The next Mandopop star

Will she be the next Stefanie Sun?

Local singer Ferlyn G, who left Singapore's first K-pop girl group SKarf a few months ago, is gunning to be the next big thing in Mandopop.

She will make her solo debut next month at Bugis+ with the launch of her Chinese-Korean album FIRST.

The 22-year-old, whose real name is Ferlyn Wong, revealed that what many people don't know is that she has had a 10-year struggle in the music industry.

At 12, she was already taking vocal lessons and was signed as a trainee under music and entertainment company Ocean Butterflies Music Forest.

She became a professional backup singer for stars like local singer JJ Lin and Taiwanese singers Rainie Yang and Wang Leehom.

The former student of Griffiths Primary, Junyuan Secondary and Temasek Polytechnic, was handpicked for SKarf back in 2011.

Ferlyn said she had a discussion with her management this year on her career path and they decided together that it would be more beneficial for her to break out on her own.

Although she was discovered by local entertainment company Alpha Entertainment for SKarf, she is now managed by its business partner, iGlobal Star.

LUCKY CHARM

FIRST has local hitmakers like Gen Neo and Jim Lim working on it (they have written and produced songs for Stefanie Sun, A-mei and Super Junior) and hopes they will be her lucky charm.

She told The New Paper: "Both Stefanie Sun and JJ Lin have their own strengths, which led to the huge recognition that they have gained.

"I will be working hard for my day to shine like them and I hope to have the support from all my audiences across the globe." She added: "There are pros and cons to being in a girl group or going solo. Being in the group is less tedious because the burden is divided, but we had no involvement in the album production. It was based on the management company's 'packaging' idea for the group.

"Going solo is lonelier, more hectic and stressful, but I get to produce my own 'baby' (FIRST), which will show the real side of me to my audience."

She said she had no regrets joining or leaving SKarf, although she does miss Tasha (also a Singaporean), Jenny, JooA and Hana, who are still part of the group back in Korea.

Although Ferlyn is based in Singapore, she is rarely home as she travels often to China, Hong Kong and South Korea for work.

Her first Mandarin solo single FIRST, which will be released on Jan 2, will also have a Korean version.

FIRST will be released in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

There are also plans in the works to boost her popularity here and in Asia and some of these projects include movie roles, fan meetings and a fashion website.

She said: "I am still a rookie singer in the Mandopop industry.

"I hope this single can be an impactful introduction of myself to the Chinese entertainment industry and for them to remember me and look forward to more music from me.

"I keep in touch with all of my (former SKarf) members. They are very supportive and they can't wait to get their hands on my single." She added: "Also, I wasn't able to own any social media (platform) when I was in SKarf. Now, I have my own Twitter and Instagram account."

cchar@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Dec 22, 2014.
Get The New Paper for more stories.