Kaira Gong

Kaira Gong (simplified Chinese: 龚诗嘉; traditional Chinese: 龔詩嘉; pinyin: Gǒng Shī Jiā, born July 25, 1981 in Singapore), is a Singaporean singer whose family is of Shanghai, China 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]

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

Life and career

Kaira 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] Kaira studied at Pei Chun Public School, Nanyang Girls' High School, Raffles Junior College, and the National University of Singapore.^[5]

In the year 2000, Kaira's senior who wanted to participate in a songwriting competition at National University of Singapore approached her and asked if Kaira could sing on a music piece for him because he could not reach high notes in the song piece. Kaira 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. Kaira 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 Kheng Long and before her graduation in 2003.^[1][4] Since then, the senior whom Kaira only wanted to be identified as "Carl" has lost contact with her.^[6]

Discography

Albums

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

Kaira 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. Kheng Long 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 Kaira's well-being and also taught Kaira some tips and tricks of acting. Kaira'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, Shī Jiā) 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]

Soundtrack contributions

• The Ties That Bind 《家财万贯》 ("Running" 奔跑, "Missed" 思念), 2004
• Reaching for the Stars ("To Have It Once Again" 再一次擁有 ), December 2005
• Tokyo Juliet ("Cannot Let Go" 放不下), July 2006
• The Hospital ("When You Leave For A Little While" 妳要離開一些時候), August 2006
• Her Many Faces ("Raining Tears" 哭雨), July 2008

Other works

Kaira became a spokesperson for Ragnarok Online (仙境傳說:人工生命體) in December 2005 where she also filmed a promotional video for the game.^[9]

Appearances on Taiwan TV shows

Kaira 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. In January 2006, Kaira 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 Kaira was quick to emphasize that she was just homesick at that time.^[1]

Live performances

• Special guest for S.H.E Fantasy Land World Tour (星光燦爛雲頂演唱會) at Genting Highlands, Malaysia (7 January 2006)
• Ren Ci Charity Show (仁心慈愛照萬千) in Singapore (8 January 2006)
• Dongli 88.3 FM Fun Club singing competition in Singapore (9 July 2006)
• Singapore National Day Performance (9 August 2006)
• Opening performance of 6th Global Chinese Music Awards (第6届全球华语歌曲排行榜颁奖典礼) at Singapore indoor stadium (28 October 2006)
• 2007 CCK countdown in Singapore (31 December 2006)
• President's challenge at Singapore Turf Club (29 May 2007)
• Performance at Singapore Esplanade Outdoor Theatre (23 August 2008)
• Singapore Entertainment Awards (新加坡e乐大赏) (7 March 2009)

Hobbies and interests

Kaira is interested in basketball. and was in the basketball team whilst at secondary school. She also tried her hand at volley ball and field hockey. Besides, she likes to read detective and mystery novels especially The Da Vinci Code. She also appreciates the drawings of Jimmy Liao's cartoons in the book "The Subway" (地下鐵)。 She praised his drawings, saying that they successfully depict the feeling of aimless search by modern city people.^[7]

Kaira is interested in Rock and roll, Funk, and Bossa nova types of music. She is also a fan of No Doubt, Mayday, and L'Arc-en-Ciel.^[7]

Second album

During her performance in 2009 Singapore Entertainment Awards, Kaira indicated that she was busy working on her second album. Kheng Long was also expected to participate in the production but the expected release date has not been determined.^[10] However, to date, the release of her second album has not yet materialised.

External links

• Kaira's fan page recognised by H.I.M International Music (inactive)
• (Chinese) Kaira's personal blog (inactive)
• Kaira's unofficial fan page (inactive)
• (Chinese) 詩嘉的優仕網 (Kaira's Youthwant Network) (inactive)
• (Chinese) 蕃薯藤 - 龔詩嘉的交友資料頁 (Kaira's friends information page by yam.com) (inactive)

References