Meet Cheryl K: Malaysian-Singaporean Singer Taking ‘American Idol’ By Storm
Instagram/Cheryl K Reading Time: 3 minutes
Cheryl Koh, better known as Cheryl K is one of the exciting new singers that auditioned for Season 19 of American Idol. The singer from Shah Alam, Malaysia has quite an impressive resume. One of her songs landing in the Golden Globe-nominated film Crazy Rich Asians. Keep reading to find out more about this stunning performer.
‘American Idol’ Hopeful Cheryl K Sang A Song For ‘Crazy Rich Asians’
Cheryl grew up in Malaysia and her mother is from Singapore. She began singing very early on and won four gold medals at the World Championship of Performing Arts in Los Angeles when she was just 14 years old. But Cheryl certainly had her big break when Crazy Rich Asians began a casting search for talent online. Cheryl caught director Jon M. Chu’s eye with her video singing Jesse J’s “Mamma Knows Best.”
“The script took up most of the video’s time so I only had 15 seconds to sing an a cappella of Jessie J’s ‘Mamma Knows Best.’ Never would I imagine that that would be enough to catch Jon’s eye,” she said in an interview. Cheryl was a student at the University of Southern California at the time when she got the call to come to record the song “Money (That’s What I Want)” for Crazy Rich Asians.
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“It took about four to five hours to record everything including multiple takes and layers, backup vocals, behind-the-scenes footages and a video interview,” she said. “Jon was so fun to work with in the recording studio! He gave me a lot of pointers and tips on how he wanted me to sing the song. I remember him saying, ‘Cheryl, I want you to growl as much as you can and sing with your greatest energy because I want people to feel like they want to jump out of their seats during the opening of the movie.'”
Not only is Cheryl’s song featured during the opening of the movie, but during the end credits as well. Awkwafina who stars in the film recorded a rap verse for the song. The pair posed for a photo together posted on Cheryl’s Instagram account.
Cheryl got to meet the stars of Crazy Rich Asians at the premiere in Los Angeles including The Masked Singer judge Ken Jeong. “It was Ken Jeong who humbly came up to me to introduce himself,” she said.
She Is Ready To Take Her Singing Career To The Next Level
After graduating from college, Cheryl has her sights set on pursuing a career as a full-time singer. “American Idol was the thing that made me want to be a singer,” Cheryl says through tears in the trailer released for the show. She had a special guest joining her for her audition, her dog Jimmy Choo.
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Tune in to the season premiere of American Idol on February 14 at 8pm ET on ABC.
