THE name Adinda Tasya Mansor rings loud and clear to fans of pre-teen talent search 'Ceria Pop Star' on Astro Ceria.
Adinda, 20, from Taiping, Perak, participated in 'Ceria Pop Star 3' in 2015 and finished fifth.
MANDARIN POP
After Vanessa Reynauld, Adinda is the best-known Ceria Pop Star contestant thanks to her mastery of Mandarin pop songs, which she delivers soulfully.
And when she was 10, Adinda spent three months in Hunan, China competing against 49 other singers from around the Chinese-speaking world.
There, she did Malaysia proud by winning Chinese talent search 'Let's Sing Kids' and was praised by the judges for her "perfect mastery" of Mandarin songs.
CHINESE SCHOOLS
The former student of SJK(C) Sin Min and SMJK(C) Hua Lian in Taiping now has her very own single, 'Goodbye', which was written by 'Gegar Vaganza' past winner Naqiu and composed by Wit and Mohsen.
The poignant song about a painful breakup sees Adinda make full use of her deep and passionate voice that bears an uncanny resemblance to that of Aina Abdul.
RECORDED IN AUGUST
'Goodbye', which has been on all major digital music platforms since Feb 24, was recorded in eight hours last August.
While the recording process was "tiring", Adinda cherishes every moment she spent in the studio with Naqiu as it was a "great learning process".
LONG HOURS
"Making music requires lots of hard work, but I love the challenge of spending long hours in the studio because it is here that I get to learn about music production," said Adinda.
"While I am only singing compositions of others at this moment, I aim to gradually write my own songs, as I believe that a successful singer should be able to create his or her own musical masterpieces."
ORIGINALITY
Adinda described working with Naqiu as a "fun experience" as the veteran pop singer gave her lots of useful singing tips.
"The most important thing I learnt from him is to sing every song my way, and not imitate others."
MUSIC-LOVING FAMILY
Adinda, the younger of two siblings, comes from a music-loving family.
In fact, her mother, who hails from Medan in Indonesia, once performed with a pop band in her hometown.
CHINESE SONGS
"My parents are big fans of Chinese music and they got me interested in such music.
"As a result I sang Chinese songs in my school concerts, and attending Chinese schools helped me master the language and sing in it," said Adinda.
MARIAH CAREY
A fan of Aina, Adele, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Shila Amzah and Yuna, plus Chinese singers Na Ying and Deng Ziqi, Adinda chose to release an English single because doing things differently made her stand out in the crowd.
"While recording 'Goodbye', I also sang my first Malay single 'Melupakanmu', which is also the work of Naqiu, Wit and Mohsen, and will be released after Hari Raya."
FROM THE HEART
Adinda believes that honesty is the most important quality a singer should have.
"This means a singer has to sing from the heart and put lots of "oomph" into her song," she said.
CRITICISM
Adinda welcomes constructive criticism of her performances, as this will make her improve as an artiste.
"Criticism can hurt, but if the critic means good, I am okay with it," she said.
BUSINESS DIPLOMA
Adinda studied business and management at a private college in Ipoh, Perak, when she was 18, but postponed her studies last year to focus on her music career.
"I have not given up studying and plan to complete my diploma later.
"My aim is to be a successful recording artiste who creates her own music."
