Unless you have been living under a rock over the past few weeks, you are bound to have heard about Singapore’s golden boy Nathan Hartono – 25-year-old local singing sensation and Sing! China’s “Chou-sen one”.
Here’s Hartono’s Journey to the East (and a brief summary of his televised performances).
When you think of Nathan Hartono, you think: jazzy, bluesy, soulful English singer.
This is precisely why it makes absolute sense that he deserves to win China’s Sing! China competition.
He shatters all expectations, and despite being out of his comfort zone, he is not any less of a musician.
Nathan Hartono’s Sing! China Audition
Hartono’s blind audition went exceedingly well.
Celebrity judges Wang Feng and Na Ying were the first to press their buzzers for Hartono’s performance of Wei Li An’s “Have You Ever”, followed quickly by Harlem Yu and Jay Chou.
Hartono chose Mandopop superstar Jay Chou as his mentor.
Nathan Hartono’s Sing! China Battle Round
Hartono’s soulful and emotional rendition of “We Are All Lonely” during the battle round on August 29 was what prompted coach Jay Chou to pick him as the contestant to advance to the playoffs and live shows.
Nathan Hartono – Moonlight on the Balcony x What a Wonderful World
For his September 16 performance, he gave his own bilingual spin off on mentor Jay Chou’s “Moonlight on the Balcony”, continuing to surprise his Chinese audience with his musical capabilities.
He threw in a little mouth-trumpet to the tune of “What A Wonderful World”, proceeding to beatbox, before giving his own unique bluesy-jazzy English interpretation of the song.
Nathan Hartono Sing! China Semi-Finals
In the semi-finals, Hartono performed a mash-up of English song “Desperado” by the Eagles and Mandarin classic “Love Without End” during the semi-finals.
He had the highest score in the semi-finals: 93.65. The votes? He won 47 out of 51 votes from professional judges, and 333 out of 350 votes from audience members, emerging as Sing! China’s front runner.
Grandson of Tung Lok Group’s Founder
To add to Hartono’s impressive record, he had also studied at renowned music school – Berklee College of Music.
That’s also where Wang Lee Hom, John Mayer, Quincy Jones, Charlie Puth, studied at, just to name a few. Looks like Hartono’s all set to being our next big singing sensation!
The suave Hart-throb’s appeal doesn’t just end with his musical talents.
Despite being the grandson of Singapore-based Tung Lok group’s founder Tjioe Ji Nan, Hartono’s modest demeanor and generosity shines through.
During an interview with The Straits Times, Hartono made a public promise:
“If I win, I will rent a fleet of Milo vans and treat everybody to Milo peng (iced Milo)”
Free Milo and glory for our country?
As if we didn’t already have reasons for him to win.
He will be performing in Sing! China’s finals on Friday, 7 October at the Beijing National Stadium.
Win or lose, Milo or not, Nathan, you have our Harts.
Also, read 7 Is Our Lucky Number Cos That’s How Many Long Weekends We’re Getting Next Year!
