久不见 | Maggie Tang | |
| 祝我好运 | Maggie Tang | |
| 一个人的星光 (梦想家) | William So, Xu Jing Lan[22] | Taiwan TV series - Green Forest, My Home[15] |
| Another Me | Linda[23] | Taiwan |
| 你我的自由 - Freedom | Nicole Lai | Co-written with Ruth Ling[24] |
Before her death, she wrote the song "你我的自由 - Freedom" which carries a special messages from her - "Freedom is a choice in life. We are all free to make our choices in life, and even if we decide not to make any choice, that in itself is our freedom to choose" ~~With Love…nL.
Many local singer-songwriters attended her CD launch at Lunar on 23 April 2008. They include Lee Wei Song, Lee Shih Shiong, Jim Lim,[25] Kenn C,[26] Wu JiaMing, Ruth Ling,[24] both Peng ChiSheng[27] and Aaron Lim[28] of Intune Music School,[29] Radio DJ Luo Bang Qiang[30] and many of her vocal students too. The CD was sponsored by Stefanie Sun[8] and was given to friends during her wake. Another remembrance EP album is released in September 2009.
| English title | Chinese title | Producer | Arranger | Launch date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom | 你我的自由 | Jim Lim[25] | Kenn C[26] | (1) 23 April 2008, (2) 6th to 10th Sept 2008 at her wake | 1st launch at Lunar,[31] and 2nd launch sponsored by Stefanie Sun. - See Straits Times news on 26th Sept 2008[8] |
One of Singapore largest entertainment complex, St James Power Station decided to produce an EP album for their Dragonfly[32] Performers in August 2007. Nicole was consulted for this project. In her own premise at Tiong Bahru, she personally trained the performers to ensure everybody is studio ready. The EP album was released by Sony BMG in October 2007. The song that Nicole produced was one of the best track audience selected.