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Page 1 of 2 It has been two years since Kelvin Chen Wei Lian won the Channel U show Project Superstar, and his stardom has certainly not waned.
Currently based in Taiwan, he was in town recently to promote his new album, I-Wei Lian, and HOOKED managed to catch up with him for a brief ten minutes on the phone.
Throughout the interview, Kelvin remained warm, chatty and above all, down-to-earth. Whether it involved waxing lyrically on what music meant to him, or sharing his future plans, he was always sincere and frank in his replies.
To most people, Kelvin is still remembered as the blind busker who became an overnight star when he won the Project Superstar competition back in 2005.
However, few would know that way before he entered the competition, he had already discovered a love for music and unearthed a promising talent in it, picking up piano and guitar playing skills without any formal training.
It is obvious that those heady days of Project Superstar are still firmly etched in his mind, as he recalled, "I can still remember those nights when I stood in the studio during the elimination rounds, being overwhelmed by all the support that the public was giving me."
This heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for the way in which public support has propelled his music career into a hitherto unimagined stratosphere, has translated into a deep desire to remain grounded.
As he proffers without prompting, "I'm not like other celebrities who don't mix around with others once they become famous. I still like walking around Orchard Road by myself even though people recognise me now. I've only gotten where I am because of public support, so I feel a need to continue staying in touch with them."
Kelvin has recently relocated to Taiwan in an attempt to break into the other Asian markets, thus prompting the recent regional debut of his second album.
When pressed on whether he felt pressurized to break into the notoriously difficult Taiwan market quickly, he said, "No, no, it's not stressful at all. I'll just go for the various promotional events that my manager asks me to go for, and do my best there. I'm just focused on singing well."
His new album, I-Wei Lian, is another showcase of what he does best - ballads which tug at one's heartstrings.
According to him, his favorite track in that album is Qing Ai De Zuo Zhe Hao Meng (loosely translated as Darling, Dream A Beautiful Dream) because "it is such a good song to sing at night. Now that I'm based in Taiwan, this song reminds me of how I can call someone up at night and just sing it to the person as an expression of my friendship."
Aside from ballads, there is also an attempt to shake things up a little by including a rap song, a few covers of familiar childhood ditties, as well as a collaborative track that he did for the Royston Tan's movie, 881.
While some might remember his debut movie appearance in 881 (as a singer who encourages the Papaya Sisters to pursue their dreams), he still has no plans to branch out into the movie industry. As he succinctly mentioned, "I'm perfectly happy singing."
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